Strongest Ever Japan Earthquake
and Tsunami News updates for
March 26-April 1, 2011
This page is a continuation of my main Strongest
Ever Japan
Earthquake and Tsunami
page, reflecting March 26-April 1, 2011 news updates for the
3rd week after
the initial quake. Thanks so much for your
concern, and please remember in your thoughts and prayers those
thousands of people who are
suffering right now and haven't heard from their missing
family
members.
News Updates for
3rd Week after Japan Earthquake and Tsunami -- Mar. 26-April
1,
2011
(JST=UT+9 hrs., or CDT+14 hrs., e.g. 8 am in Houston = 10 pm in Tokyo):
April 1, 2011
23:45 (JST): Taiwan raises $128 million in aid for Japan
- Since the March 11th earthquake and tsunami
in northeastern Japan, Taiwan has been making a major effort to raise
funds to support those affected by the disaster.
Taiwan's foreign affairs office says about 128 million dollars was
raised as of Friday through governmental bodies, the Red Cross and
private organizations.
Foreign Minister Timothy Yang says Taiwan received generous support
from Japan when it was hit by natural disasters, and this is its turn
to return the sympathy. (Source: nhk.or.jp)
April 1, 2011
23:30 (JST): A letter from Rakuten Eagles owner Marty Kuehnert
- A letter from Marty Kuehnert, an American who is part owner and
general manager of Sendai's Rakuten Eagles baseball team of Japan's
Pacific League. "Dear Family and Friends, Many of you have asked me
over the past weeks, "what can I do to help," and now I would like to
tell you.
Many people in the Tohoku area are in desperate straits, and the best
thing you can do is donate money to organizations that will guarantee
it will ALL be used for victims, especially those who will get it to
the neediest promptly. The organizations I suggest you donate to are:
1. Kids Without Borders http://www.KidsWithNoBorders.org
2. World Concern http://www.worldconcern.org
(These two organizations are handling all funds with no or very minimal
overhead. Funds should to be designated to "MeySen Academy" in Sendai.)
3. One more organization that is good is Samaritan's Purse, the Billy
Graham Foundation run charity: http://www.samaritanspurse.org
(Source: stripes.com)
April 1, 2011
22:55 (JST): Thailand to send power facility to Japan -
The Thai government is to send a complete
power-generation facility with two gas-turbine generators to Japan to
help restore electricity supplies affected by the March 11th disaster
and damage to the Fukushima nuclear power complex.
Once operational, the facility is capable of producing 240,000
kilowatts of electricity, enough for between 80,000 and 240,000
households, depending on demand. (Source: nhk.or.jp)
April 1, 2011 21:30 (JST): World's largest cement mixer bound
for Fukushima
- The world's largest concrete pump, deployed at
the construction site of the U.S. government's $4.86 billion mixed
oxide fuel plant at Savannah River Site, is being moved to Japan in a
series of emergency measures to help stabilize the Fukushima reactors,
according to the Augusta Chronicle. The 190,000-pound pump,
made by German-based Putzmeister has a 70-meter boom and can be
controlled remotely, making it suitable for use in the unpredictable
and highly radioactive environment of the doomed nuclear reactors in
Japan. (Source: stripes.com)
April 1, 2011
20:05 (JST): Hong Kong Radiation Exceeds Tokyo Even After
Japan Crisis
- Typical amounts of radiation in Hong Kong exceed those in Tokyo,
indicating concerns about spreading contamination may be overblown. The
radiation level in central Tokyo reached a high of 0.109 microsieverts
per hour in Shinjuku Ward yesterday, compared with 0.14 microsieverts
in the Kowloon district of Hong Kong. A person is exposed to 50
microsieverts from a typical x-ray. Tokyo's radiation level is only
slightly higher than New York, where an average of 0.095 microsieverts
an hour was recorded in the seven days to yesterday. Radiation levels
in Hiroshima Prefecture averaged 0.051 microsieverts an hour yesterday.
In Singapore, the radiation level was 0.09 microsieverts an hour at 4
p.m. local time yesterday, and radiation levels in London yesterday
were about 0.08 microsieverts an hour. More...
April 1, 2011
17:30 (JST): Foreign exodus from Japan after disaster
- NHK has learned that at least 20,000 foreign nationals have left
Japan since the massive earthquake and the start of radiation leaks
from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
NHK conducted a survey this week on the disaster's impact on diplomatic
missions in Japan. Those of 46 countries and territories responded.
