[11th March 2011] 8.9 magnitude quake hit northeast Japan
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i sure hope all the trapped are alright............................
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lmao.
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Fears mount as Japan struggles with stricken nuke reactors
FUKUSHIMA, Japan : Japan battled a nuclear emergency on Sunday in which the government said two partial meltdowns may have taken place and radiation had escaped from reactors at a quake-damaged atomic power plant.
About 200,000 people have been evacuated from residential areas around the Fukushima No. 1 plant, 250 kilometres (120 miles) north of Tokyo, as global concern grows over the threat of a major disaster.
Japan's top government spokesman Yukio Edano said it was highly likely that a partial meltdown had occurred in one reactor of the Fukushima plant, and that authorities were working on the assumption that one may occur in another.
Edano added that the radiation released into the air so far had not reached levels high enough to affect human health.
The crisis began with Friday's massive quake and tsunami disaster, the worst on record in Japan, which caused electricity blackouts and led to malfunctions of the cooling systems of the plant's reactors.
Authorities immediately declared a nuclear emergency and have since scrambled to prevent reactors at two plants from overheating by pumping in water and releasing steam to depressurise them.
Operator Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) took the drastic measure of using sea water to cool reactor one - where a huge explosion on Saturday tore away the outer concrete housing while leaving the steel reactor intact.
The use of freely available, but corrosive seawater is seen as a desperate step and an admission that the reactor will never again be operational.
On Sunday, the operator warned that another reactor, number three, was also overheating and that so much water had evaporated at one stage that the top three metres (10 feet) of mixed oxide (MOX) fuel rods were exposed to the air.
A TEPCO spokesman later told AFP that the rods were covered again.
Edano said the pressure build-up at reactor three had forced another release of vapour to depressurise the facility and that "we assume that a minute amount of radioactivity was released".
Nuclear plant operators must alert the government when the hourly level of radioactivity reaches 500 micro sievert - and Edano said the level had topped 1,200 on Sunday morning.
Edano later warned of the risk that the building around reactor number three could also explode, but voiced confidence that the reactor would also survive and that there would be no adverse effect on the health of nearby residents.
The government has evacuated people from a 20 kilometre (12 mile) radius around the facility - while also moving people out of areas surrounding a second nearby plant, Fukushima No. 2, which has four reactors.
A total of 22 people has been hospitalised after being exposed to radioactivity, although it was not immediately clear to what degree they were exposed and what condition they were in.
In the city of Fukushima, set amid mountains some 80 kilometres northwest of the seaside plants, fears of a greater emergency grew, and people rushed to stock up on supplies. Petrol stations had already run dry.
Hundreds joined orderly queues outside a co-op market where shop assistants wore surgical masks and overalls, and shoppers came out carrying as many bottles of water, groceries and other supplies as they could.
Naruki Ono, 40, who had travelled for 40 minutes to reach the town, said: "People are nervous. People are not panicked, but nuclear plants are scary. The bottom line is: I will pray that the nuclear plant doesn't explode."
Early Sunday, the country's nuclear safety agency rated the accident at four on an international scale from 0 to 7. The 1979 Three Mile Island accident in the United States was rated five while the 1986 Chernobyl disaster was a seven.
But an official warned the rating might change as the situation developed.
Japan's centre-left Prime Minister Naoto Kan, who was battling opinion poll ratings below 20 per cent before the disaster struck, faced media criticism on Sunday over his government's response to the nuclear crisis.
The Yomiuri Shimbun daily noted that it took five hours for the government to publicly address fears about a nuclear meltdown after the blast on Saturday, while an Asahi Shimbun headline charged: "Crisis management all mixed up".
- AFP/ms -
Blast at Japan nuke plant, reactor not thought breached
TOKYO - AN EXPLOSION shook a quake-damaged Japanese nuclear power plant on Monday but the reactor was apparently not breached, the chief government spokesman Yukio Edano said.
Mr Edano, citing information from the plant operator Tepco, said the reactor container was likely undamaged and there was a low possibility of major radiation.
A Tepco official said some workers were injured but gave no numbers or details. Japan's nuclear safety agency said the blast, at the number 3 reactor of the Fukushima No. 1 plant, was believed to be caused by hydrogen.
A hydrogen explosion had hit the number 1 reactor at the same plant on Saturday, a day after an earthquake and tsunami devastated the north-east coast. Authorities have declared an evacuation zone within a 20km radius of the plant and evacuated 210,000 people.
