JAKARTA (UCAN/CNS): At least 105 people were confirmed dead as at the time of going to press, after a magnitude seven earthquake struck Indonesia’s Lombok Island on August 5 a week after it was struck a magnitude 6.4 quake that killed more than a dozen people (Sunday Examiner, August 5).
 

JAKARTA (SE): Catholic groups have started to collect aid for thousands of people affected by the deadly 6.4 magnitude earthquake that struck the popular tourist island of Lombok in Indonesia on July 29.
 
The tremor killed at least 16 people, left 355 injured and forced more than 5,100 to flee their homes, according to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency, UCAN reported.
 
The quake also triggered landslides, cutting off hiking trails.
 

Kathmandu (SE): A delegation from Caritas Internationalis visited Nepal at the end of April to take part in a symposium in Kathmandu and to mark the anniversary of the devastating magnitude 7.8 earthquake that struck on 25 April 2015, leaving millions homeless, bringing aid and engendering a spirit of solidarity.

KUMAMOTO (SE): “Is this the big one?” a long time resident of Kumamoto City on the southern island of Kyushu in Japan said he thought to himself as his home shook violently at 1.25am on April 14.

He said that although it is not something at the front of his consciousness, the occasional reminder that Japan is an earthquake-prone country leaves the thought of the big earthquake lurking somewhere at the back of his mind and images of Kobe from the 1990s and Fukushima from 2011 are always there.

Vatican (SE): In the wake of the tragic 6.3 magnitude earthquake that struck Tainan, Taiwan, on the weekend of February 6, a telegramme of condolence was sent on behalf of Pope Francis by Pietro Cardinal Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state.

It said the pope was saddened at the suffering caused and sent his prayerful condolences to the families of the dead and the injured, as well as the rescue workers and civil authorities.

Kathmandu (UCAN): The government of Nepal told international relief agencies to finish up their winter relief aid work by January 10, saying that support to affected areas had not met expectations.

Nepal was devastated by a magnitude 7.8 earthquake that rocked the country on 25 April 2015.