Earthquakes

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — A strong earthquake rocked southern Iran on Wednesday, sending tremors across the Persian Gulf and shaking the skyscrapers of Dubai. Iranian state television reported that four persons were killed and 26 others were injured. The country's seismological center said a magnitude 6 quake struck at 3:30 p.m., with the epicenter about 850 miles south of the capital Tehran, in the region of Bandar Abbas. Bandar Abbas is also one of Iran's main ports and home to a large oil refinery that primarily serves the domestic market. The city's residents, reached by telephone, said the quake caused panic and prompted many to run to the parks.

TOKYO (AP) — A magnitude 7 earthquake hit northern Japan on Thursday morning, triggering a small tsunami that apparently caused no damage, Japan's Meteorological Agency said. There were no reports of injuries. The agency said the quake hit at 9:21 a.m. local time off the eastern coast Hokkaido, Japan's northernmost island at a depth of about 12 miles. A 4-inch tsunami rippled at the shore about 35 minutes after the quake. Japan is one of the world's most earthquake-prone countries, and experts believe Tokyo has a 90% chance of being hit by a major quake over the next 50 years.

Earthquakes (Matt. 24)

BEIJING (AP) — Rescuers appealed for temporary housing and tents Monday after a weekend earthquake in southwest China killed at least 33 people, injured hundreds and left tens of thousands of homes in ruins. The temblor Saturday in Sichuan province, which the U.S. Geological Survey measured at magnitude 5.7, struck along the same fault line as a May 12 earthquake that killed nearly 70,000. The temblor destroyed 258,000 homes, damaged major bridges and cracked three reservoirs, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

Earthquakes

BEIJING (AP) — A 6.1 magnitude earthquake struck China's southwestern Sichuan province Saturday, killing three people, state media said. Residents of Kunming, the capital of neighboring Yunnan province, felt a strong shock from the earthquake, with many running into the streets despite falling rain. A duty officer at the State Seismology Bureau said the quake occurred in a mountainous area. On May 12, a 7.9 magnitude earthquake in northern Sichuan killed nearly 70,000 people and left 5 million homeless. The region has been hit by scores of aftershocks, keeping people there on edge.

Earthquakes

TOKYO (AP) — A mild earthquake shook Tokyo and its vicinity Friday, leaving two people injured and temporarily halting some trains. Japan's Meteorological Agency said the earthquake struck the Tama area of western Tokyo at 1 p.m., with a preliminary magnitude of 4.5. The agency said there was no danger of a tsunami from the quake, which was centered at a depth of about 25 miles. Two people were injured at home and taken to nearby hospitals for treatment, but they were not severely hurt, said Tokyo Fire Department official Yoshikazu Ikawa. A 32-year-old woman was hurt when she lost her balance and fell onto a desk, while a 79-year-old man broke his hip when he fell from a chair in a panic, Ikawa said. The earthquake was felt throughout Tokyo and nearby cities. Several trains were halted for safety checks, but services were restored shortly later.

Earthquakes (Matt. 24)

CHINO HILLS, California (AP) — Despite shaking a large swath of Southern California, a magnitude-5.4 earthquake was not the "Big One" that scientists have long feared. Still, it rattled nerves, causing people to vow to step up their emergency preparations. The quake, which rocked the region from Los Angeles to San Diego on Tuesday, caused only limited damage and minor injuries, and served as a reminder of the seismic danger below sprawling freeways and subdivisions. To prepare for the "Big One," scientists and emergency planners in the fall will hold what is billed as the largest earthquake drill in the United States. It will be based on a hypothetical magnitude-7.8 temblor. Earlier this year, scientists calculated that California faces a 99.7% chance of a magnitude-6.7 quake or larger in the next 30 years.

