Massive 8.8-magnitude quake strikes Japan

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A child's book is seen in the rubble in Rikuzentakata, northern Japan March 13, 2011. REUTERS/Lee Jae-Won

---------- Post added at 03:01 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:00 PM ----------

by Reuters_JohnJoseph at 2:59 PM

 

[BigTree.CN]

When will we be able to show the same unity and discipline?

I think Chinese people are doing fine. The Olympic torch relay, Wenchuan earthquake, and the recent Lybia evacuation have proved we do cherish unity and discipline. However, Japanese people can still be an excellent example for us to follow in this regard.

The marvelous calmness and discipline displayed by them in this crisis is what Chinese media has been focused on since the earthquake happened, apparently Chinese media believes this is something worth learning from Japan.

 

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Earth's day length shortened by Japan earthquake
Scientists say impact of massive quake has forced Earth to rotate faster

(Space.com) The massive earthquake that struck northeast Japan Friday (March 11) has shortened the length Earth's day by a fraction and shifted how the planet's mass is distributed.


A new analysis of the 8.9-magnitude earthquake in Japan has found that the intense temblor has accelerated Earth's spin, shortening the length of the 24-hour day by 1.8 microseconds, according to geophysicist Richard Gross at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

Gross refined his estimates of the Japan quake's impact - which previously suggested a 1.6-microsecond shortening of the day - based on new data on how much the fault that triggered the earthquake slipped to redistribute the planet's mass. A microsecond is a millionth of a second.


"By changing the distribution of the Earth's mass, the Japanese earthquake should have caused the Earth to rotate a bit faster, shortening the length of the day by about 1.8 microseconds," Gross told SPACE.com in an e-mail. More refinements are possible as new information on the earthquake comes to light, he added.

The scenario is similar to that of a figure skater drawing her arms inward during a spin to turn faster on the ice. The closer the mass shift during an earthquake is to the equator, the more it will speed up the spinning Earth.

One Earth day is about 24 hours, or 86,400 seconds, long. Over the course of a year, its length varies by about one millisecond, or 1,000 microseconds, due to seasonal variations in the planet's mass distribution such as the seasonal shift of the jet stream.

The initial data suggests Friday's earthquake moved Japan's main island about 8 feet, according to Kenneth Hudnut of the U.S. Geological Survey. The earthquake also shifted Earth's figure axis by about 6 1/2 inches (17 centimeters), Gross added.

The Earth's figure axis is not the same as its north-south axis in space, which it spins around once every day at a speed of about 1,000 mph (1,604 kph). The figure axis is the axis around which the Earth's mass is balanced and the north-south axis by about 33 feet (10 meters).

"This shift in the position of the figure axis will cause the Earth to wobble a bit differently as it rotates, but will not cause a shift of the Earth's axis in space - only external forces like the gravitational attraction of the sun, moon, and planets can do that," Gross said.

This isn't the first time a massive earthquake has changed the length of Earth's day. Major temblors have shortened day length in the past.

The 8.8-magnitude earthquake in Chile last year also sped up the planet's rotation and shortened the day by 1.26 microseconds. The 9.1 Sumatra earthquake in 2004 shortened the day by 6.8 microseconds.

And the impact from Japan's 8.9-magnitude temblor may not be completely over.The weaker aftershocks may contribute tiny changes to day length as well.

The March 11 quake was the largest ever recorded in Japan and is the world's fifth largest earthquake to strike since 1900, according to the USGS. It struck offshore about 231 miles (373 kilometers) northeast of Tokyo and 80 miles (130 km) east of the city of Sendai, and created a massive tsunami that has devastated Japan's northeastern coastal areas. At least 20 aftershocks registering a 6.0 magnitude or higher have followed the main temblor.

"In theory, anything that redistributes the Earth's mass will change the Earth's rotation," Gross said. "So in principle the smaller aftershocks will also have an effect on the Earth's rotation. But since the aftershocks are smaller their effect will also be smaller."

 

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Some 12,000 people have been rescued from the ruins of Friday's massive earthquake in Japan, Prime Minister Naoto Kan said late Sunday.

Finally some good news!!

 

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More than 250 aftershocks have rocked Japan since the original earthquake on Friday. The US Geological Survey said 30 of these were in excess of magnitude 6. Japan's meteorological agency said there was a 70% chance of a magnitude 7 aftershock striking in the next three days.

There is a 70% likelihood that Japan will experience an earthquake of 7.0 or above in the next three days, the country's meteorological agency said.

Takashi Yokota, director the Earthquake Prediction Information Division of the agency said he based his prediction on increased tectonic activity.

