[Updated at 1:17 p.m. ET] A tsunami warning for Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Panama in the wake of a 7.6-magnitude earthquake in the region has been canceled, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said Wednesday.
[Updated at 11:35 a.m. ET]A tsunami warning issued after a 7.6-magnitude earthquake off the coast of Coast Rica on Wednesday remains in effect for Costa Rica, Panama and Nicaragua, according to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Ewa Beach, Hawaii. The warning was canceled for other locations.
[Updated at 11:28 a.m. ET] The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Ewa Beach, Hawaii, has issued an expanding regional tsunami warning and watch for parts of the Pacific located closer to the 7.6-magnitude quake off Costa Rica. The center said Hawaii could be elevated to watch or warning status as new data comes in.
[Updated at 11:18 a.m. ET] A tsunami watch issued for the Caribbean after a 7.6-magnitude quake struck the coast of Costa Rica has been canceled. The watch was inadvertently sent by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, and meant for the Pacific.
[Updated at 11:14 a.m. ET] The U.S. Geological Survey has reduced the magnitude of an earthquake that struck off the coast of Costa Rica from 7.9 to 7.6.
[Posted at 10:55 a.m. ET] An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.9 struck off the coast of Costa Rica, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
The quake was recorded on the Costa Rican coast, about 95 miles west of the capital, San Jose, and ran more than 28 miles deep.
A tsunami watch was in effect for much of the Caribbean, including along the coastlines of Brazil, Mexico, most countries in Central America and many islands.
"Earthquakes of this size have the potential to generate a widespread destructive tsunami that can affect coastlines across the Caribbean region," the U.S. government said.
FULL STORY[Updated 10:06 a.m. ET] People in eastern areas of the Philippine island of Mindanao should evacuate to higher ground after a 7.6-magnitude earthquake triggered a tsunami warning, an official of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said, according to the Philippine News Agency.
"Residents living (in) these areas facing the Pacific Ocean are advised to evacuate to higher places," he said, citing the areas of Surigao del Sur and Davao Oriental as particularly vulnerable.
[Updated 9:52 a.m. ET] A tsunami warning has been lifted for Japan, Taiwan and several Pacific islands, but a warning remains for Indonesia and the Philippines, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's tsunami center said Friday.
[Updated 9:50 a.m. ET] The U.S. Geological Survey has revised the magnitude of an earthquake that struck off the coast of the Philippines to 7.6, down from an initial reporting of 7.9, the agency said Friday.
[Posted 9:01 a.m. ET] An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.9 has struck off the coast of the Philippines, the U.S. Geological Survey said Friday.
The quake prompted a tsunami warning for parts of Indonesia, the Philippines, Taiwan, Japan, Guam and other areas, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.
"An earthquake of this size has the potential to generate a destructive tsunami that can strike coastlines near the epicenter within minutes and more distant coastlines within hours," the tsunami warning center said.
The quake, which was about 20 miles deep, struck just before 8:50 p.m., the agency said. Its center was about 65 miles southeast of the town of Guiuan, in the Philippine province of East Samar.
Ed Serrano, the head of security at the Marco Polo Hotel in the city of Davao, about 250 miles south of Guiuan, said he felt the ground shake.
"The quake was very strong and the hotel guests were panicking. Most of them went outside," he said. "But now the situation is under control and we are waiting for official reports on how strong the quake was."
There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
FULL STORY
A Japanese government report Monday heaped fresh criticism on the operator of the nuclear power plant where a disastrous accident was set off last year by the devastating earthquake and tsunami that hit the country.
The measures taken by Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), the plant operator, and the Japanese nuclear regulator to prepare for disasters were "insufficient," the report by a government-formed panel of investigators said, and the response to the crisis was "inadequate."
The crippled Fukushima Daiichi plant spewed radiation and displaced tens of thousands of residents from the surrounding area in the worst nuclear accident since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine.
Even now, more than one year after the disaster began, TEPCO doesn't seem to be making much effort to clearly investigate the causes of the accident at the plant, the 10-member panel, led by Tokyo University engineering professor Yotaro Hatamura, said in the report Monday.
