GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Japan has announced its first trade deficit since 1980, Y2.49tn ($32bn), with Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda saying it will take until 2014 for a turn-around. Analysts, according to the financial press, are gloomier about Japan’s short- to mid-term prospects for avoiding a current account surplus. The savings rate in the country has been falling, fuel costs have risen sharply in the past year and the trade balance has been hurt as well by a combination of the broader impact of the major earthquake at the start of 2011, floods in Thailand which have pushed down exports, and a trade deficit with China that is five times higher than in 2010.
Japan has historically had large trade surpluses.
Links to other sites: Bloomberg, Financial Times, RTE
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Reports vary from four to seven dead in the earthquake that hit eastern Turkey Thursday morning 10 November, in the area badly damaged by an earthquake 23 October. The earlier quake was 7.3 on the Richter scale; this was one 5.7. Scores of people are missing, with officials estimating 100, after two dozen buildings fell. International news agency reports indicate that at least 15 people have been pulled out alive.
AP reports that some of those missing are journalists who were staying at the Bayram Hotel, “Van’s best-known hotel. It was at least 40 years old, and had been renovated last year.”
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The UN refugee organization, UNHCR, says supplies from several organizations, including its own, are now flowing into the region in Turkey hit by an earthquake 10 days ago. The UNHCR says that government officials now say 600 people died and 4,000 are injured as a result of the earthquake. “The city of Van alone, near the epi-centre, has a population of some 400,000 people and many homes have been reduced to rubble or rendered unusable,” says the Geneva-based group.
The city’s population includes some 2,000 refugees and asylum seekers were living in the area when the quake struck, most of them citizens of Iran or Afghanistan.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Work continues to find survivors and clear rubble five days after the area around the town of Ercis was struck 23 October by a 7.5 earthquake, but snow and freezing rain are hampering the effort and causing major problems for victims, many of whom are still reportedly without shelter. Survivors have been cheered, nevertheless, by extraordinary rescues: a 13-year-old boy was pulled out alive early Friday morning and an 18-year-old youth Thursday evening, reports Reuters. The government now officially reports 535 people have died. Aljazeera says that about 185 have been brought out of the rubble alive since Sunday. And a mother was reunited with her 18-day-old baby Thursday, reports the Telegraph, although the child’s father is yet to be found.
TURKEY – The death toll of the strong earthquake that hit Turkey has now reached 366; 1,300 more have been hurt says a source at the Turkey’s disaster management authority.
Some 2,262 buildings are demolished.
It was difficult to tally the number of injured, Health Minister Recep Akdag said, because many were being treated and released.
Meanwhile, a rescue crew in earthquake-ravaged Turkey pulled a 14-day-old baby girl from the shattered ruins of a building in the city of Ercis – miraculously still alive after 47 hours trapped.
Turkey’s Red Crescent said one of its teams was helping to rescue people from a student residence in Ercis. It had sent 1,200 tents, more than 4,000 blankets, stoves and food supplies, along with two mobile bakeries.
Links to: CNN, Yahoo News, Daily Mail
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Concern is growing, say UN and national authorities in three countries after a 6.9 earthquake shook remote Himalayan areas in India, Nepal and Tibet Sunday. The regions hardest hit by the earthquake that was centered in the northern Indian state of Sikkim are difficult to reach and mountain roads have been blocked by debris in several areas.
At least 70 people have died, including three in Nepal when a British embassy wall collapsed, and the death toll is expected to rise. Structural damage has been heavy in several areas and officials in India say at least 1,000 homes collapsed.
Links to other sites:
BBC, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-14967812
Times of India, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Sikkim-earthquake-toll-climbs-to-66-rescue-work-hampered-by-landslides/articleshow/10041847.cms
Xinhuanet, http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-09/19/c_131147529.htm
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Figures issued Thursday 19 May by the Japanese government show that after struggling in the post-earthquake weeks, the country’s economy has now slipped officially into recession, often defined by economists as two quarters running of falling GDP. Real GDP (gross domestic product) was down 0.9 percent for the first quarter, or 3.7 percent at an annualized rate, the cabinet office announced, with factory output slowing significantly.
