Earthquake toll over 80

India 68; as more bodies are found in Sikkim

News Updates! Around 68people have died in India, 50 of them in Sikkim, in the devastating earthquake which measured a forceful 6.8 on the Richter scale. Most of the deaths have been reported in north Sikkim.

The quake hit parts of North India at around 6 pm on Sunday and was centred on the Sikkim-Nepal border, 64 kilometres north-west of Gangtok. Casualties have also been reported from neighbouring Bihar and West Bengal.

At least 20 people have also died in Nepal and Tibet. India's Home Secretary RK Singh has said the death toll may rise further.

''The number of deaths reported by the state government of Sikkim is 50. This may increase further as rescue and relief teams reach into the interiors. The number of deaths in West Bengal are reported to be 12 and in Bihar 6.''

Nearly 36 hours after the region's worst earthquake in 60 years, rescue operations remain the biggest challenge - rain and landslides are severely hampering the efforts; bad weather is not allowing helicopters to land, Indian Air Force planes are air-dropping food. There was a fresh landslide in Gerkhola, located 30 kms from the Sikkim border. This landslide has now been cleared.

Meanwhile, helicopters with Quick Reaction Teams have landed in Mangan, Sikkim - the epicentre of the quake. The helicopters are carrying two medical teams with doctors and paramedics. Getting to Mangan is still a challenge, though, as many roads are closed due to the bad weather. Other problems are also playing a part. There have so far been 10-12 landslides between Mangan and Filong.

A road to Mangan has been opened by the army. Approximately 200 Army troops including medical teams are now in Mangan. This is not the highway though but an alternate route that has been opened by the army

More than 6,000 Army jawans are being used to provide assistance to those affected. Around 2,000 people have taken shelter at Army camps.

Among the toughest parts of the recovery is the operation to re-open National Highway 31A which connects Sikkim to the rest of the country. It is needed to bring in food and other supplies.

There are other challenges facing the state. Sikkim's Chief Minister Pawan Chamling cannot use his office. Water and power supply remain erratic; phone towers have been hit, making communication tough. In the capital Gangtok, more than 100,000 buildings have been severely damaged. Government offices and hospitals have been left unusable.

Mamata Banerjee was scheduled to visit Gangtok today but now her trip stands cancelled. Before her visit the West Bengal Chief Minister said her priority was to ensure that National Highways 31A and 55, damaged by landslides, were repaired urgently so that food and other supplies could be transported more easily.

Dave Lindahl Scam

Sikkim Earthquake

Sikkim earthquake toll climbs to 66.

Earthquake News Updates: Sikkim earthquake toll climbs to 66, rescue work hampered by landslides.

Landslides and inclement weather today hampered rescue operations in quake-hit Sikkim as the death toll in the 6.8 magnitude tremblor mounted to 66, including 39 in the Himalayan state.

The earthquake, which struck last evening, left a trail of devastation damaging roads, buildings and other structures, uprooting mobile phone towers and snapping communication and power lines. After shocks made people panic in several areas forcing them to spend the night outdoors.

West and South districts in Sikkim remained inaccessible to the Army due to landslides and inclement weather and rescuers were facing an uphill task to reach these areas, Major General S L Narasimhan, GOC 17 Mountain Division told reporters here.

Sikkim accounted for 39 deaths alone, with most casualties taking place in the North District and in towns and villages like Rangpo, Dikchu, Singtam and Chungthang located along the course of Teesta river, officials in the district control room said.

Eight persons travelling in a bus of Teesta Urja Limited in North District are presumed dead as their vehicle got stuck under debris caused by a landslide, Narasimhan said. This, however, has not been incorporated in the official figure of those killed.

The overnight toll climbed to 66 which included six deaths in West Bengal and seven each in Bihar, Nepal and Tibet, official reports said. Over a hundred people have been injured.

Narasimhan said army has launched 'Operation Madad' in Gangtok and other areas by deploying over 2,500 troops."We are also sending teams to Darjeeling and Kalimpong (in West Bengal)," he said.

