LA Times News

LA Times News

Hawaii breathes a sigh of relief as islands escape major damage

Posted: 11 Mar 2011 07:49 PM PST

Tsunami waves from Japan sweep away cars and destroy at least three homes, but no deaths or injuries are reported. The worst reports came from the western side of the island of Hawaii.

The tsunami from Japan flooded a number of buildings in Hawaii, sweeping away cars and destroying at least three homes, but the state escaped deaths and injuries, authorities said.

Japan quake preparedness no match for 8.9

Posted: 11 Mar 2011 06:58 PM PST

In a nation where earthquake drills are part of the culture, human emotion nevertheless took over when the quake and tsunami struck.

Earthquakes dwell deep in the Japanese imagination.

Japan quake damage still coming into focus

Posted: 11 Mar 2011 06:48 PM PST

More than 200 people have been confirmed dead, but officials fear death toll could top 1,000. Concerns over a possible meltdown at a nuclear power plant complex in northeastern Japan also remain.

Rescue workers traveling by helicopter have begun arriving in devastated areas of northeastern Japan, pulling up stranded residents from the aftermath of the fifth-strongest earthquake on record.

A wired world sees the horror as it happens

Posted: 11 Mar 2011 05:22 PM PST

Instead of bearing witness to a disaster's aftermath, viewers watch in wrenching real time the catastrophic events in Japan — alternately spellbound and tortured by their inability to help.

After the quake, it took 45 minutes for the tsunami to reach the coast of Japan — 45 minutes of knowing, of waiting, of bracing.

Japan nuclear plant conditions worsening, local media reports

Posted: 11 Mar 2011 04:44 PM PST

The Kyodo news agency says the cooling system has failed at three reactors at a nuclear power plant in Fukushima Prefecture in northeastern Japan and that the coolant water's temperature has reached boiling level.

Conditions appear to be worsening at a nuclear power plant in Fukushima Prefecture in northeastern Japan, according to local media.

Q&A: Early lessons from Japan's earthquake

Posted: 11 Mar 2011 05:09 PM PST

Though scientists have just begun to pore over the data, they have already made some surprising discoveries since the massive earthquake off Japan.

Friday's 8.9-magnitude temblor off the east coast of Japan ranks as one of the 10 largest earthquakes ever recorded. Though scientists have just begun to pore over the data, they have already made some surprising discoveries about one of the most quake-prone regions on Earth.

Mexico says U.S. never told it tracked guns were passing border

Posted: 11 Mar 2011 04:23 PM PST

The statement says Mexico would never have allowed arms to enter the country as part of the operation under which U.S. agents permitted the purchase of weapons to build more sweeping criminal cases.

Mexican authorities say they were aware of the U.S. anti-gun operation that allowed smugglers to buy weapons under the watch of agents in the United States, but that they had no idea that the program allowed weapons to be smuggled into Mexico.

Obama says U.S. will keep working for Kadafi ouster

Posted: 11 Mar 2011 04:18 PM PST

A special envoy will be named to determine ways to help the Libya rebels. The EU tightens sanctions and calls on Kadafi to step down.

President Obama vowed Friday that the United States would continue "slowly tightening the noose" to force Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi from power, but also made it clear that the U.S. would proceed cautiously on any potential military operation.

Fuel shortage looms for oil-rich Libya

Posted: 11 Mar 2011 03:53 PM PST

A lack of refined gasoline could affect the outcome of fighting between rebels and Moammar Kadafi's forces. The opposition control the oil-rich east, but the government has cash for imports.

In oil-rich Libya, where gasoline usually sells for about 45 cents a gallon, a looming fuel shortage could have major ramifications for the outcome of fighting between the forces of longtime leader Moammar Kadafi and rebels in the east.

Sun rises on a devastated Japan the day after earthquake, tsunami

Posted: 11 Mar 2011 02:56 PM PST

Scenes of destruction are visible across the island nation after an earthquake and tsunami. Coastal areas are under water and plumes of black smoke fill the skies from burning cars, homes and factories.

Saturday sunrise in Japan illuminated harrowing scenes of destruction across the island nation rattled by the strongest earthquake in its recorded history, with huge coastal swaths under water from tsunami waves and plumes of black smoke filling the skies from burning cars, homes and factories.

Battered Libyan rebels try to keep spirits up

Posted: 11 Mar 2011 02:01 PM PST

Fighters are all but pushed out of Ras Lanuf, and are regrouping in Port Brega and Benghazi. 'Better to die for freedom,' says a father as he buries his son, who had joined the rebels to help the wounded.