The survey shows that foreigners who've left Japan include 9,000
Chinese, over 2,000 Australians and 2,000 French. The United States
evacuated more than 7,400 members of families of military officers
stationed in Japan. (Source: nhk.or.jp)
April 1, 2011
15:30 (JST): Voluntary departure program: A safe haven or a
free vacation? - Some 7,000 U.S. family members who left
Japan under the military's "voluntary departure" program stand to
pocket a considerable amount of money, depending on whether they flew
home to stay with family in North Dakota or chose to lie on the beaches
of Waikiki.
But the departures are generating a measure of controversy, with some
military community members blasting their neighbors for taking "paid
vacations." In a low-cost area, such as Grand Forks, N.D., a
military family of three -- mom, a teen and a child under 12 -- would
receive a maximum of $9,795 for the first month. That same family,
however, would receive as much as $21,975 for the first month if they
picked Honolulu, with its much higher cost of living, as the place they
wanted to stay until they were authorized to return to Japan. (Source: stripes.com)
April 1, 2011
13:47 (JST): Just another usual day at the shopping mall in
Tokyo:
April 1, 2011
5:09 (JST): Radiation detected in beef, vegetables
- Radiation exceeding safety standards has been detected in beef from
Fukushima and vegetables from Ibaraki, Tochigi and Chiba prefectures.
The health ministry says it detected 510 becquerels per kilogram of
radioactive cesium, above than the national limit of 500, in round beef
from a cow raised in a village in Fukushima prefecture on Wednesday.
The beef has not been shipped.
In Hitachi city, Ibaraki prefecture, 8,300 becquerels, or 4 times above
the accepted limit, of radioactive iodine was detected in spinach.
Spinach and parsley from other parts of Ibaraki were also found to be
contaminated with higher-than-acceptable levels of radiation. (Source:
nhk.or.jp)
Mar. 31, 2011
21:50 (JST): UN Pressure to widen nuclear evacuation zone
- UN nuclear monitors have advised Japan to consider expanding the
evacuation zone around the stricken reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi
plant.
An exclusion zone with a radius of 20km (12 miles) is currently in
place, but the UN says safe radiation limits have been exceeded 40km
away.
The UN's nuclear watchdog (International Atomic Energy Agency) found
that one of the IAEA operational criteria for evacuation had been
exceeded at the village of Iitate, 40km northwest of the nuclear plant.
More...
Mar. 31, 2011
19:55 (JST): U.S. military radiation control team to arrive
in Japan soon -
A 140-member U.S. military radiation control team will arrive in Japan
soon to help deal with the nuclear crisis, the top uniformed officer of
Japan said Thursday. Gen. Ryoichi Oriki, chief of staff of the
Self-Defense Forces' Joint Staff, said at a news conference that the
unit specializes in monitoring radioactive materials, decontamination
and medical treatment. (Source: Kyodo News)
Mar.
31,
2011 10:25 (JST): Radiation Dose Chart-
This is a chart of the ionizing radiation doses a person can absorb
from various sources. Oops, that banana I just ate raised my
radioactivity by 0.1 microsieverts. I love some of this chart's
disclaimers: "I'm sure I've added in lots of mistakes. It's for general
education only. If you're basing radiation safety procedures on an
internet png image and things go wrong, you have no one to blame but
yourself. You are free to reuse it anywhere with no permission
necessary. (However, keep in mind that I am not a radiation expert.)"
Oh.....me neither, by the way.
Mar. 31, 2011 8:01
(JST):
Areva to help TEPCO remove contaminated water -
The head of the Japanese subsidiary of the world's largest nuclear
energy firm says he is ready to help remove contaminated water from the
crippled Fukushima plant.
The news comes after radioactive iodine-131, about 3,355 times
regulated standards, was found in the sea near the Daiichi power plant
on Tuesday - the highest recorded level so far.
The President of AREVA Japan, Remy Autebert said his firm is ready to
provide Tokyo Electric Power Company with all the knowledge it has
accumulated in dealing with contaminated water. (Source: nhk.or.jp)
Mar.
31, 2011
5:30 (JST): US troops help teens clean tsunami-hit school in
Ishinomaki
- US troops have joined students and Japanese Self-Defense Force
personnel in cleaning up high school buildings in Ishinomaki City,
which was hit by the massive tsunami on March 11th.
