[11th March 2011] 8.9 magnitude quake hit northeast Japan
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At a glance - Japan disaster timeline
TOKYO - THE 8.9 magnitude earthquake off the coast of north-east Japan spawned a ferocious tsunami that's caused massive destruction; flattening whole towns, starting raging fires, and killing thousands of people.
The following is a list of key events since the two natural disasters devastated north-eastern Japan on Friday (March 11):
Friday, March 11:
- An undersea earthquake with a magnitude of 8.9, one of the most powerful ever recorded, strikes off Japan's north-eastern coast just before 3.00pm local time (2pm Singapore time). The authorities issued a tsunami warning.
- A 10m tsunami wave smashes over the north-eastern 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 2.4m.
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.
- The International Atomic Energy Agency says it is 'very unlikely' Fukushima will turn into a Chernobyl-like situation.
- The US Geological Survey upgrades the magnitude of Friday's quake to 9.0.
Tuesday, March 15:
- Two more blasts and a fire rock the Fukushima plant and radiation levels around the facility reach dangerous levels, prompting the government to advise people up to 30km from the reactor to stay indoors.
- Officials say that higher than normal radiation levels are detected in Tokyo.
- The official death toll from the disaster passes 2,400.
- Japan stocks fall more than 14 per cent before clawing back ground with shares ending down 10.55 per cent.
- The Bank of Japan pumps eight trillion yen (almost S$130 billion) into the financial system to soothe shaken money markets following a record 15-trillion yen injection on Monday.
Wednesday, March 16
- A new fire erupts at the troubled Fukushima plant. Workers are briefly evacuated, as a tall white cloud is seen billowing into the sky over the complex.
- Radiation levels at the plant's entrance spike before decreasing.
- Another strong 6.0-magnitude aftershock hits. Buildings in Tokyo sway.
- Emperor Akihito delivers a rare address to the nation, offering his prayers and expressing his deep concern over the escalating nuclear crisis.
- The official number of dead and missing surpasses 11,000.
- Tokyo shares rebound after the biggest two-day sell-off in 24 years. The headline Nikkei share index closed up 5.68 per cent on bargain hunting.
- The Bank of Japan pumps another 3.5 trillion yen (S$55.5 billion) into the financial system.
Thursday, March 17
- The official number of dead and missing hits 14,650, a rise of nearly 1,000 in just a few hours.
- Foreign governments urge their citizens to leave Tokyo and US State Department authorises the voluntary departure of US embassy family members.
- Chinook helicopters dump tonnes of water in a desperate effort to cool overheating nuclear reactors.
- The government says Japan faces major blackouts unless energy use falls.
- Tokyo shares close down 1.44 per cent as the central bank injects another five trillion yen (S$80.9 billion) into its buckling financial system.
- US President Barack Obama offers to give Japan any support that it needs, the Tokyo government says.
-- AFP
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In China and Hong Kong, the widespread of rumours had caused them to snap up iodized salt which they believe to prevent radiation.
Well, folks are easy to trick.
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Japan to start screening food for radioactivity
TOKYO - JAPAN instructed local authorities on Thursday to start screening food for radioactivity after accidents at an earthquake-hit nuclear power plant sparked fears of wider contamination.
It is the first time Japan has set radiation limits on domestically produced food, a health ministry official said.
The limits are in line with an anti-disaster programme prepared in advance by the government's atomic power safety commission, said the official.
Limits vary depending on the type of foodstuff but have been set in consultation with internationally accepted levels and average intake in the Japanese diet.
Radioactivity leaked into the air after explosions at the Fukushima No. 1 plant, where last week's quake and tsunami knocked out the reactor cooling systems.
Several Asian nations have said they will screen food imported from Japan for radiation while the European Union has called for similar checks.
-- AFP
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Beginning of 2011 is already like that. What will happen in 2012 is everybody's guess but I still don't believe in 2012 is end of the world. Earth is "angry". How to appease her ? What is our Mother Earth angry with ?
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Japan-bound aid supplies delayed
SINGAPORE: Plans by the Singapore Red Cross to deliver the first batch of aid supplies to victims of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan have been delayed, due to an influx of aid in Japan.
The Red Cross said it has acquired supplies for about half of the S$500,000 given by the Singapore government as seed funding on Tuesday.
The initial plan was to send over the items to Japan within 48 hours.
The first batch of supplies, comprising blankets, mattresses and water bottles, was to have been sent on Thursday morning.
However, the Japanese Embassy sent out an alert to say it was not ready to receive the supplies yet.
