Deja vu but different: how the fall of one New Zealand city helped save another. There was an uneasy sense of recognition as Mike Gillooly, Christchurch’s chief resilience officer, helicoptered over the township of Kaikoura, the epicentre of New Zealand’s latest major earthquake, last November.
Railway tracks had been hauled off their foundations and lay sprawled across roads. Massive landslides entirely covered the main highway, cutting off access to this small seaside settlement on the east of the country’s South Island. Along the coast, the seabed had been pushed up almost two metres, exposing shellfish clinging to previously submerged rocks. Inland, Gillooly could see massive cracks that had appeared along fault lines running through hilly farmland.
New Zealand’s new coastline. The 7.8 magnitude earthquake that hit New Zealand in November has caused the seafloor around Kaikoura to rise a full two metres out of the water At Kaikoura, on the northeast coast of New Zealand’s south island, what used to be the seabed has now become a wall of stone two metres high.
Laced with seaweed and the purplish layers of rock, the raised platform is the raw product of the category 7.8 earthquake that struck the region on 13 November. Image: NASA Earth Observatory images by Joshua Stevens, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey and Sentinel data from the European Space Agency Map Data. Global earthquake animation - GIF on Imgur. Indonesia quake: Search for survivors continues. New Zealand quake: The cut-off tourist town of Kaikoura. Image copyright AP The tourists are gone, the town is cut off and the sewage is backing up, but businesses in quake-hit Kaikoura are vowing to struggle on.
The town was cut off from the rest of New Zealand's South Island when a magnitude 7.8 earthquake destroyed its roads and railway on 14 November. Nearly two weeks later there is still no easy way in or out of the town and its biggest industries - fishing, agriculture and tourism - have ground to an agonising halt, just as it was preparing for peak visitor season. Image copyright AFP "Quite literally, the money has just stopped coming in," said Matt Foy, the founder of Kaikoura Kayaks.
"We've had a couple of tours out with people who were stranded here who have nothing else to do, but at this time of year we should be absolutely heaving. " Like many in the town, he is relying on government assistance, considerate banks and donations. Magnitude 7.0 quake shakes Central America - News from Al Jazeera. A 7.0 magnitude earthquake off the Pacific coast of Central America has shaken the region, just as a hurricane barrelled into the Caribbean coasts of Nicaragua and Costa Rica.
There were no immediate reports of any damage from Thursday's quake, which occurred around 120km off the coast of El Salvador at a depth of 33km, according to the US Geological Survey. Earlier reports had put the quake's magnitute at 7.2. A tsunami alert issued by El Salvador was later lifted. Japan: Earthquake triggers tsunami at Fukushima - News from Al Jazeera.
A powerful earthquake sent a series of moderate tsunamis towards Japan's northeastern shore, raising concerns about the Fukushima nuclear power plant destroyed by a much larger tsunami five year ago.
The magnitude 7.4 earthquake, which was felt in Tokyo, sent thousands of residents fleeing for higher ground as dawn broke along the northeastern coast. There were no reports of deaths or serious injuries several hours after the quake hit at 0559 (2059 GMT Monday). The tsunami warning was lifted nearly four hours later. 7.3-magnitude earthquake strikes off Japan. Residents in Fukushima Prefecture braced for the worst after a tsunami warning was issued early Tuesday morning -- along the same stretch of coast devastated by enormous waves five years ago.
In 2011, a 9.0-magnitude earthquake -- one of the worst ever to hit Japan -- killed more than 20,000 people and caused tsunamis of up to 12 meters (40 feet) which swamped the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, triggering a nuclear meltdown. Tuesday's quake struck close to the epicenter of the 2011 quake, just 37 kilometers (23 miles) east-southeast of Namie at a depth of 11.4 kilometers (7 miles). The quake triggered a tsunami warning in Japan's Fukushima and Miyagi prefectures, causing the government to urge thousands to seek higher ground amid warnings waves could be up to 3 meters high (10 feet). Speaking to CNN, resident from Fukushima prefecture said they immediately feared the worst when they felt Tuesday's earthquake. New Zealand hit by aftershocks after severe earthquake.
Strong aftershocks have rocked New Zealand following a 7.8-magnitude earthquake that killed two people.
The South Island has seen hundreds of tremors, including a 6.3-magnitude quake, after the initial one struck after midnight on Monday. The epicentre is northeast of Christchurch, near the town of Kaikoura which has been cut off by landslides. There are believed to be up to 1,000 tourists stranded in the town. Military helicopters and a navy ship are being sent to evacuate them and others from Kaikoura. Japan: Aftermath of a Disaster. Ten years ago, in November 2006, Al Jazeera English was launched.
