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Scores missing after deadly 6.4-magnitude earthquake strikes Taiwan

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earthquake strikes Taiwan

At least four people are dead and 225 injured — including tourists — after a 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck just off the east coast of Taiwan late Tuesday, local police said.

As of Wednesday morning 145 people were unaccounted for, according to CNA, Taiwan’s official news agency, with four buildings in the area either tilting or already collapsed.
The quake was centered in the East China Sea about 21 kilometers (13 miles) north of the city of Hualien. Light shaking was felt in the capital of Taipei, about 120 kilometers north of Hualien, according to reports sent to the US Geological Survey.

Scores are unaccounted for in Hualien, Taiwan, following a magnitude 6.4 earthquake.
The Marshal Hotel in downtown Hualien was one of the buildings that collapsed, Jeff Lin with the Hualien Police Department said.
About 400 rescue workers scrambled to locate people, and a crane was brought in to help, footage from CNN affiliate SET TV showed. One building apparently had collapsed onto what once was the ground floor.

Iraq: 16 schools damaged by powerful quake in Darbandikhan

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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – More than a dozen schools have been damaged in Darbandikhan due to the 7.3 magnitude earthquake which shook the Kurdistn Region and neighboring countries last week.

The Education Department of Darbandikhan explained 16 schools were damaged as a result of the earthquake and its aftershocks and that these schools cannot be used for classes due to the high possibility of the buildings collapsing.

“I was sad to see these things here. I want the government to repair this place. I want to go back to school to study,” Helen Mohammed sighed while holding the hands of her 3rd grader brother and looking for their class in the school only to find it in ruin.

In Darbandikhan area, a loss of 10 billion Iraqi Dinars (IQD) has been incurred on the education sector, according to local officials.

Darbandikhan Education Department now brings students from four schools and puts them in one building in order for the education process to continue.

“Sixteen of our schools and 2 kindergartens have been damaged. Classes cannot resume in them for now,” Omar Mohammed, head of the Darbandikhan Education Department, told Rudaw. “We distributed the students of these schools on other schools in Darbandikhan.”

He explained that “some schools will have three, sometimes four rounds of classes a day.”

After the Education Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) met with the head of Education Department and headmasters of affected schools, he said they were trying to dedicate a budget to renovate the schools.

“Although the government is in deep financial crisis, we should dedicate some of the budget to attend to things that require urgent attention,” KRG Minister of Education, Pishtiwan Sadiq, told Rudaw.

Some 1,968 teachers teach 16,343 students at 70 schools and kindergartens throughout Darbandikhan.

Students in Darbandikhan were wishing to go back to school after the earthquake. But the committee formed by the Darbandikhan Education Department says that some schools in the town should be demolished because of the direct impact of the earthquake.

Darbandikhan dam built in 1961 was also damaged by the powerful quake.

The death toll of last week’s earthquake, according to the latest figure, rose to 12 in the Kurdistan Region. More than 500 people were injured mainly in the areas of Darbandikhan, Halabja, Kalar and Khanaqin ,the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) announced in a press report on Tuesday.

Armenia offers assistance to Iran after earthquake

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Armenia’s Ministry of Emergency Situation (MES) has reached Iranian authorities through diplomatic channels, offering assistance to eliminate the consequences of the earthquake that hit the country late on Sunday.  “We offered assistance in eliminating the consequences of the disaster through our Embassy in Iran as well as contacted the Embassy of the Islamic republic in Yerevan,” deputy head of the press department at the ministry Nana Gndoyan told Panorama.am.

In her words, the ministry’s search and rescue subdivision is brought to full readiness to dispatch once the Iranian side approves.

It was noted that the MES has established contact with Iranian Red Crescent NGO to elaborate on possibilities to provide emergency response to those suffered in the natural disaster.

According to updated data, more than 350 people have been killed by an earthquake that hit the Iran-Iraq border region late on Sunday. According to Iran’s Tasnim news agency, as many as 3,950 people have been injured. According to a crisis center set up after the quake, the strongest jolts were felt in the Kermanshah and Ilam provinces in western Iran, where the heaviest damage and the majority of victims were recorded.

To remind President Sargsyan swiftly reacted to the devastating natural disaster on Monday expressing solidarity with the people of Iran within hours of the quake.

Iran-Iraq earthquake passes 300 Death toll 6,000 Injured in powerful 7.3 earthquake

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TEHRAN — Iranians spent the night digging through rubble in a frantic search for survivors after a powerful earthquake struck near the Iraqi border on Sunday evening, killing more than 300 people and injuring thousands more, officials said.