A group of 14 tourists were rescued by the army from north Sikkim last night, Narasimhan said.

In Delhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced Rs two lakh as ex-gratia to next of kin of those killed in the earthquake and Rs one lakh each for those seriously injured.

David Lindahl

Burma earthquake

More than 60 peoples have killed in burma earthquake.

Earthquake News Updates! More than 60 people have died in a magnitude-6.8 earthquake in Burma which struck near the Lao and Thai borders.

It happened at 1355 GMT on Thursday and was centred about 70 miles (110 km) from the northern Thai city of Chiang Rai, the US Geological Survey said.

It was felt 800km to the south in the Thai capital Bangkok, and in the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi.

The quake was shallow, at a depth of 6.2 miles (10km). There are fears the casualties could be much higher.

State radio in Burma said that 65 people had been killed and 111 injured in the quake.

It said that 244 houses, 14 Buddhist monasteries and nine government buildings were damaged.

The town of Tachileik and surrounding villages in Burma's Shan state appear to have borne the brunt of the earthquake.

Cracks are visible in roads and rice fields have been wrecked by rising silt and water, reports say.

The state-controlled New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported that 15 houses collapsed in the town of Tarlay.

Roads, bridges, hospitals and other buildings have been at least partly damaged.

"The military, police and local authorities are trying to find some people injured in those affected areas but the roads are still closed," he said.

The districts around Kengtung and Tachileik are hilly and remote but an active border trade is carried out between many scattered communities.

The BBC's Rachel Harvey in Bangkok says Burma is ill prepared to deal with natural disasters.

Communication systems and infrastructure are poor and the military government tends to limit the flow of information.

It is likely to take some time before a clear picture of the the disaster emerges, our correspondent says.
Collapsing wall

On the Thai side of the border, paddy fields and temples from Chaengsaen to Mae Sai have been damaged.

In Chiang Rai in northern Thailand, scores of people have been injured and buildings affected.

"We are worried that the area might be hit with stronger quakes. There was another quake at 7am," said Somsri Meethong of the Mae Sai District office, referring to an aftershock.

"I had to run again like last night. What we have seen on TV about Japan added to our fear."

One woman in Thailand's Chiang Rai province, close to the epicentre, was killed when a wall collapsed.

In neighbouring Laos, little damage and no casualties have been reported.

The head of the disaster preparedness for the Red Cross there, Bountheun Menevilay, said the quake was felt strongly in the thinly populated border provinces of Luang Namtha and Bokeo.

Earlier reports suggested there had been two strong earthquakes moments apart in the same area, but the USGS later clarified that there had been just one quake.

Earlier this month, on 11 March, a 5.4 magnitude earthquake struck just north of this area, 225km (140 miles) southwest of Dali in Yunnan, southern China.

That was the same day as the huge 9.0 magnitude quake and tsunami hit Japan; however, Japan is on a different tectonic plate.

Myanmar earthquake

Death toll of Myanmar's earthquake rises to 74, 111 people injured

Earthquake News Updates! The death toll of Myanmar's Thursday earthquake has increased to 74 with the injured remaining at 111 as of Friday 2:30 p.m. local time, according to an official statement.

A total of 390 residential houses, 14 monasteries and nine government department buildings were destroyed in the mainly affected areas of Tarlay, Naryaung and Monglin. Of them, Monglin was badly ruined in terms of residential houses with 128.

Relief measures are being taken by the state's Natural Disaster Preparedness Committee and local Red Cross as rescue teams are rushing to the stricken areas.

The quake also triggered landslides and collapsed buildings in Myanmar's northeastern Tachileik and Tarpin, Shan states.

A strong earthquake measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale jolted Loimwe, 56 kilometers southeast of Kengtung in northeastern Myanmar on Thursday night at 20:29:30 hours local time (1369 GMT).

The quake's epicenter, only 10 kilometers deep, struck the hills of Myanmar bordering Thailand and Laos.

The quake was also felt in Vietnam, Thailand, Laos and China.

