13:50 JST March 17: Japanese military helicopters dumped loads of seawater onto a stricken nuclear reactor Thursday, trying to avoid full meltdowns as plant operators said they were close to finishing a new power line that could restore cooling systems and ease the crisis.
U.S. officials in Washington, meanwhile, warned that the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant in northeastern Japan may be on the verge of spewing more radioactive material because water was gone from a storage pool that keeps spent nuclear fuel rods from overheating.
A Japanese military CH-47 Chinook helicopter began dumping seawater on the damaged reactor of Unit 3 at the Fukushima complex at 9:48 a.m., said defense ministry spokeswoman Kazumi Toyama. The aircraft dumped at least four loads on the reactor, though much of the water appeared to be dispersed in the wind. (AP )
Obama pledges U.S. support for Japan in call with Kan
President Barack Obama told Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan in a call on Wednesday the United States will do all it can to help Japan recover from an earthquake and tsunami, the White House said. "The president briefed Prime Minister Kan on the additional support being provided by the U.S., including specialized military assets with expertise in nuclear response and consequence management," the White House said in a statement after the two leaders spoke by phone. (Reuters )
Bitter cold hampers tsunami rescue
Rescue crews in earthquake-stricken Japan were battling freezing temperatures with the mercury dropping to mid-winter levels as the search for survivors amid the rubble continued. In the Miyagi prefecture - one of the areas worst hit by the tsunami that followed Friday's 9.0-magnitude earthquake - the temperature dropped to 33.8 degrees Fahrenheit (1C), while other areas of the northeast were experiencing levels below that.
The official number of dead and missing after a devastating earthquake and tsunami that flattened Japan's northeast coast has neared 13,000, police said on Wednesday, but reports hinted at a much higher toll. The number of confirmed dead from Friday's twin disasters stood at 4314, while the official number of missing hit 8606. A total of 2282 people were injured in the disaster. But reports continued to come in which indicated that the final toll could be much higher. (Daily Telegraph )
Analysis: Worst case nuclear cloud seen limited to Japan
In the worst case, any radioactive cloud from Japan's damaged nuclear plant is likely to be limited to the densely populated nation -- unlike the wider fallout from the Chernobyl disaster, experts say. The 1986 blast in then-Soviet Ukraine, when the reactor exploded, contaminated large parts of Europe in the world's worst nuclear disaster.
At the Fukushima plant, the explosive potential within the six reactors is easing with time. Despite assurances by Japanese authorities about low health risks, the crisis at the Fukushima plant has worsened since Friday's quake-caused tsunami, with desperate, unsuccessful attempts on Wednesday to water-bomb the facility. (Reuters )
Japan radiation fears may mask cholera, typhoid threat
Panic over radiation leaks at Japan's earthquake-damaged nuclear plant may be diverting attention from potentially worse threats to public health from a tsunami, like the cold and disrupted supplies of water.
Experts said efforts in Japan should focus on ensuring safe drinking water and the disposal of sewage to prevent outbreaks of killer diseases such as typhoid and cholera, although the likelihood of any such epidemic was remote so far.
Japan was hit by a massive earthquake on Friday that triggered a tsunami along its northeastern coast, leaving about 850,000 households without electricity and 1.5 million households without running water. (MSNBC )
U.S., Japan set different evacuation standards around nuclear plant
Here's the question: how many miles do you need to be from the Fukushima reactors to be safe? Here's the answer: Apparently it depends on whether you're American or Japanese. Yes, an absurd answer -- but that's the state of play in Japan right now.
Before today both Japan and the U.S. government agreed that people within 20 miles of the damaged reactors should evacuate. Today, America's Nuclear Regulatory Commission changed that to 50 miles. Japan for the present is sticking with 20 miles.
White House press secretary Jay Carney tried to explain the discrepancy at his press briefing today. Carney, who previously said that Americans in Japan should follow the safety instructions from the Japanese government, acknowledged the break from that earlier advice. Nations' advice to citizens differs on Japan (CBS News )
Rebuilding northeast Japan to take years, billions
It took only minutes for the earthquake and tsunami to devastate Japan's northeast. Rebuilding will take years - if it can be afforded. The relentless wall of water that the quake unleashed killed thousands, swept away whole towns, inundated roads and knocked ports, oil refineries, steel plants and factories out of action.