Earthquakes Increasing

TOKYO (AP) — A Japanese woman Tuesday became the first victim of a powerful earthquake that hit northern Japan last week when she died of injuries from the quake, local media said. The 64-year-old woman had suffered brain hemorrhaging after she fell from her hospital bed in the city of Iwaki during the earthquake, according to Japanese media reports. The earthquake, which had a magnitude of 6.8, struck early Thursday near the coast of Iwate, 280 miles northeast of Tokyo. Iwaki is in nearby Fukushima Prefecture. The quake injured at least 99 people, triggered landslides and cut power to thousands of homes.

• JJ Commentary: The frequency of earthquakes has been increasing, a sign of the times that Jesus told us to watch for in Matthew 24:7

Earthquakes

A magnitude-7.2 earthquake ripped across mountains and rice fields in northern Japan on Saturday, killing at least six people dead as it sheared off hillsides, jolted buildings and shook nuclear power plants. At least eight people were missing. Military helicopters swarmed the quake zone 250 miles north of Tokyo, ferrying in supplies and flying injured to hospitals. Officials said at least 144 people were injured and landslides trapped 100 bathers at a hot spring resort. Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda said the government was mobilizing troops, police and "everybody we possibly can" to find the missing and rescue and treat the injured. The force of the quake, which was followed by 153 aftershocks, buckled countless roads, including one highway that was severed when a stretch of land collapsed, creating a cliffside. Electricity was cut to about 29,000 households and water to about 500 others.

At a nuclear power plant in Fukushima, the jolt splashed 5 gallons of radioactive water from two pools storing spent fuel, operators said. Trade and Industry Ministry official Yoshinori Moriyama, however, said there was no leakage outside the plant. Soldiers fighting through a torrent of mud and rocks dug three bodies from a hot spring resort Sunday, bringing the death toll from a magnitude 7.2-earthquake in northern Japan to at least nine, with more than 200 injured.

Earthquakes in Lebanon

A series of up to seven earth tremors centered in Lebanon and measuring between 3.8 and 4.2 on the Richter scale have also been felt in northern and central Israel over the past 24 hours. No injuries or damage have been reported as of the latest quakes on Friday morning. Last February, two quakes measuring up to 5.3 on the Richter scale with epicenters just north of Tyre were also felt in the Galilee. At the start of the year, there was a series of four quakes as well in the Dead Sea area measuring between 3 and 4.3 on the Richter scale. Seismologists say the series of tremors do not necessarily indicate that a large earthquake is likely to hit the region, though the historic record suggests a strong earthquake can be expected soon in the Holy Land.

Earthquakes

ATHENS (AP) — Authorities say a very strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.5 has struck southwestern Greece. At least three people have been injured, and there are reports of a further five people trapped in a collapsed house. Emergency services say two people were slightly injured in the province of Ahaia by a falling roof, and one on the island of Lefkada by falling rocks. It flattened about 70 houses in the provinces of Ahaia and Ilia, severely damaged another 30 and left 230 more with damage and cracks, the Interior Ministry said Monday. The quake also damaged the air traffic control tower at a nearby military airport.

JIANGYOU, China (AP) -- A "relatively strong" aftershock shook a massive quake-formed lake Sunday that had been threatening to flood more than a million people, sending landslides tumbling down surrounding mountains, a state news agency reported. The effect of the 20-second quake on the Tangjiashan lake was not immediately known, Xinhua News Agency said. The dam of unstable mud and rocks was under surveillance following the aftershock. The Tangjiashan lake, created when a landslide dammed the Tongkou River, has become a priority for a government working to head off another catastrophe even as it cares for millions left homeless from the May 12 quake that killed nearly 70,000 people.

RENO, Nevada (AP) -- A months-long swarm of earthquakes picked up again Sunday as a string of minor temblors rattled Reno, Nevada, causing downtown high-rises to sway and knocking items off walls and shelves. There were no immediate reports of injuries or major property damage after about 20 minor quakes reported on the western edge of Reno over 12 hours ending about noon. Magnitude-3.9 and 3.6 quakes struck within a couple minutes of each other shortly before 11 a.m. and were preceded by 3.2 and 3.0 quakes early Sunday, said researchers at the seismological laboratory at the University of Nevada, Reno. The swarm, which has produced thousands of mostly minor quakes, had prompted some residents in the densely populated quake zone to spend nights outside in campers and trucks. Nevada is the third most seismically active state in the U.S. behind California and Alaska.