'We have strongly advised all the people still within the evacuation area to go inside nearby facilities,' said nuclear safety agency spokesman Ryo Miyake.
Some 746 people - patients, elderly people and care workers at three hospitals and nursing homes - remained within the 20km area on Monday. A Fukushima official said 311 had so far been moved out.
-- AFP
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Japan utility operator: 3rd reactor at quake-hit nuclear power plant lost cooling capability
-- AP
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omgwtfbbqSauce: http://www.timeslive.co.za/world/article965229.ece/Japanese-volcano-erupts
Volcano Eruption in Japan
A volcano in southwestern Japan erupted Sunday after nearly two weeks of relative silence, sending ash and rocks up to four kilometres (two and a half miles) into the air, a local official says.
It was not immediately clear if the eruption was a direct result of the massive 8.9-magnitude earthquake that rocked northern areas Friday, unleashing a fierce tsunami and sparking fears that more than 10,000 may have been killed.
The 1,421-metre (4,689-feet) Shinmoedake volcano in the Kirishima range saw its first major eruption for 52 years in January. There had not been any major activity at the site since March 1.
Authorities have maintained a volcano warning at a level of three out of five, restricting access to the entire mountain.
In April last year, the eruption of the Eyjafjoell volcano in Iceland dispersed a vast cloud of ash, triggering a huge shutdown of airspace that affected more than 100,000 flights and eight million passengers.
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New failure hits Japan nuke plant after blast
TOKYO - ENGINEERS struggled on Monday to cool three nuclear reactors at a quake-damaged Japanese power plant which has been hit by two explosions since Friday's catastrophic earthquake.
Fuel rods at one reactor were almost fully exposed at one point on Monday, when a pump pouring cooling seawater around them ran out of its own fuel.
But chief government spokesman Yukio Edano said that ongoing work to cool the number-two reactor would hopefully stabilise the situation.
He said radiation around the Fukushima No. 1 plant, located 250km north of Tokyo, was at a tolerable level for humans.
Plant operator TEPCO said late in the evening that the water level was rising fast, easing fears the rods could overheat and release radiation should the reactor's container be breached.
Japan has been grappling with a nuclear emergency since a massive earthquake and tsunami battered its northeast coast on Friday. -- AFP
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Originally posted by ^Acid^ aka s|aO^eH~:
omgwtfbbqSauce: http://www.timeslive.co.za/world/article965229.ece/Japanese-volcano-erupts
Volcano Eruption in Japan
A volcano in southwestern Japan erupted Sunday after nearly two weeks of relative silence, sending ash and rocks up to four kilometres (two and a half miles) into the air, a local official says.
It was not immediately clear if the eruption was a direct result of the massive 8.9-magnitude earthquake that rocked northern areas Friday, unleashing a fierce tsunami and sparking fears that more than 10,000 may have been killed.
The 1,421-metre (4,689-feet) Shinmoedake volcano in the Kirishima range saw its first major eruption for 52 years in January. There had not been any major activity at the site since March 1.
Authorities have maintained a volcano warning at a level of three out of five, restricting access to the entire mountain.
In April last year, the eruption of the Eyjafjoell volcano in Iceland dispersed a vast cloud of ash, triggering a huge shutdown of airspace that affected more than 100,000 flights and eight million passengers.
wtff.... Japan GG man... -
At a glance - Japan quake timeline
TOKYO - THE following is a list of key events since a massive earthquake and tsunami devastated northeastern Japan on Friday:
Friday, March 11:
- An undersea earthquake with a magnitude of 8.9, one of the most powerful ever recorded, strikes off Japan's northeastern coast just before 3.00pm local time (2pm Singapore time). The authorities issue a tsunami warning.
- A 10-metre tsunami wave smashes over the northeastern Japanese coast, causing massive damage and flooding. A series of aftershocks follows, many exceeding a magnitude of 7.0.
- Japanese authorities announce that four nuclear power stations in quake-hit areas have been shut down. Eventually 11 of the nation's roughly 50 plants stop producing power.
- The US Geological Service announces the quake was the most powerful to hit Japan since records began.
Saturday, March 12:
- The Japanese government orders the evacuation of residents living close to the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, where the disaster has caused cooling systems to fail and raised fears of a meltdown.
- An explosion occurs in a building housing one of the plant's reactors.
- Japan mobilises some 100,000 military and other rescue personnel. Aid pours in from around the world, including from the US military stationed in Japan.
- Video images show the extent of the damage, with the tsunami washing away houses and cars and hurling ships far inland, while fires blaze over large areas.
