The death toll from a volcano-triggered tsunami in Indonesia has risen to 222, with more than 800 people injured, officials said Sunday. “222 people are dead, 843 people are injured and 28 people are missing,” Indonesia’s national disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said. “This number is predicted to increase because not all victims have been successfully evacuated, not all health centres have reported victims and not all locations have got complete data.” hp/aph © […]
Tag: Disaster
Shocking video shows tsunami rip through stage as band performs
Dramatic video posted online showed the tsunami that struck Indonesia smashing into an open-air concert, hurling members of a pop band from the stage and slamming into the audience. Riefian Fajarsyah, lead vocalist of the band “Seventeen” later posted an emotional video to his 260,000 Instagram followers in which he said the group’s bassist and road manager were killed. The band were playing Saturday night to a large crowd in a marquee at the […]
UPDATED: ‘Volcano’ tsunami kills at least 168 in Indonesia
by Muhammad Ary Agence France Presse CARITA, Indonesia (AFP) — A tsunami following a volcanic eruption killed at least 168 people when it slammed without warning into popular beaches around Indonesia’s Sunda Strait on Saturday night, cutting a swathe of destruction and triggering mass panic as it swept inland. Hundreds of buildings were destroyed by the wave, which hit the coast of southern Sumatra and the western tip of Java about 9:30 pm (1430 […]
Humanity faces simultaneous climate disasters: study
by Marlowe HOOD Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — By century’s end, many parts of the world may have to cope with up to six climate catastrophes at once, ranging from heat waves and wildfires to diluvian rains and deadly storm surges, researchers warned Monday. “Human society will be faced with the devastating combined impacts of multiple interacting climate hazards,” said co-author Erik Franklin, a researcher at the University of Hawaii’s Institute of Marine […]
Emergency declared in typhoon-ravaged Northern Mariana
SAIPAN, United States (AFP) — US military aircraft laden with emergency supplies were flying in to the Northern Mariana Islands Saturday in the wake of destructive Super Typhoon Yutu which destroyed buildings and cut electricity supplies. Ralph Torres, the governor of the US Pacific territory said President Donald Trump had approved a request for a “major disaster declaration” after the powerful storm, packing winds of up to 180 miles per hour (290kmh) left one […]
UPDATED: Japan PM visits quake-hit Hokkaido as toll rises to 42
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited the quake-hit northern region of Hokkaido Sunday as officials confirmed more deaths, bringing the toll to 42. Abe toured the city and commercial hub of Sapporo, where Thursday’s 6.6-magnitude jolt has left houses tilted and roads cracked. He also visited hard-hit Atsuma, a small rural town which has seen most of the deaths caused by the quake. A cluster of dwellings in the town […]
Japan toll rises to 30 after powerful quake
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — The death toll from a powerful quake that triggered landslides in northern Japan rose to 30 Saturday, as tens of thousands of rescue workers raked through the mud for survivors. The majority of the dead are from the small rural town of Atsuma, where a cluster of dwellings were wrecked when a hillside collapsed from the force of the 6.6-magnitude quake, causing deep brown scars in the landscape. Around nine people […]
Six dead, thousands evacuated in Taiwan floods
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — Six people have been killed by floodwaters in Taiwan, officials said Saturday, after days of heavy rain forced thousands to evacuate their homes. A tropical depression has been dumping torrential rain in central and southern Taiwan since Thursday, with some districts receiving close to 1,000 millimeters (39 inches) of rainfall. Six have died in the storm so far, according to government figures, including three who were killed by a falling […]
Powerful storm hits disaster-ravaged Japan
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — A powerful storm slammed into central Japan on Sunday, bringing heavy rains as it churned across western areas already devastated by floods and landslides. Typhoon Jongdari, packing winds of up to 180 kilometres (110 miles) an hour, made landfall at Ise in the Mie prefecture at around 1 am (1600 GMT Saturday), according to the nation’s meteorological agency. It weakened after making landfall and was downgraded to a tropical storm, […]
At least 27 feared dead in Myanmar jade mine landslide
YANGON, Myanmar (AFP) — At least 27 people are feared dead following a landslide at a jade mine in northern Myanmar, police said Wednesday, as heavy rains hampered the search for survivors. The poorly-regulated and notoriously corrupt multibillion-dollar industry in remote Kachin state is frequently hit by fatal disasters, and the victims often come from poor ethnic communities. The latest disaster hit remote Set Mu sub-township early Tuesday following heavy rains in the area, […]
Hundreds missing in Laos after hydropower dam collapse
BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) – Hundreds of people are missing and an unknown number believed dead after a partly-constructed hydropower dam in southeast Laos collapsed, sending flash floods surging through six villages, state media reported Tuesday. Communist Laos is traversed by a vast network of rivers and there are several dams being built or are planned in the impoverished and landlocked country, which exports most of its hydropower energy to neighbouring countries like Thailand. Laos […]
Japan reopens beaches hit by 2011 nuclear, tsunami disaster
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan has reopened three beaches in regions devastated by the 2011 tsunami and resulting Fukushima nuclear disaster after years of reconstruction efforts, officials said Monday. Local officials in Fukushima said they hoped the opening of the Haragamaobama beach would help change perceptions of the region, which has become inextricably linked with the 2011 disaster. One of the reopened waterfronts is Haragamaobama beach in Fukushima prefecture, about 40 kilometres north of the […]





