Monday, November 09, 2009 RABA, INDONESIA: A strong earthquake struck Indonesia’s Sumbawa region on Monday morning, according to seismologists.The earthquake happened around 3.42 a.m. local time, about 5 miles from Raba, a small town in the eastern part of Sumbawa Island. The country’s seismological agency reported the earthquake as a 6.7-magnitude, while the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre reported a magnitude of 6.9. Earthquakes of that size are capable of causing serious damage. The earthquake was located about 11 miles deep, making it a shallow earthquake.Both the country’s seismological agency and the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre did not issue a tsunami warning following the earthquake, but warned of local tsunamis. “A destructive widespread tsunami threat does not exist based on historical earthquake and tsunami data,” a statement from the tsunami warning centre read. “However - there is a very small possibility of a local tsunami that could affect coasts located usually no more than a hundred kilometres from the earthquake epicentre. Authorities near the epicentre should be made aware of this possibility.”There was no immediate word on damage or casualties following the earthquake.Strong earthquakes often strike Indonesia, as it is located in the Pacific Ring of Fire. A 7.6-magnitude earthquake near Indonesia’s Sumatra killed more than 1,100 people on September 30.
Friday, August 14, 2009 MUMBAI: A 26-year-old woman died Thursday of H1N1 swine flu in the southern city of Bangalore, raising India's death toll from the virus to 20, authorities said.The death was the first reported in India's information technology capital, the Press Trust of India reported.Meanwhile in Pune, the worst-affected in India, two more victims of the virus died Thursday, raising the death toll in that western city near Mumbai to 12, the report said. The victims were an 11-month-old boy and a 75-year-old old woman.US media reported movie halls, schools and colleges were ordered closed Thursday for three days to a week in Mumbai, the commercial and financial capital of the country, as fear of the pandemic spread.Prajakata Lavangare, a spokeswoman for the government of Maharashtra state of which Mumbai is the capital, said similar orders were issued in Pune, which is also located in the state.The woman who died in Bangalore was identified only as Roopa, a teacher in...
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