Three provinces in Thailand’s 14-province southern region have been hard hit by floods as a seasonal monsoon is creating havoc in the region, especially Narathiwat, Phattalung, and Yala where Thai Army units have been pressed into service to help evacuate communities that are cut off.
About 1,000 houses have been flooded in the southern province of Narathiwat, hard hit by heavy rain for almost a week.
HANOI - UNSEASONAL floods in central Vietnam have killed at least five people and left three others missing and feared dead in recent days, national emergency services and state media reports said on Sunday.
Four men were swept away in floods and one woman drowned when her small fishing boat sank in a swollen river as heavy rains hit Quang Nam and Quang Ngai provinces, said the National Flood and Storm Control Committee in Hanoi.
More than 5,000 houses were destroyed or damaged, and almost 75,000 hectares of crops were under water, it said in an online report.
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – The floods that hit three cities in Northern Mindanao have now affected at least 67,000 people, or more than 17,000 families, with seven persons reported missing and at least one dead, disaster councils reported late yesterday afternoon.
At least 5,480 families or about 27,375 persons in Cagayan de Oro City alone were affected by flash floods that hit the region’s capital city since Friday, the City Disaster Coordinating Council (CDCC) and the military reported.
The villages severely affected in Cagayan de Oro were Barangays 6, 7, 13, 15, 17 and Barangays Carmen, Balulang, Consolacion, Gusa, Taguanao, Kauswagan, Macasandig and Tablon, authorities said.
A series of powerful earthquakes rocked Manokwari, the capital of West Papua, on Sunday, killing four people, injuring dozens and destroying hundreds of buildings.
One 7.3-magnitude tremor was felt as far away as Australia and sent small tsunamis into Japan’s southeastern coast, the Associated Press reported.
The first quake, magnitude 7.6, struck at 4:43 a.m. local time about 135 kilometers from Manokwari at a depth of 35 kilometers, the U.S. Geological Survey said. Dozens of aftershocks followed.
A 7.6-magnitude earthquake hit Indonesia’s West Papua province at 7:33 a.m. on Sunday (2233 GMT on Saturday), according to the Indonesian Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG).
The quake was a strong aftershock following a 7.2-magnitude earthquake which jolted eastern Indonesia’ West Papua at 4:43 a.m. local time on Sunday (1943 GMT Saturday), Indonesia’s leading website Detik News quoted BMG as saying.
The epicenter of the 7.6-magnitude aftershock was 0.88 degrees southern latitude and 133.38 degrees eastern longitude with a depth of 10 km below the sea level, the BMG said.
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — A strong earthquake in remote eastern Indonesia cut power lines, cracked building walls and sent panicked residents running out of their homes toward higher ground Sunday, authorities and witnesses said.
The Indonesian Meteorology and Seismology Agency warned that with a preliminary magnitude of 7.2 it was strong enough to cause a tsunami. However, there were no immediate reports of giant waves and the warning was lifted within an hour.
A major earthquake struck Sunday near the northern coast of West Papua, Indonesia, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
The magnitude-7.6 tremblor occurred about 4:43 a.m. (2:43 p.m. Saturday ET), about 95 miles (150 kilometers) west-northwest of Manokwari, Indonesia, and about 105 miles (170 kilometers) east-northeast of Sorong, two cities in the Indonesian province of West Papua.
The death toll from the worst cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe’s history continues to rise and now stands at 1,608, the United Nations said today, adding that the number of cases of the acute intestinal infection caused by contaminated food or water has risen to 30,365 as of 29 December.
UN agencies are continuing their efforts to help the country to tackle the epidemic, which affects all provinces of the southern African country and comes amid a collapsing health system and worsening humanitarian situation.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has in recent days set up a response team comprised of an environmental health officer, epidemiologists and data managers.
The Israeli blitz against the Gaza Strip has left two more people killed, bringing the Palestinian death toll to 397 since Saturday.
Over 1900 others were also wounded in the onslaught. Women and children have been among the victims, the UN announced on Wednesday.
A Palestinian medic was killed and two others wounded when a missile struck next to their ambulance east of Gaza City, Palestinians said.
At least 53 people have been killed in a fire in a nightclub in the Thai capital, Bangkok, police say.
More than 100 others were injured in the blaze, which broke out as people celebrated the New Year.
Witnesses said bodies were laid out on the pavement in front of the club, named as the Santika, in central Bangkok’s Thong Lor district.
Police said they were investigating what sparked the fire in the club, popular with both Thais and foreigners.
The blaze was now under control but the death toll could rise, a fire official said.
