Natural Events - Signs in the News

A metre of snow fell in the Pyrenees leaving 6,000 travellers stranded and blocking up to 40 roads

Melbourne was bracing for more bad weather Sunday after a "beast of a storm" ripped through Australia's second largest city, bringing with it hailstones the size of tennis balls.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A strong 6.6 magnitude aftershock shook the area near Concepcion, Chile on Friday, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

TAIPEI - A powerful 6.4-magnitude earthquake rocked southern Taiwan on Thursday, terrifying residents, disrupting communications and triggering at least one large fire.

In the past seven days there have been more than 258 recorded earthquakes of a magnitude higher than 4.5 on the Richter's scale. Chile alone has already experienced 81 aftershocks at a rate of 4 per hour since the first big earthquake of 8.8 struck on Saturday, Feb. 27. Tsunami alarms sounded across the world.

The massive 8.8 earthquake that struck Chile may have changed the entire Earth's rotation and shortened the length of days on our planet, a NASA scientist said Monday.

BEIJING – A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck China's southwestern province of Yunnan on Thursday, injuring 11 people and damaging many houses, the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported.

TOKYO – A powerful earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.9 rattled Japan's southern islands early Saturday, injuring two and initially prompting fears of a tsunami.

ISLAMABAD – A moderate earthquake has rattled northern Pakistan and Afghanistan but there are no reports of injuries or damage.

BEIJING, Feb. 27 (Xinhua) -- A severe drought has affected 69.6 million Mu (about 4.64 million hectares) of arable land and left 12.7 million people and 8.4 million livestock short of drinking water, said China's drought relief authorities Saturday.