Rescuers have found only bodies while digging for survivors among dozens of people buried by landslides on a central Philippine island after an earthquake. The death toll has climbed to 15, with more than 70 people missing.

The 6.9-magnitude earthquake on Monday also collapsed bridges and damaged roads on Negros island. Soldiers and firefighters had to hike into mountains to reach remote villages. Most of the confirmed deaths were in Planas village, a part of Guihulngan town where about 30 houses were flattened.

The Guihulngan mayor, Ernesto Reyes, said crews were using earthmoving equipment in the search for casualties. The damage may be worse than officials first realised because the quake cut off communications to some villages, Reyes said. "We have no water and power because electric posts were toppled," he said. "Many of our roads were damaged, including bridges, and stores are closed. We're isolated."

In the mountain village of Solongon in La Libertad town, an unknown number of people were trapped under about 100 houses. The president, Benigno Aquino, sent air force helicopters and navy and coast guard vessels to the aid of rescuers, some of whom had been digging with picks and shovels. Workers were clearing roads and fixing and bridges to get equipment, food and medicine in.

The undersea quake was centred 44 miles north of Dumaguete, capital of Negros Oriental province, and about 400 miles south-east of the nation's capital, Manila. The Negros Oriental police chief, Edward Carranza, said at least 73 people remained missing in the province.

The casualties could top a 2004 quake on Mindoro Island, south of Manila, where 78 people died, about half of them in a quake-triggered tsunami. A local tsunami alert was issued following Monday's quake but was soon cancelled.

Reyes said that 13 residents died and at least 29 remained missing in the landslide in Planas, where an army platoon was digging for survivors. Meanwhile the landslide had blocked a mountain river that was threatening to back up and swamp houses along its banks. Residents had been told to leave.

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MANILA, Philippines — A 6.8-magnitude earthquake struck the central Philippines on Monday, killing a child and triggering a local tsunami alert. The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology issued the tsunami alert for the central Philippines, saying the quake, which hit in a narrow strait just off Negros Island, could trigger a 3-foot (1-meter) wave along the island’s eastern coast as well as west of Cebu City, the country’s second largest.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center did not issue a wider regional warning. The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake was centered 44 miles (72 kilometers) north of Dumaguete city on Negros and hit at a depth of 29 miles (46 kilometers).

People rushed out of schools, malls and offices during the quake. Officials in some areas suspended work and canceled classes. A child died when a concrete fence of a house collapsed in Taysan town in Negros Oriental province, said Benito Ramos, who heads the Office of Civil Defense.

A mall in San Carlos city in neighboring Negros Occidental province was damaged when its windows were shattered by the shaking, he said. The quake was also felt in Cebu, where it lasted about 30 seconds.

The Philippines is located in the Pacific “Ring of Fire” where earthquakes and volcanic activity are common. A 7.7-magnitude quake killed nearly 2,000 people in Luzon in 1990. Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Vancouver Island on Saturday, some 209 miles west of Victoria, the capital of the Canadian province of British Columbia, the U.S. Geological Survey said. There was a report on the USGS website of the quake centered in the Pacific Ocean being felt in Vancouver, the largest city in British Columbia. The quake struck at 12:05 p.m. local time, the USGS said. There was no danger of a tsunami from the earthquake, and there have been no reports of damage, said seismologist Shengzao Chen of the USGS.

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The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has asked Oconee Nuclear Station and all nuclear power plants in the eastern and central states to re-evaluate protection against earthquakes using new seismic calculations that could place some reactors at higher risk.

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CLEARLAKE OAKS, Calif. – Residents around the county reported feeling an early morning earthquake that was centered near Clearlake Oaks. The U.S. Geological Survey said the 3.8-magnitude quake occurred at 4:11 a.m. at a depth of 1.9 miles.

It was centered four miles south southwest of Clearlake Oaks, four miles west northwest of Clearlake and six miles northwest of Lower Lake, the agency reported. Several residents around the lake – from Clearlake Oaks to Kelseyville – reported feeling the quake, which was said to have lasted about five seconds.

By 9 a.m. the U.S. Geological Survey had received 233 shake reports from eight zip codes around Northern California, including Clearlake, Clearlake Oaks, Kelseyville, Lakeport, Lower Lake, Middletown, Hidden Valley Lake and Campbell. It also received a report from Sun Valley, Nev.
 
A 2.0-magnitude quake was reported in the same spot at 4:29 a.m., according to U.S. Geological Record reports. Regarding that second, smaller quake, a total of 19 shake reports were submitted from Clearlake, Clearlake Oaks, Kelseyville and Lower Lake, survey records showed.

