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Massive 8.8-magnitude quake strikes Japan

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Japan struggling to cool down nuclear reactor, minister says
By the CNN Wire Staff
March 11, 2011 -- Updated 1915 GMT (0315 HKT)

Tokyo (CNN) -- Japanese authorities rushed Friday to cool down fears as well as radioactive temperatures inside a nuclear power plant rattled by Friday's mammoth earthquake, with the nation's prime minister planning a trip to personally inspect the atomic facility.

The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactor, located about 160 miles north of Tokyo, "remains at a high temperature" because it "cannot cool down," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told reporters.

Trade Minister Banri Kaieda said that a small radiation leak could occur at the plant, Japan's Kyodo News Agency reported early Saturday morning.

These and other issues caused by the 8.9-magnitude tremor prompted authorities to order an evacuation of people within 2 to 3 kilometers (1.2 to 1.8 miles) of the plant, a move Edano called "precautionary." Those farther away -- within 3 to 10 kilometers -- were asked to stay in their homes. The Kyodo news agency estimated the evacuation order directly affected about 3,000 people.

That decision notwithstanding, Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan plans to head to the region. He will set off by helicopter around 6 a.m. Saturday to personally inspect the plant, according to Edano.

Earlier Friday, U.S. President Barack Obama said that Kan told him there had been no evidence so far of radiation leaks from nuclear reactors because of the earthquake and tsunami.

The Fukushima plant and three others were shut down after the quake, as Japan declared a state of atomic power emergency.

Cham Dallas, a professor of disaster management at the University of Georgia, said that it wouldn't be surprising if reactors get "both thermally hot and radioactively hot" after the reactors were shut down.

"When they shut down reactors, it takes a long time for them to go down," Dallas said. "It does not necessarily mean radioactive material got out of the reactor."

While authorities are "bracing for the scenario," the minister said, "At this moment, there is no danger to the environment."

Fire broke out at a second facility, the Onagawa plant, but crews put it out, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The trouble at the Fukushima plant happened after the plant successfully shut down, Edano said. Crews had difficulty generating enough electricity to pump water into the facility to cool it, he said.

Janie Eudy told CNN that her husband, Joe, was working at the plant and was injured by falling and shattering glass when the quake struck. As he and others were planning to evacuate, at their managers' orders, tsunami waves struck and washed buildings from the nearby town past the plant.

"To me, it sounded like hell on earth," she said, adding that her husband ultimately escaped.

The government said earlier that it was sending senior officials and the defense force's Chemical Corps to the Fukushima power plant, according to the Kyodo News Agency.

The International Atomic Energy Agency said Friday on its website that its officials are "in full response mode," as they worked with Japanese authorities and monitor the situation.

Using Air Force planes, the U.S. government has sent over coolant for the Fukushima plant, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Friday.

"We're really deeply involved in trying to do as much as we can on behalf of the Japanese and on behalf of U.S. citizens," she said.

James Acton, a physicist who examined Japan's Kashiwazaki nuclear plant after a 2007 earthquake, told CNN that Japanese authorities are in race to cool down the Fukushima reactor.

"If they can't restore power to the plant (and cool the reactor), then there's the possibility of some sort of core meltdown," he said.
 
Apparently another earth quake that is of 6.2 magnitude hits another city in Japan according to CNN
 
7.16pm GMT: A 6.6 magnitude shock has just been reported in the Nagano Niigata area of Japan, apparently on a different faultline from the 8.9 magnitude quake earlier.
 
bloody hell these quakes are getting common now silly question but there must be an impact on earth when extracting oil !?
 
7.23pm GMT: The US Geological Survey has said the new quake around Nagano a few minutes ago was measured at 6.2 magnitude – a big quake in most places. It's 4.23am in Japan and I suspect quite a few people have had an early wake-up jolt.
 
bloody hell these quakes are getting common now silly question but there must be an impact on earth when extracting oil !?

AFAIK, The earth quacks have no direct relation to the oil extraction. These are created by the movement of the fault lines in the joints of the tectonic plates.

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NOW REPORTING : People in California ( several) swept to sea...

Yara.. from where are you getting these reports? At list mention the source.
 
^^^US news channels- CNN, FOX, MSNBC. not exactly being printed instantly to give links...
 
CRESCENT CITY - CALIFORNIA. Local new station is reporting 4 people swept out to sea. sheriff can't confirm- they working to verify. Crescent city has been hit very hard , over 8 feet tall waves. they were supposed to have been evacuated ...
 
CRESCENT CITY - CALIFORNIA. Local new station is reporting 4 people swept out to sea. sheriff can't confirm- they working to verify. Crescent city has been hit very hard , over 8 feet tall waves. they were supposed to have been evacuated ...

Yeah... I think those people would have gone near the beach to watch the Tsunami.... it is no where like being swept out to sea from land. Foolish people thats all. There have been swells and some property damage near the coast, but unless people have ventured out to the beach, most are safe.
 
7.28pm GMT: Ecuador's president Rafael Correa has declared a national state of emergency and urged coastal and island residents to evacuate fast to higher areas, as the tsunami approaches.
 
7.41pm GMT: A Japanese minister says a radioactive leak likely to come from the damaged nuclear plant in Fukushima – 240km (150 miles) north of Tokyo – is expected to be small. Reuters reports:

"It's possible that radioactive material in the reactor vessel could leak outside but the amount is expected to be small and the wind blowing towards the sea will be considered," Chief Cabinet Yukio Edano told a news conference.

"Residents are safe after those within a 3km radius were evacuated and those within a 10km radius are staying indoors, so we want people to be calm," he added.

(These are all from Guardian live updates)
 
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