State of Emergency Declared in Crimea, Traffic Jam of Cars Trying to Leave

State of Emergency Declared in Crimea, Traffic Jam of Cars Trying to Leave

John Sexton

Last week it looked like Russia's control of Crimea was being challenged by a series of drone attacks on fuel supplies. Those attacks led first to shortages and then to rationing and finally to a ban on civilians buying gasoline. Simultaneously, all of the bridges in and out of Crimea were damaged by drone attacks, with the exception of the Kerch bridge.

Meanwhile the largest city in Crimea, Sevastopol was less impacted by the attacks than the rest of the peninsula. While most of the rest of Crimea had no fuel, Sevastopol was only limiting fuel sales two days a week. But a couple of days ago things changed when a drone strike set the electrical substations on fire. Much of the city went dark.

Today, after another massive wave of drone attacks, Crimea declared a state of emergency. Now thousands of cars have created a massive traffic jam trying to escape.

The authorities in Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula controlled by Russia, declared a state of emergency on Friday after weeks of intense air attacks by Ukraine, including a wave of drone strikes overnight that appears to have been one of the largest since the war began...

Gas stations in Crimea have run out of fuel, with local officials banning sales last Sunday. Summer camps have been canceled and children have been evacuated. Rolling power outages have crippled the territory, disrupting water supplies that rely on electric pumps.

Tourists who had already arrived in Crimea were leaving. On Friday, thousands of cars were lined up on the Crimean side of the bridge linking it to the Russian mainland, with none on the other side waiting to enter, officials said

All of this happened after a large number of strikes earlier today.

Russia's Tass state news agency said Ukraine fired more drones in the attack than it had during any previous assault in the last year. The Russian Defense Ministry said 660 drones were intercepted. The previous largest Ukrainian attack this year involved 556 drones, on May 17...

Ukraine's national Security Service said that Ukrainian drones struck two military vessels and several air defense systems in the Kerch region of Crimea. Russian and Ukrainian channels on the Telegram social media platform reported a strike on the Azot chemical plant in Russia's Tula region, which would be the second time the facility was targeted in two weeks.

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Earthquake today: 6.4 magnitude earthquake jolts Philippines’ Mindanao

Earthquake today: 6.4 magnitude earthquake jolts Philippines’ Mindanao

A powerful 6.5-magnitude earthquake struck the southern Philippine island of Mindanao on Friday, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS). The quake occurred at a depth of 29 kilometres beneath the surface.

Authorities said there were no immediate reports of casualties or significant damage. No tsunami warning was issued following the earthquake, while officials have started assessing the impact of the tremor in the affected areas

The latest earthquake comes only weeks after another powerful tremor struck southern Philippines, leaving more than 80 people dead and causing widespread destruction across several parts of Mindanao.

The Philippines lies along the Pacific Ring of Fire, one of the world’s most seismically active regions. Because of its location, the country frequently experiences earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

The latest tremor is the second major earthquake to affect the region in June. Earlier this month, a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of southern Philippines, killing at least 20 people and injuring more than 200 others.

The earthquake triggered tsunami warnings across the region, forcing large-scale evacuations from coastal areas. It also disrupted electricity and communication services near the epicentre.

Rescue teams and authorities continued damage assessment operations for several days after the disaster. According to the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ), the earthquake struck near Mindanao at a shallow depth of 10 kilometres, resulting in stronger ground shaking and increasing concerns about a possible tsunami. The agency initially revised the magnitude from 7.3 to 8.2 before confirming it at 7.8.

At Least 920 Dead, More Than 3,000 Injured In Venezuela Quakes

At Least 920 Dead, More Than 3,000 Injured In Venezuela Quakes

The death toll from the Venezuela earthquakes reached 920 on Friday, National Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez said Friday.

More than 3,360 people are injured with at least 172 still trapped under the rubble In the aftermath of the 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes that struck in quick succession on Wednesday evening.

Families posted online images of their loved ones who have not been heard from since the earthquakes. As of Friday morning, 57,287 people had been reported missing, and there was still no contact from 49, 519 of them

Rodríguez told CNN that the public should avoid La Guaira, the hardest-hit area.