According to reports from the Laos, the 7.0-magnitude earthquake in Myanmar shook Laos' northern province of Bokeo and Luang Namtha on Thursday night, but no casualties have yet been reported.

According to a statement on Friday from Laos' Department of Meteorology and Hydrology at Water Resources and Environment Administration, people living in Bokeo and Luang Namtha provinces in the north of the country felt the quake, but no damage or injuries have been report from the sparsely populated region.

Meanwhile, the Irrigation department of Thailand on Friday confirmed that the earthquakes in Myanmar had not caused damage to any major dams in the northern region of Thailand.

"The department ordered a structural inspection of the dams in the northern provinces of Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai and found that all dams were undamaged by the quake," Bangkok Post online quoted Chalit Damrongsak, the department's irector-general, as saying.

There are no cracks at all in the dams, he said.

Chalit said he had ordered irrigation officials nationwide to regularly make safety checks of dams under their supervision.

The powerful 7-magnitude earthquake on Thursday night sent shock waves that shook buildings in many parts of Thailand and rattled the nerves of highrise residents in Bangkok.

People living near the dams were worried their structural integrity might have been affected and sought reassurance, Thai media reported.

In Thailand, a 55-year-old woman was killed Thursday in the quake in northern Chiang Rai province.

Some 60 aftershocks have been recorded in northern Chiangmai province since the deadly earthquake, according to Thai Meteorological Department's Seismological Bureau.

An officer from Seismological Bureau disclosed that the quake in Myanmar was followed by 56 aftershocks below 5.0 magnitude as well as six aftershocks over 5.0 magnitude.

The aftershocks are expected to continue for a week with different magnitudes ranging from 3.0 to 5.0, but no greater than 6.0 magnitude quake is expected, the seismological bureau said.

According to Vietnam News Agency, buildings in Hanoi shook when the earthquake happened, which caused panic among residents of apartment blocks.

Earthquake struck off Tokyo - Japan

Japan earthquake: 7.2 tremor shakes Tokyo buildings

An earthquake of 7.2 magnitude has struck off the coast of Japan, shaking buildings in the capital, Tokyo, and triggering a small tsunami.

The tremor was centred 168km (104 miles) from the east coast, north-east of Tokyo.

A 60cm (24in) tsunami reached the coastal town of Ofunato, with other towns reporting smaller waves shortly after the quake hit at 1145 (0245 GMT).

There are so far no reports of damage or injuries.

Japan is well-prepared for quakes which often hit the seismically active area.

An aftershock measuring 6.3 magnitude struck after the main quake, Japan's meteorological agency said, followed by a series of smaller aftershocks.

Some train services in the area were temporarily halted after the quake, but they were restarted shortly after noon.

Tohoku Electric Power said its Onagawa nuclear plant was operating normally after the quake and Tokyo Electric Power also said its power supplies were unaffected.

Earthquake in Papua New Guinea

Powerful earthquake hits Papua New Guinea.

Earthquake News Updates! A powerful earthquake struck waters off Papua New Guinea early Thursday. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage and no threat of a widespread, destructive tsunami.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake had a preliminary magnitude of 6.9 and struck 20 miles (32 kilometers) beneath the ocean floor.

It hit near the island province of New Britain, 295 miles (470 kilometers) northeast of the national capital Port Moresby. Residents contacted by phone said they could not even feel the tremor.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a statement saying there was no threat of a widespread, destructive tsunami.

Sumatra - Indonesia Earthquake death rate increases

At least 40 dead, 380 missing after Indonesia quake.

Sumatra News Updates! At least 40 people were killed and 380 others were left missing after 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck off Sumatra on Monday, Indonesian officials said Tuesday.

The numbers were in flux because information was trickling in from remote parts of Indonesia, a country made up of myriad islands.

Large waves also were keeping rescue crews from reaching the disaster zone, Hendri Dori Satoko, head of the Mentawai Islands parliament, said on local television.

More than 100 of those missing were presumed aboard a tourist ship that lost contact, said Surya of the West Sumatran disaster management board.

