Latest Natural disasters News

Female pro backcountry skiers teach avalanche safety

Jan. 17, 2020 9:00 AM EST

SOLITUDE SKI RESORT, Utah (AP) — Professional backcountry skier Elyse Saugstad planted her ski boots in knee-deep powder, her pink ski pants and camo jacket turned up-mountain toward seven women equally shrouded in Gore-Tex and dusted in fresh snow. Step by step, she reviewed the best techniques for...

A motorcycle that is covered in volcanic ash is left by it’s owner at a deserted village near Taal volcano in Talisay, Batangas province, southern Philippines on Friday Jan. 17, 2020. Taal volcano remains life-threatening despite weaker emissions and fewer tremors, an official said Friday and advised thousands of displaced villagers not to return to the danger zone. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

Philippine volcano still 'life threatening' despite lull

Jan. 17, 2020 2:34 AM EST

TAGAYTAY, Philippines (AP) — An erupting Philippine volcano remains life threatening despite weaker emissions and fewer tremors, an official said Friday and advised thousands of displaced villagers not to return to the danger zone. The Taal volcano emitted weaker ash and steam explosions Thursday and...

In this Thursday, Dec. 19, 2019 photo, newly constructed buildings stand on Bhasan Char, or floating island, in the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh. The island in Bangladesh that was regularly submerged during monsoon seasons is ready to house 100,000 Rohingya refugees, but no date has been announced to begin relocating people from crowded and squalid camps on the country's border with Myanmar, officials said Thursday. The island is built to accommodate 100,000 people, just a fraction of the million Rohingya Muslims who have fled waves of violent persecution in their native Myanmar. (AP Photo/Saleh Noman) “Bhasan Char is ready for habitation. Everything has been put in place,” Bangladesh refugee, relief and repatriation commissioner Mahbub Alam Talukder told The Associated Press.

Bangladesh says once-submerged island ready for Rohingya

Jan. 17, 2020 12:06 AM EST

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — A Bangladeshi island regularly submerged by monsoon rains is ready to house 100,000 Rohingya refugees, but no date has been announced to relocate people from the crowded and squalid camps where they've lived for years, officials said Thursday. Flood protection embankments, houses,...

Light earthquake rumbles under Mineral Mountains

Jan. 16, 2020 11:07 PM EST

MINERSVILLE, Utah (AP) — A light 4.0 magnitude earthquake rumbled beneath southwest Utah's Mineral Mountains on Thursday evening, officials say. No damage was expected in the largely rural area, according to the University of Utah Seismograph Stations. The shock was felt by some residents in nearby...

In this Jan. 13, 2020, photo, a family rides their motorcycle through clouds of ash as they evacuate to safer grounds as Taal volcano in Tagaytay, Cavite province, southern Philippines. Red-hot lava is gushing from the volcano after a sudden eruption of ash and steam that forced residents to flee and shut down Manila’s airport, offices and schools. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila, File)

AP Photos: Editor selections from the past week in Asia

Jan. 16, 2020 10:44 PM EST

A family flees their home on a motorcycle through thick ash ejected by Taal volcano in the northern Philippines. In other images from the Asia Pacific region this week, a man waves Bangladeshi flag on an overcrowded train as throngs of people prepare to return home after attending a three-day Islamic religious...

5.3 earthquake shakes southern Mexico, causes some damage

Jan. 16, 2020 10:04 PM EST

MEXICO CITY (AP) — A 5.3 magnitude earthquake shook southern Mexico on Thursday night, causing some damage in part of the southern state of Oaxaca. The U.S. Geological Survey said the temblor occurred at 8:07 p.m. and was centered 3.6 miles (5.9 km) southwest of Santiago Ixtaltepec in Oaxaca. It struck at...

State offices close as heavy snow, 116 mph wind slams Sierra

Jan. 16, 2020 9:11 PM EST

RENO, Nev. (AP) — A Sierra storm packing heavy snow and winds gusting up to 116 mph (186 kph) prompted an avalanche warning Thursday in the mountains above Lake Tahoe, halted interstate traffic and closed schools and state offices in Nevada. Gov. Steve Sisolak ordered the early closure of state government...

In this photo taken early January 2020, and provided Thursday, Jan. 16, 2020, by the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, Wollemi pines tower above the forest floor in the Wollemi National Park, New South Wales, Australia. Specialist firefighters have saved the world's last remaining wild stand of a prehistoric tree from wildfires that razed forests west of Sydney. (NSW National Parks and Wildfire Service via AP)

Australia firefighters save world's only rare dinosaur trees

Jan. 16, 2020 8:40 PM EST

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Specialist firefighters have saved the world’s last remaining wild stand of a prehistoric tree from wildfires that razed forests west of Sydney, officials said Thursday. Firefighters winched from helicopters to reach the cluster of fewer than 200 Wollemi Pines in a remote...

File - In this Dec. 3, 2018, file photo, are homes leveled by the Camp Fire line the Ridgewood Mobile Home Park retirement community in Paradise, Calif. A $13.5 billion settlement covering most of the losses from a series of catastrophic wildfires that drove Pacific Gas and Electric into bankruptcy is turning into a financial tug of war pitting the interests of U.S. taxpayers against the disaster victims still trying to rebuild their lives. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

Judge threatens to force PG&E to hire more tree trimmers

Jan. 16, 2020 8:21 PM EST

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday threatened to force Pacific Gas & Electric to hire more tree trimmers to reduce the chances of its electrical grid igniting fires in Northern California and adhere to a requirement imposed after the utility's natural gas lines blew up a neighborhood a...

Vice President Mike Pence delivers remarks during a campaign event Thursday, Jan. 16, 2020, in Kissimmee, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

Pence courts evangelical Latino voters in Florida

Jan. 16, 2020 7:38 PM EST

KISSIMMEE, Fla. (AP) — Marilyn Del Valle climbed to her feet at the Nacion de Fe church in Kissimmee on Thursday, clapping and taking photos as Vice President Mike Pence took the stage. Del Valle is a proud “Nuyorican” — born in New York to Puerto Rican parents — who lives in...

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