Powerful quake in NE Myanmar kills more than 70

A powerful earthquake that toppled homes in northeastern Myanmar has killed more than 70 people, and there were fears Friday the toll would mount as conditions in more remote areas became known.

The Thursday night quake, measured at magnitude 6.8 by the U.S. Geological Survey, was centered just north of Tachileik town in Shan State near the Thai border. It was felt hundreds of miles (kilometers) away in the Thai capital, Bangkok, and Vietnamese capital, Hanoi.

Myanmar state radio announced Friday that 74 people had been killed and 111 injured in the quake, but was updating the total frequently. It said 390 houses, 14 Buddhist monasteries and nine government buildings were damaged.

An official from the U.N.'s World Food Program said there were many casualties and serious damage in Mong Lin village, five miles (eight kilometers) from Tachileik. State radio said 29 were killed there and 16 injured.

The state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported that 15 houses collapsed in the town of Tarlay, where state radio said 11 were killed and 29 injured. Another U.N. official said a small hospital there was damaged as well as a bridge, making it difficult to access the town. The private relief agency World Vision said water tanks and wells were also damaged, hindering water supplies.

The newspaper said two other people were killed in Tachileik, including a 4-year-old boy. It said six people were injured in the town, which is just across the border from Mae Sai in Thailand's Chiang Rai province.

In Mae Sai, one woman was killed when a wall fell on her, according to Thai police, but damage was otherwise minimal.

Spring storm dumps snow in mountains, rain in LA

A storm brought strong rains to the Los Angeles area and heavy snow in the mountains on the first day of spring Sunday, shutting down major highways, cutting power to thousands and forcing dozens of evacuations over threats of mudslides or rising rivers.

Rain caused rock slides in Malibu and closed parts of the Pacific Coast Highway, while snow and ice force the shutdown of parts of Interstate 5 connecting Los Angeles with northern areas.

In the San Fernando Valley, mud and debris threatened a retaining wall and forced the evacuation of 30 people in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles Fire Department spokeswoman Diana Igawa said.

The National Weather Service said Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley received at least 3 inches of rain - its average rainfall for the month of March - which led to closure of several streets. More than 1.5 inches pelted coastal cities and more than 2 inches fell on Hollywood, the service said.

Strong wind downed trees that damaged homes and broke windows in the valley, downtown Los Angeles and throughout the region. The storm cut power to about 90,000 customers, utility officials with the utilities said.

The mountains were expected to get as much as 3 feet of snow at the higher elevations, making this an unusually strong storm for this time of year, said Stuart Seto of the weather service.

"Usually later in the year they kind of taper off," he said. "Old Man Winter, I guess, wanted to take one more bite out of us before leaving."

Thousands of runners in the Los Angeles Marathon faced pouring rain and lightning strikes, one of which illuminated the downtown skyline just as the race started. It didn't seem to bother them, as Markos Geneti finished first among men with a record time of 2 hours, 6 minutes, 35 seconds.

"When it first started raining, it was freezing cold and I got a little sick," Amy Hastings, who finished second among the women, told KTLA-TV. As the weather warmed, she said, the rainfall made for a pleasant experience.

Los Angeles County Fire Department paramedics had treated about 100 runners - most for hypothermia - by mid-afternoon, Igawa said.

In Ventura County and Santa Barbara County, torrential rain brought flash-flood warnings. Rain on a flooded street in Oxnard stranded several cars and swept away another, the weather service said. No injuries were reported.

More than 10 inches of rain fell in the Lake Cachuma area, forcing the release of water from Bradbury Dam, Santa Barbara County spokesman David Flamm said. The release was helping the lake level off, but heavy river flow forced the evacuation of 24 people in Guadalupe as a precaution, Flamm said.

Japan races to avert multiple nuclear meltdowns

Japan's nuclear crisis intensified Sunday as authorities raced to combat the threat of multiple reactor meltdowns and more than 170,000 people evacuated the quake- and tsunami-savaged northeastern coast where fears spread over possible radioactive contamination.