FULL STORY
Japan was once again getting electricity from nuclear power on Thursday after two months as a nuclear-free nation.
Unit No. 3 at Kansai Electric Power Co. Ohi nuclear plant began generating power at 7 a.m., according to a report from broadcaster NHK.
The process of restarting the reactor had begun Sunday night.
The reactor will provide electricity to western Japan - which includes Osaka, Japan's second-biggest city.
Ohi's No. 4 reactor is scheduled to resume operations by July 24.
All 50 commercial nuclear reactors in Japan have been offline since May 5 for safety checks in the wake of the meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi plant after last year's devastating earthquake and tsunami. The government has been conducting simulation tests for restarting its nuclear reactors in response to public concerns.
Before the March 2011 nuclear disaster, Japan had relied on nuclear energy for about 30% of its electricity needs, according to government figures.
A sprawling wildfire in northern Colorado nearly doubled in size again Monday, spewing plumes of smoke and forcing the evacuation of thousands.
The fire grew to 36,930 acres, authorities said Monday. It had been estimated at 20,000 acres Sunday night.
The Red Cross, Humane Society and other aid groups mobilized to help evacuees while at least 400 firefighters, aided by air tankers and helicopters from as far away as Canada battled the fire about 15 miles west of Fort Collins, Colorado.
As wildfire season flares up, here's a look at how some of these dangerous events start and how much damage they've caused in the past:
About Wildfires:
A look at the number of past fires, damage caused
Year Number of fires Acres burned
2000 92,250 7,393,493
2001 84,079 3,570,911
2002 73,457 7,184,712
2003 63,629 3,960,842
2004 65,461 8,097,880*
2005 66,753 8,689,389
2006 96,385 9,873,745
2007 85,705 9,328,045
2008 78,979 5,292,468
2009 78,792 5,921,786
2010 71,971 3,422,724
* 2004 fires and acres do not include state lands for North Carolina
Source: The National Interagency Fire Center
Tombstone, Arizona (CNN) – Under an unforgiving desert sun, about 60 determined souls gathered in a high school football field under the banner of the Tombstone Shovel Brigade. They collected shovels and joined a pickup truck caravan across the desert. Then they climbed two miles up a steep, rocky canyon and began to move part of a mountain, one boulder at a time.
Thousands of miles away, in the nation’s capital, Tombstone’s congressman and the city archivist tried to move a bureaucratic mountain, too, during hearings before a subcommittee of the House Natural Resources Committee.
Tombstone, as CNN has reported, is in the midst of a court battle with the U.S. Forest Service. At issue is whether Tombstone can take heavy equipment into federally protected wilderness.
Tombstone is trying to repair a 26-mile pipeline that has brought mountain spring water into the city since 1881. The pipeline was damaged during last summer’s Monument Fire and floods that brought mud and boulders crashing down the denuded mountainside.
The city sued the Forest Service in December, accusing the agency of dragging its feet during a state of emergency. The courts have turned down the city’s request for an emergency injunction, and so the battle has entered a new phase in the court of public opinion.
Frustrated with the slow pace of the repairs, Tombstone’s supporters created the nonprofit Tombstone Shovel Brigade a couple of months ago. They are helped by the organizers of the Jarbidge Shovel Brigade, which used volunteer muscle power to move a boulder and reopen a mountain road on federal wilderness in 2000.
Tombstone has become the poster city for a sweeping resurgence of the Sagebrush Rebellion in some Western states. This time, Utah state Rep. Ken Ivory explained, the rebellion is not fueled by oilmen and cattle ranchers.
Instead, local governments are behind the movement to push back against what they say is the federal government’s treatment of them as “submissive subdivisions.”
U.S. Rep. Jeff Flake has introduced H.R. 5971, the Emergency Water Supply Restoration Act, which proposes to set aside Forest Service restrictions against the use of construction equipment during state-declared water emergencies. Flake and Nancy Sosa, the city’s archivist, were among the witnesses who testified Friday.
“The unforeseen consequences of federal laws and regulations threaten to do something outlaws, economic busts, and the Arizona desert couldn’t: Kill the town too tough to die,” Flake said. Tombstone, population 1,400, is a throwback to the Old West and is famous for the 30-second gunfight at the O.K. Corral, which is re-enacted for tourists twice a day.
