Australian tourism industry gets government aid as bush fires recede
The Australian government said on Sunday it will channel 76 million Australian dollars ($52 million) to the tourism industry as recent heavy rains have dampened many of the monthslong bush fires, allowing the country to look to recovery. The number of fires burning across Australia's ...
Disaster response poses an ongoing challenge in this calamity-prone country.
Groups across Japan inspired by school staff disaster team set up after Kobe quake
Japanese teachers are taking lessons learned from the 1995 earthquake that devastated the city of Kobe 25 years ago next Friday and using them as part of an effort form disaster relief teams across the nation. The first was launched in 2000 in Hyogo Prefecture, ...
Australian leader Scott Morrison proposes high-level inquiry into response to bush fires
After weeks of criticism over the handling of the bush fires scorching Australia, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Sunday, when the fires claimed another firefighter's life, that he will propose a national review into the response to the disaster. With the Australian bush burning for ...
Two strong aftershocks collapsed homes and cracked walls in Puerto Rico on Friday as the Caribbean island tried to recover from its worst earthquake in more than a century. The first quake of magnitude 5.2 struck at 6:26 p.m., followed by another of magnitude 4.8 ...
Most local governments in Japan have or plan multilingual disaster info services
A large majority of major Japanese cities recognize the need to provide multilingual information and aid to the growing number of foreign residents and tourists should a natural disaster occur, a Kyodo News survey found Thursday. The survey, conducted late last year, found that 52 ...
A decade of climate science confirmed our suspicions
Death toll in Jakarta flooding rises to 53; nearly 175,000 displaced
Nearly 175,000 people remain displaced in Indonesia's capital of Jakarta and nearby towns on Saturday after flash floods and landslides killed at least 53 people amid some of the heaviest rain since records began, authorities said. "The death toll has risen to 53 people, with ...
When Hokkaido native Tatsushi Ueda landed a job at the Shizuoka Prefectural Government nearly 40 years ago, he was given a somber send-off that made him feel like he might never see home again. It was 1983, a time when Shizuoka Prefecture was still abuzz ...
Indonesia plans cloud seeding to halt rain; death toll from Jakarta flooding rises to 43
Indonesia said Friday it would start seeding clouds west of the capital, Jakarta, in a bid to prevent further rainfall after deadly flash floods and landslides following some of the heaviest rains ever recorded. The death toll in Jakarta and surrounding areas had risen to ...
After 300 years, is majestic Mount Fuji 'on standby' for next eruption?
Snow-capped, symmetrically cone-shaped and awe-inspiringly tall, Mount Fuji has for centuries provided Japanese with something of a spiritual backbone, attracting hundreds of thousands of climbers every year. But often overshadowed by its beauty is the fact that the mountain straddling Shizuoka and Yamanashi prefectures is ...
Emperor Naruhito uses first New Year's address to express hopes for disaster-free year
Emperor Naruhito, in a message released at the beginning of his first full year as the symbol of state, says he hopes 2020 will be one free of major disasters.