The tsunami flooded the buildings and the gymnasium of Ishinomaki
technical high school with more than one meter of water. The facilities
were covered in muddy sludge and debris.
Fifty personnel from the US Marines and Army, 40 Japanese Ground
Self-Defense Force members and 60 students set to work on Wednesday,
removing mud from the buildings. (Source: nhk.or.jp)
Mar. 30, 2011
23:05 (JST): American
Man in Tokyo Organizes Relief Effort to Japan Tsunami-hit Ishinomaki,
Miyagi
- "At last Saturday's international fund-raising party in
Nishi-Shinjuku, Tokyo, we used Y500 from each guest admission for the
Tohoku tsunami relief effort. We also collected three boxes of donated
items from guests. We spent about Y60,000 on food, which was
mostly crates of fresh vegetables, fruits, 10 cases of canned coffee,
and 20kg of ready to eat meat including spiral hams along with other
items and another Y15,000 on accessories like paper plates, bowls,
chopsticks, plastic glasses, soap, cleaning alcohol, paper towels,
toilet paper, plastic bags, etc.
With the van loaded front to back all the way to the ceiling and riding
low on the back tires from the weight, I set out for Miyagi with a
long-time friend." Read
his full report here...
Mar. 30, 2011
15:30 (JST): Emails revealed from TEPCO worker at Fukushima
nucelar power plant - An email exchange between a Tokyo
Electric Power Co. employee working at one of the Fukushima nuclear
power plants and a colleague located at Tokyo headquarters shines a
rare light on the gripping personal losses weighing on those battling
to bring the nuclear reactors under control. It also gives an inside
look at the radically different problems faced by company workers at
the plant compared to those being shouldered at headquarters.
The following emails, one signed by a worker at the Fukushima Daini
plant near the stricken Fukushima Daiichi reactors and the other by a
Tokyo-based TEPCO employee, were sent last Wednesday to a private email
list and viewed by The Wall Street Journal. A TEPCO spokesman verified
the emails' authenticity. Read emails here...
Mar. 30, 2011
11:35 (JST): Boston doctor, ex-English teacher, rushes to aid
quake-hit
Kesennuma -
Within days of the March 11 earthquake that struck the Tohoku region of
northeastern Japan, N. Stuart Harris, a doctor at Boston's
Massachusetts General Hospital and former English teacher, found
himself in the back of an ambulance on an overnight ride north from
Tokyo toward hard-hit Kesennuma for a five-day volunteer relief trip.
What Harris saw firsthand were residents continuing to struggle against
harsh winter weather, a lack of supplies and anxiety from aftershocks.
The wilderness medicine specialist first went to Japan in 1989 to teach
English on the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program in Iwaizumi, a
small fishing town on the Pacific coast of Iwate Prefecture, north of
Kesennuma. (Source: Kyodo News)
Mar. 30, 2011
8:59 (JST): American Red Cross donations to Japan top $120
million
-
The American Red Cross said Tuesday the public has donated $120.5
million to help Japanese people following the March 11 earthquake and
tsunami that devastated northeastern Japan. ''The American
public and we at the American Red Cross have not forgotten the
generosity of the Japanese people when we suffered tremendous loss
after the 9/11 attacks and, more recently, after Hurricane Katrina,''
American Red Cross Chairman Bonnie McElveen-Hunter said in a statement.
(Source: Kyodo News)
Mar. 30, 2011
6:25 (JST): French experts to help remove radioactive water
- France says it will send 3 more nuclear experts to Japan to help with
efforts to remove highly radioactive water from the troubled Fukushima
Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.
Two other French experts are already in Japan and holding talks with
the plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company. The 5 are from
French-based AREVA, one of the world's biggest nuclear energy firms.
(Source: nhk.or.jp)
French President Nicolas Sarkozy & Japanese Prime Minister
Naoto Kan
Mar.
30, 2011 1:25 (JST):
Number of Japan Earthquakes by Day of Month, March 2011
-
I hope I'm not speaking out of turn, and certainly wouldn't want to
jinx matters, but it DOES appear, thank God, that the Japan earthquake
activity is beginning to settle down a bit. Let's cross our
fingers !
