Earthquakes & Volcanoes

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - An earthquake hit southwest China's Sichuan and Yunnan provinces on Saturday, killing 22 people and injuring about 126 as homes in rural villages collapsed, state media reported.

PORT MORESBY (AFP) - A bone-rattling 6.3-magnitude earthquake shook Papua New Guinea's second largest city on Saturday, seismologists said, but there were no immediate reports of damage or injury.

CANBERRA (Reuters) - A magnitude 6.2 earthquake rattled the second largest town in the Pacific islands nation of Papua New Guinea on Saturday, with witnesses saying it lasted several seconds and shook buildings.

BEIJING - China's official Xinhua News Agency says a 6.1 magnitude earthquake has struck Sichuan province. There were no reports of casualties.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - A strong earthquake struck off Canada's west coast early Thursday near Vancouver Island. There were no immediate reports of major damage or injuries.

VANCOUVER, Canada (AFP) - A strong earthquake struck at sea Thursday off Canada's Pacific coast west of Vancouver Island, but was too small to generate a tsunami, Canadian and US officials reported.

OTTAWA (Reuters) - A 6.1 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Vancouver Island on Thursday but was too far away to be felt on land and too small to generate a tsunami, the Canadian government said.

Tolkien's hobbits would feel right at home in new dwellings made out of living tree roots and designed to protect inhabitants from earthquakes. The homegrown architecture is just one of many eco-structures a new company hopes to roll out worldwide.

MOSCOW - Russian emergency officials say a powerful earthquake has struck a Siberian region that includes Lake Baikal, but no casualties were immediately reported.

DUJIANGYAN, China (AFP) - Parents of children killed when poorly built schools collapsed in China's earthquake remain angry but police intimidation and cash payments have largely quelled their protests, locals said.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - A strong earthquake hit the Lake Baikal area of eastern Siberia on Wednesday, triggering panic, but there were no immediate signs of casualties or major damage, officials said.

BEIJING (AFP) - Mountains of clothes donated to victims of China's devastating earthquake are being auctioned off, recycled into mops or left in warehouses because no-one wants them, state press reported Wednesday.

LIMA, Peru - A strong earthquake has shaken central Peru, causing people to flee buildings in the jungle city of Pucallpa but inflicting no major damage.

DUJIANGYAN, China (AFP) - More than 100 days after a powerful earthquake devastated much of this region in southwest China, Li Kuilan still faces an uncertain future, having lost her husband and her home.

JAKARTA, Indonesia - A strong earthquake shook central Indonesia on Tuesday, causing tall buildings in the capital to sway and briefly prompting a tsunami alert, authorities and witnesses said.

JAKARTA (AFP) - A powerful 6.6-magnitude earthquake struck at sea off the Indonesian island of Java on Tuesday, triggering a tsunami warning which was lifted after an hour, officials said.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand - A magnitude 5.9 earthquake rocked New Zealand's North Island region of Hawkes Bay, a geological agency reported early Tuesday.

BEIJING (Reuters) - A strong earthquake measuring 6.8 magnitude struck Tibet on Monday, but no loss of life was immediately reported, the Tibet Earthquake Bureau said on Monday.

BEIJING (AFP) - A 6.3-magnitude earthquake rocked Tibet in southwestern China late Monday, the US Geological Survey said but there were no immediate reports of major damage or casualties.

BEIJING - Eighty-eight children who were orphaned after a massive earthquake struck central China earlier this year have been made eligible for adoption, state media reported.

BEIJING (AFP) - Triple gold medal winner Usain Bolt put his celebrations on hold to visit victims of the devastating earthquake in Sichuan, urging survivors to use the Olympics as inspiration to look forward, not back.

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. - An analysis of recent earthquake activity around New York City has found that many small faults that were believed to be inactive could contribute to a major, disastrous earthquake.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A nuclear power plant that lies within commuting distance of New York City is more likely to be shaken by an earthquake than previously thought because it sits atop a newly identified intersection of two active seismic zones, scientists said.

TOKYO (AFP) - A moderate 5.1-magnitude earthquake rattled the Tokyo region on Friday, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

BEIJING (Reuters) - A second earthquake in two days in the same county of southwest China killed at least three people, injured more than 100 and prompted the evacuation of over 120,000, state media reported on Friday.

ALMATY (Reuters) - A strong earthquake rattled the Uzbek capital Tashkent on Friday, rocking buildings and sending people running outdoors in fear, witnesses and the emergency ministry said.

The New York City area is at "substantially greater" risk of earthquakes than previously thought, scientists said Thursday.

BEIJING (AFP) - Two earthquakes shook the border between China and Myanmar on Thursday in quick succession, the US Geological Survey said, a day after a tremor hit the same area.

TOKYO, Japan (Reuters) - A earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 4.5 jolted eastern Japan on Wednesday, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.