Shropshire records 3.8-magnitude earthquake

Earthquake on Monday was third quake with a magnitude of greater than two to hit UK within 24 hours

A 3.8-magnitude earthquake has been recorded in the centre of Shropshire, the third quake to hit the UK within 24 hours.

The British Geological Survey (BGS) said the earthquake hit just to the east of the town of Wem at a depth of 7km (4.35 miles) at 2.36pm on Monday.

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Timor-Leste hit by 6.4-magnitude earthquake that was felt in Darwin

Quake struck to east of Timor-Leste, with residents in Northern Territory capital reporting strong shaking

An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.4 struck off the coast of Timor-Leste and was so strong it was felt in Darwin, Australia.

The quake hit at 11.36am local time (12.06pm Darwin time), according to Geosciences Australia, and prompted some people in the capital of Dili to flee buildings, though a tsunami was ruled out.

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São Jorge island prepares to evacuate amid major earthquake fears

Airlines increasing flights to Portuguese island after six days of minor temblors, say authorities

Authorities on a Portuguese island in the north Atlantic are preparing for the possible evacuation of local people, as six straight days of tremors stoked fears of a possible major earthquake or volcanic eruption.

The president of the Azores Islands’ regional government said on Thursday that airlines were increasing the number of flights into and out of São Jorge, where about 8,300 people live, for people who prefer to leave now.

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Powerful Japan earthquake strikes off coast of Fukushima, killing four

Tsunami warning cancelled after quake cut power to 2m homes and damaged some buildings

A powerful 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Fukushima in north-east Japan on Wednesday evening, leaving four dead, and plunging more than 2m homes in the Tokyo area into darkness.

The region was devastated by a deadly 9.0 quake and tsunami 11 years ago that also triggered nuclear plant meltdowns, spewing massive radiation that still makes some parts uninhabitable.

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Indonesia earthquake death toll climbs to 11 after more bodies recovered on Sumatra

Rescuers still searching for four villagers believed to have been buried in mud after magnitude-6.2 quake

Rescuers on Indonesia’s Sumatra island have retrieved more bodies after a strong earthquake two days ago, raising the death toll to 11 while another 400 were injured and thousands displaced.

The body of the latest victim was recovered on Sunday from the rubble of homes toppled by the magnitude-6.2 earthquake that shook West Sumatra province on Friday morning, said National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesperson Abdul Muhari.

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Dominican Republic starts work on border wall with Haiti

Officials claim the controversial barrier will stop migrant crossings, as well as drugs and contraband, from crisis-hit Haiti

The Dominican Republic has begun work on a border wall with Haiti, sparking controversy between the neighbouring Caribbean countries.

Construction began this week on a concrete barrier that will span nearly half of the 244-mile (392km) border between the two countries, with Dominican officials claiming it will reduce flows of migrants, drugs, weapons and contraband.

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Seconds before a 6.2 earthquake rattled California, phones got a vital warning

Half a million phones received emergency alerts thanks to system offering a few seconds to take cover

In the moments before a 6.2-magnitude earthquake struck the northern California coast on Monday, roughly half a million phones began to buzz. An early-alert system managed by the US Geological Survey sent warnings out before the ground started to shake, giving residents in the sparsely populated area vital time to take cover.

The earthquake brought significant shaking but minimal damage in Humboldt county, about 210 miles north-west of San Francisco, and officials said it was an excellent test of the alert-system. It was the largest magnitude quake that’s occurred since the system, known as ShakeAlert, was officially rolled out across the west coast.

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‘Sorry, a slight distraction’: Jacinda Ardern unruffled as earthquake interrupts press conference

The 5.9 magnitude quake forced the prime minister to pause and grip her podium before continuing to outline post-Covid lockdown plans

New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern has been interrupted by an earthquake midway through announcing the country’s plans for a post-Covid-lockdown future.

The 5.9 quake rattled parliament in Wellington on Friday as Ardern was holding a press conference on the country’s new vaccination targets.

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Pakistan earthquake: at least 20 dead after powerful 5.7 magnitude tremor

Homes collapsed after the quake struck 100km east of Quetta in Balochistan, and officials fear the death toll could rise

A 5.7 magnitude earthquake hit southern Pakistan in the early hours of Thursday, killing at least 20 people and injuring more than 200, government officials said.

The quake struck Balochistan at 3am local time and at a depth of around 20km (12 miles), the US Geological Survey said.

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Earthquake strikes Crete, killing man and damaging buildings

Residents sent fleeing into the streets and schools evacuated from quake on Greek island

The Greek island of Crete has been hit by an earthquake killing one man and injuring 20, while damaging homes and churches and causing rock slides near the country’s fourth-largest city.

The quake, which had a preliminary magnitude of at least 5.8, sent people fleeing into the streets in the city of Heraklion, where schools and older buildings were evacuated.