“Without water, the most precious commodity in the desert, Tombstone will cease to exist,” Sosa said. She told the committee that Tombstone burned to the ground twice before the waterline was built.
CNN will have more on this developing story Saturday.
An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.8 hit north central Italy on Tuesday, civil protection authorities said, nine days after a major quake in the region left seven people dead.
Civil protection officials told CNN there were fatalities in Tuesday's quake, but they said they did not yet have a confirmed number of dead.
FULL STORY
A 4.3-magnitude earthquake rattled eastern Texas early Thursday, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.
The quake, at a depth of three miles, was centered near Timpson, about 155 miles east-southeast of Dallas, according to the USGS. It struck at 3:12 a.m. (4:13 a.m. ET).
At least one building in Timpson showed damage, with a number of bricks falling to the street below, CNN affiliate KLTV in Tyler, Texas, reported.
Ollie Barrett told KLTV that bricks from her chimney came crashing through her roof.
"There was a loud rumbling noise and then there was a lot of crashing," she said. Her 52-inch, wall-mounted TV was crushed.
There are some men and women who don't fear danger or even risking their lives at work. For some, the adrenaline rush of pushing themselves to the edge keeps their jobs interesting and rewarding. CNN.com has collected video of some of these risk-takers putting their lives on the line. Watch as an alligator hunter, firefighter and window washer are caught in precarious positions that will put a chill up your spine.
Texas officials say the state needs more alligator hunters to provide his or her services.
A life and death moment for Michigan fighters caught on tape, as a roof collapsed under them. WXYZ reports.
A Seattle man is safe on the ground after hanging from a building. KOMO reports.
[Updated at 12:28 p.m. ET] An explosion at a sawmill in western Canada has killed one person and injured 23 others, officials said Tuesday.
The blast happened in Prince George, British Columbia.
Ten people remained hospitalized Tuesday morning. Another 13 had been treated and released, according to a statement from University Hospital of Northern British Columbia.
FULL STORYA massive earthquake struck off the coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra on Wednesday, triggering a tsunami watch for the Indian Ocean.
The magnitude 8.6 quake struck about 500 kilometers from Indonesia's Aceh province, the U.S. Geological Survey said. It took place at a depth of 33 kilometers.
Are you there? Send your images, video to iReport
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center initially issued a tsunami watch for the entire Indian Ocean, but the watch has been cancelled.
Banda Aceh was devastated by a tsunami resulting from an earthquake in December 2004.
[Updated at 9:04 a.m. ET] The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center has cancelled its tsunami watch in the Indian Ocean.
"Sea level readings now indicate that the threat had diminished or is over for most areas," the center said.
[Updated at 8:34 a.m. ET] CNN's Kathy Quiano reports that officials have said about 14 aftershocks have rocked Indonesia after the initial 8.6 magnitude earthquake.
Officials are still telling residents to saying stay away from the coastline.
"We are hearing that many residents are choosing to stay away from their homes and have sought shelter on safer and higher ground," Quiano reported, noting that many of the people had taken part in regular drills given that they are prone to quakes and the devastation caused by the 2004 quake.
[Updated at 8:15 a.m. ET] Barry Hirshorn, a geophysicist from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, told CNN that while the earthquake was a 8.6 magnitude and is considered large, it could be much different than the 9.0 magnitude quake that hit in 2004. Because the epicenter of this recent quake is also nearly double the distance offshore, it also means that it could be less likely to create a massive tsunami.
Hirshorn added that was also largely in part to how the rupture of the earth took place in this tsunami. Hirshorn explained that the earthquake in 2004 made more of a vertical motion, which would produce larger waves, while this strike-slip earthquake creates more side-to-side motion.
"Tusnami-wise, we are lucky that way, for now," he said.
Interactive: World's biggest quakes | How do you measure an earthquake?
[Updated at 8:12 a.m. ET] A spokesperson for the Indonesian president said the situation in the country is under control but he still anticipates that tsunamis may hit the area.
Teuku Faizasyah said right now it is most important to ensure people that they are safe. Search and rescue teams have been deployed.
