Earthquake

Donna Summer's family says the singer died of lung cancer even though she wasn't a smoker. TMZ says the diva believed she contracted the disease by breathing in toxic air after the Sept. 11 attacks in New York. Summer, who died Thursday at 63 in Naples, Fla., lived near ground zero. Summer's family rep, Brian Edwards, also said on Friday that the singer's funeral would be private and declined to disclose a time or place for the event. J-Lo: I'm undecided Jennifer Lopez denies she's already quit American Idol.

"CROUCHING Tiger, Hidden Dragon" star Zhang Ziyi says that she's outraged by what she says is ignorance about the recent earthquake in China. Zhang said in several Chinese-language blog entries over the past week that she has been busy raising money for relief efforts after the deadly quake struck the Sichuan province, killing more than 60,000. Zhang said that she has made a pamphlet about the quake to show foreigners and has donated $144,000 to the cause. She has also received a pledge of $100,000 from Wendi Deng, the Chinese-born wife of billionaire media mogul Rupert Murdoch.

MEXICO CITY - A strong 7.4-magnitude earthquake hit southern Mexico on Tuesday, damaging about 800 homes near the epicenter and swaying tall buildings and spreading fear and panic hundreds of miles away in the capital of Mexico City. One of the strongest to shake Mexico since the deadly 1985 temblor that killed thousands in Mexico City, Tuesday's earthquake hit hardest in the border area of southern Oaxaca and Guerrero states, where Guerrero official confirmed that 800 homes had been damaged, and 60 more collapsed.

A moderate earthquake rattled the Kingdome during last night's game between the Cleveland Indians and Seattle Mariners, causing umpires to suspend the game in the seventh inning. The quake had a magnitude of 4.8, according to a preliminary report by the Pacific Northwest Seismographic Network. No injuries or damage were immediately reported. The Indians and the Mariners left the field after the Kingdome shook for 30 seconds at 9:04 p.m. (12:04 a.m. in Philadelphia). Eight minutes later, it was announced that the game had been suspended until 5:35 p.m. today.

Hours later, the gravity of the disaster became apparent. It was not until I finally made telephone contact with my daughter in Philadelphia that I realized, in her sobbing relief, how frightened she was for my safety. She described the television and radio reports of death and destruction in San Francisco and must have suffered two hours in hell waiting for my call. It was different for me. I had never been through an earthquake and because I survived the 15-second tremor, and my 33d-floor hotel room remained largely intact, I became enveloped in an aura of excitement and fascination.

To see parents in China protesting openly and vehemently that their children shouldn't have died in the May 12 earthquake in Sichuan province evokes several emotions. The first emotion is sympathy, in understanding the devastation of losing a child under any circumstances. Second, you share the parents' anger in pointing out that many of the estimated 10,000 children who died were crushed in shoddily built schools, while adults in nearby but much better built government buildings survived.

Danya Henninger had just finished lunch at her home computer Wednesday in the Bella Vista section of the city when she heard her husband shout from upstairs: "It's an earthquake!" Her husband said to look at her drink, a black and tan, which was sitting half-full by her keyboard. "Sure enough, the dark brew was swaying noticeably, side to side," said Henninger, 36. But it wasn't a Philly temblor. The magnitude-5.0 quake's epicenter was all the way up in Canada, in the Ontario-Quebec border region, at 1:41 p.m. However, it could be felt in 19 states, said A.B. Wade, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Geological Survey.

ROME - An earthquake struck the northern Italian region of Emilia Romagna on Sunday, killing at least five people, injuring dozens, leaving thousands homeless and damaging historic buildings as well as warehouses and factories, officials said. The earthquake, which the U.S. Geological Survey said had a magnitude of 6.0, crumbled church roofs and Renaissance-era towers, according to Italian television reports. Large cracks riddled apartment blocks in dozens of small towns. And Italy's national Civil Protection Department said that at least 3,000 had been left homeless.

UPDATED: The U.S. Geological Survey now says it was an earthquake, after all, that shook homes in Philadelphia's Far Northeast - near Knights and Fairdale roads - last night. Shortly before 10 p.m., hundreds of wide-eyed Northeast Philadelphia residents were driven from their homes by an unknown, unseen force that briefly shook the ground beneath their feet. Cops, firefighters, medics and other emergency responders swarmed the neighborhood just east of Northeast Philadelphia Airport after numerous people reported feeling their houses shake from what seemed to be some sort of explosion.

It was about 25 minutes before Game 3 of the World Series. The Oakland A's and the San Francisco Giants were on the field playing catch. Candlestick Park was almost filled to capacity, the last few stragglers finding their seats. Then the stadium began to shake, and there seemed to be a faint rumble moving through the stands, as if thousands of fans were stamping their feet. Some players looked up at the sky, expecting to see low-flying jets over the stadium. Then a section in the upper deck separated and came back together, light towers above the 60,000-seat stadium swayed, metal supports under the upper deck waved back and forth.

