Posts
7.0
earthquake rocks Colombia
9
Febraury, 2013
There
were no immediate reports of injuries from the quake 124 miles
northeast of Quito, Ecuador.
BOGOTA,
Colombia (AP) — A powerful but deep earthquake shook a broad
swath of Colombia and Ecuador on Saturday, sending frightened
people fleeing into the streets, but there were no immediate
reports of significant damage or deaths.
The
U.S. Geological Survey said the 9:16 a.m. (14:16 GMT) quake had a
magnitude of 7.0.It was centered about 7 miles (11 kilometers)
from the Colombian town of Pasto and 77 miles (129 kilometers)
below the surface.
The
quake was felt in the Colombian capital of Bogota, some 340 miles
(545 kilometers) to the northeast, and across much of neighboring
Ecuador.
Colombia's
national disaster chief, Carlos Ivan Marquez, said officials had
made a damage survey across the country "and fortunately up
to this moment we have no reports of human losses."
In
the province of Narino, where the quake hit, secretary of
government Jaime Rodriguez said officials had reports of three
people hurt when roof tiles fell in the town of El Charco along
the Pacific Coast. Officials in Ecuador also reported no
significant damage.
Colombian
television showed people fleeing into the streets in southwestern
cities such as Cali, and small cracks in the walls of some
buildings.
Aftershocks
hamper relief in tsunami-hit Solomons
8
February, 2013
Strong
aftershocks rattled the Solomon Islands on Friday, hampering
relief efforts to tsunami-ravaged villages and forcing the South
Pacific nation's prime minister to forgo a visit to the stricken
area, where nine deaths have been confirmed.
Prime
Minister Gordon Darcy Lilo was on a plane to Santa Cruz Island in
the eastern Solomons to assess damage when an aftershock hit, said
Silas Lilo, a spokesman for his office, forcing his plane to
return to the capital, Honiara.
The
plane made a second attempt to reach the island and landed
successfully late Friday, said Andrew Catford, the Solomon Islands
director for the relief agency World Vision. The plane—the first
to attempt to reach Santa Cruz since Wednesday's tsunami—was
carrying shelter kits, water carriers, medical supplies and
medical staff, though the prime minister was not able to join the
crew on the second trip. A boat with more supplies was expected to
arrive Friday night, Catford said.
Officials
were already struggling to reach the isolated region when a
magnitude-6.6 aftershock hit Friday morning, damaging roads in the
island's main town of Lata and preventing aid workers stationed
there from reaching people on the coast, Catford said. The
aftershock, the most significant since the 8.0 earthquake that
sparked Wednesday's tsunami, didn't produce any tsunami warnings
itself.
"My
staff said it felt stronger than the initial earthquake and people
are very concerned. Most of Lata town was evacuated. It's like a
ghost town," Catford said. "We've had over 115
aftershocks, but unlike all the others, this one moved vertically
up and down. For the first time, it's created cracks in the
roads."
A
stronger magnitude-7.1 magnitude aftershock struck late Friday.
There was no tsunami risk and no immediate reports of damage.
Australian
Foreign Minister Bob Carr announced Friday that his government
will help deliver emergency food and medical supplies and conduct
aerial reconnaissance of disaster-affected areas. Carr plans to
fly to the Solomons on Sunday to discuss the recovery effort.
Wednesday's
earthquake triggered waves 1.5 meters (5 feet) tall that roared
inland on Santa Cruz, damaging or destroying around 100 homes.
Catford
said his agency estimated that 15 villages and up to 7,000 people
had been affected, many of them losing homes. But earlier fears
that the tsunami may have wiped out villages on other islands
eased Friday after the first aerial flyover of the region
confirmed the damage was limited to Santa Cruz, Catford said.
Nine
bodies have been pulled from the wreckage, including five elderly
villagers and a child who couldn't outrun the rushing water, said
George Herming, a spokesman for the prime minister. Several other
people were still missing.
The
relentless aftershocks were forcing thousands of villagers who
fled inland after the original quake to stay away from the
coastline.
"Many
of them have lost their homes and they have no shelter at the
moment," Herming said. "They are still residing on high
ground because of the fear of the aftershocks."
The
Solomons comprise more than 200 islands with a population of about
552,000 people. They lie on the "Ring of Fire"—an arc
of earthquake and volcanic zones that stretches around the Pacific
Rim and where about 90 percent of the world's quakes occur.
More
than 50 people were killed and thousands lost their homes in April
2007 when a magnitude-8.1 quake hit the western Solomon Islands
and a tsunami crashed into coastal villages
Earthquakes in the world on February 9, 2013 (M4.5 or more) – Massive deep earthquake in Colombia
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