Mick Dummer got a nasty shock when he arrived at work.

Homes "exploded" as a massive grassfire that started on Melbourne's northern fringe burned through regional areas, residents say.

Australia was burning again last night, with homes lost and flames licking at the outskirts of Melbourne as much of South Australia.

Tired, panicking and gulping sea water, a grandfather struggled to hold on to his 8-year-old granddaughter in strong currents at an East Auckland beach yesterday.

Visiting expert points to Christchurch as example of cities or cultures that struggle to recover after catastrophe.

'It will be nice to have an apology.' Police are to compensate pensioner John Bennett for the way he was roughed up by armed officers in his own home two years ago.

Damage claims from yesterday's 6.2 quake are starting to be lodged with EQC, as more than 300 aftershocks hit the lower North Island - and a couple of biggies are expected.

Yesterday's 6.2 magnitude earthquake caused an agricultural chemical spill on a Palmerston North farm, resulting in one man being sent to hospital.

Tropical Cyclone Ian has cleared Tonga leaving in its wake the death of at least one person and the destruction of infrastructure.

At least one person has been killed in a cyclone that has ravaged parts of Tonga, as organisations rushed to get supplies to thousands of people affected.

Some of Britain's wealthiest homeowners were unable to keep floodwater from their doors in the west London area known as the celebrity riviera, the Telegraph reported.

The Human Rights Commission has called for the Government to consider rent-control measures following major natural disasters.

Plastered across posters and T-shirts, inspiring a play, and named by a popular blog site as word of the year, "munted" became the catch-cry amid Christchurch's post-quake devastation.

In seaside Minami Sanriku, residents have been arguing over what to do with the ruined red steel structure in the centre of town.

The Japan tsunami reinforced important messages for New Zealanders, writes John Hamilton. If a tsunami was generated far from the coast the Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management would issue an official warning.

In downtown Tokyo, state broadcaster NHK was airing the dull debates of a Parliament night sitting when all hell broke loose.

The Japan earthquake and tsunami is relevant to New Zealand because we are also exposed to large tsunami triggered by near-shore subduction zone earthquakes.

"Superstorm" Sandy was incredibly huge - the largest Atlantic hurricane on record with hurricane-force winds more than 1500km across at its widest point.

Pride and patriotism hasn't succumbed here, even in the face of lost lives and livelihoods, and the daily battle to get things back to the way they were before October 29, 2012.

May 12, 2013, marked the fifth anniversary of the Wenchuan earthquake in the Sichuan Province of China.

'It's important to remind people how fragile life is," says the keeper of a food stall a few metres from the ghostly ruins of Xuankou Middle School.

One of the world's leading earthquake scientists has called on New Zealand to adopt cutting-edge technology that could give people as much as 25 seconds' warning.