"What's important is to bring confidence among the people that the government is with them, that we are ensuring their safety," he told CNN.
Tsunami warnings are in place for another hour, he added, saying they will watch the remote areas of the country especially closely.
"We are really waiting to hear from the isolated areas, but hopefully we wont receive any bad news," Faizasyah said.
[Updated at 8:01 a.m. ET] Waves were reported at 1-meter (3.3-feet) amplitude offshore in Meulaboh, Indonesia, but in other cities they were reported at about a foot or less, according to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.
A series of buoys also measured changes in wave height levels, indicating a tsunami could occur. Waves are normally small when they are out in the ocean, but are expected to be much higher when they reach the shore.
British Prime Minister David Cameron announced that Britain "stands ready to help if required."
[Updated at 7:44 a.m. ET] An evacuation order has been given by Thailand's National Disaster Warning Center for those along the Andaman coast after the earthquake, according to CNN affiliate MCOT.
The warning center's director Somsak Khaosuwann "urged people along the sea in the Andaman coastal provinces of Phuket, Krabi, Phang-nga, Ranong, Trang and Satun to evacuate to higher ground," according to MCOT.
MCOT, also known as Thai TV 9, noted that tremors were felt as far as Bangkok.
In the Maldives, some resorts were evacuated in advance of possible waves, according to CNN's Erin Burnett, who was on vacation in the region.
Two Philadelphia firefighters died early Monday and three others were injured when the wall of a building collapsed as they battled a five-alarm fire, officials said.
The collapse occurred about 5:50 a.m. as the five were inside a furniture store, said Deputy Fire Commissioner Ernest Hargett Jr.
Four of the firefighters were trapped inside, he said, but the fifth was able to get free. Firefighters were forced to move brick and timber by hand and cut through some materials to rescue the others, Hargett said.
FULL STORY
Editor's Note: This post is a recap of the top five videos on CNN.com from the past week. So in case you didn't catch our best videos during the week, here is your chance to see what you missed.
This week's top video gained the attention of more than a million CNN.com viewers and featured chilling footage of the Texas tornadoes tossing tractor-trailers into the air. The second most watched video on CNN.com this week was the tragic firsthand account of the Oakland university shooting, followed by video examining Nadya Suleman's welfare application, the crash of an F-18 jet into a Virginia apartment complex and finally the timeline of the Trayvon Martin shooting.
Truck trailers are thrown around violently as a tornado rips through North Texas.
Art Richards shot cell phone video at Oikos University where a gunman killed seven people.
Anger and outrage as "Octomom" Nadya Suleman, admits she's receiving food stamps. HLN's Nischelle Turner reports.
Zack Zapatero describes what he saw when a Navy jet crashed into an apartment building in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
Law enforcement expert Alex Manning analyzes a complete time line of the Trayvon Martin shooting, based on 911 calls.
Editor's Note: This post is a recap of the top five videos on CNN.com from the past week. So in case you didn't catch our best videos during the week, here is your chance to see what you missed.
The most popular videos on CNN.com were led by an enormous boulder that smashed into a house. The other top videos consisted of a political confrontation from Bristol Palin, a toddler belting out Adele, the first lady's secret shopping trip and Trayvon Martin's father recalling his sons last moments.
A large boulder breaks free from a hillside in Athens, Ohio, hitting two vehicles and crashing into a house.
Bristol Palin writes a letter to President Obama asking for a phone call. CNN's Mary Snow reports.
A 2-year-old girl singing Adele's "Someone Like You" is taking the viral video world by storm.
First lady Michelle Obama describes a recent trip to Target to David Letterman.
Trayvon Martin's father tells Anderson Cooper about the heartbreak of hearing his son's voice before he died.
Follow us on Twitter: @CNNVideo
ACAPULCO, Mexico (CNN) - Mexican officials were assessing damage Wednesday, a day after a strong earthquake left homes in ruins and rattled residents hundreds of miles away from the epicenter.
At least 11 people were injured and hundreds of houses were damaged in the 7.4-magnitude quake, which struck mid-day Tuesday in southern Mexico.
