A spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington said Friday that a devastating earthquake in southwest China destroyed or heavily damaged 436,000 properties leading to 4.8 million homeless, according to official figures.
Rainy weather and poor logistics thwarted efforts by relief troops who walked for hours over rock, debris and mud on Tuesday in hopes of reaching the worst-hit area of an earthquake that killed nearly 10,000 in central China, state-run media reported.
Chinese authorities say nearly 400 dams were damaged by Monday's massive earthquake, according to media reports, as efforts to relieve the pressure at a dam near one quake-hit city continue.
Three names -- Dean, Felix and Noel -- were permanently retired from the list of Atlantic hurricane names after storms bearing those monikers in 2007 caused damage in the Caribbean, Central America, Mexico and elsewhere, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Tuesday.
More than 18,000 people are reported buried under rubble in just one earthquake-hit city of China as teams of rescuers battle through power cuts, mudslides and heavy rain in desperate efforts to reach them
Direct students to their textbooks and online resources to learn about what causes earthquakes and the scale used to measure an earthquake's magnitude. Then, organize students into small groups and assign each group one year between 1999 and 2008. Refer groups to print and online resources to learn more about the most significant earthquakes that took place in their assigned years. On a large map of the world, have students mark (with small circle stickers or markers) the locations of these earthquakes. Based on their observations, have students make hypotheses about why earthquakes occur where they do.
A spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington said Friday that a devastating earthquake in southwest China destroyed or heavily damaged 436,000 properties leading to 4.8 million homeless, according to official figures.
Rainy weather and poor logistics thwarted efforts by relief troops who walked for hours over rock, debris and mud on Tuesday in hopes of reaching the worst-hit area of an earthquake that killed nearly 10,000 in central China, state-run media reported.
Chinese authorities say nearly 400 dams were damaged by Monday's massive earthquake, according to media reports, as efforts to relieve the pressure at a dam near one quake-hit city continue.
Three names -- Dean, Felix and Noel -- were permanently retired from the list of Atlantic hurricane names after storms bearing those monikers in 2007 caused damage in the Caribbean, Central America, Mexico and elsewhere, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Tuesday.
More than 18,000 people are reported buried under rubble in just one earthquake-hit city of China as teams of rescuers battle through power cuts, mudslides and heavy rain in desperate efforts to reach them
Direct students to their textbooks and online resources to learn about what causes earthquakes and the scale used to measure an earthquake's magnitude. Then, organize students into small groups and assign each group one year between 1999 and 2008. Refer groups to print and online resources to learn more about the most significant earthquakes that took place in their assigned years. On a large map of the world, have students mark (with small circle stickers or markers) the locations of these earthquakes. Based on their observations, have students make hypotheses about why earthquakes occur where they do.
Scientists urged residents of northern Nevada's largest city to prepare for a bigger event as the area continued rumbling Saturday after the largest earthquake in a two-month-long series of temblors.
A 4.5-magnitude earthquake shook southern Illinois early Monday, the latest in a string of quakes that have rattled the region since last week, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Meteorological official says a powerful earthquake has rocked part of East Timor, causing residents to panic. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.
A total of four earthquakes -- the strongest of them a powerful 7.2 magnitude quake -- hit western China on Friday, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.
Since the 19th century, damage surveys have included reports of tornadoes moving entire houses while keeping them intact, driving pieces of straw into tree trunks in high-speed winds, and tearing asphalt pavement away from the road like an orange peel. The following facts can help distinguish between myth and reality concerning tornadoes.
A strong earthquake struck the northeast corner of Nevada on Thursday morning, the U.S. Geological Survey said, damaging buildings in a small town near the epicenter.
Rescuers raced to provide assistance Monday after an earthquake killed at least 39 people and injured 669 in central Africa, according to the Red Cross.
Rescuers raced to provide assistance Monday after an earthquake killed at least 39 people and injured 669 in central Africa, according to the Red Cross.