ROME - An earthquake struck the northern Italian region of Emilia Romagna on Sunday, killing at least five people, injuring dozens, leaving thousands homeless and damaging historic buildings as well as warehouses and factories, officials said. The earthquake, which the U.S. Geological Survey said had a magnitude of 6.0, crumbled church roofs and Renaissance-era towers, according to Italian television reports. Large cracks riddled apartment blocks in dozens of small towns. And Italy's national Civil Protection Department said that at least 3,000 had been left homeless.

Charlie Beatty was the last person to imagine his teddy-bearish image gracing billboards in South Jersey. But once the Cammarata brothers (Filippo, Max, and Tony) had lured the affable wine guru from Canal's Bottlestop to WineWorks, their snazzy store in Marlton, they spread the word with roadside flair. "Charlie's got a new shirt," shouted the billboard, telling motorists of his new home. "His impact has been unbelievable," said Filippo. Beatty has added to their already large selection of 800 labels and brought along his huge and devoted clientele.

MEXICO CITY - A powerful earthquake in southern Mexico yesterday shook buildings in this megacity, sending objects tumbling from shelves, cracking walls and emptying buildings of millions of frightened residents fleeing to the streets. But there were no reports of fatalities, and only seven people were injured nationwide in what officials said was the strongest quake to hit Mexico City since a 1985 temblor killed as many as 10,000 people. The quake hit at 12:02 p.m. local time and lasted for more than a minute.

MEXICO CITY - A strong 7.4-magnitude earthquake hit southern Mexico on Tuesday, damaging about 800 homes near the epicenter and swaying tall buildings and spreading fear and panic hundreds of miles away in the capital of Mexico City. One of the strongest to shake Mexico since the deadly 1985 temblor that killed thousands in Mexico City, Tuesday's earthquake hit hardest in the border area of southern Oaxaca and Guerrero states, where Guerrero official confirmed that 800 homes had been damaged, and 60 more collapsed.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand - As families of the 185 people killed in the Christchurch earthquake marked Wednesday's one-year anniversary of the disaster, signs of a city still broken were all around them. Hundreds of wrecked buildings downtown are waiting to be torn down so reconstruction can begin in earnest - many of them within sight of the morning ceremony at Latimer Square. The slow pace of recovery is drawing criticism from residents and developers as it wears at the reputation of Mayor Bob Parker, who was praised in the days after the quake for his leadership and for calmly articulating the pain and frustration many were feeling.

ERCIS, TURKEY - Distraught Turkish families mourned outside a mosque or sought to identify loved ones among rows of bodies yesterday as rescue workers scoured debris for survivors after a 7.2-magnitude quake that killed at least 279 people. Rescue teams with generator-powered floodlights worked into the night in the worst-hit city of Ercis, where running water and electricity were cut by the quake that rocked eastern Turkey on Sunday. Unnerved by over 200 aftershocks, many residents slept outside their homes, making campfires to ward off the cold, as aid organizations rushed to erect tents for the homeless.

LOS ANGELES - The United States and Mexico will expand an earthquake monitoring system south of the border in the aftermath of last year's deadly magnitude-7.2 temblor, officials from both countries announced Wednesday. U.S. experts will provide sensors, a computer network, and training to help their counterparts in northern Baja California to identify areas at greatest risk of suffering damage from a big temblor and could save lives and property, officials said. Emergency planners were unable to determine where to send help in the early stages after the Easter 2010 quake that was centered south of Mexicali and killed two people in Mexico, said Roberto Quaas Weppen, director-general of the Mexican National Center for Prevention of Disasters.

Tours of the City Hall tower were halted Thursday so that the city can repair a crack in the north part of the tower. The crack may have resulted from last month's earthquake, officials said. Repairs are expected to take about a month, though tours could resume within a week. - Miriam Hill

On John Boyle's first day as Yardley borough manager, an earthquake shook the one-square-mile community. On his fourth day, Hurricane Irene struck, flooding streets, knocking out power and prompting the evacuation of hundreds of homes. On his 16th day, Tropical Storm Lee swamped the picturesque borough along the Delaware River again, forcing another round of evacuations. As the saying goes, bad things come in threes. "I'm afraid of when the locusts are coming," Boyle said, laughing.

WASHINGTON - A 500-ton crane at the Washington National Cathedral collapsed yesterday amid thunderstorms and driving rain, damaging two nearby buildings and several vehicles as crews worked on damage from the recent earthquake. The crane operator was taken to a hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening, but no one else was hurt. The collapse came four days before President Obama's scheduled speech inside the cathedral to observe the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.