Experts say the cost of the destruction likely exceeds that of the catastrophic 1995 Kobe earthquake - estimated by Standard & Poor's to have totaled $159 billion. The four most severely affected prefectures - Iwate, Miyagi, Fukushima and Ibaraki - are home to industries from farming to auto parts to electronics and make up some 6 percent of Japan's economy. (AP )
Japan's emperor addresses nation in crisis
17:45 JST March 16: Japanese Emperor Akihito made an unprecedented televised address to his disaster-stricken nation on Wednesday, saying he was "deeply worried" by the crisis at damaged nuclear reactors and urging people to help each other in difficult times.
Looking somber and stoic, the 77-year-old Akihito said the problems at Japan's nuclear-power reactors, where authorities battled to prevent a catastrophe, were unpredictable and that he was "deeply worried" following an earthquake he described as "unprecedented in scale."
TV stations interrupted coverage to carry the emperor's first public appearance since last week's massive earthquake and tsunami that killed thousands of people.
"I am deeply hurt by the grievous situation in the affected areas. The number of deceased and missing increases by the day we cannot know how many victims there will be. My hope is that as many people possible are found safe," Akihito said. (Reuters )
BUSINESS
Mar 17 Japan crisis spells doom for giant tech companies
Analysts say the fact that Japan is home to several technology giants including Sony, Nikon, Panasonic, Canon and Fujitsu may mean that production lines or manufacture are really going to face a hard time. Since Friday's earthquake, Sony has been forced to shut down its production in six northeastern factories which are responsible for much of the company's disc and drive manufacturing.
Toshiba which makes 35 per cent of the Nand flash memory chips that store information in mobile phones, tablets such as the iPad and digital cameras, has also shut its factories after Tokyo Electric Power Co. requested companies to cut down on electricity consumption. The $63.3 billion microchip industry - representing over 20 per cent of the world's production - is also threatened by the events of the last week. (Business Day)
Mar 17 Japan's insurance market leaves big gaps
The earthquake that struck Japan on Friday may cost more than $100 billion, but insurers may cover as little as $12 billion of those losses because of big coverage gaps in the country's insurance market. Eqecat, a catastrophe-modeling firm, estimated Wednesday that the quake may trigger $12 billion to $25 billion of insured losses. Read about the latest tallies by the insurance industry. Earlier in the week, Eqecat put the total economic cost of the disaster at $100 billion. The ultimate impact may be closer to $190 billion, according to Barclays Capital. (freep.com)
Mar 17 Japan crisis a threat to companies' supply routes
The disaster in Japan has exposed a problem with how multinational companies do business: The system they use to keep supplies rolling in is lean and cost-effective - yet vulnerable to sudden shocks. Factories, ports, roads, railways and airports in northern Japan have been shut down or damaged because of the stricken nuclear plant in the region. So auto and technology companies are cut off from suppliers in the disaster zone. Some have had to stop or slow production.
"When you're running incredibly lean and you're going global, you become very vulnerable to supply disruptions," says Stanley Fawcett, a professor of global supply chain management at Brigham Young University. The risks are higher because so many companies keep they inventories low to save money. They can't sustain production for long without new supplies. (AP)
Mar 17 Prices of vehicles from Japan likely to climb
New-car shoppers could see prices for some of the more popular hybrid and fuel-efficient vehicles such as the Toyota Prius and the Honda Fit rise in the coming weeks. The cost of the imports is likely to go up because earthquake-related production shutdowns in Japan are reducing supply of the autos at a time when consumers are increasingly shopping for gas-sipping models.
While Japanese automakers build most of their bestsellers in the United States, some models are still assembled and shipped from Japan. A handful of those vehicles are already in tight supply in the U.S. because they are either hot sellers, such as the Subaru's Forester and Impreza, or fuel efficient vehicles, such as the Prius or Fit. (Los Angeles Times)
Mar 17 Japan steel capacity can feed massive reconstruction
Steelmakers in quake-hit Japan expect a long-elusive spike in domestic demand as the country prepares for the colossal task of rebuilding everything from homes to power plants, but huge capacity will limit imports.