Number of Japan Earthquakes by Day of Month, March 2011
(Source: tenki.jp/earthquake)
Mar. 29, 2011
23:30 (JST): Gov't may ask farmers to delay rice planting
amid radiation scare - The agricultural ministry is considering
asking farmers in Fukushima and some other prefectures to delay rice
planting for a few weeks amid growing concerns about radiation leaks
from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant crippled by the
devastating earthquake and tsunami earlier this month, officials said.
The delay would give the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and
Fisheries time to examine whether rice paddies are too contaminated
with radioactive substances to allow cultivation, the officials said.
(Source: Kyodo News)
Mar. 29, 2011
21:54 (JST): British Airways willing to return to Haneda as
soon as possible -
British Airways is willing to resume services at Tokyo's Haneda airport
as soon as possible after shifting all flights to Narita airport due to
scheduling difficulties after the massive earthquake in Japan, Willie
Walsh, chief executive of the holding company of the airline, said
Tuesday.
Walsh said he sees declining passenger demand to and from Japan mainly
by business people but showed confidence it will return in the near
future and the airline hopes to increase flights to Haneda from five
round-trip flights a week to daily flights. (Source: Kyodo News)
Mar.
29, 2011
10:35 (JST): Radiation Level Graphs for 10 Prefectures
and
Iodine 131 Levels for Water Purifying Plants in 5 Prefectures
- Radiation level and tap water quality data in Japan have been
gathered from
various data sources, as indicated underneath each image on the page
linked above. The radiation
graphs are made from data from monitoring posts set up by the
Prefectural Offices, TEPCO, and NISA. All radiation readings are
converted to microsieverts/hr for consistency. The graphs will be
updated at least
twice a day depending on circumstances. Kudos to Phillip, Michael
Gakuran, Roy Berman, Martyn Williams, and Tokyo Reporter who have all
been providing this valuable and accurate information about the events
since the Japan earthquake and tsunami on Friday, March 11, 2011 to
make these graphs possible. (Source: fleep.com)
Fukushima Prefecture Radiation Levels
Iodine 131 levels at water purifying plants in Chiba Prefecture
Mar.
29, 2011 8:10 (JST): 'Songs for Japan' album tops iTunes
store charts in 18 nations
- 'Songs for Japan,' an album dedicated to supporting victims of the
March 11 earthquake and tsunami in northeastern Japan, is the
top-selling album on Apple Inc.'s online shop in 18 countries.
According to the iTunes Store Top 10 Albums, the album, featuring 38
songs by artists and groups from Europe and the United States, tops the
charts in such countries as Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany
and Switzerland as well as in Japan and the United
States. Proceeds from sales of 'Songs for Japan,'
which was released worldwide Friday, will all be donated to the
Japanese Red Cross Society. (Source: Kyodo News)
Mar. 29, 2011
3:00 (JST): Baseball: MLB, players union donate $500,000 to
Japan quake
victims -
Major League Baseball and the players union said Monday they will
jointly donate $500,000 via UNICEF to aid Japan's relief efforts in the
wake of a massive earthquake and tsunami.
''Major League Baseball is proud to provide help to our friends, peers
and all the citizens of Japan at this critical time of need,'' said
commissioner Bud Selig.
Selig added that the league will continue to work with the clubs and
the Major League Baseball Players Association in the weeks ahead to
help the earthquake and tsunami victims. (Source: Kyodo News)
Mar. 29, 2011
2:20 (JST): Plutonium found in Fukushima plant soil -
Tokyo Electric Power Company says plutonium has been found in soil
samples from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
It says the radioactive substance appears to be related to the ongoing
nuclear accident, but the level detected is the same as that found in
other parts of Japan and does not pose a threat to human health.
TEPCO collected samples from 5 locations around the power plant over 2
days from March 21st and found 2 samples contaminated with plutonium.
(Source: nhk.or.jp)
Mar. 28, 2011
20:25 (JST): Coca-Cola Japan eyeing emergency import of
mineral water from S. Korea -
Coca-Cola (Japan) Co. said Monday it has begun negotiations with the
South Korean unit of U.S. beverage firm Coca-Cola Co. for emergency
imports of mineral water for supply to the quake-raved Tohoku region
and the adjacent Kanto area where radiation scare prompted consumer to
rush to buy bottled water.
Other beverage companies, such as Suntory Holdings Ltd., Ito En Ltd.
and Kirin Beverage Co., have decided to increase imports of mineral
water from Europe. (Source: Kyodo News)
Mar. 28, 2011
19:15 (JST): Wal-Mart to reopen 12 quake-hit stores in Japan
- Wal-Mart Stores Inc will re-open 12 of its Seiyu stores in Japan
which were affected by the earthquake, and is hoping to open the
remaining 12 impacted stores as soon as possible, a spokesman for the
U.S.-based retailer said.
