Archive for the ‘diaster’ Category
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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Giant waves hit cruise ship; 2 passengers killed
(CNN) — Two passengers aboard a cruise ship were killed when 26-foot waves crashed into the vessel Wednesday, officials said. As many as fourteen others were injured.
The Greek Louis Cruise Lines ship was off the French port of Marseille when it was hit by “abnormal” waves, some more than 26 feet (9 meters) high, cruise line spokesman Michael Maratheftis told CNN.
As a result, five windows in public areas were smashed and two passengers, a German and an Italian, were killed, he said.
Fourteen others were treated for light injuries, Maratheftis said.
The vessel, the Louis Majesty, was sailing under a Maltese flag and traveling from Barcelona, Spain, to Genoa, Italy, the Greek Public Ministry of the Mercantile Marine told CNN.
The ship had 1,350 passengers and 580 crew on board, the ministry said.
After being struck, the cruise ship turned around and was heading back to port in Barcelona.
Source :
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/03/03/cruise.ship.wave/index.html
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
Pacific under tsunami threat after massive 8.8 quake strikes Chile
(CNN) — A massive magnitude 8.8 earthquake rocked Chile early Saturday, killing at least 78 people and triggering tsunami warnings for the entire Pacific basin.
Chilean President Michelle Bachelet said she expected the death toll to rise.
“We are taking all the necessary measures at this time,” she told reporters.
The full extent of the damage was not yet known, although there were reports of collapsed buildings and hundreds of people in the streets.
The capital of Santiago lost electricity and basic services including water and telephones. Bachelet said regional hospitals had suffered damage; some were evacuated. A major bridge connecting northern and southern Chile was rendered inoperable, and the Santiago airport was shut down for at least the next 24 hours.
Chilean television showed buildings in tatters in Concepcion, with whole sides torn off. Roads in the city were broken up.
Television Nacional de Chile reported that only three stories of a 15-story building remained standing.
Numerous aftershocks — including one of magnitude 6.9 — were felt within hours of the initial quake, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
“There are really aftershocks like every hour,” said Felipe Baytelman, speaking to CNN from Santiago.
The quake’s epicenter was located off the coast of Maule, about 200 miles southwest of Santiago. It struck at 3:34 a.m. (1:34 a.m. ET), when most people were sleeping.Full story
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/02/27/chile.quake/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
