Aftershocks

Aftershocks continued to jolt Japan as rescue efforts increased Sunday morning following Friday's 8.9 magnitude earthquake. The island nation had experienced more than 275 aftershocks of magnitude 5 or greater as of Sunday morning, according to the United States Geological Survey. Of those aftershocks, 27 have been magnitude 6 or greater, USGS records show. "And that could change. We have more every hour," said Dale Grant, a geophysicist at the USGS National Earthquake Information Center in Golden, Colo.

The death toll from Japan's 8.9-magnitude earthquake and the tsunami that followed will likely increase Saturday, as rescue efforts continue to be hampered by aftershocks and damaged infrastructure, according to a United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs situation report. Japanese authorities had mobilized thousands of troops for the rescue effort Saturday, according to the report, with more than 300 planes and 40 ships conducting air and boat rescues. However, the report noted that "continued aftershocks and tsunami are hampering rescue efforts.

Japan continued to be rocked by aftershocks Saturday following Friday's 8.9 magnitude earthquake. The nation has experienced more than 154 aftershocks of magnitude 5 or greater since the earthquake, according to Paul Caruso, a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey earthquake information center in Golden, Colo. Of the aftershocks, 27 have been magnitude 6 or greater, Caruso said. Photos: Scenes from the earthquake Caruso said it was difficult to determine how long the aftershocks will last.

Hannah Trusttun sat on a jagged stack of loose bricks Thursday, staring vacantly across a deserted downtown street in her devastated city. It wasn't supposed to be like this, the mother of two said. The place known as the Garden City, the gorgeous gateway to New Zealand's South Island that draws tens of thousands of tourists each year, had become Earthquake City ? again. Just five months after a temblor shook Christchurch to its core, this city of 350,000 was hit Tuesday by another jolt, this time with far worse effects: 98 people confirmed dead, about 200 missing, 164 others sent to the hospital.

A devastating magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck the New Zealand city of Christchurch on Tuesday, killing at least 65 people and collapsing buildings onto victims, some of whom used their cellphones to frantically call for help, officials said. Photos: 6.3 earthquake hits New Zealand Rescuers dug through the rubble overnight amid reports that many people were still trapped and that the death toll could rise much higher. A statement posted on the website of the Christchurch Police Department said the fatalities included "two buses crushed by falling buildings.

"Aftershock," a blockbuster in its native China and that country's official entry for 2010's foreign-language film Oscar, has made a mostly smooth transition across the Pacific onto American screens. In fact, this involving, well-acted saga of a family torn apart by a devastating earthquake is such a foolproof crowd-pleaser it could likely withstand a release here well beyond its Asian-targeted bookings. Directed by Feng Xiaogang, China's most commercially successful filmmaker, from a script by Su Xiaowei (based on the novel by Chinese Canadian author Zhang Ling)

A 4.1 earthquake struck the California border region on Sunday, the latest of thousand of aftershocks from the Easter Sunday Mexicali temblor. The latest quake occurred at 8:53 a.m. about 33 miles from Mexicali. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage. The region has seen a series of aftershocks and triggered quakes since the massive 7.2 temblor, which was the largest in the region in nearly 20 years. The Mexicali quake that occurred April 4 caused more than $90 million on the California side of the border and killed two people in Mexico.

She woke before dawn to get the charcoal going. The tents and rusted shacks on Ruelle Porcelaine were quiet. A faint mist drifted down on the tarps as she boiled a bit of fish and sweet potato in a tin pot. She wrapped the food neatly in paper and packed a tote bag with hand towels, candies, tangerines, hair ties, pomade, a pair of pink sandals, secondhand T-shirts and little pants. She wished she could bring more. Bernardo's flip-flops were wearing out, and Barbara needed a hair brush.

The 300 or so people who live in Ocotillo, Calif., had been on edge ever since a magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck Easter Sunday just across the Mexico border, causing minor damage in the tiny desert town. And then the shaking came even closer to home. The community just off Interstate 8 in Imperial County was five miles from the epicenter of the magnitude 5.7 earthquake that hit at 9:26 p.m. Monday. Experts described that temblor as an aftershock of the April 4 quake in Baja California and said Ocotillo's trembling is far from over.

More than two dozen earthquakes struck Monday night near the U.S-Mexico border in San Diego County, rocking a large swath of Southern California, prompting a momentary shutdown of the San Diego Padres game but causing no apparent major damage, officials said. The largest of the quakes — a 5.7 magnitude temblor — was recorded at 9:26 p.m, the U.S. Geological Survey said. It could be felt throughout Los Angeles County. That quake was centered five miles southeast of Ocotillo in San Diego County and 16 miles east-northeast of Jacumba in eastern San Diego County, the survey agency said.