Weather, Natural Disaster | featured news

An earthquake has been felt strongly in the capital of Mexico and as far as the southernmost border.

A strong aftershock rattled Japan and officials issued a tsunami warning Thursday night nearly a month after a devastating earthquake and tsunami flattened the northeastern coast. The warning was lifted 90 minutes later, but not before announcers on Japan's public broadcaster NHK told coastal residents to run to higher ground and away from the shore.

Severe weather tore across central Florida on Thursday, causing damage and spawning an apparent tornado in Tampa, the National Weather Service said.

A powerful earthquake struck northeastern Burma on Thursday night, killing one woman and shaking buildings as far away as Bangkok. No tsunami was generated.

A tide of bodies washed up along Japan's coastline, crematoriums were overwhelmed and rescue workers ran out of body bags as the nation faced the grim reality of its mounting humanitarian, economic and nuclear crisis Monday after a calamitous tsunami....

Last week's earthquake in Japan could lead to insured losses of nearly $35 billion, risk modeling company AIR Worldwide said, making it one of the most expensive catastrophes in history.

The last-ditch move indicates that the backup cooling system in a second quake-damaged reactor has failed. Japanese officials say radiation levels at another reactor being pumped with seawater have fallen, but hydrogen gas is building in a third.

In the coastal Miyagi prefecture town of Minamisanriku, 9,500 people out of the population of 17,000 are unaccounted for, according to Kyodo News. We could hear many more stories like that in the next few days. The overall picture of the destruction remains patchy, with rescue workers unable to reach some of the worst-hit areas due to wrecked roads and tsunami warnings.

An explosion at a nuclear power station Saturday destroyed a building housing the reactor amid fears that it could melt down after being hit by a powerful earthquake and tsunami.

Waves generated by the quake have forced evacuations in Hawaii and tsunami warnings for the West Coast.