AMSTERDAM - An earthquake shook the north of the Netherlands early on Tuesday morning. Measuring 3.5 on the Richter Scale, it was equal in strength to the strongest earthquake on record in the northern Netherlands. This took place in Alkmaar five years ago.
Tuesday's quake in Groningen at around 7am was registered by all seismic stations in the country. It was centred on the town of Middelstum which lies in the middle of the gas fields in the province.
Earth Changes
VIENNA, Austria -- An eight-legged invasion is giving some Austrians the creeps. The venomous yellow sack spider, whose painful bite can cause headache and nausea, has become the talk of the town since several people were bitten earlier this summer.
Reports of spider sightings have dominated local media, triggering hundreds of calls to a Vienna poison hotline and prompting the government to issue a plea for calm.
Reports of spider sightings have dominated local media, triggering hundreds of calls to a Vienna poison hotline and prompting the government to issue a plea for calm.
An earthquake measuring 6.7 on the open Richter scale struck 75 kilometres from the largest island of Vanuatu this morning.
The depth of the quake was nearly 150 kilometres.
There are no reports of damage.
The depth of the quake was nearly 150 kilometres.
There are no reports of damage.
ADDIS ABABA - Floods killed about 150 people in eastern Ethiopia when heavy rains caused a river to burst its banks, sending a wall of water into a town that killed most of the victims as they slept, police said on Sunday.
"Floods from the overflowing Dechatu river hit Dire Dawa town in the middle of Saturday night while residents were sleeping," police inspector Benyam Fikru told Reuters.
"The death toll has now reached 150."
"Floods from the overflowing Dechatu river hit Dire Dawa town in the middle of Saturday night while residents were sleeping," police inspector Benyam Fikru told Reuters.
"The death toll has now reached 150."
Freak ocean waves that rise to a height of 10-storey buildings may be sinking ships in accidents that are attributed to nothing more than poor weather.
Once dismissed as a nautical myth, freak or "rogue" waves have been recorded by shipping vessels and more accurately measured from oil and gas platforms at sea.
The waves arise by chance when others combine, leading to giant walls of water that momentarily tower above the rest of the ocean, at heights in excess of 30 metres.
Once dismissed as a nautical myth, freak or "rogue" waves have been recorded by shipping vessels and more accurately measured from oil and gas platforms at sea.
The waves arise by chance when others combine, leading to giant walls of water that momentarily tower above the rest of the ocean, at heights in excess of 30 metres.
A huge undersea earthquake struck off Gorontalo coast Sunday, with a meteorology and geophysics official warning of the possibility of a tsunami hitting Sulawesi.
The head of the agency's earthquake center, Fauzi, said the 6.6-magnitude quake was centered at a depth of 62 kilometers under the sea, 90 km southeast of the city of Gorontalo.
The head of the agency's earthquake center, Fauzi, said the 6.6-magnitude quake was centered at a depth of 62 kilometers under the sea, 90 km southeast of the city of Gorontalo.
A small earthquake rattled the western edge of Riverside County on Sunday. The magnitude-3.6 temblor struck the area about 8:58 a.m. and was centered about 8 miles northwest of Lake Elsinore and 11 miles southeast of Corona, according to a preliminary report by the U.S. Geological Survey.
No damages or injuries were reported, a Riverside County sheriff's dispatcher said.
No damages or injuries were reported, a Riverside County sheriff's dispatcher said.
JAKARTA, Indonesia - An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.1 struck off Indonesia's Sulawesi island on Sunday, causing residents to flee coastal areas in fear of a tsunami.
Indonesian officials - who have been under fire for failing to warn people ahead of last week's deadly tsunami on Java island - recorded the quake at 6.6 and said it had the potential to trigger destructive waves.
They later said no tsunami was generated and told residents to return home.
Indonesian officials - who have been under fire for failing to warn people ahead of last week's deadly tsunami on Java island - recorded the quake at 6.6 and said it had the potential to trigger destructive waves.
They later said no tsunami was generated and told residents to return home.
TOKYO - Three more people have been found dead in southwestern Japan following floods and mudslides triggered by torrential rain, raising the death toll to at least 22.
PARIS - Europe sizzled and soaked alernately as a deadly heatwave broke down into storms over parts of the continent amid warnings that temperatures would peak again.
The sweltering weather hit particularly hard in France, where the government issued warnings on radio and television after the number of reported deaths attributable to the heat reached 22.
The death toll raised memories of a fatal bout of baking temperatures that killed 15,000 people in France and more than twice as many across Europe in 2003.
The sweltering weather hit particularly hard in France, where the government issued warnings on radio and television after the number of reported deaths attributable to the heat reached 22.
The death toll raised memories of a fatal bout of baking temperatures that killed 15,000 people in France and more than twice as many across Europe in 2003.
