EVENTS

EARTHQUAKE SHAKES OREGON

A moderate earthquake woke residents in the Pacific Northwest early yesterday, rattling windows and knocking objects off shelves in Portland. An official for the Tsunami research center near Anchorage, Alaska, said preliminary readings indicated a moderate earthquake of 5.4 on the open-ended Richter scale. Its epicenter was about 30 miles south of Portland, Ore. The quake, which damaged highway bridges, was felt as far away as Seattle. No injuries were immediately reported. Bosnian developments

A senior United Nations official said yesterday that Serb forces seem intent on seizing the Srebrenica area in east Bosnia, threatening to undermine an international peace plan giving the area to Muslims. Cedric Thornberry, deputy head of the United Nations Protection Force in former Yugoslavia, said that Srebrenica was under serious threat and could fall within days. This could have far-reaching political consequences since the area was designated as an essentially Muslim province in a new map drafted b y international mediators Cyrus Vance and Lord Owen, he added. The fall of Srebrenica could also lead to a huge new deluge of refugees taking to roads and mountains to escape the fighting, Mr. Thornberry said. US show of force

The US military is sending thousands of troops to Kismayu, Somalia, after reports that warlord Omar Jess may have launched a push to recapture the southern Somali port. The US military spokesman, Col. Fred Peck, said yesterday he expected about 4,200 troops to travel by sea from Mogadishu to Kismayu within the next 24 hours. Likud leader vote

Israel's former spokesman at Middle East peace talks, Benjamin Netanyahu, was elected leader of the right-wing Likud party, according to results yesterday. Mr. Netanyahu takes over from former Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, who presided over Israel's second largest politcal party until last June. Export controls advocated

The trade ministry urged the Japanese government yesterday to tighten controls on exports of high-tech products to third world countries to ensure they don't wind up being used in weapons. The proposed measures are meant to bring Japan's export controls more in line with those in other major exporting countries like the United States and Germany, said Takashi Suzuki, director of the ministry's export division. Coal poisons Chinese

At least 42 residents of a poverty-stricken, coal-mining region of southwestern China have died from arsenic poisoning and thousands more have been stricken, an official newspaper reported yesterday. The deaths occurred in Jiaole, a village in southwest Guizhou province. The village had been through a bout of arsenic poisoning in 1976, but villagers had no other fuel to burn and returned to using the high-arsenic coal. Prosecutor law revived

The House Judiciary Committee has voted to revive a law that provided for lawyers outside the government to investigate allegations against high-level executive branch officials. The law had been allowed to lapse last year. The panel voted 20 to 15 along party lines Wednesday after Democrats defeated numerous Republican amendments, including one to limit the length of each independent counsel's tenure. Togo attack repulsed

Gunmen fired on the home of Togo President Gnassingbe Eyadema and a state radio station early yesterday, killing a top military aide during an apparent attempt to topple the government. Troops repulsed the attack. Officials in Lome, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Mr. Eyadema was safe after the pre-dawn raid on the military base where he lives. Witnesses said the situation in the West African nation was calm by late morning. A source in Lome, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said there uncon firmed reports that the attackers came from neighboring Ghana.