Tropical Storm Matthew

TUXTLA GUTIERREZ, Mexico: A series of mudslides in southern Mexico killed 36 people this week, officials said Thursday in raising the official toll as a punishing rainy season continued to sow misery.


The newly confirmed fatalities brought to 131 the number of weather-related deaths during Mexico's rainy season, which began in May and the government has classified as the worst on record.

More than 810,000 have lost their homes, and the flooding and mudslides have caused damage topping four billion dollars.

The rain has flooded cities, towns and valleys, destroyed thousands of homes, damaged historic sites and inundated broad stretches of farmland.

Indonesia cancels tsunami alert after major quake

JAKARTA - Indonesia on Thursday cancelled a tsunami alert issued after a major quake struck off West Papua, the national geophysics agency said.

The Indonesian Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency measured the earthquake at 7.4 while the US Geological Survey recorded two closely spaced quakes measuring 6.6 and 7.2.

"The tsunami alert has been lifted and also the quake had no potential for destruction but it was felt in several areas," agency technical head Suharjono told AFP.

Seven dead, 100 missing as landslide buries homes in Mexico

OAXACA, Mexico: At least seven people were killed and 100 were missing and feared dead after a rain-soaked Mexican hillside collapsed before dawn on Tuesday, burying homes and entombing residents while they slept, authorities said.

6.1 magnitude earthquake hits southern Iran

TEHRAN: A powerful earthquake rocked southern Iran on Monday, Iranian and US seismologists said, with media reporting one person was killed and three others injured.

One person was killed and three others injured in the earthquake," ISNA news agency reported, quoting the province's head of relief operations Amir Taghizadeh.

Strong quake strikes eastern Indonesia

JAKARTA - A strong, 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck Sunday off Indonesia's eastern Aru Islands, the US Geological Survey said.

Tropical storm threatens flooded Central America

GUATEMALA CITY: At least 14 people were killed by flooding and landslides from heavy rain across the Caribbean basin, as Tropical Storm Matthew lashed water-logged Central America Saturday.

Central America alone is in the mid of one of the most intense rainy seasons in the past 60 years. Flooding and landslides have killed more than 300 people, left tens of thousands homeless and caused billions of dollars in damage in recent months, officials said.

Tropical storm Lisa strengthens to hurricane

WASHINGTON, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- Tropical Storm Lisa has rapidly strengthened into the seventh hurricane of the Atlantic season, but without threat to land, U.S. weather authorities reported on Friday.

Indian floods force evacuation of 2 million

LUCKNOW - Raging floodwaters triggered by heavy rain in northern India have killed at least 17 people, washed away thousands of homes and forced the evacuation of about 2 million people in a 24-hour period.

A large swathe of Uttar Pradesh state has been covered by floodwaters spilling over the banks of several rivers that criss-cross the region, state spokesman Diwakar Tripathi said yesterday.

Mexico struck by Tropical Storm Georgette

MEXICO CITY, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- Tropical Storm Georgette, which formed in the Pacific earlier Tuesday, struck northern Mexican state Baja California, U.S. government agency the National Hurricane Centre (NHC) said on its website.

Typhoon Fanapi roars into Taiwan

FUZHOU - The most powerful typhoon to hit China in two years landed in Taiwan on Sunday, injuring at least 45 people, grounding flights and cutting power to tens of thousands of homes.

Typhoon Fanapi, the first major storm to strike the island this year, was forecast to slam into mainland coastal provinces early Monday, the national weather forecaster said.

Flood leaves 13 dead, 34 missing in S China

GUANGZHOU - Flooding has killed at least 13 people and left 34 missing in South China's Guangdong province on Tuesday, local authorities said.

Heavy rains caused by typhoon Fanapi battered many parts of Guangdong Tuesday.
Further, a dam at the Xinyi Yinyan Tin Mine, owned by Zijin Mining Group Co. in Qianbai Township of Xinyi City, collapsed after being hit by a landslide, leaving five dead, six missing and seven injured, Xinxi city government officials said.

Landslides and floods also killed three, buried 12 and left three others missing in Rupingtang Township, it said.

The disasters toppled 346 houses and also has caused economic losses of 460 million yuan ($68.5 million) in Xinyi.

In Yangchun City, flooding is reported to have killed three, left eight missing and forced the evacuation of 18,930 villagers. .

5.2-magnitude earthquake jolts east Taiwan

TAIPEI, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- An earthquake measuring 5.2 on the Richter scale struck the sea areas near Taiwan's Hualien at 11:17 a.m. local time Monday, Taiwan's weather bureau said in a statement on its website.