Nuclear plant operators were frantically trying to keep temperatures down in a series of nuclear reactors - including one where officials feared a partial meltdown could be happening Sunday - to prevent the disaster from growing worse.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano also said Sunday that a hydrogen explosion could occur at Unit 3 of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear complex, the latest reactor to face a possible meltdown. That follows a blast the day before in the power plant's Unit 1, and operators attempted to prevent a meltdown there by injecting sea water into it.

"At the risk of raising further public concern, we cannot rule out the possibility of an explosion," Edano said. "If there is an explosion, however, there would be no significant impact on human health."

More than 170,000 people had been evacuated as a precaution, though Edano said the radioactivity released into the environment so far was so small it didn't pose any health threats.

Japan Relief efforts

The international community started to send disaster relief teams on Saturday to help Japan after it suffered a massive earthquake and tsunami, with the United Nations sending a group to help co-ordinate work.

"We are in the process of deploying 9 experts who are among the most experienced we have for dealing with catastrophes. They will help evaluate needs and coordinate assistance with Japanese authorities," Elisabeth Byrs, spokeswoman of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), told Reuters.

The team of U.N. disaster relief officials includes several Japanese speakers and an environmental expert, she said.

An explosion blew the roof off an unstable nuclear reactor north of Tokyo on Saturday, raising fears of a disastrous meltdown.

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said there had been a radiation leak at Tokyo Electric Power Co's (TEPCO) Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

The 8.9-magnitude earthquake -- the strongest recorded in Japan -- sent a 10-meter (33-foot) high tsunami ripping through towns and cities across the northeast coast on Friday. Japanese media estimate that at least 1,300 people were killed.

Japanese-Americans seek news of quake back home

Japanese-Americans and Japanese expats in the United States are expressing shock and concern after a massive quake struck the Asian country.

Nancy Niijima says the images she saw when she turned on the TV in her Los Angeles retirement home looked like a scene from a science fiction movie.

New York City resident Misa Washio says she's been trying to reach a sister in Japan but that the phone lines are always jammed.

And Michi Hirose of the Southern California city of Torrance says has been unable to reach several relatives.

Japan America Society of Southern California president Doug Erber says his office has been fielding a constant stream of phone calls, e-mails and text messages from people who have not been able to reach friends and family in Japan.

Radiation down at Japan nuke plant after blast

Japan's government spokesman says the metal container sheltering a nuclear reactor was not affected by an explosion that destroyed the building it's in.

Yukio Edano says the radiation around the plant did not rise after the blast but instead is decreasing. He added that pressure in the reactor was also decreasing.

Pressure and heat have been building at the nuclear reactor since an earthquake and tsunami Friday caused its cooling system to fail.

An explosion Saturday blew out the walls of the building housing the reactor. The government has ordered people within a 12-mile (20-kilometer) radius of the plant in Fukushima to evacuate the area.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

An explosion at a nuclear power station Saturday destroyed a building housing the reactor amid fears that it could melt down after being hit by a powerful earthquake and tsunami.

Large amounts of radiation were spewing out and the evacuation area around the plant was expanded but officials did not know how dangerous the leak was to people. Shinji Kinjo, a spokesman for the Japanese nuclear agency, could not say how much radiation was in the atmosphere or how hot the reactor was following the failure of its cooling system.

Friday's double disaster, which pulverized Japan's northeastern coast, has left 574 people dead by official count, although local media reports said at least 1,300 people may have been killed.

Tokyo Power Electric Co., the utility that runs the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant, said four workers had suffered fractures and bruises and were being treated at a hospital. A nuclear expert said a meltdown may not pose widespread danger.

83 rescued after floating restaurant breaks loose

Firefighters rigged a precarious gangplank of ladders and ropes and safely rescued 83 people, including former Cincinnati Bengals star Cris Collinsworth, from a floating restaurant that broke free from a pier on the flood Ohio River, authorities say.

Covington Fire Department Capt. Chris Kiely said Jeff Ruby's Waterfront restaurant drifted about 85 to 100 yards down the rain-swollen river during the Friday evening dinner bustle and the popular seafood eatery lodged beside a tall bridge as stunned dinner patrons looked on.

He said 83 people were safely rescued by early Saturday after an effort lasting hours, led off one by one in life jackets.

"Luckily the people on the boat called" for help immediately on their cell phones, Kiely told The Associated Press.