The rebels carried Fathi Ali down a dirt road to his grave.

Tsunami mostly spares other nations around the Pacific Rim

Posted: 11 Mar 2011 12:50 PM PST

Tsunami warnings were issued for the entire Pacific basin after an earthquake, but most waves had diminished by the time they hit the shores of Hawaii, California, Oregon, Washington and Mexico.

Strong aftershocks and a second sizable earthquake rattled Japan through the night after the island nation's worst quake in recorded history, but the tsunami waves that drowned hundreds in northeast Japan mostly spared other countries around the Pacific Rim.

Japan nuclear power plant, damaged in earthquake, plans to release 'slightly radioactive' vapor

Posted: 11 Mar 2011 11:42 AM PST

Japan's nuclear safety agency plans to release what it described as "slightly radioactive" vapor from a nuclear power plant damaged by Friday's record 8.9 earthquake, authorities said.

EU leaders call on Moammar Kadafi to step down

Posted: 11 Mar 2011 11:29 AM PST

In a unanimous declaration, leaders of the European Union push for Libyan dictator Moammar Kadafi to give up power. They say they will consider 'all necessary options' to protect Libyans from Kadafi's attacks, but stop short of backing military intervention.

Leaders of the European Union on Friday unanimously called on Libyan dictator Moammar Kadafi to give up power and said they would examine "all necessary options" to protect Libyan civilians from attack.

Protesters stage huge rally in Yemen's capital

Posted: 11 Mar 2011 12:12 PM PST

About 100,000 people gather for another peaceful demonstration calling for President Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down. 'Something has to happen soon,' one demonstrator says, as some analysts fear an impasse could lead to civil war.

Nearly 100,000 protesters flooded the streets of Yemen's capital on what was billed "the Friday of No Return," as the effort to oust President Ali Abdullah Saleh headed toward a potentially dangerous political stalemate, and some warned of the threat of civil war.

Japan earthquake, tsunami death toll rises to 1,000, reports say

Posted: 11 Mar 2011 09:51 AM PST

Japanese media are reporting at least 1,000 people are presumed dead from the massive 8.9 earthquake, most of them drowned by the wall of water that swept across the northeast coast of the island nation.

Japanese media reported at least 1,000 people are presumed dead from Friday's massive 8.9 earthquake, most drowned by the wall of water that swept across the northeast coast of the island nation.

Obama offers quake-ravaged Japan any assistance needed

Posted: 11 Mar 2011 10:26 AM PST

Speaking at a Washington news conference, President Obama says the U.S. is marshaling forces to help deal with the aftermath of the magnitude 8.9 earthquake in Japan. U.S. ships carrying aid are en route, and the Air Force has delivered coolant to a damaged nuclear plant.

President Obama on Friday offered earthquake-ravaged Japan any assistance needed to cope with the massive 8.9 temblor that has devastated the Asian nation, including technical aid to cope with a damaged nuclear power plant that has led to the evacuation of thousands for fear of a radiation leakage.

Japan earthquake, tsunami kill hundreds, cause crippling damage

Posted: 11 Mar 2011 09:06 AM PST

An 8.9 earthquake off the Pacific coast sets off a massive tsunami, resulting in floods, fires and the closure of airports and transit systems. Up to 300 bodies are found on a beach in Sendai, on the northeast coast, with another 110 confirmed dead elsewhere. Authorities are monitoring Japan's nuclear power plants.

After years of preparation for the killer earthquake that would clearly one day strike, Japan found itself crippled Friday by floods, power failures, fires, shuttered airports and paralyzed transit systems from an 8.9 earthquake that struck off the Pacific coast, killing hundreds of people and setting off a massive tsunami.

Twitter response to Japan earthquake, tsunami is fast, widespread

Posted: 11 Mar 2011 09:39 AM PST

After Japan's earthquake and tsunami, Twitter messages give news advisories, prayers for victims and shocked reactions.

Just as Egypt has been cast as the Twitter revolution, so Friday's massive Japanese earthquake and tsunami was destined to become the Twitter disaster.

Saudi Arabia 'day of rage' protest fizzles

Posted: 11 Mar 2011 09:03 AM PST

Few turn out for a 'day of rage' protest that had been talked about for weeks in Saudi Arabia. The call for demonstrations, organized on Facebook and by word of mouth, had drawn a stern response from the government.

A call for protests in Saudi Arabia that had been talked about for weeks drew only a handful of people Friday, allowing the kingdom to keep at bay for now the waves of political unrest that have battered the Middle East and North Africa.