quake
Earthquake shakes Ecuador’s coast, teen killed by power line
An earthquake of preliminary magnitude 5.7 shook Ecuador’s coast Thursday, causing one death when a teenager was electrocuted by a fallen power line, authorities said.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake struck at a depth of about 80 kilometers (49 miles) and was centered nearly 20 kilometers (12 miles) northeast of the port of Guayaquil.
Read: Earthquake jolts Dhaka, other areas
The Geophysical Institute of Ecuador said the tremor was felt over most of country, though “weakly” in the mountains.
Jorge Vera, mayor of the Simón Bolívar canton in the coastal Guayas province, said a 16-year-old was killed. He said a high voltage cable fell while the victim was engaged in “a sports activity,” but gave no further details.
Death toll from Afghanistan’s quake rises to 1,150 people
The death toll from a devastating earthquake in Afghanistan continued to climb days after it turned brick and stone homes into rubble, killing 1,150 people and wounding scores more, according to the latest figures carried in state media on Friday.
The country of 38 million people was already in the midst of a spiraling economic crisis that had plunged millions deep into poverty with over a million children at risk of severe malnutrition.
The magnitude 6 quake has left thousands without shelter. State media reported that close to 3,000 homes were destroyed or badly damaged in Wednesday’s earthquake.
Aid organizations like the local Red Crescent and World Food Program have stepped in to assist the most vulnerable families with food and other emergency needs like tents and sleeping mats in Paktika province, the epicenter of the earthquake, and neighboring Khost province.
Still, residents appeared to be largely on their own to deal with the aftermath as their new Taliban-led government and the international aid community struggle to bring in help. Villagers have been burying their dead and digging through the rubble by hand in search of survivors.
The Taliban director of the state-run Bakhtar News Agency said Friday the death toll had risen to 1,150 people from previous reports of 1,000 killed. Abdul Wahid Rayan said at least 1,600 people were injured.
Also Read: India sends team to help with deadly Afghanistan earthquake
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has put the death toll at 770 people.
It’s not clear how death toll counts are being reached, given the difficulties of accessing and communicating with the impacted villages. Either grim toll would make the quake Afghanistan’s deadliest in two decades.
In the district of Gayan, at least 1,000 homes were damaged by the earthquake. Another 800 homes in the Spera district of Khost province were also damaged. While modern buildings withstand magnitude 6 earthquakes elsewhere, Afghanistan’s mud-brick homes and landslide-prone mountains make such quakes more dangerous.
In villages across Gayan district, toured by Associated Press journalists for hours Thursday, families who had spent the previous rainy night out in the open lifted pieces of timber of collapsed roofs and pulled away stones by hand, looking for missing loved ones. Taliban fighters circulated in vehicles in the area, but only a few were seen helping dig through the rubble.
There was little sign of heavy equipment — only one bulldozer was spotted being transported. Ambulances circulated, but little other help to the living was evident.
Many international aid agencies withdrew from Afghanistan when the Taliban seized power last August. Those that remain are scrambling to get medical supplies, food and tents to the remote quake-struck area, using shoddy mountain roads made worse by damage and rains. U.N. agencies are also facing a $3 billion funding shortfall for Afghanistan this year.
Germany, Norway and several other countries announced they were sending aid for the quake, but underscored that they would work only through U.N. agencies, not with the Taliban, which no government has officially recognized as of yet.
Trucks of food and other necessities arrived from Pakistan, and planes full of humanitarian aid landed from Iran and Qatar. India humanitarian relief and a technical team to the capital, Kabul, to coordinate the delivery of humanitarian assistance. India says its aid will be handed over to a U.N. agency on the ground and the Afghan Red Crescent Society.
In Paktika province, the quake shook a region of deep poverty, where residents scrape out in a living in the few fertile areas among the rough mountains. Roads are so difficult that some villages in Gayan District took a full day to reach from Kabul, though it is only 175 kilometers (110 miles away.)