TV footage of the rescue showed dinner patrons pacing aboard the barge as firefighters put up the makeshift bridge of ladders that spanned swirling, debris-filled water. Work boats edged close amid the flashing lights of firetrucks nearby.

Kiely said the regular gangplanks tore away or were damaged enough to leave all those aboard cut off.

"There were three gangplanks on the restaurant already and when it broke loose it destroyed sections ... the last 20 feet of the gangplanks were destroyed as the boat moved downriver," he said by telephone.

Mexico detects first, moderate tsunami sea rise

The Mexican navy says it has detected the first ocean swells related to the tsunami spawned by a magnitude-8.9 earthquake in Japan.

Navy spokesman Jose Luis Vergara says Pacific monitoring stations off the coast have detected swells of 70 centimeters (2 1/3 feet).

Vergara says that "given the height (of the swells), we won't be affected much." Experts had previously warned of possible waves as high as 6 feet (2 meters).

Vergara said Friday that the outlook was "positive as far as we can see, but we cannot let our guard down."

Tsunami arrives in Calif., knocks boats loose

Waves from a tsunami caused surges along California's coast that shook some boats loose from docks, as beach-area residents evacuated to higher ground.

The tide began rising shortly after 7:30 a.m. in Crescent City, near the Oregon border, where the tsunami was expected to hit the hardest in California.

By midmorning, waves crashed against the bluffs, as residents gathered on the overlooks to watch. The California Highway Patrol estimated about 35 boats in the harbor were damaged.

On the central coast in Santa Cruz, loose fishing boats crashed into one another and chunks of wooden docks broke off. The water rushed out as quickly as it poured in, leaving the boats tipped over in mud.

Some surfers ignored evacuation warnings and took advantage of the waves ahead of the tsunami.

Hundreds killed in tsunami after 8.9 Japan quake

A ferocious tsunami unleashed by Japan's biggest recorded earthquake slammed into its eastern coast Friday, killing hundreds of people as it carried away ships, cars and homes, and triggered widespread fires that burned out of control.

Hours later, the waves washed ashore on Hawaii and the U.S. West coast, where evacuations were ordered from California to Washington but little damage was reported. The entire Pacific had been put on alert - including coastal areas of South America, Canada and Alaska - but waves were not as bad as expected.

In northeastern Japan, the area around a nuclear power plant was evacuated after the reactor's cooling system failed and pressure began building inside.

Police said 200 to 300 bodies were found in the northeastern coastal city of Sendai, the city in Miyagi prefecture, or state, closest to the epicenter. Another 151 were confirmed killed, with 547 missing. Police also said 798 people were injured.

The magnitude-8.9 offshore quake triggered a 23-foot (seven-meter) tsunami and was followed for hours by more than 50 aftershocks, many of them more than magnitude 6.0.

It shook dozens of cities and villages along a 1,300-mile (2,100-kilometer) stretch of coast, including Tokyo, hundreds of miles (kilometers) from the epicenter. A large section of Kesennuma, a town of 70,000 people in Miyagi, burned furiously into the night with no apparent hope of being extinguished, public broadcaster NHK said.

Obama: Japan earthquake potentially 'catastrophic'

President Barack Obama pledged U.S. assistance to earthquake-ravaged Japan Friday following what he called a potentially "catastrophic" disaster.

"Our hearts go out to our friends in Japan and across the region, and we're going to stand with them as they recover and rebuild from this tragedy," Obama said during a White House news conference.

Obama said one U.S. aircraft carrier is already in Japan, and a second is on its way. A U.S. ship was also heading to the Marianas Islands to assist as needed, the president said.

Hundreds were dead or missing in Japan following Friday's 8.9 magnitude earthquake - the largest in Japan's history - and the accompanying tsunami.

Tsunami waves also swamped Hawaii's beaches and grazed the West Coast. Obama said that while there have been no reports of major damage in the U.S., his administration is taking the situation seriously and monitoring developments closely.

Obama urged residents in the affected areas to take warnings from local officials seriously and evacuate if told to do so.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

Mississippi and Alabama rivers approach flood stage

Parts of Alabama and much of Mississippi were under flood warnings Wednesday night, as rivers throughout the region rose after a day of storms and torrential rain.

