At first it's hard to comprehend exactly what it is we're looking at.

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.

'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.

A Trade Me bidding war has started over an orange capsicum with a green stalk shaped like the head of a dragon - with bids already topping $200.

Sara Thomson's first trip to the hairdresser was for a good cause - the salon is donating its day's takings to the victims of the Philippines typhoon.

An Auckland family waiting to hear news of their elderly mother - who was missing after the deadly typhoon in the Philippines - is overjoyed to hear she has been found alive.

Since the typhoon hit, Danny Estember has been hiking for three hours on the round-trip into the mountains each day to obtain what he can only hope is clean water for his five daughters and two sons.

Japan is preparing to send as many as 1,000 troops to the storm-ravaged Philippines, and naval vessels and aircraft in what could be Tokyo's biggest postwar military deployment.

International effort picked up pace yesterday, with helicopters buzzing back and forth between Tacloban and the USS George Washington's carrier group, delivering crates of food.

Scores of unidentified bodies were interred together in a hillside cemetery without any ritual - the first mass burial in this city shattered by last week's Typhoon Haiyan.

Close your eyes and hold your breath, and you could imagine you are in a normal sports stadium. You hear a ball bouncing and the children's cheers echoing under the cavernous dome.

A street appeal and an open air concert are planned for next week in a bid to raise money for the typhoon stricken Philippines.

The rusting white truck began its grim journey shortly after 10.30am under the growing heat of a tropical sun.

A combination of unlucky geography, poverty, poor government and widespread gun use have exacerbated the effects of Typhoon Haiyan.

Relief operations in the typhoon-devastated Tacloban region picked up pace yesterday.