One 6-year-old boy in Gayan wept as he said his parents, two sisters and a brother were all dead. He had fled the ruins of his own home and took refuge with the neighbors.
Tremor shakes parts of Bangladesh
A 4.2-magnitude earthquake shook different parts of the country including Chattogram on Saturday afternoon.
The tremor was felt around 3:47 pm, according to the Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD).
The epicentre of the earthquake was in the India-Myanmar border region, about 308 kms South-East off Dhaka, the BMD said.
Also read: 6.1 magnitude earthquake jolts Dhaka, other areas
However, there was no report of any damage, injury and casualty by the tremor so far.
In the early hours of Friday, a strong 6.1 magnitude earthquake jolted Dhaka, Chattogram, Khulna and some other parts of the country. Its epicenter was at a depth of 32.8 kilometers (20.4 miles) near Hakha, Chin State, Myanmar, said the US Geological Survey (USGS).
Also read: Earthquake jolts Panchagarh
At least three buildings tilted in Chattogram city following the earthquake on Friday morning.
Magnitude 5.9 quake shakes Tokyo area; more than 30 injured
A powerful magnitude 5.9 earthquake shook the Tokyo area on Thursday night, injuring more than 30 people, damaging underground water pipes and halting trains and subways.
Officials said there was no danger of a tsunami but traffic disruptions continued the next morning, with local trains delayed and commuters overflowing rom stations.
The Meteorological Agency said the quake was centered in Chiba prefecture, just east of Tokyo, at a depth of about 80 kilometers (48 miles).
Also read: Strong earthquake in southwest Pakistan kills at least 20
It caused buildings to sway and hanging objects such as signs to swing violently. Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said there were no abnormalities at nuclear power facilities in the area.
Most trains operated Friday morning but with major delays and entry restrictions to avoid overcrowding. There was a long waiting line outside of Shinjuku station in Tokyo, and hundreds of morning commuters were overflowing from the Kawaguchi station.
The Fire and Disaster Management Agency said Friday that 32 people were injured, three of them seriously, from the quake.
Police in Chiba prefecture, where 11 people were injured, said two women in separate locations sprained their ankles when they were thrown to the floor during the quake. A commuter train partially derailed in eastern Tokyo when it made an emergency stop, causing three passengers to fall and get slightly injured, according to the disaster management agency.
Also read: Haiti raises earthquake death toll, passes 2,200
Others were injured in Kanagawa, Saitama and Gunma prefectures.
Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings said about 250 homes in downtown Tokyo temporarily lost power.
“Shinkansen” super express trains in and out of Tokyo were halted for safety checks but later resumed operation, East Japan Railway Co. said.
Tokyo’s Yamanote loop line and subways restarted late Thursday, but with major delays. Outside of Tokyo's Shinagawa station, where local trains were temporarily halted because of power outages, there was a long line of people trying to get taxis home.
Dozens of people in Tokyo, Kanagawa and Chiba were stranded at stations, and some took shelter at facilities set up by local municipalities.
Many elevators automatically stopped, including those at Tokyo's metropolitan government building, temporarily trapping some people.
Fire and disaster officials said underground water pipes were damaged in dozens of locations in Tokyo. In one district, water was gushing from the ground.
New Prime Minister Fumio Kishida posted a message on Twitter urging people to “check the latest information and take action to protect your lives.” He said it was the strongest shaking in Tokyo since March 2011.
Kishida returned to his office late Thursday to lead the government's response.
Rescuers racing in Haiti as storm threatens to follow quake
The death toll from a magnitude 7.2 earthquake in Haiti soared on Sunday as rescuers raced to find survivors amid the rubble ahead of a potential deluge from an approaching tropical storm.
Saturday’s earthquake left at least 724 dead and 2,800 injured in the Caribbean island nation, with thousands more displaced from their destroyed or damaged homes. Survivors in some areas were forced to shelter in streets or soccer fields with the few belongings they were able to salvage from their homes.