“We appreciate the overwhelming desire to help, but the roads we are using to transport the injured are becoming congested. The best way to help is to keep the roads clear so that medical teams can transport patients and rescue crews can carry out their work more effectively,” he said

Acting President Delcy Rodríguez announced the new death toll as she welcomed the arrival of rescue crews from all over the world. “We are going to rescue the people who are trapped,” she said, according to the Associated Press.

Missing-person flyers with photos of loved ones were handed out in the streets while others shared handwritten lists of names as they searched, the AP reported.

Rescuers are searching for survivors in collapsed buildings in Caracas and the state of La Guaira where cries for help were audible from under debris. 

Venezuelan state TV showed images of rescues, including one of a woman trapped under a cement slab who was brought out alive. Graciela Mora was conscious as she was pulled from the rubble in La Guaira, telling reporters, "when the earthquake started, I clung as tightly as I could to the doorframe."

The second earthquake was the strongest to hit the country since 1900, forming a so-called "doublet" sequence, which differs from the typical scenario in which a larger quake is followed by much smaller aftershocks. 

Both earthquakes were shallow at less than 20 miles below ground, potentially adding to the damage.

Marcos Ferreira, a geophysicist and researcher at the Geological Survey of Brazil, told the AP the one-two punch of the quakes, along with the shallow seismic movements, amplified the destruction. The U.S. Geological Survey said the two earthquakes were centered near Moron on the Caribbean coast, 105 miles west of the Venezuelan capital Caracas.

Foreigners are among those who have been killed although search efforts are continuing, and the full number of casualties remains to be seen. 

Spain’s foreign minister José Manuel Albares said three Spanish nationals were confirmed to have died and 99 were missing. 

Brazil’s foreign ministry said that a Brazilian man and a Brazilian woman had died, while China’s embassy in Caracas said that two Chinese nationals had also been killed. The AFP News agency reported that nine Portuguese nationals had died.

Magnitude 6.4 earthquake strikes Mindanao, Venezuela Live Updates

Magnitude 6.4 earthquake strikes Mindanao, Philippines

Reuters

An ‌earthquake of ‌magnitude 6.4 ​struck the southern Philippine ‌island ⁠of Mindanao on ⁠Friday, the ​German ​Research Centre ​for ‌Geosciences (GFZ) said.

The quake was at a ‌depth ​of ​29 ​km (18.02 ‌miles), GFZ said.

Venezuela earthquakes live updates: At least 589 dead and nearly 3,000 injured after powerful twin tremors

At least 589 people have been killed and 2,980 injured following powerful back-to-back earthquakes that rocked Venezuela, Interim President Delcy Rodríguez said Friday.

Rodríguez said the coastal state of La Guaira, north of the capital Caracas, had been hardest hit by the 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes that struck on Wednesday evening.

"We are going to rescue the people who are trapped. We are working tirelessly on this task," Rodríguez said.

The number of fatalities is expected to climb, with rescuers continuing to pick their way through the rubble of destroyed buildings across northern Venezuela.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the death toll would most likely run into the thousands, with a substantial probability of it exceeding 10,000. A website created to track missing people listed more than 46,000 people as missing. These figures have not been confirmed by officials.

The country's Maiquetía "Simón Bolívar" International Airport was closed due to damage, which made aid efforts more challenging.

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Hezbollah’s Qassem says Israel must leave Lebanon ‘unconditionally,’ terror group will not accept ‘normalization’

Hezbollah’s Qassem says Israel must leave Lebanon ‘unconditionally,’ terror group will not accept ‘normalization’

AFP

Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem says Israel has “no option” but to unconditionally withdraw from Lebanese areas it occupies, and he rejected any normalization in ties between the countries.

“Israel has no option but to withdraw completely from every inch of our Lebanese land… Israel must leave unconditionally,” he says in a televised address to tens of thousands of supporters marking Ashura.

As Lebanese and Israeli officials hold direct talks in Washington, Qassem says his terror group would accept “no normalization, no cancellation of the state of hostility, no gains for Israel, and no partial presence on Lebanese soil… Israel must leave humiliated and defeated, and that is what will happen.”

IDF reportedly drops flyers in southern Lebanese village warning residents to stay away