Japan's reconstruction efforts mean shipments from Asia's biggest steel exporter last year may be reduced, tightening Asian supply and lifting prices as it opens a void likely to be filled by China, the world's largest steel producer, and South Korea, Japan's biggest customer. Output in Japan, the world's second-biggest steel producer, stood at 109.6 million tonnes in 2010, but it only consumed 60 million tonnes and mostly exported the rest. (Reuters)
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ECONOMY
Mar 17 Japan crisis spells jitters for global economy
Experts are cautiously optimistic that the still-brittle global economy can absorb the shock of Japan's triple disaster, but major risks still loom as the crisis unfolds. As Japan has been ravaged by an earthquake, tsunami and nuclear emergency, economists have appeared confident the world's third largest economy will bounce back and that damage to the global economy will be limited.
As the crisis rumbles on, there are increasing warnings about how spillovers could be felt by consumers and economies across the globe, even without a catastrophic nuclear meltdown. The most immediate problems are being felt in the manufacturing sector. Japan has long ceased to be the world's factory -- surpassed by China, Indonesia and a host of other emerging countries -- but it is still a crucial part of the global supply chain for everything from cars and computer parts. (AFP)
Mar 17 G7 to discuss Japan on Thursday as yen soars
The Group of Seven rich nations will discuss on Thursday possible steps to calm volatile financial markets roiled by fears about the deepening crisis in Japan. The yen hit a record high against the dollar on Wednesday on expectations that Japanese investors will bring home cash from abroad to help finance reconstruction.
A G7 source told Reuters that G7 finance ministers and top central bankers would hold a conference call "late" on March 17. The source provided no further details. A French government source said earlier on Wednesday that the telephone talks would take place before the weekend. (Reuters)
Mar 17 Economic hit from Japan quake seen up to $200 billion
Japan's devastating earthquake and deepening nuclear crisis could result in losses of up to $200 billion for the world's third largest economy but the global impact remains hard to gauge five days after a massive tsunami battered the northeast coast. As Japanese officials scrambled to avert a catastrophic meltdown at a nuclear plant 240 km (150 miles) north of the capital Tokyo, economists took stock of the damage to buildings, production and consumer activity.
The disaster is expected to hit Japanese output sharply over the coming months, but economists warned it could result in a deeper slowdown if power shortages prove significant and prolonged, delaying or even scotching the "v-shaped" recovery that followed the 1995 Kobe earthquake. Most believe the direct economic hit will total between 10-16 trillion yen ($125-$200 billion), resulting in a contraction in second quarter gross domestic product (GDP) but a sharp rebound in the latter half of 2011 as reconstruction investment boosts growth. (Reuters)
Mar 16 Japan's economy in post-quake distress, gov't sugar-coats impact
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano on Tuesday maintained that the country's economic capabilities are still intact, despite that a triple blow of disasters including the latest nuclear crisis in Fukushima Prefecture seem to escalate. "The earthquake and tsunami severely damaged the Japanese economy, but our economic power and technical capabilities have not been shaken at all,'" Edano told reporters earlier on Tuesday.
But while the government has been trying ardently to placate global concern about the level of impact that Friday's record quake, tsunami and now nuclear calamity will have on Japan and the wider global economy, leading economists are painting a very different picture. If the past two day's activities on the country's stock market are indicative of what's to come, the government may be wiser to shoot straighter dice rather than sugar-coat the economic impact, economists said. (Xinhua)
Mar 16 Don't bank on a Japanese debt crisis yet
As Japan reels in the aftermath of the most powerful earthquake in its history and worries grow about a nuclear reactor meltdown, some economists wonder whether the disaster will push the country closer to a sovereign debt crisis, too. There's a tug of war happening right now between investors who are buying Japanese government bonds (JGBs) as a safer alternative to the sinking stock market, and investors who are buying credit default swaps on JGBs because they believe the country is will soon default on its debt. The price of credit defaults swaps on 5-year JGBs is hitting record highs.
