Indonesia volcano erupts, spews lava and gas JAKARTA - ONE of Indonesia's most active volcanos has erupted, sending lava and searing gas clouds tumbling down its slopes. Volcanology official Agus Budianto said on Friday that authorities were still trying to evacuate residents living along the slopes of Mount Karangetang. There were no immediate reports of injuries or serious damage. The 1,784-metre mountain is located on Siau, part of the Sulawesi island chain. It last erupted in August, killing four people. Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago, is located on the so-called Pacific 'Ring of Fire,' an arc of volcanos and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin. The eruption happened hours after a massive earthquake in Japan that triggered a Pacific-wide tsunami. -- AP
Strong quake shakes east Indonesia JAKARTA - A STRONG 6.2-magnitude earthquake struck off the Indonesian resort island of Bali early on Friday but was located too deep to generate a tsunami in the Indian Ocean, seismologists said. The tremor hit at 1.08am and was centred 261km north-east of Bali's capital Denpasar at a depth of 510km, the US Geological Survey said. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii said there was no danger of a tsunami. 'This earthquake is located too deep inside the Earth to generate a tsunami in the Indian Ocean,' it said. Geoscience Australia and the Hong Kong Observatory also recorded the quake at 6.2. Indonesia sits on the Pacific 'Ring of Fire', where the meeting of continental plates causes high seismic activity. -- AFP
10-metre tsunami slams into Japan's coast The area is flooded by tsunami in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture (state) as Japan was struck by a magnitude 8.9 earthquake off its northeastern coast. -- PHOTO: AP TOKYO - A 10-METRE tsunami slammed into the coast off the city of Sendai in northeast Japan on Friday after an 8.9-magnitude quake struck offshore, Japanese media reported. TV footage showed cars and houses being swept along in the water. The runways at Sendai Airport were submerged, with dozens of people seen on the roof of the terminal building. Kyodo news reported that a seven-metre tsunami had reached Fukushima prefecture. Japan was struck by a magnitude-8.8 earthquake off its north-eastern coast on Friday, triggering a 4m tsunami that washed away cars and tore away buildings along the coast near the epicentre. Officials were trying to assess possible damage from the quake but had no immediate details.
In central Tokyo, trains were stopped and passengers walked along the tracks to platforms. Footage on NHK from their Sendai office showed employees stumbling around and books and papers crashing from desks. Several quakes had hit the same region in recent days, including a 7.3 magnitude one on Wednesday. Thirty minutes after the quake, tall buildings were still swaying in Tokyo and mobile phone networks were not working. Japan's Coast Guard has set up task force and officials are standing by for emergency contingencies, Coast Guard official Yosuke Oi said. 'I'm afraid we'll soon find out about damages, since the quake was so strong,' he said -- AP
25 dead, 250 injured in China quake In this photo distributed by China's Xinhua news agency, Rescuers work at a collapsed building after a strong earthquake hit Yingjiang county in south-west China's Yunnan province. -- PHOTO: AP BEIJING - AT LEAST 25 people were killed and 250 injured in an earthquake that struck a remote area of south-west China near the border with Myanmar on Thursday, state media reported. The tremor reduced hundreds of houses to rubble, left some desperate residents trapped under buildings and triggered power cuts in the surrounding area of China, though no casualties were reported in Myanmar. The epicentre of the 5.4-magnitude quake, which struck at 12.58 pm, was located about 225km west-southwest of the ancient city of Dali in Yunnan province, the US Geological Survey reported. The quake hit at a depth of 34km, the USGS said, though Chinese seismologists put the depth at just 10km. The death toll had risen to 25, with 250 injured, 134 of them seriously, Xinhua news agency said, citing local authorities. The quake toppled the homes of 1,039 families and seriously damaged nearly 5,000 others, mostly in the border town of Yingjiang, it said. Witnesses told the news agency that parts of a supermarket and hotel had caved in, and that people were buried in the debris. 'The quake happened shortly after I finished my lunch. The house totally collapsed within only a few seconds,' local reporter Miao Bin told Xinhua. State television footage showed people on stretchers out on the streets, some hooked to drips, and survivors being pulled out of debris. -- AFP
8.9 magnitude quake strikes Japan, tsunami alert A screen grab taken from news footage by Japanese Government broadcaster NHK on March 11, 2011 shows cars on a flooded street following an earthquake-triggered tsumani in Miyagi prefecture. -- PHOTO AFP/ HO / NHK TOKYO - THE Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii says a tsunami warning is in effect for a large swath of the Pacific after a magnitude 8.9 earthquake hit Japan. A tsunami warning was in effect for Japan, Russia, Marcus Island and the Northern Marianas. A tsunami watch has been issued for Guam, Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia and US state of Hawaii. An earlier report had put the quake at 7.9. Numerous injuries were reported by police in Japan's Miyagi prefecture.