Lake County is seismically active, although most of the earthquake action is reported on Cobb Mountain near The Geysers geothermal steamfield, where increased earthquake activity has been attributed to wastewater injection.

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The Tokyo region of Japan has a 70% chance of being hit by a powerful earthquake within four years, a new study has warned. University of Tokyo seismologists based their estimate on an increase in earthquake activity in the region since last year's March 11 disaster, when a magnitude nine quake and subsequent tsunami about 140 miles (230km) north-east of the capital left nearly 20,000 people dead or missing.
The group at the university's earthquake research institute said the number of moderate quakes in the capital region measuring magnitude three or bigger surged to 343 in the six-month period after the March quake, up from 47 in the previous six months.

Based on a theory that the probability of bigger earthquakes rises in proportion to an increase in smaller quakes, the team calculated a 98% likelihood of a magnitude 6.7 to 7.2 earthquake striking Tokyo over the next 30 years. "When we ask when a probability of such a quake reaches 70%, then we get a 70% chance over the next four years," said Shinichi Sakai, a seismologist on the team.

A separate government study estimates that the chance of a magnitude seven quake striking Tokyo is 70% over the next 30 years. Mr Sakai said the two studies use different methods to calculate earthquake probability.

While the university study factored in the recent increase in moderate seismic activity, the government estimate only looked at the pattern of magnitude 6.7-7.2 quakes over the past 150 years. Since no quake that big has occurred in the Tokyo area since March, there is no change in the government estimate, Mr Sakai said. Japan is one of the most earthquake-prone countries in the world. Tokyo's last major quake was the Great Kanto earthquake in 1923 in which 140,000 people were killed.

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A Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) spokesman says gusts of 170km/h and 70mm of rain lashed Hughenden, about 400 kilometres west of Townsville, yesterday. "We had a few wind gusts, but that was easily the strongest of all of them," the BOM spokesman told AAP.

"Hughenden rocked everyone else. You can compare them to cyclones, but cyclones last for a sustained period of time and these winds lasted about an hour or so. "We classify them as a destructive wind."

The Department of Community Safety (DCS) said one woman had to be taken to hospital, there were half a dozen calls for help and about three homes were damaged. The BOM said more storms in the area were possible, but it was unlikely they would again generate such strong winds. "It's quite rare," the BOM spokesman said. "Usually the range it reaches is 90 to 100km per hour. Getting up to 170 is at the high end of the scale."

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TEHRAN (ISNA)-Iran's recent earthquake pushed the number of the injured to 238 individuals. A relatively powerful earthquake measuring 5.5 on the Richter scale has shaken Iranian northeastern province of Khorasan Razavi at 4:00 pm local time on Thursday, the injured of which has hit to 238 by Friday.

The earthquake has inflicted damage to a number of historical monuments in the city as well. The tremor was also felt in the northeastern cities of Mashhad, Sabzevar, and Chenaran. Later in the day, a 3.6-magnitude earthquake hit south of Jahrom in the Iranian southern province of Fars at 8:34 pm local time. Iran lies on some of the world's most active seismic faults and is jolted on an almost daily basis.

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INVERCARGILL, New Zealand — A strong earthquake has struck off the coast of New Zealand’s South Island, but there are no reports of damage or injuries and no tsunami warning has been issued. The 6.1-magnitude quake struck Thursday 126 miles (203 kilometers) west of New Zealand’s southernmost city, Invercargill, at a depth of 11 miles (18 kilometers).

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center did not issue an alert. A devastating quake ravaged the New Zealand city of Christchurch last year, killing 182 people. Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Natural disasters cost the global economy 380 billion dollars last year, making it the costliest year ever recorded. One of the world’s biggest reinsurance companies, Munich Re, has collected data on the cost of natural disasters since 1980.

Its findings show that the financial cost of natural disasters has been rising over the past 30 years, with this year’s toll being driven by earthquakes in Japan and New Zealand. The Japan earthquake - incurring losses of 210 billion dollars - was the costliest disaster of all times, even without including the Fukushima nuclear incident.

Since 1980, the number of earthquakes has been stable but the occurrence of floods and draughts has been rising. According to Peter Stott of the UK Met Office in Exeter, there is evidence that the rise of such weather-related events is linked to climate change, the New Scientist reported.

While the number of earthquakes may be stable, the cost of the damage caused by them is rising, and Munich Re points out that this is a reminder to town planners to recognize quake risks. The economic cost of floods and storms also has risen over the past 30 years but the cost of extreme temperatures, fires and droughts has remained stable.

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