The epicenter of the quake was near Ezgeleh, an Iranian town about 135 miles northeast of Baghdad, and had a preliminary magnitude of 7.3, according to the United States Geological Survey.

Photographs from the region — a patchwork of farms and home to many Kurds, a large ethnic minority in Iran — and posted on the internet showed collapsed buildings, cars destroyed by rubble and people sleeping in the streets in fear of aftershocks.

At least 341 people were killed and nearly 6,000 people in Iran were injured, according to the state news agency IRNA, and hundreds of people waited in line to donate blood in Tehran in response to a call from the government.

At least eight people were killed on the Iraqi side of the border, according to Dr. Saif al-Badir, a spokesman for the Health Ministry, and at least 535 were hurt.

Iran: 336 people confirmed dead, 3,950 injured, state-run IRINN TV has reported
Northern Iraq: 7 people dead, 300 people injured in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region, Rekawt Hama Rasheed, the health minister of the Kurdish Regional Government said.
Rescue efforts: Authorities in Iran and Iraq have initiated rescue operations; Iran has declared three days of mourning.
The earthquake hit late Sunday night with the epicenter across the Iraq-Iran border.
The quake, which reached a depth of 23 km (just over 14 miles) according to the US Geological Survey, was felt across the region with aftershocks hitting Pakistan, Lebanon, Kuwait and Turkey, news agencies in those countries reported.
Iraq’s Meteorological Organization issued a warning on Iraqi State TV urging citizens to stay away from buildings and to refrain from using elevators.

Mexico earthquake: Scores dead after deadly quake

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One of the worst earthquakes to hit Mexico in a century has left scores dead. Millions of people across the country felt the 8.2 magnitude quake, which hit off the southern coast near the border with Guatemala.

A powerful earthquake struck off Mexico’s east coast late on Thursday, toppling houses, government offices and businesses. It was felt as far north as Mexico City, which is around 800 kilometers (500 miles) from Pijijiapan, near the border with Guatemala. At least 60 people were killed and widespread power outages were reported across the country.

President Enrique Pena Nieto said that the 8.2 magnitude quake was “the strongest” since 1932, and was stronger than the 8.1 quake in 1985 which left thousands dead in Mexico City.

Read more: Mother Nature’s wrath and mega-hurricanes

Oaxaca state governor Alejandro Murat told local television that at least 17 of the deaths were recorded in the southeastern town of Juchitan. The death toll could rise, local officials said on Friday.

“There are houses that collapsed with people inside,” Luis Felipe Puente, the head of the emergency response agency, told TV news channel Milenio.

The US Geological Survey recorded at least 20 aftershocks of magnitude 4.0 or greater within about five hours of the main shake. Authorities reported dozens of aftershocks

Nightclub collapses around screaming revellers leaving two dead and dozens crushed as violent earthquake tears through building

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Earthquake rocks Greece and TurkeyThe 6.7 tremor struck south of the Turkish city of Bodrum and east of the Greek island of Kos – causing the White Corner Club to crumble

Two tourists were killed when a nightclub collapsed around screaming revellers during a violent earthquake this morning.

Scores of tourists and local residents fled as the White Corner Club, on the Greek island of Kos, crumbled around them.

Turkish national Sinan Kurdoglu, 39, died in the quake alongside a 27-year-old Swedish man, who is yet to be identified.

Greek authorities listed five seriously injured revellers who were flown to Crete by emergency services earlier today.

Two Swedes, one Norwegian, a Greek man and a Greek woman, were all taken to hospital.

One is reported to have suffered extensive leg injuries and all are thought to have been in the bar when the roof suddenly collapsed.

Maria Karagiannaki, who was working at the White Corner Club when disaster struck, told a Norwegian reporter: “We had two dead. I am in shock. I still cannot imagine it.”

Across Kos and the Turkish city of Bodrum, more than 200 people have been injured.

The 6.7-magnitude tremor struck south of Bodrum and east of Kos – areas popular with British holidaymakers.

As a search and rescue unit from the Greek armed forces flew in to support citizens, pictures of families cowering under tables and huddled on sun loungers emerged.

Buildings on Kos were damaged by the shockwaves, which prompted a small tsunami, flooding parts of the island.

Tourists had to flee their hotel rooms when the quake hit at around 1.30am, and experienced aftershocks throughout the night.

A number of Britons have spoken of their fear when they felt tremors.

Lauren Duffy, from Merseyside, said glass and broken pieces of marble statues were among the debris strewn near her hotel in the wake of the earthquake.

Kristian Stevens, from Nelson, in Lancashire, said he felt the building he was in “shake like a jelly”.

Sophie Wild said she fled her third floor accommodation in Altinkum, around 500 miles from Bodrum, when she woke to a loud banging noise.

