February 27, 2010
(Saturday)
- 2010 Chile earthquake and Pacific Ocean tsunamis:
- An 8.8 magnitude earthquake hits near the city of Concepción, Chile. (BBC) A tsunami-warning is issued in a huge swath of the Pacific Ocean including Chile and Peru. (Pacific Tsunami Warning Center)
- The death toll is revealed to be more than 140 at this point. (Sky News)
- President Michelle Bachelet declares parts of her country as "catastrophe zones" as Pacific Ocean cities brace themselves for potential tsunamis and waves of over 2 metres strike Juan Fernández. (The Los Angeles Times) (China Daily) (BBC)
- New Zealand's Chatham Islands, French Polynesia, Hawaii and Ecuador's Galápagos Islands are among the other world areas struck by the resulting tsunami as the "biggest tsunami warning in history" gets underway. (The Daily Telegraph)(The Daily Telegraph)
- Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh arrives in Saudi Arabia on the first PM visit there since Indira Gandhi's in 1982. (The Times of India) (The Hindu)
- Egyptian prosecutors begin investigating yesterday's incident where an Italian cruise liner smashed into a dock at Sharm el-Sheikh during severe weather conditions, killing sailors from Brazil, Honduras and India and injuring several passengers. (Gulfnews) (ABC News) (Herald Sun)
- At least 2 die and 7 injuries are caused in a skirmish between two religious groups in Dera Ghazi Khan in Pakistan. (The News International)
- 19 are killed and dozens are injured by firecrackers during the Lantern Festival celebrations in Puning, Guangdong. (China Daily) (CNN) (The Times of Ina)
- A drought causes at least 10 billion yuan ($1.46 billion) in direct economic loss at Fanaga village of Luquan county, near Kunming, capital of Yunnan. (China Daily)
- Police in Turkey arrest at least 18 people in connection with an alleged coup plot. (CNN)
- Constitutional judges in Colombia reject a referendum to allow President Álvaro Uribe to stand for a third term in office. (Mir) (BBC) (Reuters) (Colombia Reports)
- 10 people die and at least 20 are injured after Islamic militant group Abu Sayyaf attacks a village in Maluso, Basilan early in the morning. (The Snydey Morning Herald)
- 3 people die and over 20 are injured after a suicide bomber targets a police station with his van in Karak, Pakistan. (The Sydney Morning Herald)
- Thousands of people protest in Visaginas about a four-fold rise in electricity prices after their local Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant was shut down. (euronews)
- Drinks firm Gatorade ends its endorsement deal with golfer Tiger Woods after his string of extra-marital affairs. (BBC) (The Times)