Japan's NHK says a small tsunami hit the shore near the epicentre around 3pm local time (2pm Singapore time). The public broadcaster showed black smoke billowing from a building in Odaiba, a Tokyo suburb, and bullet trains to the north of the country were halted. Television showed cars bobbing in water along side fishing boats. Japan's meteorological agency warns that a tsunami as high as 6m could strike the coast near Miyagi prefecture, closest to the epicentre. The agency says the quake struck at 2.46pm on Friday (1.46pm Singapore time) at a depth of 10km, about 125km off the eastern coast. 'The building shook for what seemed a long time and many people in the newsroom grabbed their helmets and some got under their desks,' Reuters correspondent Linda Sieg said. 'It was probably the worst I have felt since I came to Japan more than 20 years ago.' -- AP, AFP, REUTERS
Millions stuck in Tokyo as subways shut Train passengers wait at Tokyo's Shinagawa station to get first-hand information on train service which was halted following a very strong earthquake. -- PHOTO: AP TOKYO - MILLIONS of people in greater Tokyo were stranded far away from home on Friday evening after Japan's biggest earthquake on record shut down the capital's massive subway system. Sirens wailed through Tokyo, television helicopters buzzed overhead and people rushed to the city's ubiquitous 24-hour convenience stores, quickly emptying shelves of bento boxes, sandwiches and instant noodle cups. Countless workers, who had earlier fled violently swaying office blocks, found themselves stuck far from their families - and unable to speak to them because the overloaded mobile phone system could not carry most calls. 'I have no idea how I'll get home,' said an 18-year-old woman waiting outside Ginza subway station. She described how ceramics shattered around her in a department store when the huge quake hit mid-afternoon. The government used loudspeaker alerts and television broadcasts to urge people to stay near their workplaces rather than risk long walks home, as highways leading out of the city centre were choked and hotels quickly booked out. 'Please do not try to force your way home when there is no means of transportation, but stay in your offices and other safe places,' said an emergency advisory carried by national public broadcaster NHK. -- AFP
Mar 10, 2011 Strong quake off Japan TOKYO - A STRONG 6.2-magnitude offshore earthquake shook Japan on Thursday but there was no danger of a destructive tsunami, seismologists said. The quake struck at 3.16am (2.16am Singapore time) about 400km north-east of Tokyo at a shallow depth of 10 km below the Pacific seafloor, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. It said there would be 'no tsunami damage by this earthquake though there may be slight sea level changes'. The US Geological Survey measured it at 6.0 magnitude. It was followed 30 minutes later by a 6.1-magnitude quake, the Japanese agency said. The tremors followed a major 7.3 quake in the same area on Wednesday which swayed buildings in Tokyo and triggered a small tsunami but did not cause any casualties or property damage. Around 20 per cent of the world's most powerful earthquakes strike Japan, which sits on the 'Ring of Fire' surrounding the Pacific Ocean. Tectonics experts have warned of a 70 per cent chance that the 'Big One' - a magnitude-seven earthquake or worse - will strike the greater Tokyo region, home to around 35 million people, within the next 30 years. -- AFP
Tokyo Disneyland hit by 'liquefaction' after quake TOKYO - THE car park at Tokyo Disneyland was drenched with water-logged segments from the ground following the 8.9-magnitude earthquake that rocked Japan's Pacific coast on Friday, police said. It was earlier reported that a tsunami might have caused the inundation but police said the phenomenon was due to liquefaction of soil caused by the intense shaking of the tremor. There were 69,000 people at the Disneyland and the adjacent Tokyo Disney Sea, built on a landfill in Tokyo Bay, when the quake occurred, a spokesman at the local Urawa police station said. There were no injuries or property damage reported at the theme parks, he told AFP. 'The visitors have been evacuated to safe places but there are many puddles due to liquefaction around the theme parks,' he said. -- AFP
Tsunami waves slam Hawaii as storm sweeps islands HONOLULU - TSUNAMI waves spawned by a massive earthquake in Japan have hit Hawaii. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center says Kauai was the first island hit early on Friday by the tsunami, which was quickly sweeping through the Hawaiian Island chain. Officials predicted Hawaii would experience waves up to 2m. Residents in coastal areas of Hawaii were evacuated to refuge areas at community centers and schools while tourists in Waikiki were moved to higher floors of their high-rise hotels. Roadways and beaches were empty as the tsunamis struck the state, which had hours to prepare. The tsunami was generated by an 8.9-magnitude earthquake in Japan. -- AP