1.   Twenty aftershocks were recorded Thursday in Lebanon following an earthquake that struck the eastern Mediterranean the day before, seismological officials said.

2.   A major offshore earthquake, measuring seven on the Richter scale, shook large areas of northern Australia on Monday, a seismological official said.

3.   A strong offshore earthquake jolted large areas of northern Australia on Monday, a seismological official said.

4.   Aftershocks from an earlier earthquake hit parts of Colombia and Ecuador Tuesday, causing panic but no damage, seismological officials said.

5.   The rumours came amid a series of earthquakes in the northwestern Xinjiang region and Chinese seismological officials have warned further big quakes were likely in the coming months.

6.   Seismological officials said they did not immediately know the strength of the quake.

7.   Seismological officials said another earthquake of mild intensity also jolted parts of northwestern Pakistan early Thursday, but no casualties were reported.

8.   The quake apparently caused no casualties or other damage, seismological officials said in the town of Pyatigorsk, in a report carried by ITAR-TASS news agency.