Magnitude 6.0 quake hits off Ecuador coast, damage limited

Debris lies on Chapel Street in Melbourne after a shallow quake shook southeastern Australia early Wednesday.

A TV studio shakes as presenters for the Australian national broadcaster react to a shallow earthquake which was felt in Melbourne. Although the show was off-air at the time the pair where chatting when the room began to shake. The rare quake hit east of the city just after 9:00am local time (2300 GMT) and was felt hundreds of kilometres (miles) away.

CCTV footage shows a ski run at Mount Buller during an earthquake that shook southeastern Australia. The US Geological Survey put the magnitude of the quake at 5.8, later revised up to 5.9, and said it struck at a depth of 10 kilometres (six miles).

Relatives of prisoners in an Ecuadorian jail where gang clashes left over a hundred dead speak of their fears for their loved ones. "It's very painful," said the mother of one prisoner outside the jail, "I don't know if my son is well or not."

A riot at one of Ecuador's most notorious prisons has left at least 100 people dead and 52 injured. It was the latest in a series of deadly clashes in the country's overpopulated and understaffed prisons.

Images shows police hammering their way into the prison where rioting left at least 116 inmates dead, some of them decapitated, as rival drug gangs went to war armed with guns and grenades. Police later said they regained control of the prison on Thursday.

Police say they have resumed control of a prison in Ecuador which has been the scene of a deadly riot. Fighting between rival gangs has left at least 118 people dead.

Ecuadorian police have seized 2.5 tons of cocaine in two separate operations. A ton of was bound for Europe. They have also arrested five suspects.

In his Angelus prayer, Pope Francis deplores the "terrible outbreak of violence" in the prison of Guayaquil, Ecuador, where at least 118 inmates died - including six beheaded - in rioting among rival gangs before police regained control.

The South American country is grappling with a surge in violent crime and deadly prison riots. The government has pointed to drug trafficking and consumption as the underlying problem.

Ecuador's President Guillermo Lasso has imposed a state of emergency and called for a concerted fight against the rising violence of drug cartels. But observers suspect other reasons behind the measure.

CCTV footage shows the ground shake in Taipei City as a strong earthquake strikes northeastern Taiwan. Taiwan's central weather bureau said the quake was of magnitude 6.5, the biggest on the island this year, while the US Geological Survey gave a lower figure of 6.2. There were no immediate reports of widespread damage.