Posts Tagged ‘disaster’
Breaking: Strong quake reported in Chile
March 11th, 2010 | 
Author: 
A USGS map shows the area where a 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit in Chile Thursday.
[Updated 10:07 a.m.] The 7.2 magnitude earthquake shook the ground near the region of Libertador General Bernardo O’Higgins, near the Chilean coast. It struck just as Chile prepared to inaugurate a new president, Sebastian Pinera.
The epicenter was about 71 miles away from Valparasio, Chile, where Pinera was to be inaugurated. Television footage showed the inauguration proceeding without a hitch.
The quake was almost 22 miles deep and centered 95 miles southwest of Santiago, according to USGS.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said in a statement that “a destructive Pacific-wide tsunami is not expected” and there is no tsunami threat to Hawaii.
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[Posted at 9:54 a.m.] An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.2 has struck south of Santiago, Chile, the United States Geological Survey reports.
This story is currently developing. We’ll bring you the latest information from Chile as soon as we get it.
http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2010/03/11/breaking-strong-quake-reported-in-chile/
Posted in CNN, diaster, earthquake, evironment, News, World News | 
Tags: Chile, CNN, disaster, earthquake | 
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More than 100 bodies recovered after massive landslides in Uganda
Kampala, Uganda (CNN) — At least 106 bodies had been recovered Tuesday after massive landslides wiped out several villages around Mount Elgon on the Uganda-Kenya border, an army spokesman and local aid officials said.
The army has joined the search for an estimated 245 people who are still missing and feared dead in eastern Uganda’s Bududa district after Monday night’s landslides, which were brought on by unusually heavy rain in the third week of the annual rainy season, according to State Minister for Disaster Preparedness Musa Ecweru.
Dozens of bodies were recovered from a hospital and church where people had run to seek shelter, officials said. The hospital and church were buried when torrents of mud swept down on them.
The final death toll is expected to be much higher, Ecweru said, after crews are able to navigate the vast region affected by the disaster and find more victims. And more rain is forecast for the area.
In the meantime, the bodies recovered will be buried in mass graves beginning Wednesday, he said.
Spokeswoman Catherine Ntabadde of the Ugandan Red Cross Society said Tuesday that only two elderly women survived the disaster in one area.
“The villages of Nametsi, Namakansa and Kubewo in Nametsi parish have been wiped out” and six people died in the village of Bamuyaka in neighboring Bubita Sub County, Ntabadde added.
The URCS was providing water purification tablets to survivors to avoid outbreaks of waterborne diseases. Distribution of “nonfood items like tarpaulins, blankets, jerry cans, soap, saucepans, cups and plates is to commence late today to the now-homeless survivors,” she said.
There are other reports of landslides hitting several communities in the neighboring districts of Sironko and Bukwa — also located on the slopes and at the foot of Mount Elgon — where at least 1,000 people have been affected and their homes destroyed, but the extent of the damage there is not yet known, Ntabadde said.
Flooding has destroyed several roads and many bridges have been washed away in at least seven districts less than 31 miles (50 kilometers) from the mountain. They include the Butaleja, Budaka, Palisa, Tororo, Mbale and Manafwa districts.
In Butaleja, more than 6,000 households in four subcounties were affected by the flooding, and the area’s only two primary schools were washed away, Ntabadde said.
Mount Elgon, the second-highest mountain in Uganda, is an extinct volcano and has five distinct peaks ranging from 13,000 to 14,000 feet high, according to a Ugandan tourist Web site. It is located about 217 miles (350 kilometers) east of the capital, Kampala.
The landslides came when rivers on the mountain overflowed with heavy rains, but deforestation, farming and other human activity on its slopes also contributed to the problem.
Source :
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/africa/03/02/uganda.landslide/index.html
7.0 quake strikes off Okinawa
7.0 quake strikes off Okinawa
- Tsunami advisory issued for Okinawa and nearby islands
- Earthquake struck at 5:31 a.m.
- It was centered about 6 miles deep and 53 miles east of Okinawa
(CNN) — A 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck Japan’s Ryukyu Islands early Saturday, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.
Soon after the 5:31 a.m. (3:31 p.m. Friday ET) quake, Japan’s Meteorological Agency issued a tsunami advisory, recommending that people on the Okinawa Islands evacuate from the seashore. The advisory also affected the Amami Islands and Tokara Islands.
The agency said the expected tsunami height was about 0.5 meters, or 20 inches.
The quake was centered about 6 miles (10 km) deep, about 53 miles (85 km) from Okinawa.
The quake was felt on Okinawa, with shaking that lasted about 15 seconds, said Lt. Col. Daniel King of the U.S. Pacific Command.
He told CNN that commanders in Japan and Hawaii were trying to get damage and casualty reports from U.S. military stations on Okinawa but had heard nothing in the immediate aftermath.
Source :
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/02/26/japan.okinawa.earthquake/index.html?hpt=T1
