Tag: earthquake

Magnitude 6 quake hits Castlepoint, New Zealand

  (Eagle News) — A magnitude 6 quake hit New Zealand, with its epicenter located east northeast of Castlepoint, a small beachside town on the Wairarapa coast of the Wellington Region, according to the US Geological Survey.  (USGS) The quake was measured with a depth of 10 kilometers. It occurred at 12:19 p.m. New Zealand time, or 7:19 a.m. Philippine time.

Japan PM says government to do utmost to respond to earthquake

  (REUTERS) — A powerful earthquake rocked northern Japan on Tuesday (November 22), the Japan Meteorological Agency said, generating a tsunami that hit the same northern Pacific coast devastated by a massive quake, tsunami and nuclear disaster in 2011. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who is currently in Argentina, said the government will move swiftly to respond to any emergencies. “We will announce any information regarding tsunami or evacuation swiftly, and will quickly gather information […]

Strong 6.9 quake hits Japan, triggering tsunami warning

    TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — A powerful 6.9-magnitude earthquake hit northeastern Japan on Tuesday, triggering warnings of tsunami waves as high as three metres (10 feet) on the coast near the stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant. Public broadcaster NHK urged residents along the northeast coast to “flee immediately” to high ground, reminding listeners to heed the lessons of the “Great East Japan Earthquake”. A massive undersea quake that hit in March 2011 sent a […]

6.4-magnitude earthquake jolts Argentina, Chile

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AFP) — A 6.4-magnitude earthquake jolted western Argentina and parts of Chile Sunday, with no immediate reports of damage, authorities said. The quake rocked San Juan province at 1757 local time (2057 GMT), striking at a depth of about 130 kilometers (80 miles), Argentina’s seismological institute said. In Chile, the quake was measured at a magnitude of 6.5, officials at the government’s National Emergency Office (ONEMI) said. The earthquake was felt in […]

Seismologists warn of more quakes in New Zealand

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand (AFP) — Seismologists in New Zealand said Friday that this week’s 7.8 earthquake was one of the most complex ever recorded and warned there was a high likelihood of further powerful aftershocks. As a massive clean-up continued following the tremor that claimed two lives early Monday, scientists were coming to grips with the “astonishing” scale of the seismic seizure. The official GeoNet science agency said the land moved up to 11 metres […]

N.Z. quake relief hits full steam as navy arrives

by Chris FOLEY CHRISTCHURCH, United States (AFP) — Rescue efforts after a devastating earthquake in New Zealand intensified Wednesday as a fleet of international warships began arriving in the disaster zone. New Zealand’s HMNZS Canterbury was the first to anchor at the South Island seaside town of Kaikoura to evacuate tourists trapped by the powerful 7.8 tremor. Vessels from the United States, Canada and Australia were also steaming toward the town, which bore the brunt […]

All Blacks legend McCaw joins quake rescue effort

CHRISTCHURCH, United States (AFP) — Former All Blacks great Richie McCaw played a central role in ferrying rescue workers to the most devastated areas following a deadly earthquake which struck New Zealand Monday. The double World Cup winner, now a commercial helicopter pilot, flew rescue and reconnaissance missions to Kaikoura after being woken in his Christchurch home by the powerful 7.8 quake. Christchurch, which was devastated by an earthquake five years ago, is 182 kilometres […]

Two dead after NZ quake, residents flee tsunami

by Chris FOLEY CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand (AFP) — Rescuers in New Zealand were scrambling Monday to reach the epicentre of a powerful 7.8 earthquake that killed at least two people and sparked a tsunami alert that sent thousands fleeing for higher ground. The jolt, one of the most powerful ever recorded in the quake-prone South Pacific nation, hit just after midnight Monday near the South Island coastal town of Kaikoura. As dawn broke there was […]

New Italy quake sows terror, flattens historic church

  by Franck Ioevene and Angus MacKinnon in Rome NORCIA, Italy | AFP | — Italy’s most powerful earthquake in 36 years stuck the country’s mountainous centre Sunday, panicking shell-shocked residents for the third time in two months and flattening a world famous 600-year-old basilica. Remarkably, there were no reports of anyone dying as a result of the 6.6 magnitude quake but more than 3,000 people were left temporarily homeless, the national civil protection agency […]

Strong twin quakes rock central Italy

by Franck IOVENE VISSO, Italy (AFP) — Two strong earthquakes rocked central Italy on Wednesday, toppling buildings and injuring dozens of people according to initial reports, two months after a devastating tremor killed nearly 300 in the same region. The first 5.5 magnitude quake sent people running out of their houses, likely saving lives when the second, more destructive, 6.1 magnitude one struck two hours later. But rescuers working through the night and in the […]

6.2 quake hits western Japan: USGS

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — A strong 6.2 magnitude earthquake hit western Japan Friday, the US Geological Survey said, but there was no tsunami risk. The quake, at a shallow depth of 10 kilometres (six miles), struck shortly after 2:00 pm (0500 GMT) in Tottori prefecture. Initially, the USGS had pegged the quake’s magnitude at 6.6 before downgrading it. Public broadcaster NHK quoted local officials as saying they had received reports that a house collapsed in the […]

6.4 magnitude earthquake hits northwest China: USGS

BEIJING, China (AFP) —  A 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck China’s northwestern province of Qinghai on Monday, the US Geological Survey reported, in an area frequently plagued with seismic activity. The quake was 32 kilometres (20 miles) deep, USGS said, with its epicentre in a sparsely-populated area of Yushu prefecture. There was a “low likelihood of casualties and damage”, it said. Yushu was the scene of a 6.9-magnitude earthquake in April 2010 that left nearly 2,700 people dead […]