The 7.5 magnitude quake struck off the northern coast of Sulawesi island in the early hours of Monday morning awakening frightened residents, many who ran into the streets. The U.S. Geological Survey said the offshore quake's epicenter was around 135 kilometers from the provincial capital of Gorontalo with a depth of about 21 kilometers beneath the sea.

Setiono, an official with Indonesia's Geological and Meteorological Center said the center monitored the earthquake at a magnitude of 7.7. He says people in the Gorontalo district reported at least one school building had collapsed and dozens of homes were completely destroyed.

Indonesia issued a tsunami warning following the quake but later lifted it after the threat had passed.Setiono said the center had, so far, recorded 17 after shocks. He says two of the aftershocks were strong, one measuring 6.0 while the other had a magnitude of 5.7 . Setiono says the center will continue to monitor the affected areas.

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GNS Science recorded the quake at 5.2 on the Richter scale, centred 10km south of the city at a focal depth of 160km.GNS data shows the quake, which struck at 3.14am, was likely to have been felt as far south as Wellington, but police in Rotorua say they were unaware of the earthquake and have had no reports of damage or incidents.

That an earthquake of that apparent magnitude was not felt was "weird," Rotorua police told Stuff.co.nz.A Stuff.co.nz reader in Upper Hutt, north of Wellington, reported being awoken by her house creaking. She said she felt two shakes over a 10 second period.

GNS Science's Geonet.org.nz website had six reports of the quake being felt; in Churton Park, Haumoana, Hokowhitu, Stokes Valley, Tawa, Upper Hutt - but not Rotorua.

The 160km depth of the 5.2 quake is likely to be a factor in its lack of intensity. The 6.8 magnitute quake which caused widespread damage around Gisborne, despite being 50km from the city, last December was only 60km deep.GNS Science could not be contacted for comment this morning.

An earthquake registered 5.4 on the Richter scale shook on Tuesday some areas of El Salvador without producing victims or damages. The earthquake took place at 9:05 a.m. local time (1505 GMT) and had its epicenter in front to the coasts of Guatemala, according to information reaching here from San Salvador.

 Salvadorian National Service of Territorial Studies (SNET) said that the earthquake was of three degrees at the Mercalli scale. This means it was light, but was felt by people at houses and buildings.

 On Oct. 16, another earthquake measuring 6.5 in the Richter scale hit coast in the border between Mexico and Guatemala.

Two men were injured on Monday when a 6.3 magnitude earthquake hit a mining area in the Haixi Mongolian and Tibet autonomous prefecture of Qinghai province, the local government said on its website.

The quake happened at about 9:22 am, and its epicenter was in Da Qaidam, a sparsely populated town of about 16,000 Mongolian, Tibetan, Muslim Hui and Han people, the prefecture government said.According to the People's Daily's website, more than 25 aftershocks were reported before noon in the area, with the strongest being a magnitude 5, which struck at about 11:44 am.

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A magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck a remote area of China early Monday, with early reports indicating limited damage and no casualties.

The quake struck northern Qinghai province, located 1,800 kilometers (1,120 miles) west of Beijing, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The temblor struck around 9.22 a.m. local time and was centered 6.2 miles underground.

China's state-run Xinhua news agency reported Monday that county officials near the epicenter of the quake had sent teams quake-affected villages. The Xinhua report said there were limited reports of damage and no fatalities.

A large earthquake has struck off the coast of Vanuatu. The quake occurred around 8:19pm (6:19pm local time) and had a depth of 35 kilometres.

The quake was followed by two smaller earthquakes, registering 5.4 and 5.3 respectively.On Wednesday another quake registering 6.3 on the Richter scale also shook the region.

The island nation is part of the Pacific 'Ring of Fire' that includes New Zealand, Tonga and Japan.

China has announced it will spend US$216 billion over the next three years to rebuild areas destroyed by the earthquake in Sichuan province.

80,000 people were killed while 10 million were left homeless when the quake hit in May.The earthquake razed entire villages across China, but especially in Sichuan province.

Basic living standards and economic development should exceed pre-quake levels according to China's Development and Reform Commission.The budget will include money for health, education and other basic services.

The International Committee of the Red Cross `ICRC` Sunday launched an appeal of 7.8 million dollars for the affected people of Pakistan`s southwest.Officials say that death toll from the October 29th earthquake has crossed the figure in Balochistan.But the ICRC in an appeal through internet said that at least 200 people were killed in the earthquake.

Over 70,000 people, including 30,000 children, were left homeless by a quake that measured 6.4 on the Richter scale.It said that 20 to 30 thousands people have been affected and some 4000 mud houses destroyed in Ziarat district, some 60 kilometers from Quetta, the provincial capital.The ICRC said that its priority is to provide tents to the affected people as winter has already approached and the people are living outside houses due to fear of aftershocks.

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Considering the humanitarian mandates and alleviating the suffering of earthquake stricken people of Pakistan, the Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS) immediately swung into action and shipped a relief consignment across Mir Javeh boarder for the benefit of affected people of Blouchistan province, Pakistan on 02 November 2008.

The relief consignment weighing 71,500 T included 1,000 Pcs. of relief tents, 5,000 Pcs. of blankets, 30,000 packs of detergent / washing powder and 10,000 tins of canned tuna fish.

Rescue efforts continue in southwest Pakistan, where the official death toll from Wednesday's magnitude 6.4 earthquake reached 215. VOA's Barry Newhouse reports from Islamabad that providing shelter for homeless families is now a top priority.

Rescue workers are still trying to determine the extent of the damage in the rugged, mountainous area of Baluchistan Province, but say it appears as many as 5,000 homes were either collapsed or severely damaged by the tremor.

Non-government organizations say the actual death toll is probably around 400, but the official tally is lower because remote villages and quick burials make counting difficult.
Military spokesman General Salim Nawaz says rescue efforts are going smoothly and most of the dead have been buried. He says there are no reports Thursday of locating survivors buried under wreckage.

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