Environment

A large 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck Japan, killing at least two people, destroying buildings and causing power outages. According to officials there could be more people trapped under buildings that collapsed BBC News reports: About 16,000 homes were left without electricity and 38,000 without gas, reports say. No tsunami warning was issued after the magnitude 6.4 quake, which struck at 21:26 (12:26 GMT) east of Kumamoto city, on the island of Kyushu. Nuclear reactors on the island are not reported to have been affected.

Just over 5 years since the massively destructive 2011 Japanese earthquake which unleashed a tsunami and led to the Fukushima disaster, moments ago NHK reported that Japan's Kumamoto region had been hit with another quake which had a Shindo shaking intensity of 7 and registered a magnitude of apprxoimately 6.4.

According to the Japanese media this is the strongest quake to hit Japan since the 2011 earthquake. The good news is that so far there has been no tsunami alert.

A strong 6.9 magnitude earthquake struck Myanmar (formerly Burma) on Wednesday. Tremors were felt in parts of India and Bangladesh. International Business Times reports: The earthquake’s epicenter was in Myanmar, but its effects were reportedly felt in nearby Indian cities, including Delhi, Patna, Guwahati and Dehradun. In addition to the tremors, power outages ensued in the Indian state of Assam, where the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, otherwise known as the United Kingdom’s Prince William and his wife, Kate Middleton, are visiting.

Scientists have unveiled a new ‘Tree of Life’ showing the diversity of life on earth through the evolution of living things and their interrelationships. The new tree was created using genetic data collected in recent years. The researchers found a group of bacteria that are so diverse genetically that they represent half of all the diversity of bacteria on the planet. PRI reports: Humans tend to think of themselves as a pretty important branch on that tree. Certainly we think of animals and plants as being the most dominant and abundant forms of life.

Who could have seen that coming?

So size does matter after all...

• INTESA, UNICREDIT HALTED IN MILAN; LIMIT DOWN