The 21-year-old, from Canterbury, in Kent, said she was woken by a loud banging noise.

She said: “When we realised it was an earthquake, we got an immediate sense to get out, we thought the building was going to crumble around us.

“People were running out of rooms, banging on people’s doors to make sure they were out.

“Everyone just ran outside and waited for a couple of hours – it’s only now that people are starting to go back to their rooms.

“There are a few cracks in the walls but otherwise staff says it’s safe.”

2.8 mgn quake strikes Armenia’s north-east

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An 2.8 magnitude n earthquake shook Armenia’s north-eastern region Gegharkunik on Saturday morning.
The Emergency Ministry’s Seismic Protection Center recorded the jolts at 10:15 Yerevan time (GMT 6:15).
The earthquake was centered 27km east off the town Sevan at the depth of 10 km.

No joke: Ankara Mayor Blames Gulenists for Shaking Turkey With an Earthquake

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Mayor of the Turkish capital of Ankara Melih Gokcek

No joke: Ankara’s mayor suggests that an earthquake that has recently hit Turkey’s northwest might have been caused by the followers of cleric Fethulah Gulen, blamed for masterminding the July coup.

ANKARA (Sputnik) — The earthquake, which has recently hit the northwestern Turkish province of Canakkale could have been caused by the supporters of Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen, Mayor of the Turkish capital of Ankara Melih Gokcek said Tuesday.

“They [Gulenists] are trying to strike Turkey by causing an earthquake near Istanbul. Some people could laugh at me, but I am worried about it. All submarines and ships with serious equipment in Marmara and Dardanelles, close to Istanbul should be put under control,” Gokcek said on Twitter.

He added that a ship near Canakkale was reportedly conducting seismological researches and it was necessary to determine which ship it was and to which country it belonged. Gokcek expressed concerns about a potential earthquake that could be caused artificially and urged public investigation into the matter.

More than 100 houses were destroyed on Monday in a 5.2-magnitude earthquake that hit the northwestern Turkish province of Canakkale. At least five people were reportedly injured as a result of the natural disaster. Earlier in the day, an earthquake with the same magnitude hit the Turkish western coast again.

In July 2016, the military attempted to overthrow government, but the coup was suppressed by the state forces on the next day. The authorities accused Gulen and his followers of masterminding the attempt.

New Zealand earthquake damage will cost BILLIONS, Prime Minister John Key says

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earthquake-2A powerful earthquake in New Zealand has killed at least two people and destroyed infrastructure and property. The premier indicated that the damage was likely to amount to billions of dollars.

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key on Monday indicated that damage caused by a 7.8 magnitude that struck the South Pacific nation on Sunday could cost the country around 2 billion New Zealand dollars ($1.43 billion, 1.33 billion euros), local news reported.

“It’s hard to believe that the bill is going to be less than a couple of billion,” Key told Radio New Zealand.

The devastating cost of the New Zealand earthquakes that rocked the country could cost “billions”, according to the Prime Minister John Key.

After surveying some of the damage from the 7.8-magnitude earthquake and the subsequent tremors that hit, Key has indicated that it will cost them “a couple of billion dollars”, according to Radio New Zealand on Monday.

“It’s hard to believe that the bill is going to be less than a couple of billion,” he told Radio New Zealand, according to their Twitter account.

New Zealand was also hit by another strong earthquake with a magnitude of 6.2 as well as a hundreds of aftershocks.

Emergency response teams were already flying by helicopter to the region at the epicentre of the original 7.8 magnitude quake, which struck just after midnight some 91 km (57 miles) northeast of Christchurch in the South Island, amid reports of injuries and collapsed buildings.

New Zealand earthquake: strong aftershocks as roads and rivers blocked – live

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earthquakeNew Zealand News 1 hour ago

A 7.5 magnitude earthquake hit New Zealand’s South Island early Monday morning, with reports of aftershocks. It hit some 96km (59 miles) from Christchurch, the U.S. Geological Survey said. A tsunami warning, which…

Sometimes you get the odd jolt that wakes you up but last night the jolt just kept on getting stronger as the house shook around me and things fell onto the floor, the house was moving side to side and it was hard to stand, that’s when you know it’s BIG.

Not at work today just staying away from the city as civil defence has asked people to stay away from the CBD and I have packed a rucksack with water and supplies ready for the next aftershock which I am sure will come.

I am beginning to think I can predict them as last week I said to a friend I feel like a quake is due, it has been too long.

It is a scary act of God that leaves us feeling vulnerable and small, in Wellington the earthquake followed torrential downpours and tonight gale force winds. O joy!!