Moderate quake hits Japan

September 30th, 2009 Small tsunami hit Japan after Samoa quakeTOKYO — Small tsunami waves caused by a powerful earthquake that hit Samoa in the Pacific Ocean reached Japan on Wednesday, officials said. Japan's Meteorological Agency said tsunami waves, which it described as "very weak," were registered off the island of Hachijojima about 10 hours after the quake.

August 17th, 2009 Magnitude-6.8 quake strikes off JapanTOKYO — A magnitude-6.8 earthquake hit between Japan's southernmost islands and the coast of Taiwan on Monday, briefly prompting a tsunami warning, the Japanese Meteorological Agency said. The quake struck at 09:06 a.m.

August 17th, 2009 2 strong quakes hit off Japan; no damagesTOKYO — Two strong earthquakes hit between Japan's southernmost islands and the coast of Taiwan on Monday, both briefly prompting tsunami warnings, the Japanese Meteorological Agency said. The first quake — a magnitude-6.8 — struck at 9:06 a.m.

August 13th, 2009 Magnitude 6.5 quake hits off east coast of JapanTOKYO — A magnitude-6.5 earthquake hit off Japan's eastern coast early Thursday, the country's Meteorological Agency said. There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.

August 10th, 2009 Earthquakes shake Tokyo area, Indian OceanTOKYO —A powerful earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.6 hit Tokyo and nearby areas shortly after dawn Tuesday, halting trains and forcing two nuclear reactors to be shut down for safety checks. The U.S. Geological Survey said another, unrelated quake with a 7.6 magnitude hit the Indian Ocean about 160 miles (257 kilometers) north of Port Blair in India's Andaman Islands.

August 9th, 2009 Strong earthquake shakes Tokyo areaTOKYO —The Japan Meteorological Agency says a strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.6 has shaken Tokyo and surrounding areas. No casualties were immediately reported.

August 5th, 2009 Strong quake jolts southern JapanTOKYO — A magnitude-6.5 earthquake hit off Japan's southern coast Wednesday, the country's Meteorological Agency said. There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.

April 6th, 2009 ROME - At least 13 people, including four children, were killed Monday in a strong earthquake in central Italy, TV channels reported. The earthquake with a magnitude of 6.3 rocked central Italy early Monday, damaging buildings in the town of Aquila, where the epicentre was located, some 95 km northeast of Rome.

March 22nd, 2009 WELLINGTON - An earthquake measuring 5.8 on the Richter scale shook much of New Zealand's North Island Sunday. The quake was centred just off the coast in the Bay of Plenty, about 210 km southeast of Auckland.

February 18th, 2009 WELLINGTON - A powerful earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale struck the remote Kermadec Islands region, in northen Thursday, the New Zealand Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences (GNS) said. The quake occurred at 10:53 a.m.

February 14th, 2009 TOKYO - A powerful earthquake hit northern Japan Sunday, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. The 6.0 magnitude quake took place at 6.24 p.m., with the epicenter about 40 km under the sea off Iwate prefecture.

January 9th, 2009 SAN JOSE - The toll in Costa Rica's 6.2 magnitude quake has risen to 10, EFE reported. Officials said the most affected regions are near the epicentre of the quake near a mountainous region in the central part of Costa Rica.

January 8th, 2009 SAN JOSE - A powerful earthquake measuring 6.2 on the Richter scale struck north central Costa Rica Thursday, killing two girls and causing widespread damage, EFE news agency reported Friday. According to authorities, two children were killed after a landslide following the quake buried thier house in the town of Fraijanes de Alajuela, about 50 km west of San Jose, in Alajuela province.

December 26th, 2008 WELLINGTON - An earthquake measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale struck New Zealand's capital Wellington Saturday morning, the Geological department said. The epicentre of the quake, which occurred at around 9 a.m., was at 80 km north of Wellington and at a depth of 50 km below the surface, according to the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences.

December 25th, 2008 KUNMING - An earthquake measuring 4.9 on the Richter scale early Friday injured nine people in the southwestern Chinese province of Yunnan along the border with Myanmar. The quake hit a village about 10 km from capital Ruili at 4.20 a.m., the provincial seismic network reported.