Singapore Red Cross Society secretary-general Christopher Chua said: "At the moment, what we've done is that we've stockpiled some of the requirements. The Japanese Ambassador has asked for bottled water, mattresses, blankets as well as collapsible water containers.
"We've all these stockpiled and we're awaiting the green light from the Japanese Embassy to send these things there.
"I understand at the moment there is a problem at Narita Airport, a locked-jam. All the things cannot move out of the airport at this point in time. So we're just waiting for clearance".
Meanwhile, the outpouring of donations continues, with more than 400 individual donors turning up at the Red Cross' premises in Penang Lane since Monday
The organisation on Thursday also got more help from corporate donors.
A group of 12 Chinese businessmen led by Dr Toh Soon Huat, executive director of Novena Foundation, has come forward to donate some S$220,000.
Dr Toh personally contributed S$50,000.
-CNA/wk -
it was really an endless stream of unfortunate events....now the air con cooling system in the reactor plant is failing as the heat is spiralling upwards.....
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Originally posted by Fcukpap:
it was really an endless stream of unfortunate events....now the air con cooling system in the reactor plant is failing as the heat is spiralling upwards.....
ya, really! My heart goes out to them. Why why why? STrange that I feel more for them than China when disaster struck them.Hope heaven stops all these.
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this catastrophe will go down in history as one of the most dramatic...
in the words of Ernest Hemingway: "Man is not made for defeat."
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Japan choppers, trucks douse stricken atomic plant
TOKYO - The Japanese military on Thursday used trucks and helicopters to dump tonnes of water onto the quake-hit Fukushima nuclear plant in a bid to douse fuel rods and prevent a disastrous radiation release.
Four twin-rotor CH-47 Chinooks ran the first mission to empty large buckets that hold more than seven tonnes of water each onto the facility damaged by Friday's massive earthquake and tsunami.
The operation aims to keep the fuel rods inside reactors and containment pools submerged under water to stop them from degrading when they are exposed to air and emitting dangerous radioactive material.
The helicopter mission started in the morning under a clear sky after a similar effort the previous day was called off shortly before darkness fell by officials citing strong radiation and high winds.
Late in the day, five special Self-Defence Forces (SDF) fire trucks joined the crucial emergency effort at the plant, some 250 kilometres (155 miles) northeast of the Japanese capital.
A police water cannon was unable to operate, however, due to strong radiation at the facility.Defence Minister Toshimi Kitazawa said that more military vehicles would be deployed to help with efforts to cool the reactors, while pumps supplied by the US armed forces were also being transferred.
The government's nuclear safety agency has said the top priority should be pouring water into the fuel-rod pools at reactors three and four, which may be boiling and are not fully covered by roofs that would reduce radiation leaks.
An official at plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) said Thursday the pool at the number-four reactor "seemed to have water" on Wednesday, based on aerial observations carried out by the military helicopters.
Another TEPCO spokesman said: "We have not confirmed how much water was left inside but we have not had information that spent fuel rods are exposed."
Chief government spokesman Yukio Edano said it would take some time to know whether the operation had led to any significant improvement.
"Based on what experts have told us, it's important to have a certain level of water (in the pools) before we can start to see any positive effect," Edano told reporters.
"We are closely monitoring the data," he said.
TEPCO said earlier it was concentrating on restoring the power supply to reactivate its crippled cooling systems, which were knocked out in the dual calamity that hit Japan.
"We cannot tell when, but we want to restore the power source as soon as possible," TEPCO spokesman Naohiro Omura told AFP.
TEPCO was preparing to restore outside power lines from Tohoku Electric Power Co., which serves the region, and connect its damaged electric transmission system with unaffected lines.
"At the moment, we are concentrating our efforts on this work," the spokesman said.
"If the restoration work is completed, we will be able to activate various electric pumps and pour water into reactors and pools for spent nuclear fuel."
The 9.0-magnitude quake, the biggest on record to strike Japan, knocked down electricity pylons which Tohoku had used to supply power to the TEPCO plant.
Some 70 workers have been using pumps to pour seawater to cool reactors at the plant, according to media reports, using electricity from borrowed mobile generators.
In Fukushima prefecture, where a zone within 20 kilometres of the plant has already been evacuated, about 10,000 people were to be screened at 26 locations for radiation exposure, Kyodo News reported, citing local officials.