Photos from some of the hardest-hit areas showed residents surveying rubble where adobe homes once stood. Broken tiles and pieces of buildings fell onto sidewalks as far away as Mexico City, about 200 miles (320 km) from the quake's epicenter.
The city's mayor said the earthquake was one of the strongest to impact the capital since an 8.0 temblor that struck in 1985, killing about 10,000 people in the sprawling metropolis. But officials said no deaths had been reported after Tuesday's quake, despite the widespread alarm it caused.
FULL STORY
Are you there? Please send us your photos, videos and stories.
[Updated at 4:00 p.m. ET] The U.S. Geological Survey has again revised the magnitude of the Mexican quake, down to 7.4.
[Updated at 3:29 p.m. ET] Though the epicenter was about 175 miles from Mexico City, earthquakes are a frightening experience for the city's more than 20 million residents of Mexico City. About 10,000 people perished in a massive quake in 1985.
The city, built on volcanic ash and clay, is particularly vulnerable to temblors.
Read CNNMexico's coverage in Spanish
[Updated at 3:17 p.m. ET] Local authorities in Guerrero state have reported aftershocks, while residents in Oaxaca and Guerrero states and the eastern state of Veracruz reported that phone service had been knocked out in their areas.
[Updated at 3:12 p.m. ET] Pascal Clemens, a businessman in Acapulco, says he has lived in the city for 17 years, and Tuesday's earthquake was in the top five of those he's experienced in that time.
It was "a pretty strong one," he said.
[Updated at 3:03 p.m. ET] A real estate agent in Acapulco told CNN International that he was in an office building when the quake hit. He said that the area has felt tremors for a while now, “but not strong like this one.”
Footage in Mexico City showed people milling around outside office buildings moments after evacuating.
Read CNN's full coverage of the earthquake in Mexico
A magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck Papua, Indonesia, on Tuesday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The quake was 66 kilometers (41 miles) deep, the USGS said. Its epicenter was 154 kilometers, or 96 miles, south-southwest of Jayapura.
Editor's Note: This post is a recap of the top five videos on CNN.com from the past week. So in case you didn't catch our best videos during the week, here is your chance to see what you missed.
FULL POST
Last night, a system of devastating storms swept through the Plains states, leaving trails of destruction in Missouri, Illinois and Kansas. Take a look at some storm-related video that's come in from the region, including one of a tornado touching down in one Kansas county.
Storm chasers capture footage of a tornado touching down in Reno County, Kansas. Watch the funnel cloud form and lightning flash in this nighttime video.
— The small town of Harveyville, Kansas, was especially hard hit. This video shows the devastating damage that the town faces the morning after a suspected tornado struck.
Residents of Edgar Springs, Missouri react to damage in their town. See a flattened burger shop and listen to one man describe what he did when he heard a tornado coming.
Residents across 13 states reported feeling a 4.0-magnitude earthquake that struck southeastern Missouri early Tuesday.
The U.S. Geological Survey reports the temblor struck at 3:58 a.m. Central time with an epicenter nine miles east-southeast of Sikeston, Missouri, and 16 miles southwest of Cairo, Illinois. The quake was at a depth of 3.1 miles.
It was felt in 13 states, with the furthest location from the epicenter being New Bern, North Carolina, more than 800 miles to the east, according to reports to the USGS. Besides Missouri, Illinois and North Carolina, residents in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Wisconsin, Kansas, Arkansas and Oklahoma reported feeling the quake.
Did you feel the earthquake? Share your story on CNN iReport.
Lonnie Thurmond, city administrator in East Prairie, Missouri, about five miles from the epicenter of the quake, said he'd gotten reports of things falling from shelves and off walls when the quake hit, but no reports of major damage.
But he said he expected his community would be getting reports of underground service line breaks over the next few weeks as that is what usually happens when quakes hit the area, which sits near the New Madrid fault.
"Some water lines will be broken," Thurmond said. "It's just inevitable."
Thurmond said the quake jolted the entire community awake in the early morning darkness.
"It seems like there was not anyone it didn't wake up," he said, adding that his father, who lives near the epicenter, told him it sounded like a meteor had hit.
© 2012 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
| Advertising practices | Advertise with us | About us | Work for us | Help
Recent Comments