6.0 quake in Gulf shakes Southeast

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- A strong, 6.0 earthquake in the Gulf of Mexico was felt throughout the Southeast but caused no apparent damage, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The quake was not powerful enough to trigger a tsunami warning.

The quake, about 250 miles west of Tampa, Florida, was "pretty unusual" for the area, although a 5.2 magnitude quake was recorded nearby in February, said USGS seismic analyst Jessica Sigala.

People as far away as Atlanta -- about 530 miles from the quake's center -- called into local television stations to report feeling tremors at 10:56 a.m. ET.

Sigala said that since the surrounding terrain is fairly flat, the earthquake would travel far and fast. The earthquake occurred at a depth of 6.2 miles, the USGS said.

About an hour after the earthquake, 904 people from 365 separate ZIP codes in the Southeast had filed online reports to the USGS that they had felt the quake.

Florida and Georgia led the list with hundreds of reports each, while a handful of reports also came from Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana residents.

The most distant reports came from Rosman, North Carolina, and Pickens, South Carolina, both about 600 miles from the quake's center.

Undersea quake rattles western Indonesia

JAKARTA, Sept 9 (Reuters) - An undersea earthquake with a magnitude of 6.6 jolted western Indonesia on Saturday, but a meteorological agency official said there was no danger of a tsunami.

There were no immediate reports of any deaths or damage after the quake centred in the Flores sea at a depth of 573 km, said Muhaimin, an analyst at the meteorology and geophysics agency.

Earthquakes are frequent in Indonesia, a sprawling archipelago of some 17,000 islands that lies in the so called "Pacific Ring of Fire".

The country has been on edge since a tsunami slammed into the southern coast of Java island in July, killing around 600 people. It was the second tsunami to hit the country in less than two years.

In December 2004, a devastating tsunami hit the northern tip of Indonesia's Sumatra island, leaving some 170,000 dead or missing in the country.

Earthquake shakes Israel, no injuries reported

JERUSALEM, Sept 9 (Reuters) - An earthquake with a magnitude of 4.4 shook Israel and the occupied West Bank on Saturday but caused no injuries, Israeli media reported.

The quake's epicentre was in the Jordan Valley and was felt across Israel and the West Bank. The magnitude was initially estimated at 4.9.

Minor earthquakes are not uncommon in Israel and surrounding countries.

Hurricane Florence heads for Bermuda

HAMILTON, Bermuda - Florence intensified into the second hurricane of the Atlantic season Sunday as it headed for Bermuda, where residents installed storm shutters and hauled their yachts onto beaches.

Florence was expected to reach the tiny British territory Monday, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. But was too early to tell whether it will make a direct hit.

The Category 1 hurricane, which had had maximum sustained winds near 80 mph early Sunday, was expected to become a Category 2 hurricane as it passes Bermuda, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

The storm was expected to veer away from the U.S. coast as it turns north toward Bermuda, but forecasters said its large size could also create high surf and rip currents along parts of the eastern seaboard.

"Those waves will affect a good portion of the U.S. East Coast from basically Florida all the way up to the Cape Cod area" starting Sunday through the early part of next week, hurricane specialist Stacy Stewart said. "When those large swells come rolling in to the coastline they tend to produce dangerous and potentially deadly rip currents."

In Bermuda, skies turned gray and waves began to build Sunday morning as gusty winds blew in spits of rain.

Don't Drink the Water

LEON, Nicaragua (Reuters) -- Nicaraguan police stepped up moonshine raids Saturday, bursting into seedy bars and liquor stores selling an adulterated cane liquor that the government said has killed at least 30 people.

Overnight, about 100 people were admitted to the already overflowing and rundown public hospital in Leon, about 55 miles northwest of the capital, Managua, and the center of the epidemic, raising fears of more deaths.

Following tips from the public, police burst into bars and shops in the colonial city and seized grubby plastic barrels filled with suspected bad hooch.

Many of the bars are bare concrete rooms where the raw liquor is sold to customers who bring their own jugs or even plastic bags to hold the drink.