Wal-Mart has 371 stores and 43 deli outlets in Japan, of which 24 were
affected by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that left more than
27,000 people dead or missing across Japan's devastated northeast.
Of Wal-Mart's affected stores, two were severely hit and were
completely covered by mud, said Wal-Mart Asia's Vice President of
Corporate Affairs, Anthony Rose. (Source: Reuters)
Mar. 28, 2011
15:25 (JST): Toyota, other automakers resume car assembly
after quake -
Toyota Motor Corp. on Monday resumed production of the Prius and other
hybrid vehicles, while some other automakers gradually started assembly
after their operations were interrupted by the massive March 11
earthquake.
Toyota started assembling the Prius at a plant in Aichi Prefecture and
its two Lexus brand hybrids, the HS250h and CT200h, at a subsidiary's
factory in Fukuoka Prefecture for the first time since March 14.
(Source: Kyodo News)
Mar. 28, 2011
12:58 (JST): Lawyers to open phone consultations for
quake-hit foreigners - Lawyers will launch a telephone
consultation service for foreign nationals hit by the March 11
earthquake in Japan to help them overcome post-disaster issues,
including problems over their residence status and work, they said
Monday.
The charge-free service to start Tuesday for two months through May 27
opens on weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon at 03-3591-2291, and is
available in English, Chinese, Portuguese, Tagalog and Japanese.
(Source: Kyodo News)
Mar. 28, 2011
7:45 (JST): Delay feared in restoring cooling systems
- At the quake-hit Fukushima nuclear power plant, high radioactive
density detected in 3 turbine buildings may further delay work to
restore the cooling systems for the overheated fuel rods.
Tokyo Electric Power Company says that on Sunday it detected 100,000
times the normal density of radioactive substances in the leaked water
in the Number 2 reactor's turbine building at the Fukushima Daiichi
nuclear power plant. The water surface had a high radiation level of
more than 1,000 millisieverts per hour. (Source: nhk.or.jp)
TEPCO's 3-hr. rolling blackout schedule for Mar. 28-30, 2011
Mar. 27, 2011
17:38 (JST): Food contamination set to rise as Japan fights
radiation crisis
- Radioactive contamination in food is likely to worsen, Bloomberg News
reports, as Japan enters a third straight week of battling the biggest
nuclear-energy crisis since Chernobyl. "The number of
radiation-affected foods will likely increase as each prefecture is
testing its produce," Taku Ohhara, an official at the Ministry of
Health, Labor and Welfare, said in a phone interview with Bloomberg. As
of late Saturday night, some 99 products, including milk and
vegetables, were found to be contaminated in Tokyo and five prefectures
to its north and east, according to the health ministry's statement on
its website. (Source: stripes.com)
Mar. 27, 2011
15:25 (JST): Is there a relationship between the Japanese
seismic intensity scale and the Richter magnitude scale? -
The short answer is "no." But because of a thought-provoking phone
discussion I had yesterday with a fellow American friend in Tokyo, I
decided to waste a few hours comparing Japanese seismic intensity scale
readings with Richter magnitude scale readings for Japan earthquakes
over the past 2 weeks.
I researched all the 175 Intensity 1 or greater earthquakes from Mar.
19 till around 7 pm on Sat. Mar. 26 at http://weathernews.jp/quake/
and http://www.jma.go.jp/en/quake/quake_singendo_index.html,
and then all Intensity 5 or greater earthquakes from 3/19 back to the
initial 2:46 pm M9.0 earthquake on 3/11 at http://typhoon.yahoo.co.jp/weather/jp/earthquake/.
Then for each earthquake, I compared Japanese seismic intensity
readings with Richter Scale magnitudes, and established min./max.
Richter Scale magnitude boundaries for each Japanese seismic intensity
(Shindo) category, as follows:
As you can see, the values were all over the map, and so in my very
"scientific" study there obviously doesn't seem to be much correlation
between the Japanese seismic intensity scale and the Richter magnitude
scale (although there might be with a more detailed "straight-line fit"
type of analysis). But it was interesting nonetheless to see some
Shindo 1 & 2 earthquakes with higher Richter magnitudes than a
number of Shindo 4 & 5 earthquakes. Well...it was a fun
exercise anyways.
