Category Archives: Earthquakes

Afghanistan earthquake: Taliban appeal for more aid as death toll set to mount

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The hardline Islamist leadership says help needs to be ‘scaled up’ after the quake devastated towns and villages in the country’s mountainous east

Afghanistan’s Taliban-led government has appealed for more international aid as it struggles to cope with the devastating earthquake in a mountainous eastern region that has left more than 1,000 people dead and many more injured.

With the war-ravaged country already stricken by an economic crisis, the hardline Islamist leadership said sanctions imposed by western countries after the withdrawal of US-led coalition forces last year meant it was handicapped in its ability to deal with Wednesday’s disaster in Khost and Paktika provinces.

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Isolated Afghanistan may face struggle for aid after earthquake

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Analysis: humanitarian appeals for Taliban-ruled country have had poor responses and there are sanctions complications

As Afghanistan reels from a powerful earthquake and starts to bury its more than 1,000 dead, the Taliban leadership in Kabul have appealed to the international community to clear any barriers created by sanctions and come to their aid.

“The government is working within its capabilities,” tweeted Anas Haqqani, a senior Taliban official. “We hope that the International Community & aid agencies will also help our people in this dire situation.”

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Afghan quake: at least 1,000 people killed after 5.9 magnitude tremor

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Toll expected to rise after deadliest quake in two decades strikes during night near Khost, 95 miles south of Kabul

A powerful earthquake in a remote area of Afghanistan’s Paktika province has killed at least 1,000 people and injured at least 1,500, with the toll expected to rise in the impoverished country.

According to Taliban officials, hundreds more were injured in what appears to have been the deadliest quake in two decades, striking during the night with heavy rain hampering rescue efforts.

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A mega-tsunami in the Pacific north-west? It could be worse than predicted, study says

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Scientists find the size of the ‘outer wedge’ of a faultline can magnify a rupture’s impact, worrying news for a fault running from Vancouver Island to northern California

Scientists have long predicted a giant 9.0-magnitude earthquake that reverberates out from the Pacific north-west’s Cascadia fault and quickly triggers colossal waves barreling to shore.

But what if these predictions were missing an important piece of information – one that, in certain scenarios, could tell an even more extreme story?

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Shropshire records 3.8-magnitude earthquake

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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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