AP reports that the quarterly figures include only 20 days that followed the earthquake in March. But it points out that with 24,000 people dead or missing, and the world’s most costly natural disaster estimated to have cost $300 billion in damages, the impact of the earthquake on the economy was massive.
The Financial Times notes that “the decline follows a contraction in the final quarter of last year and will probably strengthen calls for greater government spending on relief and reconstruction, despite widespread worries about the impact of the extra borrowing required on an already highly indebted state.”
(GenevaLunch) – The town of Lorca, about 120km from Alicante in southeastern Spain, was struck by an usual earthquake Wednesday evening 11 May, that toppled buildings and killed at least 10 people, with some reports claiming 12 have died. Residents in the area spent the night outdoors with many buildings, including the hospital considered structurally unsafe, according to initial reports. The worst hit area was the main street of the town.
The 5.2 earthquake was only 1km deep and is reportedly the worst in more than 50 years. A dramatic moment was captured by Spanish TV crews as the old church tower from the town’s main church crashed to the ground next to them.
Links to other sites: BBC, El Pais, Sky News
(correction) Swiss team that provided rescue work and logistics is not yet back from Japan
Switzerland and Japan (GenevaLunch) – A team of 25 Swiss rescuers and nine canine units have officially finished their search and rescue operations but are still in Japan where they helped in the search for survivors after the most powerful earthquake in recorded history struck the country, leaving more than 3,500 dead and at least 10,000 unaccounted for.
Swiss SHA team in Japan looking for survivors (photo SHA)
The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) sent the team at the request of the Japanese government during the weekend following the earthquake and tsunami.
It is expected that the group will soon fly back to Switzerland but an official of the federal government confirmed to GenevaLunch on 18 March that it is not yet known when.
An earlier report indicating that the group was back in Switzerland is incorrect said Jenny Piaget, spokeswoman for the Swiss foreign affairs department.
The group was divided in two: 23 rescue specialists, including one trained in protection against radiation, worked on rescue operations while four emergency assistance implementation experts helped with logistics and operations.
The first group’s mission was to search for survivors using rescue dogs and tracking devices in the affected area.
Map provided by the SDC shows where the Swiss teams are in Japan
The specialists went to Minamisanrik, 100 km north of Sendai, where they helped local authorities and coordinated rescue operations with a United Nations team.
The second group, in Tokyo worked with Japanese authorities in on-site coordination and implementing the initial steps in emergency assistance.
The Swiss government has agreed to donate CHF1 million in support to the Japanese government.
Follow NHK TV from Japan, live coverage.
A canine unit and three Swiss SHA rescuers search for survivors(photo SHA)
Tsunami, quake official death toll at about 2,000 but 3,000 declared missing, figure for dead expected to rise sharply
The third, latest blast at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan, at 06:10 local time Tuesday 15 March, accompanied by a fire, has caused radiation leaks at a level harmful to human health, Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan confirmed later in the day. People within 20 km of the plant arer being evacuated and the prime minister warned anyone within 30 km to stay indoors.
The French Embassy, according to Aljazeera and Reuters, is warning that winds could carry the radiation to Tokyo within 10 hours. A no-fly zone has been established in a 30km area around the nuclear power plant, as experts continue to try to control problems with three reactors that shut down and appear to have suffered some damage from the 8.9 earthquake that struck Japan last week.
Tokyo Electric Power company has begun planned blackouts in several areas around the city, each expected to last a few hours, to reduce the impact on expected power shortages.
Links to other sites: Aljazeera, Japan Broadcasting Corp (Eng), Reuters
©2011 Chappatte, distributed by Globe Cartoon. More cartoons on Chappatte’s web site. Geneva-based Patrick Chappatte works for the International Herald Tribune, for Geneva newspaper Le Temps, and for NZZ am Sonntag. All cartoons reproduced with permission.
