State of emergency in Vanuatu as volcanic ash blacks out sun

CNN) Vanuatu has imposed a state of emergency and evacuated thousands of residents after a volcano on Ambae island erupted, blanketing much of the surrounding area in thick ash.
On Twitter, Minister of Foreign Affairs Ralph Regenvanu said "cabinet has reimposed the state of emergency and ordered the compulsory evacuation of the entire population of Ambae."
Ambae, which sits in the northerly cluster of islands which make up the Pacific nation of Vanuatu, is the visible portion of the massive Manaro Voui volcano, one of the most active in the world.
The entirety of the island's population -- some 11,000 people -- was evacuated in September 2017 when the volcano began erupting. At that point, the alert level was raised to 4, the second highest on the scale. It's not clear how many people returned home in the months following the evacuation.

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LOMBOK police say some 10 people are dead and dozens injured after an earthquake hit the popular tourist destination near Bali.

A POWERFUL 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck the popular Indonesian tourist destination Lombok Sunday, killing at least 10 people and injuring dozens more, officials said.

The strong tremor, which sent people running in panic from homes and hotels in the early morning, was followed by two strong secondary quakes and more than 60 aftershocks.

“The earthquake killed at least 10 people, some 40 people are injured and dozens of houses were damaged,” said Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman for Indonesia’s disaster mitigation agency.

“We estimate the number will keep rising because we are not done collecting data,” Nugroho said.

Another major earthquake hits Indonesia’s Lombok island.

A POWERFUL earthquake has rocked the popular Indonesian holiday island of Lombok, killing at least 39 people, injuring dozens more and damaging buildings, officials said.

The seven-magnitude tremor struck just 10 kilometres underground, according to the US Geological Survey.

It was followed by two light to moderate secondary quakes and nearly two dozen aftershocks.

It was the second quake to hit Lombok, whose beaches and hiking trails draw holiday-makers from around the world, in a week.

A POWERFUL earthquake has rocked the popular Indonesian holiday island of Lombok, killing at least 39 people, injuring dozens more and damaging buildings, officials said.

Further updates coming through.
USGS estimate magnitude 7.0
82 reported dead, so far.

More accurate updates are expected with daylight, and the news is likely to be bad.
:-(

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Grant
Darwin NT

A POWERFUL earthquake has rocked the popular Indonesian holiday island of Lombok, killing at least 39 people, injuring dozens more and damaging buildings, officials said.

Further updates coming through.
USGS estimate magnitude 7.0
82 reported dead, so far.

More accurate updates are expected with daylight, and the news is likely to be bad.
:-(

:(

The death toll in Lombok is now up to 83 with that count expected to rise further. :-(

The death toll in Lombok is now up to 83 with that count expected to rise further. :-(

Latest report, 91 fatalities.

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Grant
Darwin NT

The death toll in Lombok is now up to 83 with that count expected to rise further. :-(

Latest report, 91 fatalities.

:-(

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The death toll in Lombok is now up to 83 with that count expected to rise further. :-(

Latest report, 91 fatalities.

Up to 98 now and that's still expected to rise. :-(

Don't know if the figure has been reported correctly, but they've been quoted as saying there are 13,000 houses affected/destroyed by the quake.

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Grant
Darwin NT

That's what I'm reading also Grant..

Latest estimate is 347 dead according to a government run news agency, but other estimates vary between 226 to 381 depending on the agency.

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Grant
Darwin NT

Another quake reported around the same are as the last couple. This one 5.9.
More buildings have collapsed.

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Grant
Darwin NT

Lombok has been hit by another earthquake with a magnitude of 6.2. :-(

Would living in the middle of a ring of fires count?



Air quality is "Un-Healthy"

Would living in the middle of a ring of fires count?

It looks no picnic either :(

Air quality is "Un-Healthy"

Rly? They've got to grips with understatement then :(

Keep safe, okay?

Terribly sad news about Lombok.

Japan prepares to evacuate island ahead of feared eruption.

JAPANESE authorities are preparing to evacuate a southern island after the threat of a volcanic eruption increased dramatically.

Japan’s Meteorological Agency said volcanic earthquakes and sulphur emissions had increased at a peak on Kuchinoerabujima island, located roughly 1000km southwest of Tokyo, and raised its warning level to 4 out of 5 on Wednesday

The mountain blew its top three years ago, sending ash and smoke thousands of metres into the sky and releasing potentially deadly pyroclastic flows, flows of superheated ash and gas, that reached the sea.

Costa Rica earthquake: Damage and power outages after magnitude 6.0 quake hits close to Panama border.

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Magnitude 8.2 quake strikes in the Pacific, no damage expected -USGS

(Updates with quake too deep to cause any damage)

Aug 19 (Reuters) - A massive quake of magnitude 8.2 struck in the Pacific Ocean close to Fiji and Tonga on Sunday but it was so deep that it was not expected to cause any damage, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said.

The U.S. Tsunami Warning Center also said the quake was too deep to cause a tsunami.

The quake was 347.7 miles (560 km) below the Earth which would have dampened the shaking at the surface.

"I would not expect any damage. People will feel it but it's so deep that I would not expect any damage," USGS geophysicist Jana Pursley said by telephone.

The quake was initially reported as a magnitude 8.0 and then upgraded to 8.2, a magnitude that could cause tremendous damage had it not been so deep.

The epicenter was located 167 miles (270 km) east of Levuka in Fiji and 275 miles (443 km) west of Neiafu in Tonga.

The area is located on the earthquake-prone Ring of Fire. (Reporting by Sandra Maler in Washington Editing by Chris Reese)

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