NEW YORK, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- A violent tornado-like storm swept through New York City Thursday evening, uprooting trees, damaging cars and causing at least one fatality and widespread property damage.

Power giant Con Edison reported 27,000 households without power in the five boroughs including 21,000 in Queens and 6,000 in Staten Island. A total of 40,000 New Jersey households were without power.

Landslides hit India, 14 dead

DEHRADUN - AT LEAST 14 people in northern India were killed on Saturday by landslides caused by heavy monsoon rains, a senior district official said.

Five people died in the district of Almora when their house collapsed due to a landslide.

Five other people died in Nainital district and four others were killed in Haridwar. -- AFP

Moderate quake rocks North Sulawesi, Indonesia

JAKARTA, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- A moderate earthquake measuring 5. 5 on the Richter scale struck off North Sulawesi in Indonesia on Saturday, the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency said.

Magnitude-6.3 earthquake jolts north Pakistan, Afghanistan

ISLAMABAD, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- A magnitude-6.3 earthquake struck north Pakistan late Friday night, said the country's meteorology office.

The tremor was felt in Islamabad, Lahore, Peshawar and other cities in the northwest Khyber-Paktunkwa province and the east Punjab province, local residents said.

The quake lasted 15 seconds and some people fled homes, they added.

There were no immediate reports of casualty or damage.

Hurricane Karl makes landfall in Eastern Mexico

MEXICO CITY, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- Hurricane Karl, a category three storm, is now coming onshore in Chachalacas, a small coastal town to the north Veracruz City, the main port in the state of Veracruz, a state forecasting agency said Friday.

"It is a category three hurricane, coming onshore north of the port of Veracruz in Chachalacas," Eduardo Sancez, forecaster for the National Meteorology Service (SMN), told Xinhua by telephone.

5.9-magnitude quake hits Mexico's Islas Marias, no casualties reported

MEXICO CITY, Sept. 14 (Xinhua) -- An earthquake measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale jolted the Islas Marias in Mexico's Pacific coast state of Nayarit on Tuesday, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

There is no immediate report of injures or damage, said local authorities.

Miami, Florida (CNN) -- The Atlantic gained a second hurricane overnight as Tropical Storm Julia strengthened into a Category 1 storm, the National Hurricane Center reported.
Julia joins Hurricane Igor, which weakened early Tuesday, but still maintained its status as a powerful Category 4 storm as it churned far from land.

Thousands evacuated in Indian capital due to flood threat from Yamuna river

NEW DELHI, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) -- Local authorities in the Indian capital have evacuated thousands of people safe areas and shut down a steel bridge over the Yamuna river in the capital as the river's water level continued to rise Saturday, said officials.

Meanwhile, the neighboring state of Haryana, which has been hit by flood in the monsoon season, has been releasing water into the river upstream, causing the water level in Yamuna to rise to 206. 66 meters Saturday morning, or two meters above the danger mark.

Floods, landslides kill 5 in S. Philippines

COTABATO, Philippines, Sept. 14 (Xinhua) -- Flood-triggered landslides in a southern Philippine city have already killed five people, local disaster authorities said on Tuesday.

Hundreds of families were affected by flood and a tornado triggered by heavy downpour on Monday night in the city of Koronadal in southern Philippines, said department of social welfare and development director Zorahayda Taha.

At least 500 people were forced to abandon their homes as flood waters engulfed low lying villages in the southern city of Koronadal.

UN: 24 dead, 70,000 homeless in Chad flooding

(CNN) -- Some 70,000 people have been left homeless by flooding triggered by heavy rains in the central African nation of Chad, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said Sunday.

Twenty-four people have been killed and 29 others injured, said Ute Kollies, head of the office's branch in Chad. Forty-six others have died from cholera that broke out in the wake of the floods. Some 700 people are suffering from cholera, she said.

Wildfire flares in Southern California

(CNN) -- Crews battled a 2,000-acre wildfire in Southern California's Kern County Monday, fire and forestry officials said.

"Fire crews will be working through the night attempting to contain the fire," the U.S. Forest Service and Kern Country Fire Department said in a joint statement late Sunday. "Weather conditions and rugged terrain continue to be a factor in suppression efforts."

Deep cracks appear in north China farmland

HOHHOT, Inner Mongolia - Cracks as deep as 10 meters have continued opening up in the middle of alfalfa fields in Chifeng city, North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region, since July, as farmers delay harvesting for fear of injury.

Land resources and hydrological experts are researching the cause, but have not announced their findings yet.

