Reeling from earthquake & tsunami, Japan facing crises at three nuclear plants and yet another quake
Scientists struggled to avert or contain meltdowns at three nuclear plants on Sunday as Japan reeled from an epic triple disaster that killed thousands.
An explosion at the crippled Fukushima atomic plant was reported Sunday night, the second blast at the facility since Saturday.
TV footage showed a massive column of smoke belching from the plant's No. 3 unit. Officials said at least six workers were injured in the hydrogen explosion.
"The earthquake, tsunami and the nuclear incident have been the most severe crisis since the war ended 65 years ago," Prime Minister Naoto Kan told the nation.
"I'm convinced that we can overcome the crisis by joining together."
The scale of the disaster was coming into focus as rescuers found whole towns wiped off the map. And a humanitarian catastrophe was brewing among survivors left without food, water or shelter - and no roads to get supplies to them.
As many as 1.5 million people were without water and power as snow fell in the north.
Strong aftershocks continued to shake traumatized survivors, and the Japanese meteorological agency warned grimly that there was a 70% chance of a 7.0 quake - the magnitude that leveled Haiti last year - in the next three days.
Chief government spokesman Yukio Edano had earlier said that if another explosion did occur at the Fukushima facility, "there would be no significant impact on human health."
A meltdown is believed to have occurred in one, or possibly two, reactors at the plant. Experts say the nuclear core was contained by steel housing at the plant, 170 miles from Tokyo.
Problems were reported at two other nuclear plants :
- A state of emergency was declared yesterday at a nuclear plant in Onagawa, 200 miles from Tokyo, after high radiation levels were detected outside the plant. The levels soon returned to normal, officials said.
- A cooling system pump stopped working at the Tokai nuclear power plant, 75 miles north of Tokyo, Japan's Fire and Disaster Management Agency said. Officials said backup systems were working.
About 200,000 people living around the Fukushima plant were evacuated.
Japanese public broadcaster NHK told evacuees to cover as much skin as possible and keep a wet towel over their noses and mouths. Rescuers were distributing iodine tablets.
"First I was worried about the quake," said Kenji Koshiba, a construction worker evacuated from his home near the plant. "Now, I'm worried about radiation."
American officials rushed toassure the West Coast that"harmful levels of radioactivity" won't be blowing in from Japan.
"All the available information indicates weather conditions have taken the small releases from the Fukushima reactors out to sea away from the population," the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said in a statement.
Tsunami wave hits Miyako City in northeastern Japan on Friday. (Handout)
The official death toll from Friday's earthquake and 33-foot tidal wave stood at 2,000, but several towns of 10,000 people had simply vanished, suggesting the final toll will grow dramatically.
In the port town of Minamisanriku alone, 9,500 were missing. Half a million people were living in temporary shelters.
Japanese authorities upgraded the quake to magnitude 9.0, making it twice as powerful as originally thought and the fourth-strongest earthquake worldwide since 1900.
Adding to the misery, the Japanese stock market reopened today and immediately plunged 5%, threatening the country's already fragile economy.
Help was pouring in from around the world. As many as 70 countries offered everything from nuclear experts to body-sniffing dogs to blankets.
American Seahawk helicopters delivered thousands of pounds of rice and bread to people in the worst-hit areas as the Pentagon's Operation Tomodachi - Japanese for "friendship" - got underway.
Even the Afghan city of Kandahar, one of the world's poorest, sent $50,000 to the "brothers and sisters" of Japan.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/2011/03/14/2011-03-14_the_battered_now_face_nuke_fears.html
An explosion at the crippled Fukushima atomic plant was reported Sunday night, the second blast at the facility since Saturday.
TV footage showed a massive column of smoke belching from the plant's No. 3 unit. Officials said at least six workers were injured in the hydrogen explosion.
"The earthquake, tsunami and the nuclear incident have been the most severe crisis since the war ended 65 years ago," Prime Minister Naoto Kan told the nation.
"I'm convinced that we can overcome the crisis by joining together."
The scale of the disaster was coming into focus as rescuers found whole towns wiped off the map. And a humanitarian catastrophe was brewing among survivors left without food, water or shelter - and no roads to get supplies to them.
As many as 1.5 million people were without water and power as snow fell in the north.
Strong aftershocks continued to shake traumatized survivors, and the Japanese meteorological agency warned grimly that there was a 70% chance of a 7.0 quake - the magnitude that leveled Haiti last year - in the next three days.
Chief government spokesman Yukio Edano had earlier said that if another explosion did occur at the Fukushima facility, "there would be no significant impact on human health."
A meltdown is believed to have occurred in one, or possibly two, reactors at the plant. Experts say the nuclear core was contained by steel housing at the plant, 170 miles from Tokyo.
Problems were reported at two other nuclear plants :
- A state of emergency was declared yesterday at a nuclear plant in Onagawa, 200 miles from Tokyo, after high radiation levels were detected outside the plant. The levels soon returned to normal, officials said.
- A cooling system pump stopped working at the Tokai nuclear power plant, 75 miles north of Tokyo, Japan's Fire and Disaster Management Agency said. Officials said backup systems were working.
About 200,000 people living around the Fukushima plant were evacuated.
Japanese public broadcaster NHK told evacuees to cover as much skin as possible and keep a wet towel over their noses and mouths. Rescuers were distributing iodine tablets.
"First I was worried about the quake," said Kenji Koshiba, a construction worker evacuated from his home near the plant. "Now, I'm worried about radiation."
American officials rushed toassure the West Coast that"harmful levels of radioactivity" won't be blowing in from Japan.
"All the available information indicates weather conditions have taken the small releases from the Fukushima reactors out to sea away from the population," the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said in a statement.
Tsunami wave hits Miyako City in northeastern Japan on Friday. (Handout)
The official death toll from Friday's earthquake and 33-foot tidal wave stood at 2,000, but several towns of 10,000 people had simply vanished, suggesting the final toll will grow dramatically.
In the port town of Minamisanriku alone, 9,500 were missing. Half a million people were living in temporary shelters.
Japanese authorities upgraded the quake to magnitude 9.0, making it twice as powerful as originally thought and the fourth-strongest earthquake worldwide since 1900.
Adding to the misery, the Japanese stock market reopened today and immediately plunged 5%, threatening the country's already fragile economy.
Help was pouring in from around the world. As many as 70 countries offered everything from nuclear experts to body-sniffing dogs to blankets.
American Seahawk helicopters delivered thousands of pounds of rice and bread to people in the worst-hit areas as the Pentagon's Operation Tomodachi - Japanese for "friendship" - got underway.
Even the Afghan city of Kandahar, one of the world's poorest, sent $50,000 to the "brothers and sisters" of Japan.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/2011/03/14/2011-03-14_the_battered_now_face_nuke_fears.html
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