Olga strengthened into a tropical storm Tuesday after making landfall on Hispaniola and soaking the Dominican Republic, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said.
Hurricane forecasters said their 2007 predictions were slightly off target this season, which ended Friday and produced just one U.S. hurricane and two Category 5 landfalls.
A magnitude-7.4 earthquake struck Thursday in the Caribbean just off the coast of Martinique, setting off shaking that triggered a reading of a strong earthquake in California, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Five days after Cyclone Sidr struck Bangladesh, an overwhelming stench filled the air Tuesday as rotting bodies and animal carcasses floated in pools of stagnant water around the coastal city of Patharghata.
Survivors of a storm that killed more than 3,000 people in the impoverished nation of Bangladesh grieved and buried their loved ones Monday as they waited for aid to arrive.
Bangladesh's death toll from Cyclone Sidr has reached an estimated 2,000 people, officials said Sunday, amid fears that it could skyrocket to five times that number.
Thousands were left homeless Friday after a powerful tropical cyclone crashed ashore in Bangladesh, uprooting trees, destroying homes and damaging buildings where residents had sought shelter.
Chilean President Michelle Bachelet arrived in the quake zone, announcing a state of emergency and promising aid after three powerful aftershocks rattled the region Thursday, according to state-owned media.
Hurricane Noel grew in size Friday as it ran almost parallel to the East Coast, on track to bring heavy rain to parts of New England, the National Hurricane Center said.
Noel was upgraded to a Category 1 hurricane Thursday as it moved away from the Bahamas and out into the cooler waters of the Atlantic Ocean, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.
Tropical Storm Noel, which has killed at least 48 people, was moving away from the Cuban coast late Wednesday and strengthening over warm waters, prompting tropical storm watches to be issued for South Florida.
Tropical Storm Noel weakened Tuesday over most of Cuba after lashing the island's northern coast, but heavy rains continued to deluge the Dominican Republic, Haiti and portions of the Bahamas, forecasters said.
Haiti posted tropical storm warnings along its entire coastline and Cuba placed much of its eastern end under similar advisories Sunday as Tropical Storm Noel gained strength in the Caribbean Sea, forecasters reported.
A strong earthquake rattled western Indonesia Tuesday morning, striking off the coast of Sumatra, the U.S. Geological Survey reported, prompting authorities to temporarily issue a tsunami alert.
NATO ships rescued two survivors and spotted three bodies off the coast of a small Red Sea island Monday morning, following a spectacular volcanic eruption the night before, a NATO commander said.
Tropical Depression Lorenzo caused mudslides and floods that killed at least five people, put thousands out of their homes and ruined roads in eastern Mexico, according to The Associated Press.
Two tropical weather systems were rapidly losing steam Friday, but a third system was upgraded to a tropical depression, the National Hurricane Center said.
A tropical depression in the Gulf of Mexico was nearing tropical storm strength and a storm in the Atlantic neared hurricane strength late Wednesday morning, the U.S. National Hurricane Center reported.
Typhoon Wipha, with wind gusts up to 185 mph (298 kph), forced schools and businesses in Taiwan to close Tuesday as it churned toward the central Chinese coast.
A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.4 struck off the southwestern coast of Sumatra Friday in the same area shaken by a major 8.4-magnitude temblor that killed 13 people earlier in the week.
Powerful earthquakes terrorized Indonesia for a third day Friday as thousands of people slept outside in the hills, and seismologists warned that the worst may be yet to come
A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.2 struck late Thursday off the western coast of Sumatra, the same area shaken by a major 8.4-magnitude temblor that killed nine people Wednesday.
Indonesia was shaken Thursday by the third earthquake in less than 24 hours, and survivors described the ocean retreating and racing back to shore as a 10-foot-high tsunami
Hurricane Humberto crashed ashore along Southeast Texas early Thursday, bringing heavy rains and maximum sustained winds of up to 80 mph as it made its way to eastern Louisiana, the National Weather Service said.
The second powerful earthquake in as many days shook western Indonesia Thursday, collapsing buildings in a coastal city and triggering tsunami alerts around the region.