Yet the devastation could soon worsen with the coming of Tropical Storm Grace, which was predicted to reach Haiti late Monday or early Tuesday, bringing the potential for torrential rain, flooding and landslides. The U.S. National Hurricane Center forecast 4 to 8 inches (10 to 20 centimeters) of rain in Haiti and the Dominican Republican, with up to 15 inches in some southern parts of the island they share.
The earthquake struck the southwestern part of the hemisphere’s poorest nation, almost razing some towns and triggering landslides that hampered rescue efforts. The disaster added to the plight of Haitians who were already grappling with the coronavirus pandemic, a presidential assassination and a wave of gang violence.
The epicenter of the quake was about 125 kilometers (78 miles) west of the capital of Port-au-Prince, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
Aftershocks continued jolting the area Sunday.
In the badly damaged coastal town of Les Cayes, some families salvaged their few belongings and spent the night at an open-air football pitch. On Sunday morning, people lined up to buy what little was available: bananas, avocados and water at a local street market.
Some in the town praised God for surviving the earthquake, and many went to the city’s cathedral, which appeared outwardly undamaged even if the priests’ residence was destroyed.
“We only have Jesus now,” said Johanne Dorcely, 58, whose house was destroyed. “If it wasn’t for Jesus, I wouldn’t be able to be here today.”Prime Minister Ariel Henry declared a one-month state of emergency for the whole country and said he was rushing aid to areas where towns were destroyed and hospitals overwhelmed with patients. A former senator rented a private airplane to move injured people from Les Cayes to Port-au-Prince for medical assistance.
“The most important thing is to recover as many survivors as possible under the rubble,” said Henry. “We have learned that the local hospitals, in particular that of Les Cayes, are overwhelmed with wounded, fractured people.”Sunday’s count from Haiti’s Office of Civil Protection raised the previous death toll from 304 dead. The agency said more than 7,000 homes were destroyed and nearly 5,000 damaged. Hospitals, schools, offices and churches were also affected.
People in Les Cayes tried to pull guests from the rubble of a collapsed hotel, but as the sun set on Saturday, they had only been able to recover the body of a 7-year-old girl whose home was behind the facility.
“I have eight kids, and I was looking for the last one,” Jean-Claude Daniel said through tears. “I will never see her again alive. The earthquake destroyed my life. It took a child away from me.”
Hospitals were overwhelmed at a moment when Haiti has been struggling with the pandemic and a lack of resources to deal with it. The country of 11 million people received its first batch of U.S.-donated coronavirus vaccines only last month via a United Nations program for low-income countries.
The earthquake also struck just over a month after President Jovenel Moïse was shot to death in his home, sending the country into political chaos. His widow, Martine Moïse, who was seriously wounded in the attack, posted a message on Twitter calling for unity among Haitians: “Let’s put our shoulders together to bring solidarity.”
As he boarded a plane bound for Les Cayes, Henry said he wanted “structured solidarity” to ensure the response was coordinated to avoid the confusion that followed the devastating 2010 earthquake, when aid was slow to reach residents after as many as 300,000 Haitians were killed.
U.S. President Joe Biden authorized an immediate response, calling the United State a “close and enduring friend to the people of Haiti.” He named USAID Administrator Samantha Power to oversee the U.S effort to help Haiti.
Power announced Sunday that USAID was sending a search and rescue team from Virginia t the request of Haiti’s government. The 65-person team will bring specialized tools and medical supplies to assist with the disaster response, Power said on Twitter.
Working with USAID, the U.S. Coast Guard said a helicopter was transporting medical personnel from the Haitian capital to the quake zone and evacuating the injured back to Port-au-Prince.
“For now, the Coast Guard is working where the most urgent need is,” said Lt. Commander Jason Nieman, a spokesman. Another helicopter was being sent from the Bahamas, along with other aircraft and ships, Nieman added.
Argentina and Chile also were among the first nations to promise help.
