A 6.1 magnitude earthquake rocked the central Philippines on Thursday, the US Geological Survey said, though there were no reports of casualties or significant damage.

Damage assessment of buildings, of which tens of thousands were destroyed, will be completed in a week and reconstruction will begin within months, he said.

Nine survivors were rescued from the rubble in Turkey on Tuesday, more than a week after a massive earthquake struck, as the focus of the aid effort shifted to helping people now struggling without shelter or enough food in the bitter cold

Authorities on Wednesday confirmed three deaths after Cyclone Gabrielle cut a trail of destruction across northern New Zealand, with helicopters plucking hundreds from their roofs as floods surged overnight

An aid convoy on Tuesday passed through a newly re-opened border crossing into rebel-held north Syria, where help has been slow to arrive since last week's earthquake, which killed nearly 40,000 people in the region

A 5.6-magnitude earthquake struck in Romania on Tuesday, according to the US Geological Survey, and was felt in neighbouring nations like Bulgaria and Serbia

The World Health Organization said Tuesday that last week's massive earthquake, the epicentre of which was in Turkey, constituted the "worst natural disaster" in 100 years in its Europe region

Unicef fears many thousands of children have been killed

A Saudi Arabian plane carrying aid to quake-hit Syria landed in second city Aleppo today -- the first in more than a decade of war, a transport ministry official told AFP.

Rescuers worked through the night to rescue people clinging to life beneath the rubble eight days after Turkey's worst earthquake in modern history but hopes of finding many more survivors were fading on Tuesday.

Local media reported some traumatised residents were forced to swim from their homes to safety. Falling trees smashed houses and flood waters blocked several roads, leaving communities stranded.

The toll from last week's earthquake in Turkey and Syria rose above 35,000 on Monday, as rescue teams started to wind down the search for survivors and the aid effort shifted to hundreds of thousands of people made homeless

Rescuers pulled more survivors from the rubble a week after an earthquake struck Turkey and Syria leaving more than 35,000 dead, as the UN warned the toll was set to rise far higher.

Thousands of people have been killed in Syria by the earthquake that struck its border region with Turkey on February 6 but aid has been slow to reach the most affected areas.

Gabrielle, is currently sitting 250 km (155 miles) northwest of New Zealand and is forecast to move close to the east coast over the next 24 hours

Turkey began legal action over some building collapses

Officials and medics said 24,617 people were killed in Turkey and 3,574 in Syria. The confirmed total now stands at 28,191

Tens of thousands of rescue workers are still scouring through flattened neighbourhoods despite freezing weather that has deepened the misery of millions now in desperate need of aid

The longer of the two ruptures stretches 300 kilometres (190 miles) northeast from the Mediterranean Sea's northeastern tip.

Rescuers pulled a two-month-old baby and an elderly woman from the rubble on Saturday, five days after an earthquake devastated Turkey and Syria, leaving more than 25,000 dead