Legend has it that seven revered Islamic saints whose shrines are located across Karachi have for centuries protected the southwestern Pakistani city from disaster.

A 5.1-magnitude earthquake struck off the main Japanese island of Honshu on Thursday, seismologists said.

The quake hit at 3:25 am (1925 GMT Wednesday) 163 kilometres (101 miles) east-northeast of the capital Tokyo, the US Geological Survey said.

It was registered at a depth of 35 kilometres.

No tsunami warning was immediately issued.

A 5.4-magnitude earthquake struck off the Indian Ocean`s Nicobar Islands on Wednesday, seismologists said.

The quake hit at 10:24 pm (1714 GMT) 79 kilometres (50 miles) north-northeast of the town of Misha in the Indian-controlled territory, the US Geological Survey said.

It was registered at a depth of 37 kilometres.

No tsunami warning was immediately issued.

A powerful 7.5-magnitude earthquake struck off the Indonesian islanda of Sulawesi early Monday, killing two people, toppling hundreds of homes and forcing thousands to flee houses and hotels.

The quake triggered a tsunami warning from US officials for an area within 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) of the epicentre but a similar alert by Indonesia was withdrawn shortly after being issued.

A strong 7.5-magnitude earthquake struck off Indonesia`s Sulawesi island early Monday, killing one person, toppling homes as people slept and forcing thousands to flee houses and hotels.

The quake triggered a tsunami warning from US officials for an area within 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) of the epicentre but a similar alert by Indonesia was withdrawn shortly after being issued.

A major 7.5 magnitude earthquake struck off Indonesia`s Sulawesi island early Monday, destroying houses and triggering a tsunami warning but there were no reports of fatalities, officials said.

A major 7.5 magnitude earthquake struck off Indonesia`s Sulawesi island early Monday morning, destroying houses and triggering a tsunami warning, officials said.

The US Geological Survey (USGS), which initially said the quake had a magnitude of 7.8 before downgrading it to 7.5, said it struck 136 kilometres (84 miles) off the coastal town Gorontalo at a depth of 21 kilometres.

A major 7.5 magnitude earthquake struck off Indonesia`s Sulawesi island early Monday morning, destroying houses and triggering a tsunami warning, officials said.

On the heels of a major 7.5-strength earthquake in Indonesia, US officials issued a tsunami warning Sunday for the area within 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) of the earthquake`s center.

A moderate 5.7-magnitude earthquake hit off the coast of India`s Andaman islands in the Indian Ocean on Sunday, the US Geological Survey said.

The USGS said the epicentre of the quake, which hit at 1250 GMT, was 143 kilometres (89 miles) southwest of Port Blair.

There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage, the Press Trust of India agency reported.

WASHINGTON, Nov 17, 2007 (AFP) - A strong earthquake measuring 6.0 on the moment magnitude scale struck just offshore northern Chile Saturday, three days after a major 7.7 earthquake hit the same region, the US Geological Survey reported.

The quake struck offshore at 2:54 pm (1754 GMT), 65 kilometers (40 miles) north-northwest of Antofagasta, at a relatively shallow depth of seven kilometers (11 miles), the USGS said in a statement.

There were no initial reports of damage or injuries.

WELLINGTON, Oct 15, 2007 (AFP) - A series of strong earthquakes measuring up to 6.7 on the Richter scale shook southern New Zealand early Tuesday but caused minimal damage, authorities said.

The first quake, measuring 6.7, struck at 1:29 am (1229 GMT Monday) about 60 kilometres (38 miles) off the coast of the popular scenic tourist site of Milford Sound in the southwest of the country.

It was followed by a series of aftershocks measuring up to magnitude 6.2.

WELLINGTON, Oct 16, 2007 (AFP) - A strong 6.8-magnitude quake struck New Zealand's South Island on Tuesday, seismologists said, but there were no immediate reports of any damage or injuries.

The quake hit at 1:29 am (1229 GMT Monday), 103 kilometres (64 miles) west-northwest of Queenstown at a depth of 25 kilometres, the US Geological Survey said.

