The 9.0 quake and tsunami that hit north east Honshu, on March 11, was the result of the fault line shifting 30 meters (98.4 feet).
Japan’s Meteorological Agency said the event started off Miyagi Prefecture with activity stretching 200km (124 miles) north, and then 150km (93 miles) south of Iwate Prefecture. Next, a 100km (62 miles) section moved off Ibaraki Prefecture.
More simply put: 450km (279.6 miles) of fault line moved a distance of 30m (98.4 feet) in 3 minutes.
Iranian Ambassador to Tokyo, Abbas Araqchi, announced that the first cargo of Iran’s humanitarian aid for Japan has arrived.
The aid consists of 50,000 canned fish and beans. Araqchi says he and the Iranian Deputy Head of International Red Crescent Society, Mahmoud Mozaffari, will be on hand when the food is delivered to Miyagi Prefecture.
Iran will be sending another shipment next week.
Most Asian countries have banned food from specific Japanese prefectures, some Asian countries banned all food from Japan.
The United States has banned products from radiation zones.
The European Union is the latest group of countries to announce testing and bans of foods from 12 Japanese prefectures.
The food ban will probably not affect Japan’s export business, unlike electronics and cars, because food products make up only 1% of Japan’s exports. Where it will hurt most for Japan, is domestically. Japan will now have to import more food to make up for any loss at home.
At the most recent press conference a Japanese reporter asked Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano, why foreign reporters have been banned from press conferences.
Edano blamed the stressful conditions of trying to deal with the catastrophic disaster.
NHK reporters made their way to several towns that have NOT received any, or very little, help after the 9.0 quake/tsunami.
What they found is what you’d expect to see after a devastating war. Only a few dozen people in each town working together to survive. In most towns people find food by scavenging through the destroyed buildings. They say the Japanese military came and went, leaving hardly any supplies for them, it’s like they were forgotten by the rescue crews. In one town the people are so angry with the government that they made it clear to the reporters, in a loud way, that the government has done nothing for them. In another town the people made a steam house to keep warm. They used parts they scavenged from their destroyed town, and when asked how they were heating it, one man said he’s burning what’s left of his house.
Something interesting that reporters and rescue crews are finding, most of the survivors are older people, no kids, no young adults.
Reporters doing “man on the street” reactions about the radioactive water warnings for infants in Japan, got hit with a common question from mothers, “If I’m breast feeding should I stop drinking the water?”
In an NHK interview a medical expert said that pregnant and breast feeding woman should not drink the contaminated water, even though the levels are deemed safe for adults.
Attorneys in Japan are dealing with disaster survivors asking for advice concerning paying debts, and even paying employees.
Those asking for advise have lost everything; jobs, homes, businesses, etc.
Apparently there are no legal parameters in Japan for dealing with legal issues that will arise from a catastrophic event.
One attorney, who is also a disaster survivor, has been offering free advice. Most of the time he tells the people that they must wait until the Japanese parliament comes up with new laws to handle the situation.
The Exxon/Mobile Shiogama Oil Terminal near Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, resumed operations on Thursday (Japan time).
Local officials in north east Honshu, Japan, say the oil refinery, which makes gasoline and heating fuel, is key in helping local economic recovery after the 9.0 quake/tsunami.
Hillary Clinton said that NATO members have agreed to take over the military lead in the action against Libya.
She also admitted that there is no unified military plan among the coalition forces. “All 28 allies have also now authorized military authorities to develop an operations plan for NATO to take on the broader civilian protection mission.”- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
Can you say: Ad Hoc, last minute, willie nillie, rushed, haphazard, last minute lack of planing?
In one north eastern Honshu coastal town, a city employee manned the emergency loudspeaker system, right up to the very end.
In video from NHK you can hear the woman’s voice echoing through the city (it’s truly haunting when you realize what is going on) even as the tsunami sweeps over all the buildings, including the 3 story town hall. Miki Endo told residents to get to higher ground, over and over, with an intensity that caused some residents to think twice about going back home. One woman said if it wasn’t for Miki’s announcements she would not have realized the severity of the situation, and would have returned home instead of seeking higher ground.
Here’s a Spanish language news report that has the haunting NHK video. I had a link to the original NHK report but apparently it’s been removed from the internet.
The 3 story steel I-beam framed town hall is nothing but a skeleton now. The walls, floor and roof are gone. Workers in the building rushed to the roof when they realized the tsunami was taller than the top floor. The roof was still not tall enough, and most lost their lives, the survivors said they held on to exposed pylons for dear life. The whole time Miki Endo, still inside the town hall, stayed at her post telling the towns people to get to higher ground, telling them they must go higher.
From left to right: The top of the 3 story Disaster Center (where people had fled thinking it was safe) completely covered by water, the water begins to recede, in just a few seconds the tsunami had totally striped the 3 story building killing almost everybody.
To update the story, and since so many people continue to read it, it turns out that Miki was not the only one who stayed at her post. Miki’s boss stayed by her side, he also urged residents to get to higher ground, he was lost as well.
Miki has not been seen since, and her parents refuse to leave the devastated town, hoping to find her.