natural disaster

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Italy Scientists Get 6 Years in Jail for Not Predicting Quake

L'Aquila earthquake killed 309

(Newser) - In a decision sure to rock the scientific community, an Italian judge has sentenced six scientists and one former government official to six years in prison for failing to predict a 2009 earthquake that killed 309 people, the BBC reports. The seven, all members of the government-appointed National Commission for...

18 Students Confirmed Dead in China Landslide

Children were making up days missed due to earthquake

(Newser) - There were no survivors from a landslide that buried 18 children inside an elementary school in southwest China yesterday, authorities have confirmed. Rescuers recovered the last child's body from the school in Yunnan province early this morning, reports the AP . One adult is still missing. Yesterday was a holiday...

No End in Sight to Wildfire Season

8.1 million acres scorched so far

(Newser) - The Western wildfire season that began during an unusually warm and dry March has stretched into September, and the weather is not expected to end it any time soon, AP reports. Hundreds of people have been evacuated from their homes as fires rage in Washington, Montana, and Wyoming, and the...

Lightning Sparks 70+ Wildfires in Wash. State

Officials call on 180 homes to evacuate

(Newser) - Lightning strikes sparked dozens of fires in central Washington state, with officials near Wenatchee calling for the evacuation of scores of homes. Residents of about 180 homes in foothills just west of the city have been urged to evacuate, police said late last night. A spokesman said the 500-acre blaze...

Costa Rica Escapes Major Damage in Big Quake

AP says one death is confirmed

(Newser) - The earthquake that struck Costa Rica today may have been massive at 7.6-magnitude, but the Central American nation looks to have escaped major damage, reports AP . The quake collapsed at least one bridge, knocked down some houses, and caused plenty of panic, but the physical damage is relatively minor...

Iran Hospitals Overwhelmed After Brutal Quakes

Death toll approaches 300

(Newser) - With thousands injured as the death toll from Iran's dual earthquakes nears 300, hospitals are reeling from the increased traffic. There are long lines outside as doctors work feverishly to cope with the injuries. "From last night until this afternoon when I left Shohada-ye Tabriz hospital, doctors were...

Half of Manila Underwater
 Half of Manila Underwater 
Aug 7, 2012 6:31 AM CDT

Half of Manila Underwater

Tens of thousands evacuated as rain covers Philippine capital

(Newser) - Relentless rains submerged half of the sprawling Philippine capital, triggered a landslide that killed eight people, and sent emergency crews scrambling today to rescue and evacuate tens of thousands of residents. The deluge, the worst since 2009 when hundreds died in rampaging flash floods, was set off by the seasonal...

129 Hurt in Hong Kong Typhoon

City sets highest warning level in 13 years

(Newser) - Amid vicious winds and rain, Hong Kong last night raised its highest-level typhoon warning for the first time in 13 years. Some 129 people were injured in the storm; no deaths have been reported. But 60 flights were cancelled, and much of the city closed as Typhoon Vicente knocked down...

20 Dead in Japan Flooding
 20 Dead in Japan Flooding 
Jul 14, 2012 2:17 PM CDT

20 Dead in Japan Flooding

Kyushu island takes brunt with 'unprecedented' rainfall

(Newser) - At least 20 are dead and 400,000 are under evacuation orders after flooding ravaged south-west Japan over the past three days, report the BBC and AFP . Television footage has shown flooded houses and streets deluged with muddy, debris-filled water, following what officials called "unprecedented" seasonal rainfall. The southern...

USDA Declares Biggest Disaster Ever

One-third of America's counties now natural-disaster areas

(Newser) - It's a confirmation of just how brutal this season has been: The US Department of Agriculture yesterday declared the biggest disaster in its history, identifying 1,016 counties in 26 states as natural-disaster areas. That covers about a third of America's counties, notes Bloomberg . The apocalyptic-sounding declaration brings...

9 Killed in Mont Blanc Avalanche

Some climbers still missing in French Alps

(Newser) - An avalanche in the French Alps killed nine climbers and left another four or five missing this morning, the Telegraph reports. Two groups comprised of 28 climbers, many of them highly experienced, were trying to climb Mont Blanc, the highest peak in Europe. The avalanche hit as they were ascending...

Monsoon Floods Sweep Away Entire Indian Villages

81 dead, 2M displaced in country's northeast

(Newser) - The worst monsoon floods in a decade to hit a remote northeastern Indian state have killed more than 80 people and forced around 2 million to leave their homes, officials say. Nearly half a million people are living in relief camps that have been set up across Assam state, Prime...

Do We Need to Protect Grid From Sunstorms?

Officials clash over whether to upgrade system

(Newser) - The peak in the 11-year cycle of solar flares happens next year, but electricity regulators have made little progress in deciding how much protection the power grid needs, the Wall Street Journal finds. They are reviewing records as far back as the 1859 "superstorm," the strongest solar storm...

Pakistan Stumped in Race to Find Avalanche Missing

No victims recovered yet as more snowfall looms in Himalayan outpost

(Newser) - Pakistan is using bulldozers in a frantic, if thus far futile, search through some 80 feet of snow after an avalanche buried at least 135 people near a Himalayan military complex at the India border. At least 240 troops and civilians were today sifting through a slushy mix of snow,...

Somber Japan Marks Year Since Quake

Country pauses to remember its dead

(Newser) - At 2:46pm local time today, people all across Japan stood in silence to remember the 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami exactly one year ago that killed more than 19,000 people, destroyed 370,000 homes, and created the world's worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl, reports the AP...

Tornadoes Tear Into Homes, Prison in Alabama

Rest of the South fears it could be next

(Newser) - What appeared to be a series of tornadoes tore through northern Alabama today, destroying several homes, sending several to the hospital, and ripping the roof off a maximum-security state prison, the AP reports. A portion of the prison's fence was also knocked down, but the Alabama Department of Corrections...

Philippines Flooding Leaves More than 400 Dead
 400+ Dead in Philippines Flood 
Dec 17, 2011 10:11 AM CST

400+ Dead in Philippines Flood

Many were caught sleeping

(Newser) - Pounding rain from a tropical storm swelled rivers and sent walls of water crushing into two southern Philippine cities in the thick of night, killing at least 436 people, many caught in their beds, officials said today. The Philippine Red Cross says the latest toll was based on a body...

No Wonder It Was So Bad: Japan Had Two Tsunamis

They merged into an ultra-powerful wave

(Newser) - This might explain why the tsunami that devastated Japan in March caused so much death and destruction: Scientists think it was actually two tsunamis that merged into one uber-powerful wave, reports CNN . Satellites show two wave fronts combining far out at sea to create a tsunami double the normal height...

Climate Change Health Costs Will Be Colossal

'This is a problem with a human face'

(Newser) - The health care costs that climate change will cause have been overlooked—and they'll be staggering, according to a new study. Researchers looked at six climate-related disasters in the US, including wildfires, a hurricane, and a flood, and calculated that those six disasters alone cost the US $14 billion...

Rescuers Pull 3 More From Rubble in Turkey

Student, two teachers saved as Turkey accepts international help

(Newser) - The death toll from Turkey’s earthquake has reached 461, but rescue work continues: Rescuers pulled an 18-year-old student and two young teachers from the rubble today, days after the earthquake struck. Tiny cameras on sticks helped rescuers find the student, the AP reports. In other good news, the 2-week-old...

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