Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Officials: 2 Earthquakes Caused more than $100K in Damage in Wichita
Feb 22 2016 // Wichita, Kan., officials say the city suffered more than $100,000 in damage from two earthquakes in early January. The city will pay for the repairs out of its operating budget because the city’s earthquake insurance...
Earthquake Response Legislation Passes Oklahoma House Panel
Feb 19 2016 // Legislation that reaffirms the Oklahoma Corporation’s Commission’s authority to respond to emergencies involving oil and natural gas production in the state, including drilling-related earthquakes, has been...
Tornadoes Batter Multiple Southeast States
Feb 18 2016 // Weather service experts are assessing damage from storms that caused problems in several Southeast states. At least six south Alabama counties suffered damage from storms on Monday. The Johnsonville Volunteer Fire...
Oklahoma Agency Calls for Cuts in Wastewater Well Volumes to Stem Quakes
Feb 18 2016 // The Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC), which regulates oil and gas production activity in the state, has come up with a volume reduction plan for oil and gas disposal wells in response to the surge in earthquakes in...
Sierra Club Lawsuit Claims Fracking Contributing to Oklahoma Earthquakes
Feb 16 2016 // Sierra Club weighed into the controversy over fracking and increased earthquake risk with a lawsuit accusing a Chesapeake Energy Corp. unit, Devon Energy Production Co. and New Dominion LLC of triggering tremors in...
5.1M Quake Among Latest Swarm of Temblors in Oklahoma
Feb 16 2016 // A 5.1 magnitude earthquake shook northwest Oklahoma and was felt in seven other states on Feb. 13, the U.S. Geological Survey said, the third-strongest temblor ever recorded in the state where the power and frequency of...
M4.1 Earthquake Hits Hawaii’s Big Island
Feb 16 2016 // A magnitude-4.1 earthquake jolted the southern flank of Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano. The U.S. Geological Survey the quake last week was centered about 26 miles south of Hilo on the Big Island. It hit at 9:23 a.m. There...
Buildings, Tractors Burn in Louisiana Wildfires
Feb 12 2016 // Louisiana state forestry officials reported another wildfire in Natchitoches Parish, along Louisiana Highway 117 southwest of Natchitoches. Firefighters were dispatched to the scene after a building fire spread into a...
U.S. Victims of Mexican Drug Gangs Sue HSBC Bank Under Anti-Terrorism Act
Feb 10 2016 // Families of U.S. citizens murdered by drug gangs in Mexico sued HSBC Holdings Plc, claiming the bank can be held responsible for the deaths because it let cartels launder billions of dollars to operate their...
Earthquakes May Be the ‘800-Pound Gorilla’ in Oklahoma Legislature
Feb 8 2016 // The power and frequency of earthquakes in Oklahoma have been increasing, but the Legislature has done little to try to curb the temblors that scientists have linked to the underground disposal of oil and gas drilling...
Officials: 2 Quakes Caused more than $100K in Damage in Wichita
Feb 8 2016 // Wichita officials say the city suffered more than $100,000 in damage from two earthquakes in early January. The Wichita Eagle reports the city will pay for the repairs out of its operating budget because the city’s...
Death Toll Rises from Taiwan Earthquake; Chip-Making Plants to Re-Open Quickly
Feb 8 2016 // The number of confirmed deaths in a weekend earthquake in Taiwan edged up to 37, with the final toll estimated to be much higher as more than a hundred people were still reported missing. Efforts to dig through collapsed...
$1.4M from Oklahoma’s Emergency Fund Tapped for Earthquake Research
Feb 8 2016 // Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin approved the use of nearly $1.4 million from the state’s emergency fund to go to groups researching earthquakes. The fund is set aside for the state’s response to natural disasters. It...
Texas Led Nation in Cat Losses in 2015
Feb 8 2016 // Tornadoes, hailstorms and fires took their toll on Texas last year with insured losses well over $3 billion, according to an insurer trade group The state had more than three times as many claims and almost three times the...
Record Western Wildfires a Contrast in Otherwise Quiet Year for U.S. Natural Disasters
Feb 8 2016 // It was a relatively quiet year for natural disasters – except for those living in the Western United States, according to property data provider CoreLogic, in its annual Natural Hazard Risk Summary and Analysis, released...
Numerous Tornadoes Strike Southeast, Damage More Than 90 Homes
Feb 5 2016 // The National Weather Service says at least four tornadoes struck rural areas of western Alabama on Tuesday. NWS reports four tornadoes also touched down Tuesday in eastern Mississippi. Officials say an EF2 tornado struck...
Source of Devastating 1964 Alaska Tsunami Discovered
Feb 4 2016 // Researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey have solved a 50-year natural science mystery: the undersea source of tsunami waves that devastated a remote Alaska village following the 1964 Great Alaska Earthquake. Underwater...
Tornadoes Damage Mississippi, Alabama Communities
Feb 4 2016 // Tornadoes touched down in Mississippi and Alabama as thunderstorms swept through the area Tuesday, while a powerful snowstorm buried parts of Colorado and Nebraska in more than a foot of snow before crawling into the Upper...
West Texas Wildfire Destroys 7 Homes
Feb 2 2016 // An official says a wildfire destroyed seven homes in a rural area near the West Texas town of Eula. Meanwhile, a wildfire burned almost 3 square miles of ranch land north of Amarillo. The fires, which both started on Jan....
Karen Clark & Co. Announces 2 Additions to Senior Management Team
Feb 1 2016 // Karen Clark & Co. (KCC), a catastrophic risk management consulting and modeling firm, announced two additions to its senior management team — Nozar Kishi and Christopher Mossey. Kishi assumes the role of vice...
