Topic: Natural Disasters

New Zealand's second largest city Christchurch was shaken by a magnitude 5.2 earthquake on Friday, but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.

This year's Atlantic hurricane season is expected to produce a normal number of tropical storms, with up to eight becoming hurricanes, forecasters say. But beware: All it takes is one big one.

Thailand's economy expanded a robust 11.0 percent in the first quarter from the previous three months, rebounding from last year's severe flooding, and strong full-year growth is expected due to a jump in consumption and investment after the disaster.

Japan's core machinery orders fell in March as demand moderated, but companies expect orders to grow in the second quarter — a sign that reconstruction after year's earthquake may support growth.

A new Russian passenger plane went missing in Indonesia while on a demonstration flight arranged for potential buyers. Fifty people were on board, including diplomats, businesspeople and journalists.

Forecasters are predicting a milder 2012 season, largely based on the fact that hurricanes thrive on warm water and the Atlantic Ocean has cooled this year.

Hundreds died and businesses lost billion in last year's floods, caused in part by overflow from dams filled to hedge against drought. This year, Thailand is testing different prevention measures. The CSM reports.

As weather disasters strike with more frequency, homeowners first get hit with the destruction or total loss of property. Then many are hit with the unexpected loss of homeowners insurance policies as insurance companies re-evaluate their financial liabilities.

The simulations shocked this sleepy community on the tip of Japan’s Shikoku island: a huge undersea quake could bring a tsunami as high as 112 feet here, a government-appointed expert panel said. The waves could arrive in minutes and engulf most of the town, swallowing up even the foothills that the residents had counted on for high ground, the NYT reports.

Japan's core machinery orders unexpectedly rose in February in a sign that capital expenditure is likely to steadily increase as the country rebuilds its earthquake-battered northeast coast.

India is not making life easy for itself as it looks to sell-off stakes in state companies to help plug a yawning budget gap, with New Delhi's own policies battering sentiment towards government enterprises even as it readies more for market.  

As many as a dozen twisters touched down in a wrecking-ball swath of violent weather that stretched across Dallas and Fort Worth Wednesday.

Up to a dozen tornadoes skipped through the densely populated Dallas-Fort Worth area in Texas on Tuesday, ripping apart homes and tossing tractor-trailer trucks into the air, but there were no reports of serious injuries or deaths.

Australia, one of the world's top mining and agricultural nations, faces a quickening pace of climate change, according to a snapshot of the nation's weather, forcing farmers to alter cropping strategies and miners to cope with more intense floods.

Japan's core machinery orders rose in January in a sign that rebuilding the country's earthquake-battered northeast coast could propel capital expenditure and support the overall economy.