Another series of large earthquakes caused panic in the South Pacific Thursday.

Two powerful quakes struck near the Philippines and the Vanuatu Islands. The tremors sent islanders fleeing to higher ground in fear of a tsunami.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued alerts for 11 nations and territories, including Papua, New Guinea and Fiji. But a series of waves proved to be small and harmless. So the warnings were canceled.

In Japan, a powerful typhoon has killed two people. The storm caused widespread damage, flooding and injuries.

Typhoon Melor hit the country's mainland Thursday, knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of homes and leaving millions of commuters stranded.