FT Chronicle

Japan on Monday lifted all tsunami alerts nationwide, a day after authorities ordered large-scale evacuations as waves triggered by Chile’s massive earthquake hit its Pacific coast.

“We lifted all alerts as of 10:15 a.m. (0115 GMT),” said Yoshiro Ota at the Meteorological Agency’s earthquake and tsunami division.

There were no immediate reports of damage from the four-foot (1.2-meter) wave, though some piers were briefly flooded.

In the Philippines, State volcanologists on Sunday afternoon lifted their tsunami warning in the absence of unusual, significant sea level changes near the country’s coasts in front of the Pacific Ocean in the wake of an 8.8-magnitude earthquake that hit south-central Chile on Saturday.

Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) also said initial waves had been small and most of the Pacific islands already in its path had been spared damage.

Philipines and Japan also shared their own earthquake occurrences.

A magnitude-5.3 quake rocked General Santos City, southern part of the Philippines, shortly after midnight Friday, with state seismologists saying no damage was expected but  aftershocks were possible.

An earthquake measuring 5.4 on the Richter scale hit east coast of Hongshu, Japan at 4:23 p.m. Sunday Hong Kong time (0823 GMT), according to a bulletin released by the Hong Kong Observatory.

The tsunami alert was caused by a possibility of huge waves produced by the massive 8.8-magnitude earthquake that struck Chile early Saturday.

President Michele Bachelet declared a “state of catastrophe” in central Chile. The death toll hits more than 700.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP)– A half-million Haitians who fled their shattered capital after the earthquake are starting to return to a maze of rubble piles, refugee camps and food lines, complicating ambitious plans to build a better Haiti.

Haitian and international officials had hoped to use the devastation of Port-au-Prince — a densely packed sprawl of winding roads and ramshackle slums that is home to a third of Haiti’s 9 million people — to build an improved capital and decentralize the country.

An estimated 500,000 people fled to the countryside in the days after the quake, many on buses paid for by the government to move quake survivors away from the heart of the destruction. Hundreds of thousands more are camped atop the rubble of their homes, or packed into makeshift camps.

The government is largely powerless to keep people from returning, though Prime Minister Max Bellerive protested this week that Port-au-Prince cannot withstand another influx of people.

President Rene Preval’s “Operation Demolition,” an ambitious plan to clear the rubble, includes provisions to remove people living in unstable buildings by force, according to Aby Brun, an architect and member of the government’s reconstruction team.

Haiti’s government on Friday announced a ban on rebuilding until it completes damage assessments and introduces a new building code to be developed with “international partners.” A notice broadcast in Creole on radio warned people against sleeping under or near any damaged buildings. It was not clear how the government would enforce the edict.

A major part of that reconstruction plan is encouraging Haitians to move away from the capital, providing jobs and basic services in other cities, towns and villages.

Haiti plans to build camps with sanitation outside the city, but Stein said such efforts usually fail. But if the government has a plan to rebuild, Bellerive did not reveal it — and no one knows when, or to what extent a new capital will rise.

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton visited Friday in his role as a U.N. special envoy for Haiti relief. He expressed faith in Haiti’s leaders and predicted the country would emerge stronger than before.

And despite Haitian and international efforts, opportunities remain few and far between in the countryside.

NEW YORK – National Basketball Association owners and players announced Friday they have made a combined contribution of one million dollars to the UNICEF relief effort for earthquake victims in Haiti.

Philadelphia 76ers center Samuel Dalembert, a native of Haiti, videotaped a public service announcement for UNICEF encouraging NBA supporters to contribute to relief efforts in the disaster-stricken Caribbean nation.

The messages will start playing immediately on all league telecasts.

Dalembert is making a $100,000 donation and was set to match the amount of donations collected for UNICEF Haitian relief efforts at the 76ers’ Friday home game.

“NBA players are deeply affected by this tragedy,” National Basketball Players Association president Derek Fisher said.

“We hope our contribution helps provide immediate relief to those suffering in Haiti.”

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Tens of thousands are feared dead while many are still trapped under rubble of collapsed buildings brought by the devastating earthquake that hit Haiti last Tuesday.

Tuesday’s earthquake brought down buildings great and small even President Rene Preval’s lustrous white National Palace while bodies were everywhere in Port-au-Prince

Hospitals, schools and the main prison collapsed. The capital’s Roman Catholic archbishop was killed when his office and the main cathedral fell. The quake damaged the airport, stranding dozens there. The head of the U.N. peacekeeping mission was missing in the ruins of the organization’s multistory headquarters.