 

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A car remains embedded in the side of a house after the tsunami passed through Shintona, Japan

 

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Kendra Barua in Yokohama writes to BBC: "We are more than 275 kms south of Fukushima but the panic has already started to happen. Gas stations are out of gas, stores are running out of food, emergency supplies have virtually run out and people are evacuating to the south. Aftershocks still continue and the meteorological center still sends strong earthquake warnings to our cell phones. They have also said there is more than 70 percent chance of a magnitude 7 earthquake happening in the next three days. Addition to that, the nuclear fallout is very serious. The PM was almost in tears and we could see fear in his eyes. We aren't even sure if the gov is telling all the truth about the radiation extent. Power cuts will start tommorow until the end of April in most central Japan. Anywhere from 3-6 hours per day is expected. People are in need of true information and the steps they should take without causing panic. Since the Japanese government does not seem to be capable of making critical decisions, foreign help is critical in the decision making process as well.

 

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This one shows much of a neighborhood, in Miyako, being swept away

 

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China sends rescue team to Japan
By Jamil Anderlini in Beijing

Published: March 13 2011 13:17 | Last updated: March 13 2011 13:17

A Chinese earthquake rescue team arrived in Tokyo on Sunday as Beijing put aside animosity towards its neighbour and offered sympathy and condolences to the Japanese people and government in the wake of the huge earthquake and tsunami.

The 15-member rescue team, the first such mission ever accepted by Japan from China, will join similar groups from dozens of countries in a search for survivors in the worst affected areas.

Chinese state media reported outpourings of support and sympathy from ordinary Chinese citizens as well as senior officials, including Premier Wen Jiabao, foreign minister Yang Jiechi and defence minister Liang Guanglie, all of whom contacted their counterparts with condolence messages.

But on some websites there was celebration from Chinese citizens delighting at the news of the devastating quake and ensuing tsunami.

On Tiexue, a forum for Chinese nationalists and military fans, users posted pictures of atrocities committed by Japanese soldiers in China during World War II and dozens of posts cheered and expressed regret that the disaster had not killed more Japanese people.

Anti-Japanese sentiment remains high in China, more than six decades after the end of the Japanese occupation, and has been stoked in recent decades by the Communist Party’s selective “patriotic” education curriculum.

After a period of rapprochement in the middle of the last decade Sino-Japanese relations deteriorated again last year after Japan arrested the captain of a Chinese shipping trawler close to a disputed group of islands, prompting an angry outburst and threats from Beijing.

Relations have also been hampered by Beijing’s enduring support for North Korea and its more assertive stance, especially on territorial disputes in the region.

Earlier this month Japanese media reported that Tokyo was considering an end to its remaining formal Chinese aid programmes, a move that should find support in Japan after China overtook it last year as the world’s second biggest economy.

Since 1979, when the two countries re-established diplomatic ties, Japan has provided a cumulative $40.4bn in soft loans, although it stopped providing these in 2007.

Japan has also provided China with more than $3.6bn in direct aid over that time, with the figure for fiscal 2009 hitting around $55m, according to Japanese media reports.

When China’s western province of Sichuan was struck by a devastating 8.0-magnitude earthquake in May 2008 a Japanese rescue team was the first international team to arrive on the scene.

In one famous image published in Chinese state media Japanese rescuers were seen paying respect to a body they had recovered from the rubble.

On Sunday flamboyant Chinese tycoon and philanthropist Chen Guangbiao set off for Japan to “participate in the rescue operation” and donate Rmb1m in cash and emergency medicine, according to state media.

Mr Chen last made headlines when he visited Taiwan in January on a personal mission to hand out $16m in cash to the poor on the island, which Beijing regards as a renegade province to be re-united with the motherland by force if necessary.

Rescue teams from the US, Switzerland and Germany also arrived in the country on Sunday. In total Japan has received offers of help from more than 50 countries as well as the UN who have sent a team to co-ordinate the international rescue operation.

China’s foreign ministry said there were no reports yet of Chinese casualties from Friday’s quake and although the government has been monitoring its coastal areas for radiation, none has yet been detected after an explosion at a nuclear power plant in northern Japan on Saturday.

Additional Reporting by Kathrin Hille

 

[CardSharp]

I think Chinese people are doing fine. The Olympic torch relay, Wenchuan earthquake, and the recent Lybia evacuation have proved we do cherish unity and discipline. However, Japanese people can still be an excellent example for us to follow in this regard.

The marvelous calmness and discipline displayed by them in this crisis is what Chinese media has been focused on since the earthquake happened, apparently Chinese media believes this is something worth learning from Japan.

I wonder about this too. Considering Japan went through 20 years of economic stagnation and a government change every other year (if not more), Japanese society remains remarkably calm and ordered.

 

[Durrak]

At least 10,000 feared dead in Japan disaster: police


TOKYO: Japan’s government said Sunday it expects the economic impact of Friday’s huge 8.9-magnitude quake, and the devastating tsunami that followed, to be “considerable”.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said the government would hold a meeting Sunday to assess economic damage from the disaster.