Here's a quick look at why people are scrutinizing Japanese sovereign debt. Japan has been able to rack up a massive debt load (expected to hit 228% of GDP this year) by selling JGBs to its own banks, insurance companies, and citizens. These lenders have allowed interest rates to stay at a very affordable near-zero percent. But with a debt so large, even a small increase in interest rates would start to eat up an unsustainable amount of the country's revenues. (CNN)
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STOCK MARKET
Mar 17 Why investors need to fear Japan's crisis: the world is flat
Japanese, banks, insurance companies, the yen (etc.) are under pressure. The yen actually gained yesterday as investors sought a safe haven, but the Bank of Japan is pumping billions of yen into the economy. It's hard to see how that will be successful if clouds of steam waft southward toward Tokyo and the industrial heartland of the nation. There is now dark talk on the Internet that a bond-market meltdown may be in the making. There's also chatter of an impending Japanese banking crisis. (theglobeandmail.com)
Mar 17 BOJ pumps another 5 tril. yen to ease quake shocks
The Bank of Japan on Thursday injected an additional 5 trillion yen into money markets to protect the nation's banking system from the negative impact of the massive earthquake last Friday. The emergency fund-providing operation by the central bank entered a fourth day as the BOJ aims to help banks and other financial institutions in quake-hit areas raise necessary funds in the markets, where institutions lend short-term money to each other. (AP)
Mar 17 Japanese stocks open down; Nikkei off 3.6 percent
Japanese shares fell again Thursday amid jitters over the nation's nuclear crisis, erasing a portion of the gains from a post-quake rally. The benchmark Nikkei 225 shed 4.1 percent to 8,721.88 points. That wiped out a portion of gains from Wednesday's rally, which followed a sharp plunge in prices. Japan's devastating earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis last week triggered widespread selling, wiping out all of the stock market's gains this year. (AP)
Mar 16 Nikkei rallies 5.68% as Japanese stocks rebound
The Japanese stock market staged a rally on Wednesday, closing higher as the emergency operation at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant continued. The Nikkei index rose by 5.68% to 9,093.72, a gain of 488.57 points as its clawed back some of its losses since Friday's earthquake and tsunami. However the index has still fallen around 12% since Friday morning. Josh Raymond of City Index warned that today's gains could be a classic "dead cat bounce" rather than a genuine revival in confidence. (guardian.co.uk )
Mar 16 Japanese leaders try to calm panicky markets over nuclear crisis
Japanese leaders tried to calm panicky financial markets on Tuesday as a deepening nuclear power crisis looked certain to increase the toll on an economy already convulsing from a massive earthquake and tsunami. Tokyo's stock market plunged more than 14 percent at one point after the stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant was hit by two explosions and a grim-faced Prime Minister Naoto Kan warned the nation that radioactivity levels had become "significantly" higher.
Even before Tuesday's dramatic events, economists had estimated that recovery and reconstruction costs would reach at least $180 billion, or 3 percent of the economic output of the world's third-biggest economy. Others suggested the cost could amount to 5 percent of output. In the face of the country's biggest crisis since World War II, Japanese leaders urged calm as the stock market fell. (Reuters)
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POLITICS
Mar 17 Aid organizations hold back on Japan
International relief organizations are raising donations, delivering water and blankets, and setting up children's centers to aid victims of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. But compared with last year's earthquake in Haiti or the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that killed more than 200,000 people, they are holding back much of their most ambitious aid-giving this time. They say that this is in part because Japan, as one of the world's wealthiest nations, has the ability to deal with the disaster's aftermath largely on its own, and because it hasn't asked for large amounts of aid. (Wall Street Journal)
Mar 17 Flaws in Japan's leadership deepen sense of crisis
Never has postwar Japan needed strong, assertive leadership more - and never has its weak, rudderless system of governing been so clearly exposed or mattered so much. Japan faces its biggest challenge since World War II, after an earthquake, a tsunami and a deepening nuclear crisis struck in rapid, bewildering succession.
