Category Archives: Earthquakes

Indonesia earthquake rescuers hampered by damaged infrastructure after dozens killed

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At least 49 dead after magnitude 6.2 shock on Sulawesi island, which destroyed roads, bridges and houses

Damaged roads and bridges, power blackouts and lack of heavy equipment on Saturday hampered rescuers after a strong earthquake left at least 49 people dead and hundreds injured on Indonesia’s Sulawesi island.

Operations were focused on about eight locations in the hardest-hit city of Mamuju, where people were still believed trapped following the magnitude 6.2 quake that struck early on Friday, said Saidar Rahmanjaya, who heads the local search and rescue agency.

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Indonesia earthquake: dozens dead after tremors and landslides hit Sulawesi

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Thousands flee for safety and higher ground after island’s second quake in 24 hours

At least 37 people have been killed and hundreds injured following a strong earthquake that shook the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia early on Friday morning, prompting landslides and destroying houses.

Thousands of people fled their homes to seek safety when the 6.2-magnitude earthquake hit just after 1am local time on Friday morning. The epicentre was 6km north-east of Majene city in West Sulawesi.

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Indonesia earthquake: rescue workers search rubble with dozens reported dead – video

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WARNING: This video contains scenes some viewers may find distressing.

A 6.2-magnitude earthquake on Indonesia’s Sulawesi island has killed dozens of people, injured hundreds and damaged many buildings, the country’s disaster mitigation agency said. The epicentre of the quake was six kilometres north-east of Majene city at a depth of 10 kilometres and hit at 1am local time. Rescuers are still probing the rubble

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At least seven dead after strong earthquake strikes central Croatia

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Casualties include girl, 12, as mayor of town of Petrinja says ‘half of the city no longer exists’

At least seven people have been killed and dozens injured after a strong earthquake hit central Croatia, destroying buildings and sending panicked people fleeing into rubble-covered streets in a town south-east of the capital Zagreb.

The European Mediterranean Seismological Center said an earthquake of 6.4 magnitude hit 28 miles (46km) from Zagreb at 12.19pm, at a depth of 10km. Initial reports said the earthquake caused extensive damage, causing roofs, building facades and entire buildings to collapse.

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Boy is pulled alive from rubble after 6.3-magnitude earthquake in Croatia – video

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A young boy was rescued after a collapsed building fell on a car during a powerful earthquake in Croatia. Authorities said a girl was killed and at least 20 people were treated in hospital in the town of Petrinja by the quake. 'My town has been completely destroyed. We have dead children,' Darinko Dumbović, the mayor of Petrinja, said in a statement. 'Half of the city no longer exists.' 

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Turkey earthquake: firefighter recounts rescuing child from rubble – video

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A wounded three-year-old girl was rescued in the Turkish city of İzmir on Monday, days after a powerful earthquake hit the country’s Aegean coast. Elif Perinçek was pulled from debris nearly 65 hours after the quake.

Muammer Celik, one of the firefighters who saved Elif, said that when he reached her, she was lying motionless, and he thought she was dead. But as he reached out to wipe the dust off her face, the girl grabbed his thumb. ‘She opened her eyes. I froze,’ he said.

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Girl, 3, rescued from rubble nearly three days after Turkey earthquake

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Rescuers pulled the girl, Elif, out of rubble 65 hours after quake that has killed at least 85 people

A three-year-old girl was rescued from a collapsed building in the western Turkish city of İzmir on Monday, nearly three days after a powerful earthquake in the Aegean Sea that has killed at least 85 people.

Rescuers pulled the girl, Elif Perinçek, out of the rubble, then took her on a stretcher to an ambulance as emergency crews searched for survivors in eight other buildings.

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Turkey earthquake: drone shows buildings reduced to rubble in İzmir – video

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Drone footage captured buildings reduced to piles of rubble in the Turkish city of İzmir on Friday after a strong earthquake struck the Aegean Sea, setting off tidal waves which slammed into coastal areas and islands. Search and rescue operations continued at 17 collapsed or damaged buildings, Turkey's Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency said.

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Turkey: gamer’s livestream captures moment earthquake hits İzmir – video

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Footage from a Turkish gamer's livestream has gone viral after it captured the moment a powerful earthquake hit the coastal city of Izmir on Friday. In the footage, 22-year-old Arda Can Özel can be seen sprinting out of the room as he feels the ground beginning to shake. He later posted on his Instagram account to say he and his family survived the quake unharmed

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Rescue teams search rubble after earthquake rocks Turkish coast and Greek islands

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At least 27 reported dead and 800 injured in quake that hit İzmir in Turkey and Greek island of Samos

Rescue teams searched through concrete blocks and rubble on Saturday after at least 27 people were killed and hundreds injured when a powerful earthquake in the Aegean Sea toppled buildings in the Turkish city of İzmir and created sea surges on at least two Greek islands.

