Disaster

A 5.9 magnitude quake has struck northeastern Japan, 18km NNE of Daigo, and in close proximity to the infamous Fukushima nuclear power plant the US Geological Survey reported; no tsunami warning has been issued. The epicenter of the quake was given as Ibaraki Prefecture in central Japan, the same as was impacted during the 2011 Fukushima quake. The prefecture has a population of some 3 million people.

Earlier, the Japanese Meteorological Agency (JMA) earlier put the magnitude at 6.3.

A Russian military aircraft crashed into the Black Sea yesterday killing all 92 passengers on board. The Russian defence ministry said that the plane disappeared from radar two minutes after taking off from Sochi at 05:25 (02:25 GMT), heading for Latakia in Syria. Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his condolences to the relatives of the passengers. “I want to express my most sincere condolences to the families of our citizens who died in the plane crash in the Black Sea this morning. The government will do everything to provide support.

A 7.7-magnitude quake struck at 9:22am EST at a depth of 33 kilometers some 40 km southwest of Puerto Quellon in southern Chile on Sunday, the United States Geological Survey said. 

The quake prompted a tsunami threat message by the Tsunami Warning Center for areas as far as 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) from the epicenter.

Tsunami Info Stmt: M7.7 in southern Chile 0622PST Dec 25: Tsunami NOT expected; CA,OR,WA,BC,and AK

#NTWC

— NWS Tsunami Alerts (@NWS_NTWC) December 25, 2016

A Russian military plane carrying 92 people, including dozens of Red Army Choir singers, dancers and orchestra members, crashed into the Black Sea shortly after takeoff from Sochi on its way to Syria on Sunday, killing everyone on board, Russian authorities said. Earlier, the Russian Defense Ministry said one of its TU-154 Tupolev planes had disappeared from radar screens at 0525 MSK (9.25 p.m. ET), two minutes after taking off from Sochi in southern Russia, where it had stopped to refuel from Moscow on route to Syria.

Authorities in Germany are evacuating tens of thousands of citizens on Christmas day after the discovery of an unexploded World War II bomb in Augsburg.  The biggest evacuation since WWII will see around 54,000 people in the Southern Germany city of Augsburg leave their homes following the discovery of the 3.8-ton bomb on a building site. Digitaljournal.com reports: The evacuation and defusing of the device will take place on Christmas Day, the first public holiday after the bomb was discovered on December 20.