There have been numerous earthquakes in the New Zealand region recently, including a powerful quake near the Auckland Islands on September 30.

GARHI DOPATTA, Pakistan, Oct 8, 2007 (AFP) - A helicopter escorting President Pervez Musharraf to an earthquake memorial crashed in Pakistani Kashmir Monday, killing four people and wounding his spokesman, officials said.

Musharraf was unharmed and his own chopper landed in Muzaffarabad, the regional capital, where he led a ceremony in remembrance of the 73,000 people killed in the October 8, 2005 quake, they said.

GARHI DOPATTA, Pakistan, Oct 8, 2007 (AFP) - A helicopter escorting President Pervez Musharraf to an earthquake memorial crashed in Pakistani Kashmir Monday, killing four troops and wounding his spokesman, officials said.

Musharraf was unharmed and his own chopper landed in Muzaffarabad, the regional capital, where he was presiding over a ceremony in remembrance of the 73,000 people killed in the October 8, 2005 quake, they said.

MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan, Oct 8, 2007 (AFP) - A helicopter escorting President Pervez Musharraf to an earthquake anniversary ceremony in Pakistani Kashmir crashed Monday, killing four troops and wounding his spokesman, officials said.

'The chopper was in the party going with the president when a technical fault developed, causing it to crash land and catch fire,' chief military spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad told AFP.

MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan, Oct 8, 2007 (AFP) - A helicopter escorting President Pervez Musharraf to an earthquake anniversary ceremony in Pakistani Kashmir crashed Monday, killing four troops and wounding his spokesman, officials said.

'The chopper was in the party going with the president when a technical fault developed, causing it to crash land and catch fire,' chief military spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad told AFP.

ATHENS, Oct 6, 2007 (AFP) - An undersea earthquake measuring 4.5 points on the open-ended Richter scale shook the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece early on Saturday morning, the Athens Geodynamic Institute said.

The quake's epicentre was located in the Gulf of Kyparissia, 200 kilometres (124 miles) southwest of Athens, the institute said.

No damages or injuries were immediately reported from the quake, which struck at 0334 GMT.

'It was a weak tremor, we've had very few calls from residents in the area,' an institute seismologist told AFP.

JAKARTA, Oct 2, 2007 (AFP) - A 6.4-magnitude quake struck off the west coast of Indonesia's Sumatra island on Tuesday, briefly triggering a tsunami alert and sending people running from their homes, officials said.

The quake struck at 10:43 am (0343 GMT), 160 kilometres (100 miles) northwest of the town of Lais at a depth of 20 kilometres, the meteorology agency said.

JAKARTA, Oct 2, 2007 (AFP) - Indonesia lifted a tsunami alert that was issued Tuesday along the west coast of Sumatra island after a strong 6.4-magnitude earthquake rattled the area, the meteorological agency said.

'The tsunami warning is cancelled,' the agency said in a text message about an hour after the quake struck at 0343 GMT, 160 kilometres (100 miles) northwest of the town of Lais at a depth of 20 kilometres.

JAKARTA, Oct 2, 2007 (AFP) - Indonesia issued a tsunami warning to coastal areas along its west Sumatra island Tuesday after a 6.4-magnitude quake struck offshore, the meteorology office said.

The quake struck 160 kilometres (100 miles) northwest of the town of Lais at a depth of 20 kilometres, the office said in a text message.

'There is the potential for a tsunami,' it added.

ISLAMABAD, Oct 2, 2007 (AFP) - Pakistan's political chaos will not hinder efforts to rebuild after the 2005 earthquake that killed 73,000 people, even if the government is toppled, the top general involved in relief said.

The Islamic republic has been embroiled in months of crisis ranging from opposition to President Pervez Musharraf to Islamist violence, raising fears that victims of the October 8 quake could be forgotten two years on.

TOKYO, Oct 1, 2007 (AFP) - Shunsuke Kobayashi's mind blanked for a couple of seconds as a quake alarm rang through the house, making him freeze on the spot before he came to his senses and dived under a table.

