Animals foresee earthquakes: toads&frogs
217 people dead - Turkey 7.2 magnitude earthquake
On Sunday Turkey's eastern Van region was hit by 7.2 magnitude quake. Rescue teams are desperately searching for people trapped beneath rubble after a strong earthquake hit Turkey's eastern Van region on Sunday.
More than 200 people died and 1,000 were injured in the 7.2 magnitude quake, many of them in the town of Ercis, where dozens of buildings fell.
Tens of thousands have been sleeping outside in freezing conditions. The death toll is expected to rise in the coming hours. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been visiting the area.Turkey is particularly in danger to earthquakes because it sits on major geological fault lines.
Two earthquakes in 1999 with a magnitude of more than 7 killed almost 20,000 people in densely populated parts of the north-west of the country. The earthquake struck at 13:41 (10:41 GMT) at a depth of 20km (12.4 miles), with its epicentre 16km north-east of Van in eastern Turkey, the US Geological Survey said.
It was followed by a series of powerful aftershocks, also centered north of Van, including two of magnitude 5.6 soon after the quake and one of 6.0 late on Sunday.
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Strong quake hits off Mexico's Baja California

A powerful magnitude 6.9 quake in Mexico's Baja California on Thursday, rattle towns on both sides of the thin sea but there were no reports of major injure or injuries.
The earth quake shake buildings in the tourist option of La Paz on the Baja California peninsula, well-known for its whale watching, as well as along the shoreline of the state of Sinaloa.
"It was terrible, very strong. We were in the town hall and the top started creaking so we all ran out," said Mayola Gutierrez, an supporter to the mayor of Ahome in Sinaloa, who said minor harm was done to the front wall of the building.
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Will the Earth blackout in 2013?

Looks like disaster flicks aren’t too removed from a reality since all this could well be the potential result of a gigantic solar storm, according to a new report by NASA. The report,of a warning, says Earth and space are coming together in a way that’s new to human history.