The Red Cross has created a Family Links web site to connect families after the earthquake and tsunami in Japan
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross), working closely with the Japanese Red Cross, has created a Family Links web site to help people who are seeking other family members in the wake of the 11 March earthquake and tsunami north of Tokyo.
The list of those missing, created Friday, had scores of names by Saturday. The ICRC notes on the site that if you do not find the name you are looking for, be sure to return, as names are added continually.
The areas particularly affected are the prefectures of Miyagi, Fukushima, Tochigi and Ibaraki, says the ICRC.
“People in Japan and abroad can register on the website to inform their family and friends that they are safe and provide their current contact details, while those looking for people can check the list for information. They can also register the names of missing family members and friends, encouraging them to get in touch,” the Geneva-based organization says.
The service is free and open to everyone. For those who don’t have easy Internet access or who need help using the site, the ICRC suggests contacting the nearest Red Cross office.
Prime minister declared nuclear emergency late Friday
A small amount of radiation has leaked from one of two Fukushima-based nuclear plants owned by Tokyo Electric Power Company, the firm says.
People are being evacuated from an area within 2-3km of the plant, as a precaution.
The company says the coolers at the plant have not cracked and they are not melting down, IB Times reports, after Japanese news agency reports said they could be melting down.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the US Air Force has delivered coolant to Japan as part of emergency supplies.
Japan’s prime minister declared a “nuclear emergency” late Friday when a nuclear reactor failed to cool after four nuclear power plants shut down automatically, following the 11 March major earthquake. Japanese law calls for an emergency to be declared if a cooler fails to shut down.
Links to other sites: BBC, Economic Times of India, International Business Times, Hong Kong
Video, Sendai Airport cars swept away by tsunami
Japanese major quake with 10m waves sets off N Pacific tsunami warning
Reports are streaming in that give a glimpse of the damage done by what appears to be the biggest earthquake to hit Japan in 140 years, reports Reuters. It has been upgraded from 7.8 to 8.9 on the Richter scale, with the epicentre 125km off the coast of , at a depth of 10km, according to the US Geological Survey.
A massive tsunami, with 10 metre waves, has struck the city of Sendai, about 300km north of Tokyo, rolling homes and vehicles but also fires in front of it, across nearby farmland. The aftershocks hit Tokyo hard enough to send people scurrying out of buildings in Tokyo Friday at 14:45,. Sendai is 125km from the epicentre, according to initial geological reports. An oil refinery in Tokya was reported to be on fire and millions of people are without electricity.
Much of the northern Pacific is now subject to a tsunami warning.
Six people are known to have died, but it appears the death toll will rise quickly, say media in Japan.
China earthquake kills 25
A 5.8 earthquake in southern Yunnan province, near the border with Myanmar, has killed at least 25 people, and another 250 are injured, with 150 of them having serious injuries, Chinese authorities report. The earthquake, in Yingjiang County, has left more than 1,000 people homeless and another 5,000 homes have been damaged, according to Xinhua.
There is no news from Myanmar on the earthquake’s impact there.
Links to other sites: CNN, AP/Toronto Star, Japan Meteorological Agency: interactive map, Reuters
Japanese television video, images of Senai hit by massive tsunami
Stefan Lippe, CEO, Swiss Re
Final bill could be $6-12 billion
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The cost of last week’s earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand, is expected to be around $800 million, based on currently available information, Swiss Re says in a statement issued Thursday 3 March. The company’s chief executive Stefan Lippe notes that the human toll, in deaths and injuries, is heavy “despite the advanced risk prevention measures that are in place in New Zealand”.
The final cost could be $6 to 12 billion for the total range of loss to the insurance industry.
Buildings are insured by the government’s earthquake commission for up to about $75,000 for the building and $15,000 for contents. Home-owners can buy additional coverage.
Wellington “rocked” by 4.5 earthquake Tuesday evening (NZ time)
New Zealand drew to a halt Tuesday 1 March for two minutes of silence to honour and mourn the country’s dead, exactly a week after the earthquake around Christchurch that killed at least 155 people. Rescue teams continue to try to stabilize and dig out collapsed buildings, in the central commercial district in particular, the New Zealand Herald reports.