'Quake of magnitude 6.5 to hit in 15 seconds: 10, nine, eight, seven...,' a calm female voice announced until the sound of crashing furniture and splitting glass filled the room.

While Japan is used to frequent earthquakes, Kobayashi, a soldier, was only taking part in a mock trial in a specially-designed house.

WELLINGTON, Sept 30, 2007 (AFP) - A powerful undersea earthquake with a magnitude of 7.6 hit south of New Zealand on Sunday, triggering a tsunami alert in Australia but causing no damage, officials said.

Officials said the quake hit near the Auckland Islands at 6:23 pm (0523 GMT) and was centred 350 kilometres (217 miles) southwest of New Zealand and 1,400 kilometres southeast of the southern Australian state of Tasmania.

The sub-Antarctic Auckland Islands are uninhabited and lie about 500 kilometres south of the New Zealand South Island city of Invercargill.

SYDNEY, Sept 30, 2007 (AFP) - Parts of southern Australia were Sunday on tsunami alert after an undersea earthquake with a magnitude of 7.6 hit south of New Zealand, officials said.

Geoscience Australia said the quake hit near the Auckland Islands at 3:23 pm (0523 GMT) and was centred 350 kilometres (217 miles) southwest of New Zealand and 1,400 kilometres southeast of the southern Australian state of Tasmania.

The Bureau of Meteorology issued a tsunami bulletin warning people in coastal areas in Tasmania and southeastern mainland Australia to listen to news updates.

TOKYO, Sept 30, 2007 (AFP) - An earthquake measuring 7.1 on the Richter scale hit the Pacific island of Guam and its vicinity on Sunday, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

The epicentre of the undersea quake, which occurred at around 11:09 am (0209 GMT), was in the southern part of the Mariana Islands, the agency said in a statement.

'There is a possibility of a destructive local tsunami near the epicentre,' the English version of the statement said.

TOKYO, Sept 28, 2007 (AFP) - A strong 7.4-magnitude quake struck off southern Japan Friday, seismologists said, but there were no immediate reports of major damage nor casualties.

The quake occurred at 11:38 pm (1338 GMT), 340 kilometres (210 miles) south-south-east of Iwo Jima in Japan's Volcano Islands, at a depth of 261 kilometres, the US Geological Survey said.

Japan experiences about 20 percent of the world's powerful earthquakes. In July an earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale shook central Niigata prefecture, killing 11 people.

JAKARTA, Sept 24, 2007 (AFP) - A 6.0-magnitude earthquake on Monday struck off the coast of Indonesia's Sumatra island but there was no danger of a tsunami, the meteorology agency said.

The quake was centred 30 kilometres (19 miles) under the seabed around 233 kilometres northeast of the town of Lais in Bengkulu province, it said in a statement.

Bengkulu province was badly damaged in an 8.4-magnitude quake earlier this month that killed 23 people. It was followed by a series of major aftershocks which experts have said could rattle the region into this week.

VIENNA, Sept 20, 2007 (AFP) - The Japanese nuclear safety body examining the damage at the world's largest nuclear plant in Japan, hit by a powerful earthquake in July, declined to say Thursday when the plant might re-open.

'At this moment, we can't say when the reactor could be restarted,' said Akira Fukushima, a top official at Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA).

'What I can say now is that we have to be careful to do our investigations and our research,' Fukushima told journalists.

JAKARTA, Sept 17, 2007 (AFP) - Three boatloads of aid have arrived at an isolated island group off Indonesia's Sumatra, badly hit by a massive quake and aftershocks last week, a disaster relief official said Monday.

The 8.4-magnitude quake struck off Sumatra's west coast at dusk last Wednesday and was followed by a series of major aftershocks. At least 23 people were killed and 88 injured.

JAKARTA, Sept 16, 2007 (AFP) - Indonesian disaster relief officials waited for word Sunday that aid had finally reached an isolated island group hit hard by a series of quakes and aftershocks.

Three boats carrying relief aid set sail for ports in the Mentawai islands Saturday off the west coast of Sumatra.