'Manhattan' ice island splits in two

(CNN) -- A massive ice island four times the size of Manhattan that broke off the Petermann Glacier early last month has split in two.
Satellite images show that the ice island broke in two after repeatedly smashing into Joe Island, a small rocky outcrop in the Nares Strait, west of Greenland.

Torrential rain leaves 16 dead, 66 missing in SW China's Sichuan

CHENGDU, Aug. 20 (Xinhua) -- Sixteen people have been killed and 66 others are still missing in rain-triggered floods and landslides in southwest China's Sichuan Province over the past week, a local official said Friday.

Downpours have hit 67 counties in 14 cities and prefectures since Aug. 13, affecting 5.76 million people, said Yan Weidong, director of the Provincial Emergence Response Office.

About 3,600 homes have collapsed, 25,000 others have been damaged, and 55,000 hectares of crops have been flooded, he said. Direct economic loss was estimated at 6.89 billion yuan (1.02 billion U.S. dollars).

5.0 magnitude earthquake hits New Zealand lower North Island

WELLINGTON, Aug. 25 (Xinhua) -- An earthquake measuring 5 on the Richter scale struck New Zealand's lower North Island on Wednesday morning and there were no immediate reports of any damage or injuries.

2 killed, 40 injured in 5.9-magnitude earthquake in northern Iran

TEHRAN, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- A magnitude-5.9 earthquake that hit the city of Damghan in Iran's northern Semnan province at 1923 GMT Friday night has killed 2 people and injured 40 others, state TV IRINN reported.

Magnitude-4.8 earthquake hits southwest China, 14 injured

KUNMING, Aug. 29 (Xinhua) -- At least 14 people were injured and more than 7,300 houses damaged in an earthquake that jolted Yunnan and Sichuan provinces in southwest China Sunday.

Magnitude 4.1 earthquake rattles California border area

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 29 (Xinhua) -- A magnitude-4.1 earthquake hit the California border area at 8:53 a.m. (0353 GMT) about 33 miles (about 53 km) south of Mexicali, the U.S. Geological Survey reported on Sunday. There's no immediate report of injuries and property damage.

5.0-magnitude quake hits Papua New Guinea

HONG KONG, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- An earthquake measuring 5.0 on the Richter scale jolted eastern New Guinea Reg, Papua New Guinea, at 0642 GMT on Friday, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

Magnitude-5.3 quake rocks sea near Taiwan's Ilan

BEIJING, Aug. 30 (Xinhua) -- An earthquake measuring 5.3 on the Richter Scale hit the sea near Ilan County in northeast Taiwan at 4:45 p.m. Beijing Time Monday, according to the China Earthquake Networks Center.

Moderate earthquake jolts Japan's northeast

TOKYO, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.2 hit Japan's northeast region at 11: 30 a.m. Tuesday, said the Japan Meteorological Agency.

There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties. No tsunami warning has been issued.

6.1 magnitude earthquake strikes off Tonga

WELLINGTON, Sept. 5 (Xinhua) -- An earthquake measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale struck off the south Pacific kingdom of Tonga on Saturday evening, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

There were no reports of casualties or damages.

Quake strikes off Sumatra, Indonesia

JAKARTA, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- A shallow moderate earthquake with magnitude of 5.9 rocked Sumatra Island of Indonesia on Tuesday morning, the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency said here.

The quake struck at 07:57 a.m. Jakarta time (0057 GMT) with epicenter at 211 km southwest Krui of Lampung province and with the depth at 10 km under sea bed, the agency said.

6.2-magnitude earthquake hits Fiji region

HONG KONG, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- A 6.2-magnitude quake occurred Fiji region at 1613 GMT on Tuesday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Moderate quake hits China, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan border

BEIJING, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- A magnitude-5.6 earthquake hits the border between China, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan Tuesday night, according to the national seismological network of China.

The quake struck at 11:41 p.m. with its epicenter located at 39.5 degrees north latitude and 73.8 degrees east longitude, and at a depth of seven kilometers.

Typhoon Dianmu fatally hit S Korea

SEOUL, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- A powerful typhoon accompanied by heavy rain has left three people dead, flooded hundreds of homes and buildings and grounded dozens of flights in South Korea, the disaster control agency said Wednesday.

It is the first time in nine years that torrential rain-related deaths have been reported in Seoul.

Typhoon Kompasu to hit S Korea

SEOUL, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- A typhoon is expected to directly hit South Korea, with heavy rains and strong winds forecast for Wednesday night and Thursday, as it moves northward toward Jeju Island on Wednesday.