So far, radioactivity has been detected on six people, whose faces and hands were wiped clean, the report said.- AFP/ir
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Japan disaster dead, missing toll tops 16,600
TOKYO - THE official number of dead and missing after the devastating earthquake and tsunami that flattened Japan's north-east coast a week ago has topped 16,600, with 6,405 confirmed dead, police said on Friday.
The number of people unaccounted for following the March 11 twin disasters increased to 10,259, the National Police Agency said in its latest update. A total of 2,409 people were injured.
The toll has increased steadily in recent days, and reports suggest it could eventually be much higher.
The mayor of the coastal town of Ishinomaki in Miyagi prefecture said late Wednesday that the number of missing there was likely to hit 10,000, Kyodo News reported.
On Saturday, public broadcaster NHK reported that around 10,000 people were unaccounted for in the port town of Minamisanriku in the same prefecture.
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.
-- AFP
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Japan fire trucks work to cool nuclear plant
TOKYO - JAPAN conducted new water cooling operations at a quake-hit nuclear plant on Friday, using a fleet of fire trucks as workers racing to avert a catastrophe also ran a power cable to the site.
Tonnes of water were used to douse overheating fuel rods at the Fukushima No.1 power station, which suffered critical damage in the massive earthquake and tsunami that rocked Japan a week ago.
The trucks unleashed high-powered streams of water on the facility, located 250km north-east of Tokyo, NHK footage showed. A defence ministry official told AFP they were targeting the number-three reactor.
Air Self-Defence Force chief of staff Shigeru Iwasaki told reporters that six fire engines and one truck were involved in the operation.
The twin disasters knocked out the plant's reactor cooling systems, sparking a series of explosions and fires. Authorities have since struggled to keep the fuel rods inside reactors, and fuel storage containment pools, under water.
If they are exposed to air, they could degrade further and emit large amounts of dangerous radioactive material.
-- AFP
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Japan raises severity of nuclear accident
Japan's nuclear safety agency has raised the rating of the country's nuclear accident from 4 to 5 on a 7-level international scale.
An official of the agency said Friday the agency raised the rating of the Fukushima nuclear crisis on the International Nuclear Event Scale. The scale defines a level 4 incident as having local consequences and a level 5 incident as having wider consequences.
The official declined to give other details.
-- AP
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i predict this year's Nobel Prize for Peace may most likely go to a group of japanese martyrs
"for risking their own lives with such incredible courage and efforts to keep the failure of nuclear reactors under control so as to prevent nuclear catastrophe from spreading to the rest of the world"
the irony is whether they could survive to recieve that prize celebrating the undying human spirit......
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personally i am amazed by how orderly and cool the japanese conform themselves towards survival during grave emergencies....
than compared to wild singaporeans crowd quarelling one another for a doll gift at fast food restaurant in Singapore - for fear of not getting it ....
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Japan PM says country will 'recover and rebuild'
OSAKA - PRIME Minister Naoto Kan on Friday vowed the nation would overcome its biggest postwar crisis and 'once more rebuild' after being struck by a devastating earthquake and tsunami.
In a rallying cry to his disaster-hit nation Mr Kan voiced confidence that the government could take 'firm control' of the crisis at the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant as Japan battles to avert a radioactive disaster.
'We will overcome this tragedy and recover,' he said in a strident televised address. 'We will once more rebuild Japan'.
The centre-left leader, wearing an emergency services uniform, was speaking one week after the country's worst ever quake struck, wiping out swathes of coastal areas and knocking out key cooling systems on nuclear power plants.
Mr Kan said Japan was still facing 'huge difficulties' in tackling the problems at the plant, which has been hit by a series of explosions.
As workers faced massive danger in trying to avert a full meltdown, Mr Kan said that 'although we cannot let our guard down, we will take firm control of the situation and we will be able to emerge from this situation.' Seeking to raise spirits, Mr Kan reminded his people of the nation's post-war recovery.
-- AFP
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Japan tsunami town's hilltop crematorium struggles to cope
RIKUZENTAKATA (Japan) - LIFE is brutally hard for survivors of last week's earthquake and tsunami, as is the business of death.
Rescue missions have ended in the small coastal town of Rikuzentakata where nearly 1,800 people are missing, many undoubtedly buried under the rubble of cars, houses, boats and factories which lie strewn around in one giant heap.
From Saturday, workers are focusing on clearing that heap.
The bodies that have been found so far have been laid out in schools and halls awaiting identification.
Those looking for loved ones submit a description to police - hairstyle, birthmarks, moles or scars. The police cross-reference the descriptions with bodies lying in neat rows and if there is a possible match, show them to the survivors.