Mar. 27, 2011
10:00 (JST): Japan: Will anyone move back to
tsunami hit towns?-
Two weeks after the earthquake and tsunami in Japan temporary homes are
being built for survivors. More than 10,000 people are now known to
have died, with many more still missing.
Nearly a quarter of a million people are sheltering in evacuation
centres, such as schools.
The video of BBC's Roland Buerk's report from one of the worst hit
towns,
Rikuzentakata, is no longer available at YouTube.
Mar. 27, 2011
7:30 (JST): Doctors Without Borders supports psychologists
working in disasters' aftermath in Japan - Doctors
Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres, is supporting a team of six
psychologists who will treat survivors of the devastating earthquake
and tsunami that hit northeast Japan on March 11.
For the past two weeks, a 12-person team has been treating patients
with chronic diseases in one of the areas worst affected by the
disasters. A psychologist was also sent in earlier this week to
evaluate mental health needs, according to the organization's website. (Source: stripes.com)
Mar. 27, 2011
0:14 (JST): Researcher warned 2 yrs. ago of massive tsunami
striking nuke plant - A researcher said Saturday
he had warned two years ago about the possible risk of a massive
tsunami hitting a nuclear power plant in Japan, but Tokyo Electric
Power Co., the operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant crippled
by the March 11 earthquake and ensuing tsunami, had brushed off the
warning.
According to the researcher, Yukinobu Okamura, and the records of a
government council where he made the warning, TEPCO asserted that there
was flexibility in the quake resistance design of its plants and
expressed reluctance to raise the assumption of possible quake damage
citing a lack of sufficient information. (Source: Kyodo News)
Mar. 26,
23:35 (JST): Will Fukushima spell TEPCO's doom?
- Formed in 1951, TEPCO is the 4th largest power company in
the
world, supplying about one-third of Japan's electricity. Some of
Japan's most densely populated and economically important areas get
their power supply from TEPCO. Analysts say the damage at the Fukushima
plant may
see reactors being shut down and the crisis will make it difficult for
TEPCO to use nuclear energy as a power source for some time to come.
That means TEPCO will have to fall back on traditional sources of power
generation such as coal and fuel, which will make its operations more
expensive and hurt profits. More...
Daily 3-hr. rolling blackouts darken entire sections of Tokyo
Mar. 26, 2011
15:30 (JST): Tokyo U.S. Embassy Makes Potassium Iodide TabletsAvailable to
Private U.S. Citizens - As a precautionary measure, the
U.S. Embassy is continuing to make potassium iodide (KI) tablets
available to private U.S. citizens who have not been able to obtain it
from their physician, employer, or other sources. At this time, the
tablets are available Monday through Friday (until further notice) at
the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo at 1-10-5 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-8420
from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and at the New Sanno Hotel at 4-12-20,
Minami-Azabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (Source: U.S.
Embassy Tokyo)
Mar. 26, 2011
9:40 (JST): Breach possible at troubled Japanese power plant -
A possible breach at Japan's troubled nuclear plant escalated the
crisis anew Friday, two full weeks after an earthquake and tsunami
first compromised the facility. The development suggested radioactive
contamination may be worse than first thought, with tainted groundwater
the most likely consequence.
Japanese leaders defended their decision not to evacuate people from a
wider area around the plant, insisting they are safe if they stay
indoors. But officials also said residents may want to voluntarily move
to areas with better facilities, since supplies in the
tsunami-devastated region are running short. (Source: stripes.com)
Mar. 26, 2011
7:35 (JST): Marines help clear out Sendai Airport after
tsunami
- U.S. Marines deployed to Sendai Airport from Camp Fuji began clearing
the site Thursday morning. Two weeks after one of Japan's worst
disasters, the cleanup at Sendai Airport remains the crowning
achievement of U.S. military relief efforts in Miyagi Prefecture, about
200 miles northeast of Tokyo.
Since Sunday, Marines with the Combined Arms Training Center at Camp
Fuji had been towing away hundreds of vehicles that were jammed into
and around the passenger terminal of the airport, and have now cleared
the runway of hundreds of wrecked cars and other debris enabling the
airport to receive humanitarian aid. (Source: Stars & Stripes)
(Photo credit:
Travis J. Tritten, Stars &
Stripes)
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