"The local residents in the Mentawai Islands reported seeing a tsunami as high as 3 meters [that] reached as far as 600 meters inland," said Mujiharto, of the Indonesian health ministry.

The quake struck at 9:42 p.m. Monday. A tsunami warning was triggered shortly after, but was lifted about two hours later.

"It is possible that a small tsunami has occurred, especially in the islands. We, however, don't have an official report at the moment," said Fauzi, the head of Indonesia's meteorological and geophysics department.

Eight to 10 of those aboard the missing were thought to be Australians.

"The Australian Embassy in Jakarta is continuing its efforts to contact the Australian captain of a tourist boat, the MV Southern Cross, which is understood to have been in the affected area when the earthquake occurred," said Lisa Bateman, a spokeswoman for Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

"The embassy's efforts to contact the captain have been hampered by poor telephone coverage in the area and by the fact that the boat is reportedly not equipped with a satellite phone," she said.

Indonesia's sea security coordinator said that it had not received any distress calls from boats in the area, she added.

The epicenter of the quake was 240 kilometers (149 miles) south of Padang, at a depth of 20.6 kilometers (12.8 miles), according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The magnitude was revised upward from a preliminary magnitude of 7.5.

The city of Padang and the Mentawai Islands, a popular surfing destination, are located at the meeting of two tectonic plates, making them vulnerable to earthquakes and tsunamis.

Earthquake in Indonesia: Tsunami Nearby Sumatra

Earthquake hits Indonesia, tsunami warning lifted nearby Sumatra.

Earthquake News Updates! A major earthquake of magnitude 7.7 struck the western coast of Sumatra (Indonesia) some hours ago and as a result of it, a tsunami of about 3 meter hit the nearby residents. There is however no casualties reported yet. The earthquake struck at about 14:42 GMT (21.42 Indonesian time).

The epicenter of the quake was located nearby the Mentawai Islands which is about 240 Km south of Padang (West Sumatra) and at about 20 kilometers deep. The United States Geological Survey says that the earthquake was a shallow one. Following the earthquake, Indonesia’s seismological agency immediately issues a tsunami alert for all nearby coastlines.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center also issued a tsunami watch, which was canceled about an hour later. While officials initially said no tsunami had been generated, officials later said the huge earthquake had generated a significant tsunami that struck nearby areas. And while the tsunami was in most locations relatively small, the wave was large enough to travel hundreds of kilometers (miles) from the earthquake epicenter.

According to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, small tsunamis were also recorded in Tanahbalah, Padang and Enggano in Indonesia. Fortunately, there were no reports of casualties from both the tsunami as well as the earthquake in any of these regions.

Earthquake in China

Earthquake in China injures 11, damages houses.

At least 12 people were injured and hundreds of houses damaged when a moderate earthquake struck southwestern China today.

The earthquake, measuring 4.0 on the Richter scale, shook Ningnan county, Sichuan province, and neighbouring Qiaojia county of Yunnan Province, local authorities said.

"The earthquake left at least 11 people injured and damaged 300 to 400 houses in Qiaojia County," said Fang Zonghui, head of the county, state run Xinhua news agency reported.

Nobody was reported dead or missing.

The epicentre of the quake was located at 27.1 degrees north latitude and 102.9 degrees longitude, according to Sichuan's earthquake network centre.

In April this year, over 2800 people were killed and thousands injured in a massive earthquake in China's southern Qinghai province.

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Alaska Earth Quake

5.8 magnitude quake hits off coast of Alaska.

An earthquake measuring 5.8 magnitude hit off the coast of U.S. state Alaska on Sunday, the U. S. Geological Survey (USGS) reported.

The USGS first put the magnitude at 6.2, then revised it to 5.8.

According to the USGS, Sunday's quake occurred at 11:48 a.m. local time in the Aleutian Islands, the same region which was rocked by a 6.7-magnitude temblor Saturday evening.

The 6.7-magnitude strong quake was followed by two moderate aftershocks early Sunday morning measuring 4.9 and 4.5 magnitude.

No tsunami warning was issued after the 6.7-magnitude quake.