The disasters require nationwide mobilization for search, rescue and resettlement, and a scramble for jury-rigged solutions in uncharted nuclear territory, with crises at multiple reactors posing a daunting array of problems. Japan's leaders need to draw on skills they are woefully untrained for: improvisation; clear, timely and reassuring public communication; and cooperation with multiple powerful bureaucracies. (New York Times)
Mar 17 116 nations, regions offer help to quake-hit Japan
A total of 116 countries and regions, and 28 international organizations had offered assistance to Japan by Wednesday evening to deal with the aftermath of last Friday's earthquake and tsunami, the Foreign Ministry said. Meanwhile, Japanese diplomatic missions abroad have started to raise funds to help survivors of the disaster, according to the ministry.
Japanese embassies, consulates and other offices will accept donations until March 23 and the funds will be sent to the Japanese Red Cross Society. Since Friday's magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami, which destroyed many areas in northeastern and eastern Japan, rescue teams from 11 countries, including China, South Korea and the United States, have been working in devastated areas, according to the ministry. (AP )
Mar 16 Gov't ready to release rice stockpile: farm minister
Farm minister Michihiko Kano said Wednesday the government is ready to release its stockpiled rice and that there is ample supply, in an effort to ease concerns about rice shortages in some parts of the country. While the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry projected about 8.11 million tons of rice to be needed in a year from last July through the end of this June, it has secured a supply of 10.13 million tons and also has 920,000 tons of rice in its stockpile. The shortage has been caused partly by logistical disruptions from traffic jams following the catastrophic earthquake, Kano said. (AP)
Mar 16 Quake-hit Japan to accept doctors from overseas
The Japanese government has decided to accept the help of doctors from overseas as an exceptional measure to treat survivors of the devastating earthquake, Foreign Ministry officials said Wednesday. Canada and several other countries have offered to dispatch medical teams. The foreign and health ministries are making preparations to send them to disaster sites in northeastern Japan soon after their arrival. Squads of rescuers have arrived in Japan from 11 countries, including the United States, China and South Korea, and are engaged in relief operations. More countries including Italy are considering dispatching rescue teams. (AP)
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SOCIETY
Mar 17 Scouts reveal trade secrets for recruiting housewives into the sex trade
Time for a quiz: You want to come on to a perfectly respectable looking married lady who you spot on your train. Which of the three places is most likely to elicit a favorable response? A) Aboard the train; B) on the platform; or C) at a public place outside the station area. "If you're going to approach a married woman, the important thing is not to scare her. So the right answer is B," Kazuki Uesugi tells Shukan Taishu (Mar. 28). "A would come across as recklessly impulsive, giving the impression of lacking common sense," Uesugi points out, "And C might make the woman feel that she�s being stalked." (Tokyo Reporter)
Mar 17 In a battered Japan, dogs search for human survivors
Snow and freezing rain fall on Riley as he noses through the rubble of what was once a residential neighborhood in Ofunato, a city in northeastern Japan. The Labrador retriever isn't a pet searching for scraps to eat in the tsunami-ravaged remains of his home; he's an American search dog specially trained to locate survivors trapped beneath the debris and rubble left behind when disaster strikes.
The dogs are trained to give a bark alert if they find someone, conscious or not, in need of rescue. Even if no one is found, the process enables human searchers to determine that the area is clear, so they can continue the search elsewhere. Without the dogs, it's often difficult to know for sure if they're leaving a survivor behind. (sfgate)
Mar 17 For Japan's oldest survivors, the ruined landscape is all too familiar
Japan's survivors barely recognize the remnants of the towns that collapsed around them. But for the country's oldest citizens, the ruined landscape is eerily familiar. With unbelieving eyes, the island nation now takes in the devastation wracked upon it - its soil repeatedly shaken and swallowed in parts by the sea; possible radiation contamination from a nuclear catastrophe - in recent days. But the stricken country's aged can believe.
