A magnitude 6.7 earthquake rattled Japan late Saturday night leaving crumpled homes and dozens injured.
Aftershocks continued to shake the area and villagers fled their homes to shelters after at least 50 homes collapsed after the initial quake. Officials say that because the homes are built to withstand feet of heavy snow in the winter, it kept more homes from collapsing.
However, the homes that fell resulted in broken bones after heavy furniture fell on residents as they slept on their tatami floors.
The quake, which struck just west of Nagano at a depth of 3 miles, struck along a very active fault according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.
Officials say most of the residents of the area are elderly and that younger residents are working to care for those who were injured and who lost their homes.
The death toll in the Mount Ontake eruption is the worst for Japan in 88 years.
Military rescue units reported finding more bodies buried in ash, bringing the death toll to 47. The searchers were called down from the mountain after the discovery after a discovery of poisonous gasses and fears the mountain was about to explode again.
The mountain had been covered with climbers and hikers who were looking at the fall colors of the leaves when the unexpected eruption blanketed the area with ash. Hundreds were injured in some way by the blast and also breathing issues from the ash.
Witnesses said that there was no warning at all before the mountain erupted.
The death toll is the worst since 144 people died in a 1926 eruption on the island of Hokkaido.
A Hamas rocket that made it through the Iron Dome defense system struck a home in Beersheba today, injuring two people including an 80-year-old grandmother who had to be rushed to a local hospital.
The rocket came an hour after Iron Dome has intercepted two rockets over Tel Aviv and at least two over Herzliya. The Israeli Defense Force says that the percentage of rockets shot down by Iron Dome is around 70 percent.
The IDF says that more Iron Dome batteries will be deployed throughout the country to try and increase the interception percentage of the system.
Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon spoke with the people who manufacture the system to encourage them as they increase their output to meet the current battle situation.
“Your efforts, and those of your people in this operation is very impressive, and inspirational,” Ya’alon added. “In recent days, you and your people are working with dedication, day and night, to instantly set up more Iron Dome batteries, which will go into operation during [the current] Operation Protective Edge, and will defend the Israeli people.”
At least 90 rockets from Hamas have been fired into Israel in the last 24 hours.
A series of severe storms swept through Colorado Sunday spawning a series of tornadoes.
One person was injured when a tornado touched down at country club in Aurora, Colorado that was hosting a junior golf tournament. Officials say the injured man is the father of a tournament competitor who suffered a broken wrist when winds from the storm blew over his golf cart.
Police say it was a miracle no one was seriously hurt because 97 young competitors and their parents were on the course when the tornado struck.
Park County spokeswoman Linda Balough told USA Today that a funnel cloud struck the community of Fairplay about 65 miles southwest of Denver damaging a home’s roof.
“This is amazingly unusual at 10,000 feet,” Balough said. “Very unusual for it to happen up here.”
An RV park about 40 miles from Fairplay was heavily damaged by another twister but no one was injured.
Global evangelist and Southern California pastor Bayless Conley was critically injured in a boating accident on Catalina Island Monday night.
Conley has undergone surgery that his doctors termed as “successful.” He remains in critical condition along with one of the other passengers on the boat. A third person suffered minor injuries.
Local emergency staff says Conley and the others were on a boat that crashed full speed into The Isthmus near Two Harbors on Catalina Island. The report did not say who was piloting the craft or where the victims were on the boat at the time of the accident.
“Please join us as we pray and trust God for a full and speedy recovery for Pastor Bayless and his friends,” Cottonwood Church said in a statement. The church asked for people to pray for comfort for them and their families at this time.
A post on his television ministry’s website said Conley was responsive to doctors but that “the next 24-48 hours are critical” for his recovery.