Asia, Earthquake | featured news

A strong earthquake off Indonesia's coast caused tall buildings to sway in the capital Monday afternoon, but officials said there was no threat of a tsunami. Office workers said the swaying was felt for about 10 seconds in high-rise buildings around the city of 9 million people. Even two-story residential homes shook strongly. No damage or casualties were immediately reported.

Indonesia has issued a fresh tsunami warning after an aftershock with a preliminary magnitude of 8.2 shook its western coast.

With a minute of silence, tolling bells and prayers, Japan will on Sunday mark the first anniversary of an earthquake and tsunami that killed thousands and set off a nuclear crisis that shattered public trust in atomic power and the nation's leaders.

Japanese officials unveiled a decades-long plan Wednesday to decommission the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, where reactor cooling systems failed after the country's devastating earthquake and tsunami in March.

Eleven people -- six in India and five in Nepal -- died when a magnitude-6.9 earthquake struck the northern Indian state of Sikkim near the border between the two nations Sunday night, police said.

A 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck off the east coast of northern Japan Sunday, prompting tsunami advisories for several coastal regions, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said.

A week into his new job, Japan’s disaster reconstruction minister resigned Tuesday after making remarks widely criticized as offensive during a visit to the tsunami-devastated northeastern coast, where he refused to shake a governor’s hand, scolded the official and threatened to withhold aid.

Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant experienced a full meltdown at three reactors in the wake of an earthquake and tsunami in March, the country's Nuclear Emergency Response Headquarters said Monday.

Japanese Economics Minister Kaoru Yosano said on Sunday the government may need to spend 10 trillion yen to 15 trillion yen ($184 billion) for reconstruction from the devastating earthquake that hit the country's northeast in March.

A worker at Japan's tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant died on Saturday, plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co said, bringing the death toll at the complex to three since a massive earthquake and tsunami in March.