“The quake is expected to have considerable impact on a wide range of our country’s economic activities,” he said.

Analysts say it will take weeks to get a firm idea of the extent of the damage inflicted on the nation and its economy, as the destruction wrought by the biggest ever quake to strike Japan continues to emerge.

The government has said at least 1,000 people were believed to have lost their lives, but the police chief in badly hit Miyagi prefecture said the death toll there alone is certain to exceed 10,000.

The quake and tsunami have damaged or closed down key ports. Some airports shut in the immediate aftermath have since reopened, but transport infrastructure has been crippled along parts of the northeastern coast.

Many top Japanese firms have said they are suspending operations.

Japanese officials were struggling with a growing nuclear crisis and the threat of multiple meltdowns, as more than 170,000 people were evacuated from the quake and tsunami-savaged northeastern coast.

A partial meltdown was already likely under way at one nuclear reactor, a top official said, and operators were frantically trying to keep temperatures down at the power plant’s other units and prevent the disaster from growing even worse.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said Sunday that a hydrogen explosion could occur at Unit 3 of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear complex, the reactor that could be melting down. That would follow a blast the day before in the power plant’s Unit 1, as operators attempted to prevent a meltdown by injecting sea water into it.

“At the risk of raising further public concern, we cannot rule out the possibility of an explosion,” Edano said. “If there is an explosion, however, there would be no significant impact on human health.”

More than 170,000 people had been evacuated as a precaution, though Edano said the radioactivity released into the environment so far was so small it didn’t pose any health threats.

A complete meltdown – the collapse of a power plant’s systems and its ability to keep temperatures under control – could release uranium and dangerous contaminants into the environment and pose major, widespread health risks.

Up to 160 people, including 60 elderly patients and medical staff who had been waiting for evacuation in the nearby town of Futabe, and 100 others evacuating by bus, might have been exposed to radiation, said Ryo Miyake, a spokesman from Japan’s nuclear agency. The severity of their exposure, or if it had reached dangerous levels, was not clear. They were being taken to hospitals.

Edano told reporters that a partial meltdown in Unit 3 of the Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant was “highly possible.”

Asked whether a partial meltdown had occurred, Edano said that “because it’s inside the reactor, we cannot directly check it but we are taking measures on the assumption” that it had.

The government doubled the number of troops pressed into rescue and recovery operations to about 100,000 from 51,000, as powerful aftershocks continued to rock the country. Hundreds have hit since the initial temblor.

Unit 3 at the Fukushima plant is one of the three reactors that had automatically shut down and lost cooling functions necessary to keep fuel rods working properly due to power outage from the quake. The facility’s Unit 1 is also in trouble, but Unit 2 has been less affected.

On Saturday, an explosion destroyed the walls of Unit 1 as operators desperately tried to prevent it from overheating and melting down.

Without power, and with its pipes and pumps destroyed, authorities resorted to drawing seawater mixed with boron in an attempt to cool the unit’s overheated uranium fuel rods. Boron disrupts nuclear chain reactions.

The move likely renders the 40-year-old reactor unusable, said a foreign ministry official briefing reporters. Officials said the seawater will remain inside the unit, possibly for several months.

Robert Alvarez, senior scholar at the Institute for Policy Studies and former senior policy adviser to the U.S. secretary of energy, told reporters that the seawater was a desperate measure.

“It’s a Hail Mary pass,” he said.

He said that the success of using seawater and boron to cool the reactor will depend on the volume and rate of their distribution. He said the dousing would need to continue nonstop for days.

 

[Durrak]

 

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[below_freezing]

I think Chinese people are doing fine. The Olympic torch relay, Wenchuan earthquake, and the recent Lybia evacuation have proved we do cherish unity and discipline. However, Japanese people can still be an excellent example for us to follow in this regard.

The marvelous calmness and discipline displayed by them in this crisis is what Chinese media has been focused on since the earthquake happened, apparently Chinese media believes this is something worth learning from Japan.

I agree, we have unity in crisis, but a common excuse of other countries denying visa free entry to Chinese passport holders is because of "low class behavior". On the other hand, Hong Kong in 1997 had Visa free access to only 3 countries but now have Visa free access to 100+ due to government lobbying yet our government still does not push for Visa free access for the mainland? Vietnam have more Visa free access countries than we do, there are more South Korean illegals than there are Chinese illegals in the US and we still don't have Visa free access, we even need visa to visit Zimbabwe!

In this aspect we must put the blame squarely on the government for failing to provide us with the same level of support as Hong Kong and for making the PRC passport worth less than the passport of the Congo.

It is ludicrous that people from CONGO and EGYPT, countries with 1/20th and 1/3rd the GDP/capita of China, can visit Hong Kong visa free, while mainlanders can't.