The North Carolina-based aid group Samaritan’s Purse announced Sunday it would airlift 13 disaster response specialists and 31 tons of emergency supplies to Haiti. Those include shelter materials and water filtration units.
Humanitarian workers said gang activity in the seaside district of Martissant, just west of the Haitian capital, also was complicating relief efforts.
“Nobody can travel through the area,” Ndiaga Seck, a UNICEF spokesman in Port-au-Prince, said by phone. “We can only fly over or take another route.”
Seck said information about deaths and damage was slow coming to Port-au-Prince because of spotty internet service, but UNICEF planned to send medical supplies to two hospitals in the south, in Les Cayes and Jeremie.
Haiti, where many live in tenuous circumstances, is vulnerable to earthquakes and hurricanes. A magnitude 5.9 earthquake in 2018 killed more than a dozen people.
Hazardous buildings in Sylhet to remain shut for 10 days: SCC mayor
The mayor of Sylhet City Corporation (SCC) has ordered the closure of hazardous buildings in the city for 10 days to avoid damage from seismic activity.
On Sunday afternoon, City Mayor Ariful Haque Chowdhury accompanied by executive magistrates and policemen visited some of the buildings at risk including markets in the city and passed this order.
Earlier on Saturday the city was jolted by five tremors.
READ: Five quakes hit Sylhet
According to experts, there is a risk of a large-scale quake in the coming weeks.
SCC had been preparing to prevent the loss of lives in case the quake hits.
Mayor Ariful told reporters that all buildings in poor condition will be identified; traders and authorities concerned of all hazardous markets and buildings in the city will be instructed for a 10-day closure.
People living in hazardous building will have to stay elsewhere for the next 10 days as well, he said
READ: Chinese worker's death: Wife files murder complaint against colleague in Sylhet
SCC has already identified such buildings in the city and alarmed the concerned people in this regard.
Momen advises precaution after quakes jolt Sylhet
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Sunday called for precaution instead of getting panicked after a series of mild quakes were felt in the north-eastern district.
“Don’t get panicked. Stay alert. The government also remains aware of it. We will surely do whatever is needed,” he said in a video message to the people of Sylhet.
Momen said he talked to the relevant ministers and officials including Sylhet City Corporation officials after back to back tremors jolted the area on Saturday and Sunday.
The Foreign Minister also suggested keeping emergency kits and first aid tools at homes for use when required.
Also read: Five quakes hit Sylhet
Momen said it is better to come out in the open in case of any emergency.
He advised the people to call at 999 for any emergency and asked the hospital authorities to keep some beds ready for emergency treatment.
A day after six tremors hit Sylhet on Saturday, another mild quake was felt early Sunday.
Senior Meteorologist of Sylhet Met office Syed Ahmed Chowdhury said the latest quake, measuring 2.8 magnitude on the Richter Scale, was felt at 4:35am.
The epicenter of the earthquake was in the bordering area of the district.
No casualty or damage was reported.
Sylhet City Corporation Mayor Ariful Haque Chowdhury and police officials visited the site.
The authorities have identified two buildings as risky and asked the occupants to move to safety.
Additional police have been deployed in the area to maintain security, said Additional Deputy Commissioner of Sylhet Metropolitan Police BM Ashraf Ullah Taher.
Five quakes hit Sylhet
After four successive earthquakes hit Sylhet on Saturday morning another earthquake jolted the district in the afternoon. Fortunately, there were no reports of any casualty or damage to property.
The first quake hit at 10.37 am, followed by tremors at 10.51 am,11.30 am, 11.34 am and 2.00 pm, officials said.
READ: Strong quake hits Bangladesh & India
Mominul Islam, seismic in-charge of the Dhaka Meteorological Office, said that the quakes were of 4.1 magnitude and their epicentre was Sylhet .
The five earthquakes within three and a half hours have created panic among the people of Sylhet.
Many are suspecting that these are mild tremors ahead of a big one.
Chief meteorologist of the Sylhet Meteorological Office, Sayed Ahmad Chowdhury, said four quakes hit Sylhet in a span of an hour and another in the afternoon.
