"Living in a town with serious pollution is like living under a death sentence," the report said. "If the damage does not come from immediate poisoning, then cancers, lung infections, mental retardation, are likely outcomes."

The worst-polluted places in the world, the report said, are in secluded areas far away from capitals or tourist areas.

These countries, which are mostly part of the developing world, generally have few or inadequate pollution controls, and the problem is compounded by the local governments' "lack of knowledge" and the inability of citizens to enforce justice.

Three Russian cities are among the most polluted - Dzherzhinsk, Norilsk and Rudnaya Pristan. The other cities are Linfen, China; Haina, Dominican Republic; Ranipet, India; Mayluu-Suu, Kyrgyzstan; La Oroya, Peru; Chernobyl, Ukraine; and Kabwe, Zambia.

According to the report the cities are reminders of an early industrial era, with most pollution stemming from relics such as unregulated lead and coal mines or unrefined nuclear weapons manufacturing plants.

In Chernobyl, the report estimates 5.5 million people are still threatened by radioactive material that continues to seep into groundwater and soil 20 years after the nuclear power plant exploded there.

Residents of Linfen, which is in the heart of China's coal-producing Shanxi province, suffer from bronchitis, pneumonia and lung cancer because of the poor air quality.

And according to the report, the 300,000 people in Dzherzhinsk, a chemical weapons manufacturing site during the Cold War era, have a life expectancy about "half that of the richest nations." The life expectancy for men in the city is about 42 years and about 47 for women.

Richard Fuller, director and founder of the Blacksmith Institute said the report was intended to shed light on the problem as well as the solutions.

"The good news is we have known technologies and proven strategies for eliminating a lot of this pollution," he said.

The report was compiled over seven years by a team of environmental and health experts, including faculty from Johns Hopkins University, Mount Sinai Medical Center and the City University of New York.

The top 10 list was compiled from more than 300 areas nominated by non-governmental agencies, local communities and international environmental authorities. The list of criteria included the size of the affected population, severity of the toxins involved and reliable evidence of health impacts.

Dave Hanrahan, Blacksmith Institute's chief of global operations, said some solutions to these problems could be as simple as reducing dust levels and removing contaminated soil.

"The most important thing is to achieve some practical progress in dealing with these polluted places," he said. "There is a lot of good work being done in understanding the problems and identifying possible approaches."

Firefighters extinguished the smoldering chemical mix two hours after it began spouting smoke from a 55-gallon barrel amid the plant's ruins in Apex, a Raleigh suburb. The drum contained a sodium metal solution that can ignite when exposed to water or air, said Apex Mayor Keith Weatherly.

Rain had drenched the area Tuesday.

The irritating fumes produced by the reaction reportedly caused burning eyes, Weatherly said.

"It's very frustrating to see something like this happen again," he said. "There's now additional apprehension among our folks, which is unfortunate."

The chemical plant belonging to EQ Industrial Services Co. had erupted in flames on Oct. 5, lighting up the sky with explosions and blanketing parts of town in a yellow-green haze. Town officials had urged as many as 17,000 people to evacuate, citing potentially toxic fumes that had made a few dozen people seek medical attention.

More than 200 residents had packed Apex Town Hall on Tuesday looking for answers about the blaze.

Though company officials have said tests found no harmful levels of toxins in the air after the Oct. 5 fire, residents wanted to know more about their vegetable gardens, their children's health and the quality of their air. Some asked if the company would rebuild at the site - a prospect town officials said they would try to prevent.

"We cannot tolerate the continued operation of a hazardous-waste storage facility in Apex," Weatherly said. "Let me just say our concern - and the point we will not forget - is that EQ has exposed our citizens to an unprecedented level of danger."

The Michigan-based company has said a decision about rebuilding in Apex won't be made until cleanup is complete.

State regulators say more tests will be conducted on the ground and water and they expect to release a report on air quality later this week.

The volcano last erupted in February following an 11-year period of normal activity. An observatory in Alaska then reported a 15-kilometer ash plume stretching from the volcano eastwards, at a height of 4,000 meters.

Two short quakes, each measuring 5.0 on the Richter scale, were also registered late Tuesday in Far East Russia's Amur Region, bordering on China, a spokesman said. No damage was caused by the tremors.

The largest major disaster was on May 28, 1995, when over 2,000 people were killed when an earthquake devastated the town of Neftegorsk on the island of Sakhalin.

This year more than 1,200 people, including 542 children, were evacuated from the north of the Kamchatka peninsula after a series of earthquakes. The first 7.8-magnitude quake, the strongest in the Koryak Autonomous Area since 1900, injured 31 people on April 21 and had an epicenter about 30 kilometers (18 miles) from the town of Khailino. It also damaged about 380 houses and 25 administrative facilities in four other towns.

The temblor struck at 9:45 p.m. local time today, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) north-northeast of Luganville, on Vanuatu's Espiritu Santo island, and 315 kilometers north-northwest of the archipelago's capital, Port Vila, the USGS said in a preliminary e-mailed report. There were no immediate reports of damage.

Vanuatu is slightly larger than Connecticut and has a population of about 209,000.