World copper prices have been propped up by a halt in production at the world’s second largest copper mine after a fatal accident there on May 14. The Indonesian government has just told Freeport-McMoRan Copper and Gold that it cannot resume operations at its Grasberg mine complex high in the remote mountains of eastern Indonesia until an official investigation is completed into the collapse of a training cavern that killed 28 miners. The cave-in at Big Gossan, the underground part of the Grasberg complex, was the country’s worst mining disaster. A truck driver died in an unrelated underground accident on May 31.
Death toll rises to 4 in Taiwan earthquake that hit central part of the island
TAIPEI, Taiwan – The death toll has risen to four in Taiwan’s 6.3 magnitude earthquake. The National Fire Agency said Monday that the third victim died after he was hit by a falling rock in the central county of Nantou, and the fourth was buried under a landslide in the same location.
Mt. Kerinci erupts
Mount Kerinci in Jambi has erupted on Sunday, spewing smoke as high as 600 meters. The eruption occurred at 8:43 a.m. local time. Head of Sungai Rumpun village, Herman, said everyone panicked, pouring out of their houses worried that a bigger eruption would follow.
Gambia: FAO Trains Farmers On DRR, Climate Change
The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) recently held a two-day capacity building for farmers on Disaster Risk Reduction and adaptation to climate change at Somita Mixed Farming Centre in Foni, West Coast Region.
The Big One: Preparing for mid-America earthquake
It’s a bleak scenario. A massive earthquake along the New Madrid fault kills or injures 60,000 people in Tennessee. A quarter of a million people are homeless. The Memphis airport — the country’s biggest air terminal for packages — goes off-line.
‘Slow-slip’ quake happening off Wellington
What would be Wellington’s biggest earthquake in 150 years is happening right now – not that you’ll feel the jolt. The magnitude-7 equivalent quake, 40km deep, is a “slow-slip” event, when the movement of tectonic plates occurs over hours to months rather than seconds.
Argentina and Chile order evacuation of Copahue volcano
Chile and Argentina have ordered the evacuation of some 3,000 people living near the Copahue volcano in the south of their border.
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UN: $2.5 trillion in disaster losses since 2000
UNITED NATIONS – Economic losses from disasters since 2000 are in the range of $2.5 trillion, a figure at least 50 percent higher than previous international estimates, according to a U.N. report released Wednesday.
Bangladesh collapse survivor ‘recovering well’
A seamstress who survived 17 days before being rescued from a collapsed clothes factory building outside Bangladesh’s capital is said to be making a good recovery in hospital.
Earthquakes in Iran spark fears across the region
Al Ain: Earthquakes have been rocking Iran — sending a wave of fear across the region. An earthquake measuring 5.5 on the Richter scale on Sunday jolted southern Iran close to the Strait of Hormuz around 2.45pm UAE time. The National Centre of Meteorology and Seismology (NCMS) recorded the quake, saying that it was an aftershock of the 6.2 magnitude earthquake that hit Iran’s southern Hormozgan province early on Saturday.