Hirosato Wako, a 75-year-old whose tiny fishing village is now but a repository of debris, was one witness of the Allied bombings of Sendai, the largest city in Japan's northeast. "I lived through the Sendai air raids," he told the New York Times. "But this is much worse." (Time)
Mar 17 Snow piles more misery on Japan's devastated northeast
Heavy snow blanketed Japan's devastated northeast on Wednesday, hindering rescue workers and adding to the woes of the few, mainly elderly, residents who remained in the area worst hit by last week's massive earthquake and tsunami.
In some parts of Sendai city, firefighters and relief teams sifted through mounds of rubble, hoping to find any sign of life in water-logged wastelands where homes and factories once stood.
But, as they did in most other towns, rescuers just pulled out body after body, which they wrapped in brightly colored blankets and lined up neatly against the grey, grim landscape. (Reuters)
Mar 17 Tokyo food shortages are not what they first seem
The proprietor at the neighborhood tofu shop made a face when asked about business since the earthquake last week. "The supermarket . . ." she said. "Everybody just goes to the supermarket." Though kaidame (hoarding) has been in full swing for the past week, the effects tend to be relative. People react predictably to any crisis. Once people get in kaidame frame of mind they buy anything that's cheap, not to mention easy. Foods that can be stored and require the least amount of preparation are most in demand, which means canned tuna, retort curry, pasta and instant ramen are as difficult to find as batteries and cooler boxes. (Japan Times)
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SPORTS
Mar 15 Soccer: J.League postponed indefinitely
Japan's J.League has been suspended indefinitely following last week's devastating earthquake and tsunami, local media reported on Tuesday. Skip related content The first and second division clubs held an emergency meeting at the J.League's headquarters in Tokyo on Tuesday and ruled out matches scheduled for April 2 and 3, reports said. "I knew right away this was no ordinary earthquake," Kashima Antlers president Shigeru Ibata told the Kyodo news agency. "There's no telling when we can restart the league again. The situation is getting worse by the day. Most of the people on the committee agree that the first week of April is already out of the question." (Reuters)
Mar 13 Soccer: Matsui dedicates goal to quake victims
Japan midfielder Daisuke Matsui dedicated his first goal of the season to victims of the huge earthquake in Japan after scoring in Grenoble's 1-1 draw away to fellow strugglers Vannes in the French second division on Friday. "I thought the only thing I could do was score for all the people who are in this terrible situation," said Matsui, who was living in Kyoto when the Great Hanshin Earthquake struck in nearby Kobe in 1995, leaving thousands dead. (AP)
Mar 11 Soccer: Japan planning to call up Nagatomo, Honda for friendlies
Inter Milan defender Yuto Nagatomo and CSKA Moscow midfielder Keisuke Honda are among 12 European-based players Japan plans to call up for this month's friendlies against Montenegro and New Zealand. The Japan Football Association said Thursday it has written to the players' clubs asking them to cooperate in releasing them for the games in Shizuoka on March 25 and Tokyo four days later. The squad will be announced on March 17. (AP)
Mar 11 Golf: Ishikawa reaps benefits of overtime
After a week of intensive work on his swing, Ryo Ishikawa feels his game is back to where he wants it. "I've never hit that many balls in practice in America," Ishikawa said prior to his third U.S. PGA start of 2011 at the Cadillac Championship. "Now I'm hitting the ball so well it's scary." Ishikawa hit 400 balls every day last week. With his ultimate target being the Masters Tournament from April 7-10, Ishikawa initially pledged to produce results in PGA Tour events this year. (Japan Times)
Mar 10 Soccer: Japan football players to form union
Japanese football players are to form a union to demand better working conditions, including bigger rewards for international duty, their association said Wednesday. The Japan Pro-Footballers Association (JPFA), currently representing some 960 players at home and abroad as a fraternal body, said it had decided to register itself as a labour union with the right to collective bargaining and strikes. The decision was made by a majority vote at a special JPFA general meeting on February 28, the JPFA said in a press release. (AFP)
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EDUCATION
Mar 17 Lack clean water at Shichigahama junior high school (Miyagi)
My sister lives in Miyagi prefecture and teaches English at the two junior high schools. Her town, Shichigahama, is a small coastal town that was about 70 miles away from the 9.0 magnitude earthquake.
