Multiple earthquakes, with the strongest two measuring 5.7 and 5.6 on the Richter scale, struck the mountainous rural regions of Yunnan and Guizhou, in the Yiliang and Weining counties in southwest China on Friday 7 September 2012, killing at least 80 people and injuring more than 160 others. As a result of the earthquakes in this mountainous area, landslides have also been experienced. The most serious damage was in Yiliang county, where the majority of the fatalities occurred. An estimated 100,000 people have been evacuated and approximately 20,000 houses were destroyed.
The coast of Costa Rica was struck on 5 September 2012 at 08:42 a.m. local time by a major earthquake with the epicenter located in the Nicoya Península. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) indicated a magnitude of 7.6. on the Richter scale. The epicenter is located very close to the surface, approximately in a depth of 10 kilometres.
UN-SPIDER's Regional Support Office located in Japan, ADRC (Asian Disaster Reduction Centre), is in the process of producing the booklet "Considerations for effective use of to assess Tsunami impacts - Lessons learned from the recent Tsunami in Japan". This publication is realized in cooperation with the Japanese Space Agency (JAXA).
Through operating the Jamaica Seismograph Network and affiliating with other Caribbean and Regional networks, the Earthquake Unit seeks to understand earthquake processes in and around Jamaica and advice the society about earthquake hazards, thereby encouraging community awareness and the application of
The death toll from the 12 January 2010 earthquake in Haiti stands at over 220,000 people. 1.3 million have been displaced by the earthquake. The EU response to the plight of the Haitian people was prompt and included civil protection.
UNOOSA/UN-SPIDER has activated the International Charter: Space and Major Disaster to provide satellite imagery for the two strong earthquakes that occurred in Iran on 11 August 2012. This international mechanism was activated on behalf of the Iranian Space Agency, host of UN-SPIDER's Regional Support Office in Iran.
On Saturday 11th August, two earthquakes measuring 6.4 and 6.3 on the moment magnitude scale rumbled through the highly populated region of Azarbayjan-e Khavari in Iran, 53km from Tabriz.The earthquakes and killed 306 people and injured 3,037, according to Health Minister Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi. He also said that "we are continuing the search for bodies", so an increase on the death number is not discarded. More than 16,000 people have lost their houses, they are having temporary shelter in 3,000 tents and thousands of blankets, food and water have been distributed.