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Lava fills swimming pool as La Palma eruption continues – video

Drone footage captures the moment boiling lava seeps into a swimming pool on the Canary island of La Palma, as volcanic eruptions continue on the Spanish island forcing thousands to be evacuated. 

The island had been on high alert after more than 22,000 tremors were reported within a week in Cumbre Vieja, one of the most active volcanic regions in the archipelago

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Lava erupts from a volcano on La Palma in Spanish Canary Islands – video

A volcano on the Atlantic island of La Palma erupted on Sunday after a week-long buildup of seismic activity, prompting authorities to speed up evacuations for some 1,000 people. Footage obtained by the Associated Press showed plumes of black and white smoke rising up from the Cumbre Vieja volcanic ridge, where scientists had been closely following the accumulation of molten lava below the surface

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Spanish Canary Island volcano erupts, sending lava streaming towards villages

About 5,000 people have been evacuated from near the volcano on La Palma Island but no injuries reported

A volcano has erupted on the Spanish Canary Island of La Palma, sending lava shooting into the air and streaming in rivers towards houses in two villages from the Cumbre Vieja national park in the south of the island.

Authorities had begun evacuating the infirm and some farm animals from nearby villages before the eruption at 3.15pm local time on Sunday on a wooded slope in the sparsely populated Cabeza de Vaca area, according to the islands’ government.

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‘A forgotten disaster’: earthquake-hit Haitians left to fend for themselves

With rural areas of the country left to suffer, aid workers fear funds are drying up as global compassion fatigue sets in

David Nazaire, a 45-year-old coffee farmer from Beaumont, a small village in rural southern Haiti, was getting ready to harvest when an earthquake struck his home and livelihood. Much of the farming infrastructure – as well as nearby homes, schools and churches – was damaged or completely destroyed. A month later, he and thousands of rural Haitians – those most severely affected by the tremor – are still waiting for relief, and are not expecting it to arrive soon.

“The earthquake didn’t destroy our crops, but it did take everything else,” Nazaire says, outside a neighbour’s house, now a pile of rubble beneath plastic roof tiles supported by the remnants of concrete walls. “We were just getting ready to harvest, but that’s lost now.”

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‘I don’t see my mum’: Haiti’s earthquake leaves new generation of orphans

The number of children without carers is still not known, leaving them prey to gangs and abuse

Lilian, six years old and alone, still asks when her mother will return from the market on the edge of Les Cayes in southern Haiti.

When last month’s earthquake struck, Lilian was at home, occasionally checked on by her neighbours as her mother, Genieve, was selling fruit a few blocks away. When the ground began to convulse, the market partly collapsed. Genieve was hit by falling concrete and buried under rubble. Her death has left Lilian without anyone to care for her.

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Mexico hit by powerful 7.0-magnitude earthquake – video

A powerful earthquake has struck south-west Mexico near the beach resort of Acapulco, killing at least one person who was crushed by a falling post and causing rockfalls and damaging buildings. The 7.0-magnitude quake shook the hillsides around the resort, downing trees and pitching large boulders on to the road

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Mexico hit by powerful 7.0-magnitude earthquake, killing at least one

A man was killed and buildings were damaged in the resort city of Acapulco, and the quake was also felt in Mexico City

A powerful earthquake has struck south-west Mexico near the beach resort of Acapulco, killing at least one man who was crushed by a falling post, and causing rock falls and damaging buildings.

The US Geological Survey (USGS) said a 7.0 magnitude quake struck 11 miles (18km) north-east of the resort of Acapulco, Guerrero, in the early hours of Wednesday sending people running into the street for safety.

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‘They don’t come for us’: Haitians face agonising wait for help after quake

People in need of water, food and shelter are fending for themselves as aid response complicated by heavy rain, gangs and distrust of international agencies

On the morning a catastrophic earthquake struck southern Haiti, Jackson Mason, a barber, was picking up water and other shopping from Cavaillon’s bustling market.

“The earth below me started to shake – people were thrown into the air, others yelled, praying to Jesus to save them,” Mason, 35, says. “Everything flew in the air, even the wallets in people’s hands.”

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Haiti’s earthquake has compounded years of corruption and political crisis | Jonathan M Katz

The 2010 earthquake response was riddled with failure. Haitians cannot afford another catastrophe

The latest statistics from Haiti’s August 14 earthquake are stark: at least 2,207 people have been confirmed dead and more than 12,000 injured. More than 130,000 homes have been damaged or destroyed. Aftershocks continue, and new landslides in the wake of the follow-on Tropical Storm Grace mean those numbers are expected to rise in the coming weeks.

But the most dispiriting number is 11. That is the number of years that passed between Haiti’s last major earthquake and this one – years in which corruption has hollowed out the state, armed gangs have expanded their territorial control, and political turmoil has intensified, culminating in the assassination of the president, Jovenel Moïse, in July.

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