I spoke to her Wednesday evening around 4 pm (JST) and she says they only have drinking water and lack water for bathrooms and shower. Gas is hard to come by. Her teacher had to wait in line for 7 hours to get gas for the commute. (YouTube )
Mar 17 English teacher 'finding life hard'
Laura is 25 and teaches English in Yamagata, about 50 miles away from the power station. She says it's been difficult keeping up with what's going on because of the language barrier and power cuts.
"The Japanese news, it's difficult for us because we don't speak fluent Japanese, so we can only follow so much." The main problem in Yamagata is the petrol situation. Most people can't get petrol and the only way to get it is to sit in a queue. (BBC)
Mar 17 Young Aussie English teacher trapped in Sendai
Jonathan Blumberg, a 19-year-old originally from Sydney who has been teaching English in Sendai, is stranded and trying to find a way to get to Tokyo or Osaka to get a flight to Australia. He has been living in his apartment, which was remarkably unaffected, without running water, while power was restored yesterday, he said in a Skype interview with this website.
However, his mother, in Byron Bay, said later that her son had been told to leave his apartment as the building was slanted. He was now losing his place to stay. The situation was getting worse for him, she said. (Sydney Morning Herald)
Mar 17 Earthquake as it happens - English Teacher in Japanese School
Japan is hit with an 8.9 earthquake. Luckily I was 2 prefectures away where it was relatively mild. After a good minute of shaking my brain finally popped the idea into my head. IPOD. FILM. NOW. You may ask yourselves "Why does she have a pile of towels on her head?" No jokes, the head teacher next to me grabbed a handful and told me to put it on my head to avoid injury from falling ceiling. Well actually he just went "uh. uh" and gestured wildly. (YouTube )
Mar 16 Leak at Fukushima would hit children hardest, experts warn
A leak caused by a meltdown at the - Fukushima plant would hit children hardest, experts have warned. Radioactive iodine is particularly dangerous for youngsters and can cause thyroid cancers, as was the case after the Chernobyl disaster. People living within 20km of the plant have been issued with pills to protect them from the risk, but with radiation yesterday soaring to harmful levels, the danger remains. Professor Richard Wakeford, of the Dalton Nuclear Institute, Manchester, said: "Japan is doing the right thing. It is the thyroids of young children they are seeking to protect." (mirror.co.uk)
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SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Mar 17 Satellites help Japan disaster recovery efforts
In the aftermath of Japan's devastating earthquake and tsunami, satellite maps have been a vital part of search and rescue efforts by providing clear pictures of how the land has changed, and where buildings and roads once stood. Satellite imagery of the areas hit hardest by the 9.0-magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami that struck the northeastern coast of Japan on March 11 is being provided by several space agencies and operators around the world to assist the relief efforts currently underway.
Following the massive earthquake, the Cabinet Office of Japan invoked the International Charter 'Space and Major Disasters,' which is a mechanism that ensures timely satellite images are made freely available to authorities and aid workers. (MSNBC )
Mar 17 Blood donations up nationwide
In addition to money, food, blankets and medicine, many across Japan are donating blood to help the survivors of Friday's devastation in the Tohoku region. In Tokyo, 2,284 people showed up at Japanese Red Cross Society blood donation centers Sunday, up from 1,944 a week before, said spokesman Koji Tsuchida, who noted blood donations are up nationwide. The amount of blood donated was 44 percent higher in Tokyo than they needed on the day, he said. (Japan Times)
Mar 16 Unique Japan tsunami footage boon to scientists
Vision of the disastrous tsunami rolling onto Japan after last week's massive 9.0-magnitude earthquake will provide valuable data to scientists for years to come, Australian experts said Wednesday. Compelling images of the monster wave crashing onto low-lying farmland in Japan's northeast, sweeping all in its path into a surging waterway, was played live by television stations as helicopter-borne crews recorded the event. "I think the impact of the waves going across and spreading well inland on relatively flat terrain was something that we've never seen before," Australian tsunami expert Ray Canterford told AFP, adding it was a tragedy for Japan. (AFP )
Mar 16 Japan's unique nuclear meltdown challenge
Japanese officials and Tokyo Electric Power Co., operator of three crippled Fukushima Daiichi reactors that threaten Japan with nuclear disaster, acknowledged that partial meltdowns have presumably already occurred in all three reactors. Each of the reactors suffered a hydrogen explosion and radiation releases were consistent with partial meltdown. Meltdowns can't be definitively determined without access to the inside of the reactors.
