Disasters

"Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said the recent earthquake in Northern California shows the need for an earthquake early warning system."
 

"SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Hurricane Cristobal hurled heavy rains across Atlantic and Caribbean islands on Tuesday as it headed toward Bermuda, and officials said the storm already had caused at least five deaths."

"Japan is facing the toughest test yet in its effort to restore nuclear energy more than three years after the Fukushima disaster: scrutiny from a skeptical population."

"The 6.1-magnitude earthquake that shook Napa Valley early Sunday morning could total more than $1 billion in losses. As many as 100 homes were left in unlivable condition, and it’s likely most residents will be paying out-of-pocket for repairs."

"A federal nuclear inspector urged U.S. regulators to shut down a California nuclear power plant until tests showed its reactors could withstand shocks from nearby earthquake faults, according to the Associated Press and an environmental group."

"NAPA -- Many people awakened by Sunday's earthquake described it as long, rolling, almost gentle. Near the quake's epicenter in the North Bay, however, it was anything but soothing."

"On the night of Sept. 9, 2010, a 30-inch natural gas pipeline buried underneath the city of San Bruno, California, exploded. The fire was so large and the corresponding roar so loud that many residents thought a plane from the nearby San Francisco International Airport had crashed."

"CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The state Department of Health and Human Resources lacks a program and properly trained staff to assess community-wide chemical exposures like those that followed the Elk River chemical leak in January, federal public health officials said in a new review made public Tuesday."

"SAN BRUNO -- PG&E pleaded not guilty Monday to a new federal criminal indictment on felony charges linked to a fatal 2010 natural gas pipeline explosion here, and hours later, San Bruno officials requested that the state Public Utilities Commission preserve computer drives and digital data that could shed light on ties between the PUC and the utility it oversees."

"More than 1,100 laboratory incidents involving bacteria, viruses and toxins that pose significant or bioterror risks to people and agriculture were reported to federal regulators during 2008 through 2012, government reports obtained by USA TODAY show."