'They are likely to have arrived there as the trip would need between eight to 12 hours,' said Ade Edward, an official at the main disaster relief office in Padang, West Sumatra.

MUKOMUKO, Indonesia, Sept 15, 2007 (AFP) - The death toll from a series of major earthquakes striking Indonesia's Sumatra rose to 23 on Saturday, while officials tallied more than 15,000 collapsed or damaged buildings.

An initial 8.4-magnitude quake struck at dusk off Sumatra's west coast on Wednesday and was followed by a series of powerful aftershocks, jolting the coastal provinces of Bengkulu and West Sumatra most severely.

Rustam Pakaya from the health ministry's crisis centre told AFP the toll had risen to 23, with 88 wounded.

JAKARTA, Sept 15, 2007 (AFP) - The death toll from a series of powerful earthquakes off Indonesia's Sumatra island rose to 17 on Saturday, as rescue workers scoured rubble for more survivors, a health ministry official said.

'The latest death toll update is 17 people killed and 88 others injured,' Rustam Pakaya from the health ministry's crisis centre told Elshinta Radio.

Thirteen fatalities occurred in worst-hit Bengkulu province and four were in West Sumatra, he said.

ARGAMAKMUR, Indonesia, Sept 14, 2007 (AFP) - Rescue workers in Indonesia rushed aid across Sumatra Friday after massive earthquakes killed 14 people there and shocks frightened thousands of survivors into camping outdoors.

Aftershocks continued to thunder across the region in the wake of the initial 8.4-magnitude quake Wednesday, including one that sparked another tsunami alert that spooked residents but was later called off.

JAKARTA, Sept 14, 2007 (AFP) - Indonesia on Friday lifted a tsunami alert that was issued along the west coast of Sumatra island after a major 6.9-magnitude aftershock rattled the area, the meteorological agency said.

'The tsunami warning is cancelled,' the agency said in a telephone text message about an hour after the quake struck at 0601 GMT, 161 kilometres (100 miles) southwest of the city of Bengkulu at a depth of 10 kilometres.

Bengkulu was one of the areas worst hit by a powerful 8.4-magnitude quake that rocked Sumatra's west coast on Wednesday at dusk.

JAKARTA, Sept 14, 2007 (AFP) - Another quake with a magnitude of 6.9 jolted Indonesia's Sumatra on Friday, prompting authorities to issue a tsunami alert for the island's west coast, the meteorological agency said.

The quake -- the latest aftershock following Wednesday's massive tremor -- struck at 0601 GMT, 161 kilometres (100 miles) southwest of the city of Bengkulu at a depth of 10 kilometres, the agency said in a phone text message.

'There is the potential for a tsunami,' it warned.

JAKARTA, Sept 14, 2007 (AFP) - A major international relief effort is not required on Indonesia's Sumatra island in the aftermath of powerful earthquakes that struck this week, the UN said in a statement Friday.

A nine-person UN assessment team arrived in Sumatra's Bengkulu on Thursday.

The team met with government officials and visited a local hospital before deciding that 'a major international relief operation was not required at this time.'

JAKARTA, Sept 14, 2007 (AFP) - At least 13 people were killed in powerful quakes off Indonesia's Sumatra island and hundreds of homes damaged, officials said Friday as relief efforts accelerated.

'The total number of dead is now at 13 with 50 others injured,' Rustam Pakaya, who heads the health ministry's crisis center, said in a text message alert.

Two fatalities were recorded in each of the cities of Bengkulu and Padang, while four were killed in Bengkulu province's Mukomuko, three in North Bengkulu district and two in West Sumatra's Pesisir Selatan.

PADANG, Indonesia, Sept 14, 2007 (AFP) - Nine-year-old Sandra has just not been the same since a massive earthquake struck the city of Padang on Indonesia's Sumatra, stoking memories of the 2004 tsunami among residents.

That disaster three years ago struck at the tip of Sumatra, killing some 168,000 Indonesians just to the north in Aceh, and the fears it created still loom large.

'The girl has a lot of stress,' said Sandra's mother, Ida Sari.

'If we go in the house, she's afraid. She asked us to come here.'