The US Geological Survey says the force of the quake moved Honshu - the main Japanese island - by 2.4 metres .
Sunday, March 13:
- The government says 230,000 people have been evacuated from the vicinity of the crippled nuclear reactors.
- While the overall toll remains unclear, the police chief in badly-hit Miyagi prefecture said the number of deaths was certain to exceed 10,000 in his region alone.
- A man who was swept out to sea on a piece of the roof of his house is rescued by a naval vessel.
- The Japanese government announces energy rationing due to the shutdown of nuclear power stations. Millions of residents are without any power or water.
- The Japanese weather service says there is a 70 per cent chance that a further aftershock with a magnitude of 7.0 or higher could occur within three days.
Monday, March 14:
- A second explosion occurs at the stricken Fukushima nuclear power station.
- Rescuers say they have found 2,000 bodies in Miyagi prefecture.
- Share prices plunge 6.18 per cent on the Tokyo stock exchange.
- A United Nations humanitarian agency says 1.4 million Japanese are without running water and more than half a million have been evacuated.
-- AFP
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The nuke explosion is worst than the tsumani and quake.
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currysauce: http://sg.news.yahoo.com/quake-ravaged-japan-battles-against-nuclear-meltdown-20110314-120814-719.html
New explosion shakes stricken Japanese nuclear plant
FUKUSHIMA, Japan (Reuters) - A fresh explosion rocked a damaged Japanese nuclear power plant on Tuesday where engineers have been pumping sea water into a reactor to prevent a catastrophic meltdown in the wake of a devastating earthquake and tsunami.
Japan's nuclear safety agency said Tuesday's explosion at the plant's No.2 reactor was caused by hydrogen. There was no immediate word on damage, but Jiji news agency quoted the trade ministry as saying radiation levels remained low after the blast, the third at the plant since Saturday.
Japan has asked the United States for more equipment to help cool reactors at the Fukushima nuclear complex, which was hit on Monday by a dangerous drop in cooling water levels that exposed fuel rods in the No. 2 reactor.
The full extent of the destruction wreaked by Friday's massive quake and tsunami that followed it was still becoming clear, as rescuers combed through the region north of Tokyo where officials say at least 10,000 people were killed.
"It's a scene from hell, absolutely nightmarish," said Patrick Fuller of the International Red Cross Federation from the northeastern coastal town of Otsuchi.
Prime Minister Naoto Kan said Japan was facing its worst crisis since World War Two and, with the financial costs estimated at up to $180 billion, analysts said it could tip the world's third biggest economy back into recession.
The U.S. Geological Survey upgraded the quake to magnitude 9.0, from 8.9, making it the world's fourth most powerful since 1900.
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Radiation levels a threat to human health: Japan
Radiation levels around reactors are now a threat to human health, the Japanese government said Tuesday.
A fire has broken out at the number-four reactor at the quake-hit Fukushima No. 1 atomic power plant and radiation levels have risen considerably, Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan said.
People between 20-30 km from reactor should stay indoors, Kan said.
-- AFP
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Radiation levels around reactors a threat to health
TOKYO - A FIRE has broken out at the number-four reactor at the quake-hit Fukushima No.1 atomic power plant and radiation levels have risen considerably, Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan said on Tuesday. People between 20-30km from the reactor should stay indoors, Mr Kan said. The radiation levels around the reactors are now a threat to human health, the Japanese government said. As well as the atomic emergency, Japan is struggling to cope with the enormity of the damage from the record-breaking quake and the tsunami which raced across vast tracts of its north-east, destroying all before it. The official death toll has risen to 2,414, police said on Tuesday, but officials say at least 10,000 are likely to have perished. Japan's nuclear safety agency said the operator of the stricken Fukushima No.1 power plant on the eastern coast believed the seal around the reactor, which is critical for preventing a major radiation leak, had not been holed. But the top government spokesman said there appeared to be damage to the structure around the number-two reactor, the third to be hit by an explosion since Friday's disaster which knocked out cooling systems. Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco) 'said it believes the container vessel has not sustained damage such as a hole, judging from the fact that the radiation level has not jumped', a safety agency spokesman told AFP. Tepco said some workers had been evacuated from the number-two reactor at the plant, located 250km north-east of Tokyo, but those pumping water to cool the reactor were still at work. Higher radiation levels were recorded in Ibaraki prefecture north of Tokyo after the the blast, Kyodo News reported, but it quoted the safety agency as saying that the level did not pose health risks. -- AFP
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Currently, 3 reactors had experienced suspected hydrogen explosion.