To mark that anniversary, we've created REWIND, which updates some of the channel's most memorable and award-winning documentaries of the past decade. We find out what happened to some of the characters in those films and ask how the stories have developed in the years since our cameras left. Japan had been waiting decades for "the big one" to hit, an earthquake powerful enough to devastate the country. Italy earthquake: More than 15,000 people in shelters. Dramatic images from the disaster zone show villages that appear entirely flattened, with historic buildings, including churches, crumbling when the quake struck 10 kilometers below the earth's surface.
Italy's Most Violent Tremor in Decades May Have Long-Term Impact. A 6.6-magnitude earthquake rocked central Italy on Sunday morning, and is believed to be the strongest quake to hit the nation in decades.
The earthquake at about 7:40 a.m. local time was centered near Norcia, Italy, a town in the Perugia region about 150 kilometers northeast of Rome. Aftershocks were reported as far away as Venice. Italy earthquake: historic structures levelled in biggest quake since 1980. Prime minister Matteo Renzi swore that Italy would rebuild devastated towns and villages across central Italy that were rocked by a 6.6-magnitude earthquake on Sunday morning, saying the area represented the “soul of our country”. It was the most powerful earthquake to hit Italy since 1980, striking a blow to the regions of Marche and Umbria just days after they were hit by two other earthquakes. It also frightened and displaced thousands of already-jittery residents who have seen the ancient structures and walls in their towns, including the San Benedetto basilica in Norcia, which is considered a sacred site, crumble into heaps on the street. “We will rebuild everything — the houses, the churches, the shops.
We are dealing with marvelous territories, territories of beauty,” Renzi said. What 50 Years of Earthquakes and Volcanic Eruptions Look Like. Has a violent heartbeat. We feel it whenever the ground quakes and volcanoes erupt. Magnitude 7 earthquake in California could be imminent as swarm of smaller quakes strike near major faultline. California may be about to be hit by a massive magnitude 7 earthquake after geologists discovered a succession of smaller tremors under a lake near the San Andreas fault. Earthquake early warning system closer to reality for California. Gov. Jerry Brown on Thursday, Sept. 29, signed legislation that will put California on track for a long-awaited earthquake early warning system that officials said could begin in some areas in as little as one year. The warning signals, delivered to smarphones and other media, can be programmed to slow trains, halt traffic from entering tunnels, shut down manufacturing machinery, put electronic systems in “safe” mode, and command fire station garage doors to open.
Medical procedures and other delicate work can halt when warnings are issued. The challenges are to link sensors and communication systems throughout the state and deliver reliable, nearly-instant warnings that may be only a few seconds when the quake’s epicenter is nearby. Magnitude 7 earthquake in California could be imminent as swarm of smaller quakes strike near major faultline. Italy earthquake: Race to help homeless as nights turn cold. Survivors of Italy's deadly earthquake all have a different story to tell of the day their homes crumbled and their lives fell apart. For Roberta, a mother-of-four, it was being asked Why Mummy, was there fog hanging over the village, as she gazed into a cloud of dust on the morning of 24 August.
For Samuele, her youngest, it was the work of a monster that lives in the back garden of his damaged house. Samuele turned four on Monday. He still covers his eyes not to see the creature, each time he goes across the lawn to their tent to sleep. For Enzo, it was all about emerging unscathed. Indonesia evacuates tourists after volcano eruption.
Image copyright Reuters. Are we listening to our ancestors’ warnings? In disaster risk management, we often pay close attention to the latest technological boosts to better understand risks and help communities prepare for the next disaster. Gravitational pull 'has role in quakes' Image copyright AP The gravitational forces responsible for high tides may also play a role in triggering major earthquakes, a study suggests. Innovative Christchurch buildings designed to beat quakes. Image copyright AFP. Lessons from L'Aquila. Natural disasters: earthquakes. Some Villages in Italy May Never Recover From Earthquake. Photo. Italy earthquake: Death toll passes 240 as rescue efforts continue. Earthquake in Italy: Live updates.
Earthquake leaves at least 13 dead in central Italy. At least 159 people have been killed and 368 injured in an earthquake that hit a mountainous area of central Italy, civil protection officials say. The magnitude-6.2 quake struck at 03:36 (01:36 GMT), 100km (65 miles) north-east of Rome, not far from Perugia. New Earthquake Threat Could Lurk Under 140 Million People.