Rivers in western Alabama, including the Tombigbee and Black Warrior rivers, are either above flood stage or expected to top that level in a matter of hours, according to the National Weather Service. The agency does not expect water levels to begin receding until the weekend.

The situation is similar across Mississippi and almost the entire state is under a flood warning, according to the agency. Multiple rivers and creeks are already past their flood stages, or the agency believes they will be soon based on previous rainfall amounts and the amount expected in the next few hours.

Even the Mississippi River near Natchez is expected to go above flood-stage some time Thursday morning.

A band of intense thunderstorms pushing eastward Wednesday afternoon after leaving a patchwork of destruction in the Deep South from rain, lightning, high wind and tornadoes.

The storm spawned at least two confirmed tornadoes in Mississippi early Wednesday, and lightning from the storm is believed to have caused a house fire in Yazoo County that killed a 69-year-old woman and injured her husband, CNN affiliate WAPT in Jackson reported.

Damage in the towns of Terry and Utica was caused by tornadoes that struck less than 30 minutes apart early Wednesday, a National Weather Service survey crew told WAPT. The tornado in Terry was rated an EF-2 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, with winds of 115 mph. It uprooted trees and damaged several homes.

Lava spews 65 feet high after crater collapse

A new vent has opened at one of the world's most active volcanoes, sending lava shooting up to 65 feet high, scientists at Kilauea volcano said Sunday.

The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said the fissure eruption was spotted shortly after the floor at the Pu'u O'o crater collapsed around 5 p.m. Saturday. It occurred along the middle of Kilauea's east rift zone, about 2 miles west of Pu'u O'o.

"As a volcanologist, this is what we do. These are the moments we wait for," volcanologist Janet Babb told KHON2. "It is exciting to see an eruption begin particularly if you can see it from the very start."

Kilauea has been in constant eruption since Jan. 3, 1983.

At the summit, lava receded rapidly late Saturday but seemed to slow Sunday. There were also about 150 small earthquakes were recorded within Kilauea in the past 24 hours.

Christchurch quake: 'No bodies' in cathedral rubble

Search teams in Christchurch, New Zea land, have reacted with relief after finding no bodies in the rubble of the earthquake-hit cathedral.

Cathedral Dean Peter Beck told Radio New Zealand that he "burst into tears" on hearing the news.

It was feared that as many as 22 people could have been inside the cathedral when the quake struck on 22 February.

The confirmed death toll stands at 165 after two more bodies were found in the rubble of the Canterbury TV building.

Christchurch's shattered cathedral with its broken spire became one of the most striking images after the 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck.

"We have cleared the cathedral site and we found no bodies in the cathedral at all, so to us that is fantastic news," police Supt Sandra Manderson told Radio New Zealand.

She said police were now reviewing the list of missing people and the death toll could be lower than first feared.

Deadly gas explosion is focus of NTSB hearing

A top federal safety official is promising to take "every step possible" to prevent another gas pipeline explosion like the one in San Bruno, California, last September that killed eight people.

National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Deborah Hersman opened a special three-day hearing on the San Bruno accident on Tuesday. She acknowledged the pipeline rupture that sent a giant pillar of fire into the air and left dozens of homes in the suburban San Francisco neighborhood in fiery ruins has caused investigators to question whether the same thing could happen elsewhere.

Eight Pacific Gas and Electric Co. officials are scheduled to testify.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

Officials for a California gas company are facing questions about decisions they made prior to a pipeline explosion in September that killed eight people, injured many more and left dozens of homes in smoking ruins.

Bolivia pledges aid to thousands left homeless by 'mega-mudslide'

Bolivia's president pledged that his government will build new houses for thousands of people who are homeless after a "mega-mudslide" triggered by heavy rainfall in the nation's capital, state media reported.

Nearly a day of uninterrupted downpours caused the Sunday mudslide, the state-run ABI news agency reported.

"Natural phenomena unfortunately are causing a lot of damage. Something is changing on the planet," Bolivian President Evo Morales said, according to a statement posted on the La Paz government website Monday.

The homes of at least 4,000 people were destroyed, ABI said.