"Together with the police, we have confiscated 47,893 liters (12,650 gallons) ... from 312 establishments. We're doing tests to see what is contaminated with methanol and what is not," Health Minister Margarita Gurdian said.

The sale of home-distilled alcohol is legal in Nicaragua and popular in rural areas and among low-paid workers. Most of those killed were poor, although one doctor from Leon hospital died.

Miurel Gamez, regional Health Ministry director, said three additional deaths were attributed to the moonshine on Saturday, raising the official death toll to 30.

A liter (quart) of hooch, called "aguardiente" in Spanish, sells for about a dollar in Leon, making it much cheaper than beer or rum.

The bad batch was mixed with methanol, a poisonous type of alcohol that when ingested can cause blindness, organ damage and death from respiratory failure.

At the hospital, men and women attached to intravenous drips spilled into peeling, roach-ridden corridors from the packed wards. Others on ventilators looked close to death.

"This is an attack on the poor," said Jose Ernesto Malta, 41, a market laborer who drank the liquor earlier in the week. "I just hope they do something. Somebody has to pay."

Sri Lanka clashes take heavy toll

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (CNN) -- The Sri Lankan army said 28 soldiers were killed and 119 were wounded while battling the Tamil Tiger rebels in Jaffna, located in the northern tip of the country, late Saturday evening, Sri Lanka police inspector Percy Perera said.

An estimated 150 Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels were also killed, with more wounded, Perera said.

The exact number of wounded was not immediately available, he said.

The fighting flared during the army's operation to control the area of Muhamalai in Jaffna. Soldiers have been working to de-mine the area and the operation is ongoing.

Hundreds of civilians, troops and Tiger fighters have been killed in the past months, with both blaming the other for disregarding a 2002 cease-fire agreement.

NATO says 40 militants killed

(CNN) -- More than 40 insurgents and a NATO soldier were killed in fighting during a major operation in southern Afghanistan, NATO's International Security Assistance Forces said.

The fighting came during a NATO offensive in Kandahar province dubbed Operation Medusa, a push against the Taliban that began last Saturday.

The operation is being spearheaded by Canadian and Afghan troops.

Three insurgent positions, a bomb-making factory, and a weapons cache were destroyed, and ISAF troops are now occupying parts of Panjwayi and Zhari districts.

"Afghan and ISAF troops have reopened Highway 1 to civilian traffic and will maintain a patrolling presence to ensure civilians can travel the route in increased safety," ISAF said.

"We're making good progress every day," said Canadian Brigadier-General David Fraser, Commander of ISAF Regional Command South.

The nationality of the latest NATO soldier killed has not been released.

More than 330 insurgents and at least five Canadian soldiers have been killed in Medusa so far.

These elephants are taking a break during the opening ceremony of 6th King's Cup Elephant Polo at Golden Triangle in the north of Thailand.

Russia mine toll reaches 25 as last bodies found

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The final death toll from a fire at a remote Russian gold mine reached 25 on Sunday as rescuers found the bodies of four men, the last of the miners trapped deep underground three days earlier.

Relatives had been keeping vigil on the surface hoping the four might be brought out alive after eight survivors emerged from the pit on Saturday.

All 33 men trapped when the fire broke out in the mine's main shaft on Thursday have now been accounted for, Interfax news agency said, quoting the local administration in the Chita region of Eastern Siberia.

This reminds me of a Cowboy Junkies song so much. I always loved this song.

Mining For Gold

We are miners, hard rock miners
To the shaft house we must go
Pour your bottles on our shoulders
We are marching to the slow

On the line boys, on the line boys
Drill your holes and stand in line
'til the shift boss comes to tell you
You must drill her out on top

Can't you feel the rock dust in your lungs?
It'll cut down a miner when he is still young
Two years and the silicosis takes hold
and I feel like I'm dying from mining for gold

Yes, I feel like I'm dying from mining for gold



Double trouble : Mount Bromo (L) and Mount Semeru (R) volcanos emit smoke, as seen from Penanjakan in Probolinggo. (AFP/Tarko Sudiarno)