Earthquake rattles northeastern Indonesia

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — A 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck under the sea of northeastern Indonesia Sunday, damaging a church and injuring three people, the U.S. Geological Survey and witnesses said.
It was large enough to cause a tsunami, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said in a statement, but there were no immediate reports of high waves in regional coastal areas.

The Indonesian seismological institute, which put the tremor at 6.7 magnitude, issued a tsunami alert via local television and radio after the earthquake hit around 10 kilometers (6 miles) under the Molucca Sea, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

In the regional capital of Sulawesi, Manado, a witness told The Associated Press that residents ran in panic and that three people had been hurt after a church was damaged.

The epicenter was 130 kilometers (around 80 miles) from the city of Ternate, the capital of North Maluku province, where residents ran to higher ground in panic.

An official with the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii told AP that a basin-wide tsunami — one that travels a great distance or across an ocean — is not expected, though a tsunami near the earthquake's site is "always possible."

"Given the size of the earthquake, we think a basin-wide tsunami isn't likely, though a local tsunami could be possible," said Brian Shiro, a geophysicist at the tsunami center.

Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago, is prone to seismic upheaval due to its location on the so-called Pacific "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanos and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.

In December 2004, a massive earthquake struck off Indonesia's Sumatra island and triggered a tsunami that killed more than 230,000 lives — 131,000 people in Indonesia's Aceh province alone. A tsunami off Java island last year killed nearly 5,000.

Earthquake demolishes homes in 2 Turkish villages

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) -- A moderate earthquake shook eastern Turkey on Sunday, demolishing homes in at least two villages in the eastern Turkish province of Agri, Governor Halil Ibrahim Akpinar said. There were no immediate reports of any deaths.

The quake, with a preliminary magnitude of 5.0, was centered in the town of Tutak, in Agri province, which borders Iran, the Istanbul-based Kandilli Observatory said. It struck at 9:38 a.m. (0738 GMT).

The quake knocked down a number of homes in the villages of Yukarikosk and Cobanova, Akpinar said. Snow was slowing down access to some of the villages in the province, he said.

Derya Ozer, the daughter of the local administrator in Cobanova village, said some houses and barns came down in the temblor, while others had suffered cracks or other types of damage.

"But thank God there is nothing serious," she told CNN-Turk television. "Everyone is waiting outside. Nobody will go back into their homes."

The tremor also caused a power outage in the village, she said.

The quake was felt in several areas around Agri and sent residents running out of their homes in panic.

A magnitude-5 earthquake can potentially cause considerable damage

Earthquakes are frequent in Turkey, which lies on active fault lines.

Two devastating earthquakes hit northwestern Turkey in 1999, killing some 18,000 people.

Snow storm rolls across Plains; 8 dead

HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) — A winter storm marched across the Plains, causing numerous accidents that killed at least eight people in three states, including four in Nebraska.
Heavy snow hit parts of Nebraska on Saturday, limiting visibility and creating hazardous driving conditions.

A car slid across the median on Interstate 80 near Kearney in central Nebraska and was struck by a tractor-trailer, killing the car's 28-year-old driver and her two children, ages 5 and 3, police said.

On U.S. 281 south of St. Paul, a 76-year-old man was killed when the car he was in crossed the center line and was struck by a pickup. The man's 59-year old wife was seriously injured.

In western Kansas, a couple and their 20-month-old daughter died when their car drove off U.S. 50 and collided with two others cars, authorities said. The couple's 6-year-old daughter was critically injured, they said.

In Oklahoma, a 5-year-old boy died after being thrown from a sport-utility vehicle that veered off a snow-covered highway and rolled.

Up to 6 inches of snow were forecast for some sections of Kansas on Sunday, with more to follow.

Farther south, the storm spared much of Oklahoma, though snow fell in western and north-central regions. The Oklahoma Corporation Commission reported Saturday night that about 36,000 customers in the state remained without power a week after a crippling ice storm.