In Japan, the vast majority of people are cremated when they die as there is not enough land for burials. Once a body is identified, it can be cremated, but the town's small, hilltop crematorium can only cremate eight bodies a day.
-- REUTERS
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Japan disaster dead, missing toll tops 17,000
TOKYO - THE number of people confirmed dead in the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan has hit 6,911, surpassing the toll from the massive tremor in Kobe in 1995, police said on Friday.
The number of people unaccounted for rose slightly to 10,316, putting the combined total of dead and missing at 17,227, the National Police Agency said in its latest update. A total of 2,356 people were injured.
In January 1995, a 7.2-magnitude quake struck the western Japanese port city of Kobe, killing 6,434 people.
The March 11 quake is now Japan's deadliest natural disaster since the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake, which killed more than 142,000 people.
The toll from the disaster one week ago has increased steadily in recent days, and reports suggest it could eventually be much higher.
The mayor of the coastal town of Ishinomaki in Miyagi prefecture said late Wednesday that the number of missing there was likely to hit 10,000, Kyodo News reported.
-- AFP
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Japan to restore power at four reactors on Saturday
OSAKA (Japan) - ELECTRICITY is expected to be reconnected to four reactors at a stricken Japanese atomic plant on Saturday to power cooling systems, the nuclear and industrial safety agency said.
'We are scheduled to restore electricity at number 1 and 2 within today,' an an agency official told a news conference on Saturday.
'Reactors number 5 and 6 also will be powered within today. They are scheduled to restore power to number 3 and 4 tomorrow (Sunday).'
Four of the six reactors at Fukushima No. 1 plant have been in danger of leaking dangerous amounts of radioactivity after an earthquake and tsunami led to a series of hydrogen explosions and fires at buildings housing the units.
-- AFP
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Japan detects abnormal radiation in milk, spinach
OSAKA - JAPAN has detected abnormal levels of radioactivity in milk and spinach in areas near a stricken nuclear plant, but the foods pose no immediate threat to humans, government spokesman Yukio Edano said on Saturday.
The contaminated milk was found in Fukushima prefecture, where the quake-damaged atomic power station is located, while the tainted spinach was discovered in neighbouring Ibaraki prefecture, Mr Edano told reporters.
'Radiation exceeding the limit under Japanese law was detected,' he said.
The spokesman said the health ministry has ordered authorities in both prefectures to investigate where the products came from, how they were distributed and - depending on their findings - suspend sales.
He urged consumers to remain calm, noting that even if a consumer were to drink the contaminated milk for a year, the radiation level would be the equivalent of one CT scan.
-- AFP
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Over 18,600 dead, missing in Japan disaster
OSAKA - THE number of people confirmed as dead or listed as missing by Japan's national police agency topped 18,600 on Saturday, eight days after the massive earthquake and tsunami struck.
There were fears of a far higher death toll from the disaster that wiped out vast residential areas along the Pacific coast of northern Honshu island.
The national police agency said 7,320 people had been confirmed dead and 11,370 officially listed as missing - a total of 18,690 - as of 3.00pm (0600 GMT, 2.00pm Singapore time) on Saturday as a result of the March 11 catastrophe.
Hopes of finding many more survivors amid the rubble have diminished after a cold snap hit Japan's northeast, covering much of the disaster area in snow earlier this week.
The death toll has now well surpassed that of the 7.2-magnitude quake that struck the western Japanese port city of Kobe in 1995, killing 6,434 people.
The March 11 quake is now Japan's deadliest natural disaster since the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake, which killed more than 142,000 people.
-- AFP
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japan will rebound with greater resilience after this catastrophe
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"I decline to accept the end of man. I believe that man will not merely endure; he will prevail.” – William Faulkner
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5.9-magnitude quake hits south of stricken Japan nuclear plant
OSAKA - A 5.9-magnitude earthquake rattled Japan's Ibaraki Prefecture south of the stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant on Saturday, the US Geological Survey said, but no tsunami warning was issued.
The quake shook buildings in Tokyo, but no damage was immediately reported, public broadcaster NHK said, adding that flights at the capital's Narita Airport were briefly suspended for safety checks before resuming.
The USGS said the quake struck at 6.56pm (0956 GMT) and was centred 98 kilometres (61 miles) south of Fukushima and 142 kilometres from Tokyo.
The quake struck at a depth of 24.7 kilometres (15.3 miles).
Japan's meteorological agency measured the quake at a magnitude of 6.1.
- AFP/ir