READ: Earthquake jolts Panchagarh
Kamrul Islam, a resident of Lalbazar area, said that the quakes shook the nine-storey building he lives in. "I saw many people running out of their houses in panic."
At least 3 dead, 27 hurt as quake shakes southwest China
A strong, shallow quake shook southwestern China near the border with Myanmar, killing at least three people and injuring more than two dozen as authorities rushed relief goods including tents to the area.
A second, 7.3-magnitude quake hit early Saturday the southern part of Qinghai province in central China, about 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) north of the first quake.
While there were no reports of casualties, roads were damaged in Maduo county. Aftershocks continued into Saturday morning, with multiple smaller temblors recorded by China’s earthquake administration.
U.S. Geological Survey geophysicist Jonathan Tytell said the two quakes were not related.
Read: Strong quake hits Bangladesh & India
The Yunnan province seismological bureau gave the magnitude of the Friday night quake as 6.4 and said it struck 8 kilometers (5 miles) below the surface northwest of the city of Dali.
Shallow quakes often cause more damage, especially in populated areas.
The earthquake caused strong shaking around Dali, but Chinese news reports showed relatively little damage.
Three people died and 27 were injured, local authorities told state broadcaster CCTV on Saturday.
Relief efforts were underway, with the provincial authorities sending emergency rations and tents to the affected areas.
Last year, a magnitude 5 earthquake in Yunnan killed four people and injured 23.
China’s worst earthquake in recent years struck the mountainous western portion of Sichuan province to the north of Yunnan in 2008, killing nearly 90,000 people.
Indonesia quake kills 7 in Java, jolts Bali; no tsunami risk
A strong earthquake killed at least seven people, injured 12 others and damaged more than 300 buildings on Indonesia’s main island of Java and shook the tourist hotspot of Bali, officials said Saturday. No tsunami warnings were posted.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the magnitude 6.0 quake struck off the island’s southern coast at 2:00 p.m. local time (0700 GMT). It was centered 45 kilometers (28 miles) south of Sumberpucung town of Malang District in East Java province, at a depth of 82 kilometers (51 miles).
Rahmat Triyono, the head of Indonesia’s earthquake and tsunami center, said in a statement the undersea tremblor did not have the potential to cause a tsunami. Still, he urged people to stay away from slopes of soil or rocks that have the potential for landslides.
Also read: Indonesia landslides death toll rises to 126, dozens missing
This was the second deadly disaster to hit Indonesia this week, after a severe downpour on Sunday triggered by Tropical Cyclone Seroja killed at least 174 people and left 48 still missing while damaging thousands of houses. Some victims were buried in either mudslides or solidified lava from a volcanic eruption in November, while others were swept away by flash flooding.
Saturday’s quake caused falling rocks to kill a woman on a motorcycle and badly injured her husband in East Java’s Lumajang district, said Raditya Jati, spokesperson for the National Disaster Mitigation Agency.
Also read: Bangladesh mourns loss of lives due to flash floods in Indonesia, Timor-Leste
He said dozens of homes were damaged across the district, and rescuers had retrieved two bodies from under the rubble in Kali Uling village. Two people were also confirmed killed in an area bordering Lumajang and Malang districts, while one person found dead under rubble in Malang.
Television reports showed people running in panic from malls and buildings in several cities in East Java province.
Indonesia’s search and rescue agency released videos and photos of damaged houses and buildings, including a ceiling at a hospital in Blitar, a city neighboring Malang. Authorities were still collecting information about the full scale of casualties and damage in the affected areas.
Also read: Indonesia landslides, floods kill 55 people; dozens missing
Indonesia, a vast archipelago of 270 million people, is frequently struck by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis because of its location on the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific Basin.
In January, a magnitude 6.2 earthquake killed at least 105 people and injured nearly 6,500, while more than 92,000 displaced, after striking Mamuju and Majene districts in West Sulawesi province.