Tag Archives: natural disasters

It’s the second major quake to strike Christchurch, New Zealand in less than six months.

In what the prime minister is characterizing as the “worst natural disaster in Australian history,” torrential rains have brought massive flooding to Queensland and its capital city, Brisbane.

A magnitude 7.4 earthquake centered near Christchurch rocked New Zealand today. The quake hit at 4:30am Saturday morning local time and initial press reports are light on details so far. Aftershocks are continuing. As is the case for breaking news these days, Twitter users are providing the most information. It appears that tsunami warnings have not been issued.

Icelanders are apparently in stitches over the newscasters’ attempts to pronounce the name of their global-economy destroying volcano.

Iceland’s volcano isn’t just wreaking havoc on the European economy, NYC has taken an estimated hit of $250M so far. City officials are bracing for the loss of $250 million in tourism-related revenue as the ash clouds prevented nearly 12,000 European travelers from visiting New York over the weekend. “The people we were expecting are not coming and not spending …

Yesterday Rush Limbaugh suggested that God is angry about Obama’s health care reform bill and therefore smote the world with volcanic ash. You know, a couple of days after the health care bill had been signed into law Obama ran around all over the country saying, “Hey, you know, I’m looking around. The earth hadn’t opened up. There’s no Armageddon …

After a massive 8.8 magnitude earthquake hit central Chile this morning, tsunami warnings have been issued for much of the Pacific basin, including for Alaska, California, and Hawaii – where waves of 15 feet and higher are expected. The tsunami is predicted to reach Hawaii around 4pm eastern time. Below is a live stream of Chilean television. UPDATE: Live stream …

American rescue workers free a woman trapped for several days in Haiti’s rubble as bystanders chant “USA! USA!” This is probably the most jingoistic thing you’ll see on this here website thingy.

New estimates put the death toll in Haiti at over 200,000. That number approaches the estimated 230,000 killed by 2004’s Indian Ocean tsunami. With thousands of bodies being shoveled into mass graves, there is no accurate tally of the casualty count. Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive said Tuesday that 72,000 bodies had been recovered by the government. The European Commission, citing …

Housing Works CEO Charles King is in Haiti coordinating relief efforts for the country’s HIV-positive residents, many of whom are now cut off from their HAART medications. I recommend following King’s blogging from the scene. About 5 o’clock yesterday evening, Edner and I left the compound where we are storing the supplies in order to to rent a vehicle to …

The morning light is revealing even worse damage than was earlier feared. One way to help: “The U.S. State Department Operations Center set up the following number for Americans seeking information about relatives in Haiti: (888) 407-4747. The department cautioned that because of heavy volume, some callers may hear a recording. The State Department said those interested in helping immediately …

Pop star Wyclef Jean explains an easy way to send aid to Haiti via your cell phone. Text the word “YELE” to 501501 to send $5. You can also contribute to the American Red Cross relief efforts here.