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The Earthquake in Indonesia: How Collaboration Impacts the Global Water Crisis

SOUTH CAROLINA, USA, Oct 16 (IPS) – George C. Greene, IV is the President and Chief Operating Officer of Water Mission*, a nonprofit Christian engineering organization that designs, builds, and implements safe water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) solutions for people in developing countries and disaster areasOn Friday, September 28, the world first heard the devastating news out of Indonesia that a 7.5 magnitude earthquake had struck the island of Sulawesi. The quake caused substantial soil liquefaction — where the earth literally turned to liquid and started to flow — with entire homes sinking into the ground. It also triggered a tsunami, confirmed to be as high as 23 feet, that devastated the coastal areas.

Read the full story, “The Earthquake in Indonesia: How Collaboration Impacts the Global Water Crisis”, on globalissues.org →

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Japan earthquake: death toll rises in Hokkaido

Dozens missing after tourist hotspot hit by landslides during Thursday’s 6.7-magnitude quake

The death toll from a powerful earthquake that hit Hokkaido has doubled to at least 16, according to Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe, with more than half the island’s 5.3 million residents still without power.

Another 26 people were missing, disaster management authorities said.

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Japan earthquake: landslide traps residents in homes

Warning of aftershocks as 10 injured in 6.6 earthquake on northern island of Hokkaido

A powerful earthquake of magnitude 6.6 left residents trapped inside their homes as a landslide blocked roads, engulfed buildings and led to widespread power cuts on Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido in the early hours of Thursday.

A landslide along a long ridge in the rural town of Atsumi could be seen in aerial footage from the public broadcaster NHK. About 10 people had been taken to hospital with injuries, one of them serious, it said. Japanese media said two people had died and 32 were missing, but there were no official reports of fatalities.

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'Where it was – but not how it was': how the Sicilian earthquake divided a town

The 1968 disaster left at least 231 people dead and 100,000 homeless, but it was rebuilding Salemi that split the local community

On a summer’s night in Salemi, an ancient hilltop town in western Sicily, a group of children are playing football across the floor of church, using each transept as a goal. Some older teenagers sit below the altar, laughing and gossiping loudly.

A local bar owner, Fabrizio Internicola, looks on. Does it seem strange to him to see kids kicking a ball around inside a grand 17th-century church?

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