Wellington Tuesday evening, after the noon mourning pause, was “rocked” by a 4.5 quake, similar to the one the area felt when the Christchurch earthquake occurred last week, with residents saying they were rocked in their beds and houses shook.
Links to other sites: New Zealand Herald photos of mourners, Sky News
Christchurch in New Zealand is the scene of at least 65 deaths following a series of tremors around the city that began around noon Monday 21 February. Buildings have collapsed and emergency services are overwhelmed trying to dig out people trapped under rubble. The largest tremor appears to have hit at 12:51, magnitude 6.5 on the Richter scale, according to GeoNet, which records tremors, and 6.3 according to local measurements.
The cathedral has been badly damaged, according to local reports, and some buildings have collapsed. The largest tremor was centred 20 km southeast of the city, with several others 5-10km southeast of Christchurch.
The city suffered considerable damage in September 2010 from a 7.0 earthquake.
Links to other sites: Geonet, NZ Herald, Reuters
Links to videos: NZ Herald rocks tumble from Sumner cliff, NZ Herald/AP, city centre Christchurch raw footage
Aerial photos, NZ Herald
Busy seismic activity in Switzerland
Graphic of a 3.3 earthquake in Sierre - Provided by SED
Sierre, canton Valais (GenevaLunch) – Switzerland’s unusual seismic activity over the weekend was more widespread in canton Valais than initially realized: four quakes between 2.4 and 3.3 on the Richter scale were recorded in Sierre in less than three hours, with a total of 21 tremors in just over 12 hours in the same region.
The first 2.4 tremor occurred 8 January at 20:28, according to the Swiss Seismic Service (Sed). Three more minor quakes followed, two of 3.3 magnitude at 20:48 and 22:20, and another one of 2.8 magnitude at 23:32 that evening.
Fifteen aftershocks, which were minor and micro quakes, recorded but not felt, occurred in Sierre after the tremors and until 09:16 on 9 January.
Two other undetectable tremors were recorded during the same period in Brig and Helsenhorn, also in Valais.
A 7.1-magnitude earthquake has struck central Chile, frightening residents but causing no damage, according to initial reports. The quake’s epicentre was near the town of Tirua, about 600km south of Santiago, the capital, and struck in the afternoon 2 January. Residents immediately headed for higher ground fearing a repeat of last February’s tsunami that swept away several villages along the coast causing widespread destruction and loss of life.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre in Hawai did not issue a tsunami warning because, it said, the epicentre was on land and not at sea. Chilean geologists said the shock was an aftershock of last year’s tremblor and not a new earthquake.
Links to other sites: Bloomberg, LA Times, Ultimas Noticias (Spa)
A 6.5-magnitude earthquake has rocked central Iran late 21 December, killing at least seven people and injuring hundreds. The earthquake struck late evening near Hoseyn Abad in the mountainous central Kerman province, and rescue officials expect the death toll to go higher as they reach isolated affected villages. Kerman Governor Esmail Najjar said 30 villages lay in the affected area.
Links to other sites: AFP, Al-Jazeera, The Hindu
Indonesia’s Mount Merapi finally erupted 26 October after days of threatening to and has killed at least at least 25 people, a day after a tsunami struck the islands of Pagai and swept away hundreds of people. More than 150 people are confirmed dead in the tsunami strike and 400 are missing.
Merami erupted 26 October and covered the surrounding area with ash. Civil protection authorities had evacuated 10,000 people, but many had refused to move, because they were reluctant to leave their homes and livestock.
Authorities were making slow progress reaching villagers on the islands of North and South Pagai because of the heavy rains and rough seas, two days after a 7.7-scale earthquake struck off the western coast of Sumatra.
Links to other sites: BBC, CNN, Washington Post
Residents of Christchurch, New Zealand are experiencing a series of aftershocks as they begin the difficult task of cleaning up after Sunday, 5 September’s massive 7.1 magnitude earthquake.
