Asia, Natural Disaster | featured news

A 7.6-magnitude quake struck off the eastern coast of the Philippines late Friday, killing at least one person in a house collapse and triggering tsunami warnings in the region that sent coastal residents fleeing to high ground.

An earthquake that struck rural Indonesia left at least four people dead, authorities said Sunday. At least seven others were injured, according to the National Disaster Management Agency. The 6.6-magnitude hit Saturday near the city of Palu on the island of Sulawesi, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

Chinese officials say a strong earthquake has struck a remote area of the country's far-western Xinjiang region. The government earthquake monitoring center said the quake registered magnitude 6.2 and hit Sunday evening. It said it was centered 175 miles southeast of the oasis city of Hotan. The area is deep in the thinly populated Kunlun mountains.

More heavy rain has pounded North Korea, flooding buildings and farmland and forcing people and their livestock to take shelter on rooftops.

The Chinese capital's heaviest rainstorm in six decades killed at least 37 people, flooded streets and stranded 80,000 people at the main airport, state media and the government said on Sunday.

A strong earthquake off Indonesia's coast caused tall buildings to sway in the capital Monday afternoon, but officials said there was no threat of a tsunami. Office workers said the swaying was felt for about 10 seconds in high-rise buildings around the city of 9 million people. Even two-story residential homes shook strongly. No damage or casualties were immediately reported.

Residents surveying damage from two powerful earthquakes that reignited memories of the devastating 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami said Thursday they could hardly believe their luck. Five people died from heart attacks, and a few others were injured as mobs used cars and motorcycles to flee to high ground in Indonesia's westernmost province of Aceh – closest to the epicenters.

Indonesia has issued a fresh tsunami warning after an aftershock with a preliminary magnitude of 8.2 shook its western coast.

With a minute of silence, tolling bells and prayers, Japan will on Sunday mark the first anniversary of an earthquake and tsunami that killed thousands and set off a nuclear crisis that shattered public trust in atomic power and the nation's leaders.

Flash floods devastated a southern Philippines region unaccustomed to serious storms, killing more than 400 people while they slept, rousting hundreds of others to their rooftops and turning two coastal cities into muddy, debris-filled waterways that were strewn Saturday with overturned vehicles and toppled trees.