quake

Japan dropped its highest-level tsunami alert, issued following a series of major earthquakes, but told residents of coastal areas not to return to their homes as deadly waves could still come.

The disaster inflicted by the quake heaps more misery on a country where millions face increasing hunger and poverty and the health system has been crumbling since the Taliban retook power last year.

Sections of Virginia's New River Valley were shaken by the biggest earthquake there in decades. The impact was felt in some areas of North Carolina.