Burmese Nightmare Continues

BANGKOK (AP) — More than 1 million people still don't have adequate food, water or shelter a month after a devastating cyclone swept through Myanmar, and it's not clear what the military junta is doing to help them, the United Nations said Tuesday. Humanitarian groups say they continue to face hurdles from Myanmar's military government in sending disaster experts and vital equipment into the country. As a result, only a trickle of aid is reaching the storm's estimated 2.4 million survivors, leaving many without even basic relief.

China Earthqhake Weakens Dams

CHENGDU, China (AP) — Nearly 70 dams scarred by the force of China's most powerful earthquake in three decades were in danger of bursting, rattled again Sunday by one of the strongest aftershocks since the initial disaster. The confirmed death toll from the May 12 quake rose to 65,080, with another 23,150 people missing, the Cabinet said. Premier Wen Jiabao has said the number of dead could surpass 80,000. One of the most powerful aftershocks to hit quake-ravaged central China leveled many more homes and killed a person, leaving dozens more injured Sunday. China grappled with backed-up rivers and reservoirs in danger of collapse, along with looming storms heralding the start of rainy season that threatened Monday to compound damage from the country's worst earthquake in three decades.

MIANYANG, China (AP) — Chinese officials rushed Tuesday to evacuate another 80,000 people in the path of potential floodwaters building up behind a quake-spawned dam as soldiers carved a channel to try to drain away the threat. The official Xinhua News Agency reported emergency workers would try to complete the evacuation by midnight Tuesday, taking the number of people moved out of the threatened valley to almost 160,000, from more than 30 townships, The Tangjiashan lake in northern Sichuan province, formed when a massive landslide blocked a river, is one of dozens of fragile dams created during the earthquake that pose a new destructive threat in the disaster zone.

Earthquake Toll Continues to Rise

BEICHUAN, China (AP) — China said the toll of dead and missing from last week's powerful earthquake jumped to more than 80,000, while the government appealed Thursday for millions of tents to shelter homeless survivors. The confirmed number of dead rose nearly 10,000 from the day before to 51,151, Cabinet spokesman Guo Weimin told a news conference. Another 29,328 people remained missing and nearly 300,000 were hurt in the May 12 quake centered in Sichuan province, he said. The disaster left 5 million people homeless and leveled more than 80% of the buildings in some remote towns and villages areas near the epicenter. In bigger cities whole apartment blocks collapsed or are now too dangerous to live in because of damage and worries about aftershocks.

Earthquake Toll Rises in China

LUOSHUI TOWN, China (AP) — China warned the death toll from this week's 7.9 earthquake could soar to 50,000, while the government issued a rare public appeal Thursday for rescue equipment as it struggled to cope with the disaster — with 10 million directly affected by Monday's temblor. A strong aftershock sparked landslides Friday near the epicenter of this week's powerful earthquake, while some survivors were pulled from rubble after being buried for four days. The U.S. Geological Survey said the latest tremor measured magnitude 5.5, one of the strongest among dozens that have shaken the area.

More than 4 million apartments and homes had been damaged or destroyed in Sichuan province. The government said it would investigate why so many school buildings collapsed in the quake — destroying about 6,900 classrooms, not including the hardest-hit counties — and severely punish anyone responsible for shoddy construction.

Earthquakes Continue to Rattle the Earth

BEIJING (AP) — A massive earthquake struck central China on Monday and state media reported that as many as 5,000 people were killed in a single county while nearly 900 students were trapped under the rubble of their school. The official Xinhua News Agency said 80% of the buildings had collapsed in Beichuan county in Sichuan province after the 7.8-magnitude quake. Xinhua reported that 3,000 to 5,000 people had died in Beichuan, which has a population of 160,000, raising fears the overall death toll could increase sharply. Another 10,000 people were believed to be hurt.