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An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 4.5 shook a large portion of Southern California early Tuesday morning, authorities said. The U.S. Geological Survey put the epicenter of the 4:49 a.m. temblor about 7 miles north of Cabazon. There were no immediate reports of damage. According to the USGS, the quake was felt across a wide swath of the region, from the Inland Empire west to Los Angeles and Orange County. Cabazon is about 89 miles east of downtown L.A.

MEDFORD, Oklahoma - Two significant earthquakes and several smaller ones have been reported in Oklahoma Saturday. The USGS said the latest earthquake was at 12:29 p.m. The 4.2 magnitude quake was centered around 7.5 miles northwest of Medford. Another earthquake woke up many Oklahomans Saturday morning. According to the United States Geological Survey, the quake hit at 5:11:54 a.m., measuring 4.1 and was centered about 9 miles northwest of Medford. It was followed by five smaller quakes over the next 40 minutes with the strongest measuring 3.1. So far no one has reported any damage.

CARACAS, Venezuela – An earthquake rattled Venezuela's capital Saturday, but there were no reports of major damage or injuries. The U.S. Geological Survey reported a preliminary magnitude of 6.4 for the quake, saying the epicenter was off Venezuela's Caribbean coast 65 miles (110 kilometers) west of Caracas. The head of Venezuela's seismological agency, Francisco Garces, put the quake at magnitude 6.2, followed by an aftershock registering 4.0.

LOS ANGELES (AFP) – A 4.7-magnitude earthquake shook central California, less than a week after a pair of similar temblors rattled the highly populated southern part of the state. The United States Geological Survey said Saturday's quake struck at 2258 GMT, at a depth of just 0.062 miles, and occurred some 7 miles from the town of Keeler, and 200 miles north of Los Angeles. There were no immediate reports of injuries or major damage. The reading was based on the open-ended Moment Magnitude scale, now used by US seismologists, which measures the area of the fault that ruptured and...

A mysterious boom and light occurred over the skies of Norfolk and Virginia Beach, Va., on Sunday night, but just what caused the phenomenon is still unknown. Calls from local residents to 911 began coming in at around 9:45 p.m. EDT, with some people reporting their doors and windows rattled when the boom went off, according to reports from WVEC-TV. Similar reports in the past often have turned out to involve meteors, which can explode in the atmosphere to create a loud noise and bright flash of light that streaks across the sky. However, often times the source of events...

An early morning explosion at the federal courthouse in downtown San Diego left a door damaged and blew out a window. Sgt. Bob Dare of the San Diego Police Department says the loud blast occurred at about 1:40 a.m. Sunday. Streets in the area have been closed. No injuries were reported. The explosion is under investigation. FBI Special Agent Darrell Foxworth told a local TV station it appears the explosion may have been caused by a pipe bomb.

Earthquake rattles Cuba, no injuries HAVANA, Feb. 5 (UPI) -- An earthquake registering 6.1 on the Richter Scale rocked eastern Cuba and parts of the Caribbean Sunday, the U.S. Geological Survey said. The strong quake was centered south of Manzanillo in Granma province rattled several nations in the region, Cuba's Prensa Latina news agency reported Monday. No one was reported hurt. Several regions of Cuba were affected by the tremors as well as parts of Jamaica and the Caiman Islands.

Lawless region's vote on joining Russia rattles West By Adrian Blomfield in Moscow (Filed: 18/09/2006) Moldova's breakaway region of Trans-dniestr voted yesterday in an internationally unrecognised referendum to decide whether one of Europe's most lawless corners will become part of Russia. Western officials fear the vote could sour relations with Moscow, spread instability in the former Soviet Union and hamper efforts to diminish the access of terrorists to a vast stockpile of unmonitored weapons. The result, due today, is expected to confirm that the territory in eastern Moldova — about twice the size of Luxembourg — will maintain its separatist...

TORONTO – The surprise announcement by a prominent Muslim leader here that he was an informant who helped authorities arrest 17 Muslims on terrorism charges has raised questions in the Muslim community over the ethics of informing versus a responsibility to stop violence. Since outing himself as an informant who infiltrated and trained with the suspects, Mubin Shaikh has come under harsh criticism by some Toronto Muslims and sparked a debate about how far citizens should go in aiding police investigations, even as he has been hailed as a hero in the mainstream media.

President Bush's veto of a bill to ease restrictions on federally funded embryonic stem-cell research will hinder California's $3 billion voter-approved effort to turn stem cells into cures, backers of the state-funded research effort said Wednesday. Bush's rejection of the legislation -- his first-ever veto in his 5 1/2 years in office -- shows his continued support for those who oppose, on moral grounds, destroying human embryos to create stem cells in research intended to develop new treatments for grave conditions such as Parkinson's, diabetes and spinal cord injuries. --snip-- The veto was a crushing blow for advocates who hoped...

It might not have been a "broken arrow" nuclear missile accident, but a mishap that damaged a Bangor Trident submarine ballistic missile and was kept under wraps by the Navy until this week threatens broken trust on an international scale.Libby Davies, a member of Canada's national parliament from Vancouver East, yesterday said she intends to seek the same kind of answers for Canadians that her U.S. congressional counterparts are seeking for Americans."If something happens in Bangor, we're the ones upwind. Nuclear fallout knows no border," Davies said."The whole issue of transparency in government is fundamental to our democratic system. I...

North Korea's 'slap in the face' to Powell rattles Asia By Jasper Becker in Beijing 26 February 2003 North Korea's test-firing of a missile into the Sea of Japan sent judders across Asia yesterday, causing stock markets to fall. The missile launch, which took place as Roh Moo Hyun, the South's President, took office in a ceremony attended by world leaders, seemed designed to embarrass Mr Roh, and was a slap in the face for the US Secretary of State, Colin Powell, who was at the inauguration. The new President has said he is determined to build "mutual trust" with...

Tuesday, 29 October, 2002, 12:55 GMTQuake rattles erupting Etna Motorcycles are banned on Catania's ash-strewn streets An earthquake rattled Sicilian villages in the shadow of erupting Mount Etna on Tuesday morning. Reports said villagers ran into the streets in panic after the quake, measuring 4.3 on the Richter scale. The villages of Giarre, Santa Venerina and Zafferana Etnea were among those affected, and civil defence official Enrico Galeani said some people had been slightly injured. The earthquake was the latest in a series of tremors to hit the area, as two rivers of lava snaked down the mountainside, one heading...

America rattles Saddam's cage hoping he will lash out in anger By Rupert Cornwell in Washington 13 July 2002 The Bush administration is seeking to prove that a war can be won by sabre-rattling alone. Amid an almost deafening public indifference to the prospect, hardly a day goes by without a new report or disclosure suggesting that a US attack, at the end of this year or early next, is a virtual certainty. The official position was set out by President George Bush at his press conference on Monday. America is committed to "regime change" in Baghdad and will use...