People on the Indonesian island of Sumatra were jolted Thursday by a powerful tremor that prompted the Indonesian government to issue another tsunami warning.
Tropical Storm Humberto began its soggy rendezvous with the upper Texas coast Wednesday evening, its rain bands sweeping in as the storm moved closer to landfall.
A massive earthquake shook Indonesia on Wednesday, killing seven people, injuring 100 and triggering a small tsunami that hit one city on the island of Sumatra
A magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck just off Colombia's Pacific coast late Sunday, the U.S. Geological Survey reported, but there were no immediate reports of injuries.
Rescuers searched for survivors of Hurricane Felix on Thursday as the death toll from the powerful storm rose to nearly 100, according to The Associated Press.
Hurricane Henriette took aim at Mexico for the second time in two days, moving toward the port city of Guaymas with top sustained winds of 75 mph. Seven deaths were reported from the Pacific storm, which hit Baja California on Tuesday.
Hurricane Henriette weakened slightly Tuesday after it made landfall on the southern tip of Baja, a resort area popular with Hollywood stars and sports fishing enthusiasts.
Hurricane Felix has killed 21 people in Nicaragua and another 200 were missing, said the U.S. military's Southern Command, citing Nicaraguan officials.
Energy futures ended higher Wednesday after a choppy day in which traders balanced concerns about hurricanes against worries concerning the economy's strength. Prices drew support from expectations that Thursday's petroleum inventory report will show declines in crude oil and gasoline supplies.
Felix was barely clinging to hurricane status Tuesday, but the storm still posed a "major flood threat" and could dump as much as 2 feet of rain in some areas, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.
Hurricane Felix increased in strength in the early hours of Tuesday as it barreled toward Central America, where it is expected to come ashore along the Nicaragua-Honduras border.
Hurricane Felix has grown to a "potentially catastrophic" Category 5 storm packing winds up to 165 mph (270 kph), the National Hurricane Center said late Sunday.
Felix strengthened into a hurricane over the Caribbean on Saturday, setting its sights on Aruba and prompting Jamaica to issue a tropical storm watch, forecasters said.
The sixth tropical depression of the Atlantic hurricane season formed Friday, while Tropical Storm Henriette drenched parts of Mexico's Pacific coast, the National Hurricane Center said.
Oil and natural gas futures rose Friday, boosted by concerns about a tropical storm system forming in the Atlantic and reports that consumer spending and factory orders rose in July.
Tropical Storm Henriette formed off Mexico's Pacific coast Friday and was forecast to move parallel to the mainland, the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida, said.
Once a monster Category 5 hurricane, Dean was downgraded to a tropical depression Wednesday evening as it rapidly lost strength after battering Mexico's eastern coast.
The remnants of Hurricane Dean dumped heavy rain across central Mexico on Thursday, drenching mudslide-prone mountains as it pushed inland after slamming into the Gulf Coast as a Category 2 storm and killing four people.
With Hurricane Dean hours away from a second dangerous encounter with Mexico, government officials warned residents of Veracruz and other coastal towns to prepare for its arrival.
Typhoon Sepat swept China's southern coast on Sunday, killing 14 people and forcing almost a million people from their homes before weakening into a tropical storm.
You in?" It's the query posed to anyone who would be in the game, an exhortation rich with resolve and checked guts. It's essentially what New Orleanians with a rebuilder's heart have been asking one another for most of the two years since the greatest natural disaster in U.S. history sent 40 billion gallons of water into their city, rinse-cycled homes and lives, and withdrew to lay bare its work.
Hurricane Dean battered the southern coast of Jamaica with heavy rains and surf as its eye passed offshore late Sunday, apparently sparing the Caribbean island the worst of its 145 mph winds.
Massive Hurricane Dean roared through the open waters of the western Caribbean on Saturday, prompting the National Hurricane Center to call it an "extremely dangerous" storm as it hovered precariously close to Category 5 intensity.
Video
Photos