FUZHOU, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- Tropical storm Lionrock, the eighth of this year, made landfall on east China's Fujian Province early Thursday morning, local meteorologists said.

The storm landed at Gulei Town of Zhangpu County at around 6:50 a.m. with a speed of 82.8 km per hour near its center.

Fujian in disorder after Meranti makes landfall

FUZHOU, Sept. 10 (Xinhua) -- Meranti, the 10th typhoon to hit China this year, made landfall at Shishi City in the southeastern Chinese province of Fujian at 3:30 a.m. Friday packing winds of up to 35 meters per second at its center, according to provincial flood control authorities.

A total of 145,300 people in Fujian were evacuated to avoid rain- and wind-triggered accidents. Xinhua reported.

Floods hit India's Low-lying areas

A resident wades through rising flood waters as he retrieves his belongings from his room at a Hindu temple on the flooded banks of the River Yamuna in New Delhi.

The water level in the river has risen 1 metre above the danger mark, prompting the authorities to evacuate hundreds of people living in the low-lying areas. AP

Sumatran volcano eruption threatens aviation

TANAH KARO (Indonesia): An Indonesian volcano that had been dormant for more than four centuries erupted for the second day in a row Monday, spewing out towering clouds of ash and forcing the evacuation of more than 21,000 people.

29 dead after tornado, storm hit China

BEIJING (AP) — A tornado and strong winds swept through southwestern China early Thursday, killing at least 29 people and injuring nearly 200, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said.
More than 70,000 people were relocated after torrential wind, rain and hail lashed the city of Chongqing overnight, the ministry said on its website. One person remains missing and 190 have been hurt, it said.

Thousands of buildings have been damaged in the hardest hit counties of Liangping and Dianjiang, disaster relief officials said, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.

In Dianjiang, storms destroyed 980 residential buildings and damaged more than 10,000. The damage was estimated at more than $17.6 million, a county government spokesman said.


Posted 5/6/2010 12:25 PM
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

7.4-magnitude earthquake hits New Zealand's South Islan

WELLINGTON, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand' South Island was shaken by a major earthquake measuring 7.4 on the Richter scale on Saturday.
There were no immediate reports of injures, but widespread damage and power blackouts were reported.

28 June, South China – Mass flooding in China has affected some 30 million people across 10 provinces and regions of South China with more heavy rains predicted. Hardest hit provinces are Hunan, Fujian and Jiangxi.
Estimated economic loss is at US$6.3billion. The floods have killed 211 people, left 119 others missing and over 2.4 million people evacuated to safety as of 4pm of 23 June, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

Major flood on China-North Korea border

51,000 evacuated in northeast after Yalu River breaks its banks

BEIJING — Swelled by torrential rains, the Yalu River that marks the Chinese-North Korean border breached its banks on both sides Saturday, inundating communities and forcing the evacuation of more than 50,000 people in China.
Flood waters punctured a dike between the river and an economic development zone in a low-lying part of the Chinese port city of Dandong. The rain and flooding cut rail service out of the city, destroyed more than 200 homes and left at least three people missing, in addition to the 51,000 evacuated to higher ground, local officials said.
North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency said that about a foot of rain had fallen since midnight and the Yalu — or Amnok as its known in Korean — swamped homes, public buildings and farmland in more than five villages near Sinuiju, the city opposite Dandong.
The brief report described Sinuiju and the surrounding area as having been "severely affected" by the flooding and said officials, the military and ordinary civilians were involved in rescue work.

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Pakistan Flood

The 2010 Pakistan floods began in July 2010 following heavy monsoon rains in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan regions of Pakistan. Present estimates indicate that over two thousand people [2] have died and over a million homes have been destroyed since the flooding began.[3] The United Nations estimates that more than 21 million[4] people are injured or homeless[5][6] as a result of the flooding,[5][6] exceeding the combined total of individuals affected by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the 2005 Kashmir earthquake and the 2010 Haiti earthquake. However, the death count in each of those three disasters was significantly higher than the number of people killed so far in the floods.[6] At one point, approximately one-fifth of Pakistan's total land area was underwater due to the flooding.[

HK Hit By Record 13,000 Lightning Strikes in One Hour

05:55 AM Sep 10, 2010
Record lightning strikes hit Hong Kong yesterday in its most violent electrical storm, which caused flooding and left several people trapped in lifts.

The Hong Kong Observatory reported 13,102 bolts of lightning across the city in the hour after midnight - the most since such data was first collected in 2005.

More than 40mm of rain an hour was recorded across the territory during the storm, which raged from 9pm on Wednesday to 4am yesterday. The weather was linked to Tropical Storm Meranti.

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