UN Under-Secretary General Stephen O’Brien has observed that Bangladesh’s success in combating natural calamities is an example for many countries. The UN Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs said this at a video press conference organized by UN Headquarters in New…
Tag: Disasters
Over 33 killed in lightning in districts
Dhaka – At least 33 people including women and children have died in lightning strikes during thunderstorms in 12 districts, says a bdnews24.com report. Rain and thunderstorms occurred in the capital and elsewhere on Thursday after a week of heat…
Volunteers to be trained to face disasters
The government has taken initiatives to train 62,000 volunteers to face disasters and post disasters rescue operations. Besides, all the city corporations in the country will train one lakh volunteers.
Alberta officials say oil sands city saved from fire’s worst
Alberta premier’s declared Canada’s oil sands city saved and said a plan will be put together within two weeks so 88,000 residents forced to evacuate can return to their homes. At least two neighborhoods in Fort McMurray were scenes of…
Train derails in Washington, DC; leaks hazardous chemical
Officials warned Washington D.C. area residents to brace for a potentially slow commute Monday after a CSX freight train derailed near a Metro stop, sending 15 cars off the tracks and spilling hazardous material. The train derailed about 6:40 a.m.…
Probe body formed to investigate Kawran Bazar fire
Dhaka – A four-member probe committee has been formed in connection with the fire that broke out at Hasina Market in the city’s Karwan Bazar area on Sunday evening, unb news agency reported. The Fire Service Civil Defense (FSCD) headquarters…
Rally, human chain photo exhibitions mark 25th year of April 29
Rights activists on Friday held a rally in front of the Jatiyo Press Club(JPC) and arranged a Photography Exhibition at the Dhaka University (DU) remembering the April 29,1991 Cyclone that killed about half a million people when winds swept across…
516 earthquakes in BD in 14 yrs: Minister
Some 516 earthquakes hit Bangladesh from 2001 to 2014, Disaster Management and Relief Minister Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury told Parliament on Tuesday.
Death toll reaches 48 from Japan earthquakes
Searchers found a man’s body Wednesday in a landslide-hit area in southern Japan, bringing the death toll to 48 from two powerful earthquakes last week. Three people remain missing. Kumamoto prefecture said that another 11 have died from illnesses believed…
Death toll rises to 507 from Ecuador earthquake
Manta, Apr 20 – Ecuadorean authorities say the death toll from the weekend earthquake has risen to 507. The Attorney General’s Office says 499 of the dead have been identified so far and returned to loved ones. It says 11…
Aftershocks rattle Japan as deaths from quakes rise to 45
Japan’s southern quake-hit area was rattled by a strong aftershock Tuesday and searchers found a woman’s body buried under landslide rubble, raising the death toll from the twin earthquakes to 45.
Ecuador says death toll from quake jumps to 413
Portoviejo, Apr 19 (AP) – Ecuador’s government says the death toll from the weekend’s powerful earthquake has climbed to 413. The increase came in the government’s latest bulletin on casualties from the powerful 7.8-magnitude quake that hit the country’s Pacific…
Flash floods in north Afghanistan kill 38 people overnight
Afghan officials say flash floods in northern provinces have killed at least 38 people overnight.Remote, northern areas of Afghanistan often see flash floods triggered by heavy rains, which also cause landslides. The officials said Monday that the flash floods struck…
The world’s strongest earthquakes since 1900
New York – A magnitude-7.8 earthquake shook Ecuador’s central coast on Saturday. The country’s vice president called it the strongest to hit the country in decades. Here is a list of some of the world’s strongest earthquakes since 1900: May…
Ecuador earthquake death toll climbs to 272
Pedernales — The strongest earthquake to hit Ecuador in decades flattened buildings and buckled highways along its Pacific coast. President Rafael Correa said at least 272 people had died and rescuers were struggling to reach survivors trapped in the rubble.…
Some sleep in cars as 2 nights of quakes kill 41 in Japan
Ozu, Japan — The wooden home barely withstood the first earthquake. An even stronger one the next night dealt what might have been the final blow — if not to the house, then to the Tanaka family’s peace of mind.…
Quakes acrosss globe: Powerful one kills 28 in Ecuador
Quito – A powerful, 7.8-magnitude earthquake shook Ecuador’s central coast on Saturday, killing at least 28 people and spreading panic as far away as the Andean capital of Quito as it collapsed homes and rattled buildings.
7.1 scale quake hits south Japan, people trapped
Mashiki – A powerful earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.1 struck southern Japan early Saturday, barely 24 hours after a smaller quake hit the same region and killed nine people. Japanese broadcaster NHK said a number of calls were…
Strong quake kills 9, injures more than 760 in Japan
Tokyo — At least nine people were killed and 761 injured by a magnitude 6.5 earthquake Thursday night that toppled houses and buckled roads in southern Japan, the government’s chief spokesman said. Yoshihide Suga said he would visit the area…
Earthquake on Tajik-Afghan border shakes cities
A magnitude 6.6 earthquake has been felt across a number of major cities across south-west Asia.
Mild tremor jolts country
Dhaka – A mild earthquake shook capital Dhaka and other parts of the country on Tuesday.
USAID, NASA to expand flood early warnings in Bangladesh
News Desk In May, the first rains of the monsoon season are just starting to fall. In some countries, the rains signal relief. In Bangladesh, they mean preparing for potential disaster.
Fukushima meltdown announcement made months late
The reactor meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant hit by a devastating tsunami in 2011 should have been announced much sooner, the operator admitted this week. In a statement, the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) said that a public…
Break desperation that lead to emergencies, disasters: IFAD
Rome – Against a backdrop of new reports that show the number of refugees entering Europe has continued to skyrocket, senior government officials attending the final day of the International Fund for Agricultural Development’s 39th Governing Council, renewed their commitment…
Iraq reports theft of deadly radioactive device
Iraq has informed an international watchdog agency of the theft last November of an industrial radiography device that carries potentially fatal radioactive substances. Iraqi officials told Reuters that they fear the “highly dangerous” radioactive materials in the device could be…
Cliffs collapse into sea as quake hits New Zealand
A strong 5.7 magnitude earthquake struck near Christchurch in New Zealand on Sunday, causing cliffs to collapse into the sea but no major damage to the city, which was devastated by a 2011 quake which killed nearly 200 people.
18 died in Taiwan earthquake
At least 18 people were killed and more than 500 were injured Saturday morning when a magnitude-6.4 earthquake hit Taiwan, the official Central News Agency reported.More than 350 people were rescued from damaged structures, many from a 16-story residential building…
Eleven dead after powerful Taiwan quake fells buildings
Taiwan – A powerful earthquake in Taiwan felled a 16-storey apartment complex full of families who had gathered for Lunar New Year celebrations Saturday, with at least eleven dead and more than 30 feared trapped. The death toll was rising…
US East Coast states paralysed by record snowstorm
All non-essential travel has been banned in New York, transport suspended and bridges shut as the city is hit by one of its worst snowstorms. Parts of the eastern United States have received 40in (102cm) of snowfall in a huge…
Demolish tilted building at Mohammadpur in a week: Rajuk
The authorities have given the owners of a tilted building at Mohammadpur in Dhaka seven days to demolish it. The Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (RAJUK), the capital development authority, gave the order on Monday. It declared the four-storied building at Tajmahal…