However, no further news reports on the breach of the containment.
Well, risk of a partial meltdown is low, a full meltdown is very low currently. However, it depends on the fuel rods. If the fuel rods melt, then a partial meltdown is very real.
So far, this only means fuel prices will skyrocket which means higher cost of living.
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news just said reactor protection shield is cracked.it is about to spill out 1000tons of water contaminated with nuclear highly radioactive material into the sea and into the ground water areas.
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Official Japan quake toll exceeds 2,400
TOKYO - THE official death toll from a killer earthquake and tsunami that flattened Japan's north-east coast has topped 2,400, police said on Tuesday.
The National Police Agency said 2,414 people are confirmed dead and 3,118 missing, with 1,885 injured from the disaster which struck on Friday afternoon.
The official toll yesterday was 1,647.
On Sunday, the police chief of Miyagi, one of the hardest-hit prefectures, said the number of deaths was expected to exceed 10,000 in his region alone.
Amid a mass rescue effort there were grim updates indicating severe loss of life along the battered east coast of Honshu island, where the monster waves destroyed or damaged more than 55,380 homes and other buildings.
More than 3,000 houses were flooded by the tsunami, while some 130 houses had been burned, police said, adding that there were 68 landslides.
-- ST
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Originally posted by Hitman 2010:
news just said reactor protection shield is cracked.it is about to spill out 1000tons of water contaminated with nuclear highly radioactive material into the sea and into the ground water areas.
will our drinking water be affected? -
Originally posted by Doraemonboi:
will our drinking water be affected?
If there is an official information, NEA will come out with a warning. Anyway, the local news will report it.
Drinking water should be safe from contamination, the desalination plants may though be required to check for radioactive substance caused by this issue, such as iodine etc.
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S’pore unlikely to be affected by nuclear radiation: experts
http://news.xin.msn.com/en/singapore/article.aspx?cp-documentid=4709511
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What about the rain water?
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I'm very sad to see all the natural disasters happening, no one can stop or prevent it except Buddha.
It is wrong to think that misfortunes come from the east or from the west; they originate within one's own mind. Therefore, it is foolish to guard against misfortunes from the external world and leave the inner mind uncontrolled.
BuddhaMay the victims gather their inner strenght and find peace. It is really heartbreaking...
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Japan earthquake upgraded to 9.0-magnitude
WASHINGTON: US experts on Monday upgraded the strength of the earthquake which rocked Japan last week from a magnitude of 8.9 to 9.0, making it the fourth largest in the world since 1900.
The US Geological Survey (USGS) said Japanese seismologists have also independently updated their estimate of the earthquake which struck northern Japan on Friday unleashing a devastating tsunami.
"The USGS often updates an earthquake's magnitude following the event," the US-based centre said in a statement. "Updates occur as more data become available and more time-intensive analysis is performed."
It added that Friday's quake was also the strongest ever recorded in Japan since modern readings began 130 years ago.
The largest earthquake ever recorded was in Chile on May 5, 1960 when a 9.5 temblor struck off the southern coast, the USGS said. More than 1,600 people were killed and two million left homeless.
On March 27, 1964 a quake and tsunami killed 128 people and caused severe damage to Anchorage the largest city in Alaska.
And then on December 26, 2004, came the undersea quake off Indonesia, which caused a massive tsunami that devastated coastlines in countries around the Indian Ocean, killing more than 220,000 people.
A 9.0-magnitude quake also hit off the coast of the remote Kamchatka peninsula in Russia's far east on November 4, 1952, causing Pacific-wide tsunamis.
The USGS said on its website that quake magnitudes are often revised once its experts have received all the seismology reports from around the world and the estimates from other national and international agencies.
"Some methods give approximate values within minutes of the earthquake, and others require more complete data sets and extensive analysis," it added.
Japan has been left reeling by Friday's natural catastrophe, with more than 10,000 feared dead, whole villages devastated, at least 1.4 million people left without running water and more than 500,000 crammed into shelters.
The Asian nation is also facing a nuclear emergency after the quake and tsunami crippled the ageing Fukushima plant, located 250 kilometres northeast of Tokyo, knocking out the cooling systems.
Two explosions have rocked the complex and the Japanese government said part of the container of one of the reactors appeared to be damaged, indicating possible serious radiation leaks.
- AFP/de -
Wth... All this news made me think that 2012 is real...
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It is real.
More or less the Sinking of Japan movie is already real. -
Wonder what will happen to singapore when the world end