Victims left homeless by the disaster struggled to salvage their belongings Monday, ABI said. A massive crack in the ground split a cemetery in two, leaving bones exposed beside crucifixes and cracked headstones.

The news agency said construction along steep hillsides has become common as La Paz expands beyond the valley where it was founded in 1548.

Fast-moving wildfire engulfs 6,000 acres in Florida

Firefighters in Florida were battling a massive, fast-moving wildfire early Tuesday that shut down roads and threatened neighborhoods, authorities said.

By midnight, the blaze had engulfed 6,000 acres and was growing rapidly, Florida Division of Forestry spokesman Cliff Frazier said.

Authorities shut down part of U.S. 1 and a 20-mile stretch of Interstate 95 in Volusia and Brevard counties.

Flames, fueled by heavy winds and dry conditions, were threatening a nearby neighborhood, Frazier said.

Heat from the fire was causing higher wind gusts late Monday, the National Weather Service reported.

Bright orange flames and blue police lights lit the night sky as residents evacuated from an RV park.

Harold Lacoste and his wife packed their car with pictures and family heirlooms as they prepared to evacuate their neighborhood Monday.

"It didn't look like it was going to hit us all afternoon, then all of a sudden it flared back up," Lacoste told CNN affiliate WFTV.

Lacoste told the station that he had been a victim of wildfires in the past and he didn't want to risk being trapped.

Infant boy the first NZ quake victim laid to rest

A 5-month-old boy was laid to rest Monday at the first funeral for victims of New Zealand's devastating earthquake, as the death toll rose to 148 and the government said the economic cost could be $15 billion.

Dozens of family and friends gathered at a small chapel in the stricken city of Christchurch for Baxtor Gowland, who was sleeping at home when he was struck by masonry shaken loose by the magnitude 6.3 quake last Tuesday. He died in a hospital, the family said in a statement read to The Associated Press by the child's great-uncle, Peter Croft.

Inside the chapel, a slideshow of the smiling infant's photographs flashed on a screen, as Sarah McLachlan's song "Angel" echoed throughout the room.

"We have all been thankful of the support and good wishes expressed from New Zealand and around the world," Croft said, his voice shaking with emotion as he read the statement. "However, we would like to think that today is for family and friends so that we can farewell Baxtor with peace and dignity."

West Texas wildfires scorch 80,000 acres; 1 death

Wildfires sweeping across West Texas have destroyed dozens of homes and forced hundreds of evacuations, and heavy smoke is being blamed for a fatal eight-vehicle accident.

The Texas Forest Service reported late Sunday that fires have blackened nearly 88,000 acres and destroyed 58 homes from the Texas Panhandle to the southern plains.

Agency fire operations chief Mark Stanford says gusty winds fueling the fires aren't expected to diminish overnight.

The largest fire burned 30,000 acres northeast of Amarillo, destroying 27 homes. The only injury reported was a firefighter who suffered second-degree burns during a blaze near Colorado City, about 240 miles west of Dallas.

Heavy smoke from a wildfire near Midland shrouded a local highway and was blamed for the accident that killed a 5-year-old girl. Two others were injured.

Magnitude 4.7 - ARKANSAS

Earthquake Details

• This event has been reviewed by a seismologist.

Magnitude	4.7
Date-Time	Monday, February 28, 2011 at 05:00:50 UTC Sunday, February 27, 2011 at 11:00:50 PM at epicenter Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones
Location	35.265°N, 92.344°W
Depth	3.8 km (2.4 miles)
Region	ARKANSAS
Distances	6 km (4 miles) NE (46°) from Greenbrier, AR 7 km (4 miles) S (187°) from Guy, AR 9 km (6 miles) SE (128°) from Twin Groves, AR 22 km (14 miles) NNE (27°) from Conway, AR 59 km (37 miles) N (359°) from Little Rock, AR 418 km (260 miles) SSW (207°) from St. Louis, MO
Location Uncertainty	horizontal +/- 0.6 km (0.4 miles); depth +/- 0.7 km (0.4 miles)
Parameters	NST= 14, Nph= 20, Dmin=3 km, Rmss=0.18 sec, Gp= 68°, M-type=centroid moment magnitude (Mw), Version=B
Source	Cooperative New Madrid Seismic Network
Event ID	nm022811a