A group of students using social network site Facebook has organized groups of volunteers to help residents clear up debris. Sam Johnson, a 21 year-old law student at Canterbury University, says 300 people showed up within hours of setting up the group. The following day more than 1,900 people volunteered.
Links to other sites: AP, AFP, Student Volunteer base for Earthquake cleanup
Source: RT
A relatively small 4.4 earthquake shook Port-au-Prince in Haiti during the night of 3-4 May, sending some panic-stricken residents into the street, but no serious damage was reported. The situation on the island has improved enough for international mail service to be resumed this week, reports Le Nouvelliste in Haiti.
A Tibetan woman and a 4-year-old child were rescued 18 April from the rubble of the earthquake that hit China 14 April. According to the China Central Television, (Cctv), relatives kept the 68-year-old woman and the child alive by sending them food and water through gaps in the rubble.
Chinese news agency Xinhua says the number of fatal victims rose to almost 2,000, and this figure could climb higher.
Update 2 07:34, 15 April A powerful earthquake hit Qinghai province in NW China early Wednesday 14 April. The government has been issuing revised figures for the human toll: 617 known dead Thursday, some 10,000 people injured with scores still missing and rescuers trying to reach people trapped in the rubble. Xinhua news agency quotes a local official with the Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Yushu in the province as saying that more than 85 percent of the houses near the epicentre were destroyed.
At least one person has died and others are trapped in Mexicali, a US-Mexico border town, following a 7.2 magnitude earthquake, according to the US Geological Survey. The tremors shook buildings in Los Angeles and as far away as Las Vegas and Phoenix. Hundreds of people fled the beach at Tijuana, Mexico, although no tsunami warning was sounded, reports NPR.
Links to other sites: Los Angeles Times, NPR
Chile’s President, Michelle Bachelet, has called for calm in the aftermath of the massive earthquake which struck Chile and warned armed looters that the full force of the law will be applied against them. Curfews were imposed in four cities 2 March, including the hardest-hit second city, Concepción, which is under an 18-hour curfew.
The government sent 7,000 additional troops to maintain order, in addition to the 10,000 already in place who are helping to restore order and with rescue efforts. About half a million people are homeless in Concepción and are more terrified of crime than of aftershocks.
Officials admitted the government had underestimated the dangers from tsunamis following the earthquake and is only now gauging the extent of the damage to coastal areas, the site of massive destruction and most of the almost 800 reported deaths. The stretch of coast 500 km north and south of the 8.8-maginitude earthquake’s epicentre was particularly affected.
The death toll from the 27 February earthquake in Chile has doubled to over 700, according to the country’s president, Michelle Bachelet, and the number is expected to keep rising. The airport in the capital, Santiago, has reopened, but the country is struggling to cope with disrupted transport, food shortages in hardest hit areas and looting.
Links to other sites: BBC, CS Monitor
Chile has been shaken by a midnight (06:34 GMT) earthquake that measured 8.8 on the Richter scale, say geologists in the US and China, who have upgraded their measurements of it. The earthquake was 1,000 times more powerful than the one that struck Haiti in January, experts said on CNN. The quake hit central Chile, 100km north of the city of Concepcion, and 350 from Santiago, the capital. The Chinese Earthquake Administration says it occurred at and “the epicenter was 35.8 degrees south latitude and 72.7 degrees west longitude, with a depth of 33 kilometers.” Sixty-four people are reported dead but numbers are expected to rise.
The airport in Santiago, which was was shaken for 90 minutes, is closed until further notice and according to the BBC, “Tsunami warnings have been issued for Hawaii, Australia, New Zealand and Pacific island nations. Alerts were also earlier issued for Antarctica and Central America.”
Reuters updates and background
Links to other sites: BBC, New York Times, Sydney Morning Herald, Xinhua
Haiti held an official day of mourning Friday 12 February, one month after the 36-second earthquake that killed over 200,000 people and devastated the nation.
Links to other sites: CBC, CNN, Jamaica Observer