Turkey’s disaster and emergency authority (Afad) said the quake on Friday, measuring about 7.0 in magnitude, struck at 2.51pm local time (11.51am GMT). with 407 aftershocks recorded overnight. Around 800 people were reported injured.

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Turkey: sea water floods İzmir after powerful earthquake – video

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An earthquake of approximately magnitude 7.0 in the Aegean Sea has caused sea water to rise and flood parts of the coastal city of Izmir, carrying furniture and other items with it. The quake struck at 2.51pm local time on Friday, according to the country's disaster agency

Powerful earthquake rocks Turkish coast and Greek islands

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Aftermath in İzmir as 7.0-magnitude earthquake hits Turkey and Greece – video

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An earthquake has struck in the Aegean Sea, flattening buildings in Greece and Turkey. Footage shows buildings reduced to rubble in the Manavkuyu neighbourhood of İzmir, a city on Turkey's Aegean coast. 

The US Geological Survey measured the earthquake at magnitude 7.0 and said tremors were felt as far away as Athens and Istanbul

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Tsunami warning sirens ring out after 7.8-magnitude quake in Alaska – video

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An earthquake of magnitude 7.8 struck off the south-east coast of the Alaskan peninsula on Tuesday, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS).

The quake, whose focus was at a depth of 10 km (six miles), prompted the US National Tsunami Warning Center to issue a tsunami warning for the region - with many residents on social media posting videos of alert sirens ringing out in their areas.

The Tsunami Warning Center said a tsunami warning was in effect for South Alaska and the Alaska Peninsula, Pacific coasts from Kennedy Entrance, Alaska to Unimak Pass, Alaska

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People run on to streets as Mexico hit by 7.5-magnitude earthquake – video report

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A strong earthquake hit southern Mexico on Tuesday, shaking buildings in the centre of the capital Mexico City hundreds of miles away, and sending people fleeing their homes into the streets. Situated at the intersection of three tectonic plates, Mexico is one of the world's most earthquake-prone countries. The capital is seen as particularly vulnerable as it is located on top of an ancient lake bed.

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New Zealanders – like Jacinda Ardern – might not be shocked by earthquakes, but we do get scared | Charlotte Graham-McClay

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Many of us recognised ourselves in the PM’s cool response to an earthquake on live TV, but we do fear the ‘big one’

As I awoke to the bedroom shuddering and rattling around me on Monday morning, my first thought was a frantic household census, followed by the realisation that I was alone at home and not responsible for anyone’s safety but my own. My second, before my eyes had even properly unstuck themselves from sleep, was: “Ugh, not this again.”

Moments later, the earthquake – a magnitude 5.9 shake that hit about an hour’s drive north of Wellington, New Zealand, where I live – was subsiding. It rattled the lower part of the North Island for just 15 seconds or so, long enough for a little tendril of fear to uncurl – would it build, or die away? Was this “the big one”?

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New Zealand earthquake: PM Jacinda Ardern live on TV in Wellington as North Island hit

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Leader says she can feel ‘quite a decent shake here’ as the 5.8 quake strikes during a live interview

New Zealand’s prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, has developed a reputation for keeping her cool in the face of a crisis. But an earthquake first thing on Monday morning as she was interviewed live on television seemed like an unusually trying way to start a week.

“We’re just having a bit of an earthquake here,” Ardern told Ryan Bridge, a host for Newshub’s AM Show, live on air. Casting her eyes to the ceiling of the room she was standing in at New Zealand’s parliament in Wellington, she remained in place as the television camera jolted.

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Lockdown has cut Britain’s vibrations, seismologists find

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There’s a kind of hush all over the world as the reduction in human activity stops the Earth buzzing so much

The dramatic quietening of towns and cities in lockdown Britain has changed the way the Earth moves beneath our feet, scientists say.

Seismologists at the British Geological Survey have found that their sensors are twitching less now that human activity has been curtailed, leading to a drop in the anthropogenic din that vibrates through the planet.

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Russia earthquake: tsunami warning issued after 7.5 magnitude event

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US tsunami warning centre says quake capable of generating destructive wave

A 7.5-magnitude earthquake hit off Russia’s Kuril Islands on Wednesday, the US Geological Survey said, prompting a tsunami warning.

The quake hit at a depth of 59km (37 miles), around 1,400km north-east of the Japanese city of Sapporo, USGS added. There were no early reports of casualties.

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