Rare Quake Hits Australia

^{PHOTO: SOUNDBITE FROM AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER, RUBBLE ON FOOTPATH, EMERGENCY SERVICE PERSONNEL NEAR PARTIALLY COLLAPSED BUILDING, DAMAGED POWER CABLES}

INTERNATIONAL: They say it was like a wave of shaking when a magnitude 6 earthquake struck near the rural town of Mansfield, about 200 kilometres northeast of Melbourne on Wednesday. It had an aftershock measuring 4. The shallow quake with a depth of just 10 kilometres hit east of the country's second-largest city, just after 9 in the morning local time. It was felt as far away as Adelaide, 800 kilometres to the west, as well as Sydney, 900 kilometres to the north. There have been no reports of damage outside Melbourne and no reports of injuries, but the city’s main streets have lost power and people were evacuated from buildings. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, speaking from New York, said it was a very disturbing and rare event.

Anti-Lockdown Protests in Melbourne

^{PHOTO: POLICE ON STREETS, PROTESTERS WITH FLARES, SOUNDBITE FROM PROTESTER, AERIAL VIEWS OF PROTESTERS ON STREET}

Elsewhere in locked-down Melbourne, a violent protest erupted when authorities shut down construction sites in the city for two weeks. Authorities described the move as a response to “widespread non-compliance” with Covid-19 regulations. The Victoria state government requires all construction workers to have at least one shot of vaccine by end of this week. Footage shows the protesters marching through the city's streets, setting off flares and chanting, with police officers in riot gear following them. The forced closures of construction sites will worsen the country's economic activity with some economists predicting the extended lockdowns may push Australia's $1.45 trillion US Dollar economy into its second recession in as many years.

No Stopping Lava on La Palma

^{PHOTO: LAVA FALLING ON SWIMMING POOL, SMOKE RISING}

And, the awesome power of nature on full display in Spain’s Canary Islands. There’s just no stopping this wall of lava, consuming everything in its wake, including a swimming pool in a residential area. It’s La Palma’s first volcanic eruption in 50 years. 6,000 of the 80,000 people living on the island have been forced to leave their homes. The volcano started erupting on Sunday, shooting lava hundreds of metres into the air and sending a wave of molten rock down towards the ocean. La Palma had been rocked by thousands of quakes during the 14 day buildup to the eruption. 42 of them had a magnitude of 3 or above.