Moderate quake shakes Central America

MANAGUA, Nicaragua, Oct 27 (Reuters) - A moderate 5.5-magnitude earthquake shook rural Nicaragua on Friday, close to the border with El Salvador and Honduras, the U.S. Geological Survey said in a preliminary report.

No damage or injuries were reported in the quake, which hit at 6:53 p.m. (8:53 p.m. EDT/0053 GMT on Saturday), 45 miles (70 km) northwest of the Nicaraguan city of Chinandega and 70 miles (115 km) south-southwest of Tegucigalpa, Honduras.

Crews struggle to contain California blaze


A wall of fire approaches Highway 243 in Banning, Calif., Thursday, Oct 26, 2006. A wildfire set by an arsonist and driven by fierce Santa Ana winds killed four federal firefighters and drove hundreds of people from their homes Thursday, authorities said. Hundreds more were left stranded in a recreational vehicle park. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)


Children's bicycles are among the ruins of a house destroyed in the deadly Esperanza Fire in the San Jacinto Mountains near Banning, California, west of Palm Springs. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency as firefighters battled to contain a deliberately set wildfire that has claimed the lives of four firefighters.(AFP/Getty Images)

HEMET, Calif. - Working through the night, crews struggled to build fire lines to contain a wind-stoked wildfire that killed four firefighters as it raced through the canyons of Southern California.

Meanwhile, investigators continued searching for leads into whomever set the blaze, which left a fifth firefighter hospitalized in critical condition with burns over 90 percent of his body.

Though the fire made no big charges Friday and burned primarily within itself, smoke, darkness and weather hampered firefighters' efforts.

"We still have pretty strong winds on it, and it's in some pretty steep, inaccessible terrain," said Don Feely, a California Department of Forestry spokesman.

The fire that broke out early Thursday in uninhabited brushland about 90 miles east of Los Angeles grew to more than 62 square miles by Friday night, authorities said. It was 25 percent contained.

Investigators were looking into whether the wildfire was related to other blazes in recent months, including a canyon fire last weekend, though a sheriff's spokesman said there was no immediate indication of a serial arsonist.

Residents said they saw two young men leaving the area where the fire broke out west of the San Jacinto Mountains.

A reward for information leading to the arsonist soared to $500,000 Friday, as $100,000 posted by Riverside County quickly multiplied with matching offers from the state, neighboring San Bernardino County, Rancho Mirage resident Tim Blixseth and the Morongo Band of Mission Indians, which has a casino.

The fire destroyed about 10 structures, including homes, forced 700 people to flee, and flushed coyotes and other wildlife into the open.

Santa Ana winds gusted to 45 mph but kept the fire through undeveloped land, away from homes in Riverside County. More than 2,070 firefighters worked to corral the flames and a DC-10 jet capable of dropping 12,000-gallon loads of retardant joined a fleet of firefighting helicopters and airtankers.

About 400 people remained evacuated Friday night from the tiny town of Poppet Flat.

Typhoon Cimaron

Typhoon Cimaron is forecast to strike the Philippines at about 12:00 GMT on 29 October. Data supplied by the US Navy and Air Force Joint Typhoon Warning Center suggest that the point of landfall will be near 16.7 N, 123.0 E. Cimaron is expected to bring 1-minute maximum sustained winds to the region of around 185 km/h (114 mph). Wind gusts in the area may be considerably higher.

According to the Saffir-Simpson damage scale the potential property damage and flooding from a storm of Cimaron's strength (category 3) at landfall includes:

• Storm surge generally 2.7-3.7 metres (9-12 feet) above normal.


• Some structural damage to small residences and utility buildings with a minor amount of curtainwall failures.


• Damage to shrubbery and trees with foliage blown off trees and large trees blown down.


• Mobile homes and poorly constructed signs are destroyed.


• Low-lying escape routes are cut by rising water 3-5 hours before arrival of the centre of the storm.


• Flooding near the coast destroys smaller structures with larger structures damaged by battering from floating debris.


• Terrain continuously lower than 1.5 metres (5 feet) above mean sea level may be flooded inland 13 km (8 miles) or more.


• Evacuation of low-lying residences within several blocks of the shoreline may be required.

There is also the potential for flooding further inland due to heavy rain.

Cuba says dengue outbreak caused deaths, no figures

HAVANA, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Cuba is containing an outbreak of dengue fever that has caused a number of deaths, the Pan-American Health Organization said this week, citing a Cuban government report that gave no figures.

Cuba's Minister of Health Jose Ramon Balaguer informed the Washington-based PAHO on Aug 1 that Cuba was facing an outbreak of classic dengue in four of its 14 provinces.

An updated Health Ministry report on Oct. 13, posted on PAHO's Web site this week, said the outbreak had spread in territorial terms, but the number of cases was dropping.

"All cases of dengue hemorrhagic fever have taken place in the adult population and have, in a limited number of cases, produced deaths associated with pre-existing chronic pathologies," it said.

Cuba has not said how many people died of dengue. But the Caribbean nation stepped up a campaign in August to eradicate the Aedes Aegypti mosquito that transmits the virus.

Health workers have gone door-to-door spraying homes with smoke. Large Soviet-era Antonov 2 biplanes regularly roar over roof-tops spraying insecticide to kill the eggs.

Most people who get infected by dengue develop a fever and rash, but recover in five days. The more virulent hemorrhagic form of the fever kills 1 in 20 of those infected.

Significant storm hits america's northeast