Haiti’s leaders struggled to comprehend the extent of the catastrophe — the worst earthquake to hit the country in 200 years — even as aftershocks reverberated.

US President Barack Obama promised an all-out rescue and humanitarian effort including the military and civilian emergency teams from across the U.S. Late Wednesday, the Navy said the amphibious assault ship USS Bataan had been ordered to sail as soon as possible with a 2,000-member Marine unit to join other warships headed to the Caribbean nation.

The first cargo planes with food, water, medical supplies, shelter and sniffer dogs headed to the Western Hemisphere’s poorest nation a day after the magnitude-7 quake flattened much of the capital of 2 million people.

Some of the biggest immediate health threats include respiratory disease from inhaling dust from collapsed buildings and diarrhea from drinking contaminated water.

The international Red Cross said a third of the country’s 9 million people may need emergency aid, a burden that would test any nation and a crushing catastrophe for impoverished Haiti.

Earthquake struck Haiti killing eight Chinese peacemakers and leaving damages to the impecunious region. The quake is said to be the largest to hit the area in 200 years.

According to the U.S Geological Survey, the earthquake struck some 10 kilometers from Port-au-Prince. The quake registered a 7 magnitude and was followed by several after shocks.

The earthquake destroyed hospital near the capital and damages many buildings including a luxury hotel.

The quake was also felt in Cuba and Dominican Republic, which the latter shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti.

(photo credit: AFP)

MANILA (Reuters) – Officials ordered the evacuation yesterday of thousands of people living near the most active volcano in the country, warning of a possible eruption within a week.

Mayon volcano, known for its near-perfect cone shape in Albay, has been spewing lava and ashes that reached a height of about 100 metres (330 feet) on Monday, chief volcanologist Renato Solidum said.

Alex Baloloy, senior science research analyst at the Phivolcs Mayon Observatory in Daraga, Albay, told GMA 7 that the volcanic activity recorded in the volcano’s parameters, particularly the rolling of incandescent materials or lava trickles, could eventually lead to hazardous magmatic eruption.

Albay Governor Joey Salceda said he had ordered the evacuation of about 20,000-30,000 people living within the 6-8 km (4-5 mile) danger zone around the volcano.

Salceda also told local disaster coordinating councils to directly advise the population in the danger zone to have their evacuation kits ready and wait for an advisory to be issued any time from Monday night to Tuesday.

Salceda likewise ordered the Joint Task Force Mayon to pre-position its vehicles for a possible evacuation of 30,000 residents.

Phivolcs had earlier said that there had been an increase in the current activity of Mayon Volcano since June 2009.

The Philippines lies on the “Ring of Fire”, a belt of volcanoes circling the Pacific Ocean that is also prone to earthquakes.

Mayon is the most active of 22 volcanoes in the country, having erupted more than 50 times in the last four centuries.

The most destructive eruption came in February 1841 when lava flows buried a town and killed 1,200 people.

The last time Mayon erupted was in 2006.

Indonesians’ immorality is main reason for series of natural calamities to happen said a government minister.

Communication and Information Minister Tifatul Sembiring pointed out many television programmes and pornographic DVDs in local market intoxicated people’s morals, therefore, bringing natural disasters to occur.

His remarks came as he lectured a prayer gathering on Friday in Padang, Sumatra, which was hit by a powerful earthquake in late September.

However, his comments received harsh criticism especially on social networking site Twitter.

Why focus on public immorality when there was so much within the government, one respondent reportedly asked.

More than 1,000 people died in the Padang earthquake, which tumbled hundreds of buildings in the city.

Padang lies to the south of Aceh province, which was devastated in the December 2004 Asian tsunami.

Indonesia lies across a series of geological fault-lines and is prone to frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

Photo and nes via BBC

JAKARTA, Indonesia – One person dead, dozens injured and hundreds of houses was damaged by a powerful undersea earthquake that hit on a remote island in Indonesia, officials said Monday.

The quake struck at 3:14 a.m. near east Lombok resort and measured a magnitude of 6.7.

At least 20 people were treated in the hospital in Sumbawa with a lot suffering from broken bones and minor injuries.

Indonesia, one of the countries that is situated to an area prone to seismic activity known as the Pacific ‘Ring of Fire” is still clearing up from a shocking quake that hit the country last September and killed more than 1,000 people.

US Geological Survey said that the quake epicentre was in the eastern part of Sumbawa Island, which lies about 1,300 km east of Jakarta.

(via BBC)