Fukushima Daiichi reactors Nos. 1, 2 and 3 have been shut down since their automatic turnoff during the 9.0 magnitude earthquake that struck Friday. Heat from the reactor cores is decreasing but the temperature remains high enough to constitute a meltdown threat. (Yahoo)
Mar 16 Japan radiation leaking 'directly' into air: IAEA
03:45 JST March 16: Japan has told the U.N. nuclear watchdog radioactivity was being released "directly" into the atmosphere from the site of an earthquake-stricken reactor and that it had put out a fire at a spent fuel storage pond there. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), citing information it had received from Japanese authorities at 0350 GMT, said on Tuesday dose rates of up to 400 millisievert per hour have been reported at the Fukushima power plant site. (Reuters )
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ELECTRONICS
Mar 17 Japan's Internet proves quake-proof
As silver-linings go, it may not be much; but it is remarkable to learn that Japan's Internet barely skipped a beat after last week's devastating earthquake and subsequent tsunami and aftershocks.
Physical damage did occur to network infrastructure, but within hours the self-correcting architecture of Japan's Internet routed around it and information flowed freely. Keep in mind that this damage coincided with a massive surge in Internet use, as users around the world suddenly began demanding live video and other data from Japan.
The catastrophe provides a valuable real-world example of how important it is for nations to invest in strong, well-planned digital networks with multiple redundancies. Japan's Internet has long been the envy of the world. (macleans.ca)
Mar 16 US military blocks access to popular sites to aid Japan relief effort
Thirteen sites popular with users of military computers have been blocked by the United States military to free up bandwidth for operations in Japan, CNN reported. An email obtained by the network and confirmed by spokesman for U.S. Strategic Command, Rodney Ellison, said the sites, which include MTV, YouTube, eBay and MySpace, accounted for significant bandwidth and had been blocked from Monday to ensure bandwidth was available in Japan for military operations. (nbr.co.nz)
Mar 16 Tech supply shortages loom after Japan earthquake
Consumers could be looking at higher prices on televisions, PCs and phones in the wake of the 9.0-magnitude earthquake that hit Japan last Friday. Although the effects of the quake on Japan's tech manufacturing industry are still unclear, major display panel makers such as Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics are facing shortages from component suppliers due to blackouts and transport issues. Sebastian Ho, an analyst with Yuanta Investment Consulting in Taipei, told IDG News service that shortages could result in higher prices for panel buyers, resulting in more expensive products for consumers. (Time)
Mar 16 Apple postpones Japan iPad launch
The scheduled launch of the iPad 2 in Japan has been put on hold because of the earthquake and subsequent tsunami. In the U.S., the Apple iPad 2 continues to be difficult to obtain and online shipping times now extend to five weeks. The iPad 2 was scheduled for a March 25 launch in Japan. It appears that's not going to happen. In light of the earthquake and subsequent tsunami that wreaked havoc in Japan on Thursday, the launch has been delayed to an date in the future. (informationweek.com)
Mar 15 Chip prices jump as Japan disaster hits tech supplies
Prices for key technology components extended gains on Tuesday, as damage at Japanese plants and infrastructure caused by Friday's devastating earthquake and tsunami threatens to disrupt the global manufacturing chain longer than many had expected. Dozens of Japanese firms from component makers to electronics firms and automakers are keeping their plants shuttered, while damage to infrastructure including power, roads, rails and ports will take months to repair. The prospect of prolonged supply disruptions sent global companies scrambling for alternative sources of high-tech components in particular, a sector where Japan is still a dominant player. (Reuters)
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