Tag Archives: economy

Fukushima, International

Ring of Fire Seismic Events part 4 Largest Deadliest

The United States Geological Survey has vast data on earthquakes.  I looked at their “Largest and Deadliest Earthquake” list, which spans 1990 to 2011.

I looked at just those quakes on the Pacific Ring of Fire. I was looking to see if there was an increase in frequency and/or magnitude over the past 21 years.

There were a total of 31 “largest/deadliest” earthquakes on the Pacific Ring of Fire. The magnitudes ranged from 6.3 to 9.1 Richter scale. It looks like the amount of activity is spread evenly over the past 21 years, but it’s deceptive.  From year to year the pattern of activity is interesting.

1990 one,  1991 two, 1992 one, 1993 one, 1994 two, 1995 three, 1996 one, 1997 two, 1998 one, 1999 one.  At this point it looks like there is a loose pattern; 1/2/1/1/2/3/1/2/1/1.

2000 two, 2001 one, 2002 one, 2003 one, 2004 two, 2005 one, 2006 two, 2007 two, 2008 zero, 2009 two, 2010 one, 2011 two.  The pattern is different; 2/1/1/1/2/1/2/2/0/2/1/2.

Where the most quakes hit changes as well.  In the 1990s Japan was hit by one large/deadly quake.  From 2000 to 2011, Japan has been hit by two large/deadly quakes.  But check out Indonesia. In the 1990s the Indonesian islands were hit with two large/deadly quakes.  From 2000 to 2010 the Indonesian islands suffered six large/deadly quakes.  On the Americas side of the Pacific Ring it looks like quakes are more evenly spread out over the years.  From 1990 to 2011 a total of eight large/deadly earthquakes were spread from Alaska to Chile.

What is clear is that the activity is more frequent, and stronger, on the Asian side of the Pacific Ring (probably because that’s where the Pacific plate slams under the Eurasian plate).  But that’s no reason not to prepare, if you don’t live on the Asian side.

Note: The Japanese islands and the Indonesia islands are affected by several plates. Japan sits on the Eurasian plate, which is being hit by the Pacific plate and Philippine plate.  Indonesia straddles the Eurasian and Philippine plates, which are getting hit by the Pacific plate.

 

 

Fukushima

No tap water for Babies

Japanese officials have asked people to not give infants tap water.

This is based on government limits on radiation levels that are considered harmful to infants. Radioactive iodine is one of the contaminants found in the water. Radioactive iodine causes thyroid cancer.

The official says the source of the radiation is not clear.  Can you say, Fukushima?

Fukushima

IAEA finds more problems in Fukushima

“We continue to see radiation coming from the site … and the question is where exactly is that coming from?” -James Lyons,  IAEA 

International Atomic Energy Agency said that some reports given to them by TEPCO, are missing data for spent fuel pools.

Also, the amount of radiation coming from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, is not explainable. They are trying to find out where it is coming from.

 

Fukushima

Do not eat the spinach, or anything eles from Fukushima

The Japanese government is telling people not to eat any leafy vegetables, not just spinach, from Fukushima prefecture.  They also say turnips area no go as well.  One leafy vegetable has 150 times the safe limit of radiation.

Also, shipments of parsley and milk from Ibaraki prefecture, have been halted.

The ban on shipment applies to products that have not been sent to markets.

The eating ban applies to products that have already hit the markets.

Fukushima, Technology

Tokyo Electric says power outages will continue into summer

TEPCo said that Japan needs to prepare for rolling blackouts well into summer 2011.

The power shortage is a direct result of the nuclear disaster.

TEPCo is warning Japanese industries to make plans for the power shortage, such as reducing production.

Fukushima

Quakes shotgun Japan, rail lines shut down

Several Prefectures reporting aftershocks of 3 to 6 on the Japanese quake scale.

At least 5 prefectures were mentioned, including Fukushima, Miyagi, Ibaraki and Tokai.

People in Fukushima say two quakes hit, and they were sharp upward jolts.  In another prefecture they reported an upward jolt. In yet another prefecture a sideways jolt followed by an upward jolt.

In another prefecture the recently restored rail service was shut down.

Aftershocks felt all over Honshu today.

Fukushima

Disaster relief in Japan suffered from faulty assumptions, Volunteers are best Hope

Officials, at all levels, are admitting that they did not think they would ever be dealing with a 9.0 quake, then tsunami, and now nuclear disasters.

Officials at the national level didn’t expect a triple whammy of disasters, and based on the majority of past disasters, thought the local governments could handle it.

The local governments never prepared for a 9.0 quake, followed by a massive tsunami.  Their 10 meter high sea wall barriers failed.  The planned emergency safe places for tsunamis proved to be death traps, as the tsunami was far higher than what was expected. There are reports of people rushing to schools, and other buildings that were designated as safe places for tsunamis, then being killed by a wave that was taller than the building.  Many local officials say they never thought this could happen.

Another problem; local officials thought that if a disaster was worse than they planned for, they could rely on the national government, which has proven to be another faulty assumption.

Officials relied on disaster planners when making their plans. Disaster planners have admitted they didn’t see the post-disaster problems coming.  One fault of disaster planners is they assumed that, some how, everyone in a disaster zone would make it to designated emergency shelters.  Relief supplies were to be sent to the shelters only, because of that assumption. They are amazed at how many people are not able to get to designated emergency shelters.  Also, some emergency shelters were destroyed.

As far as getting supplies in, the utter destruction in the worst hit areas makes it impossible to use roads or rails. Even helicopters had trouble finding places to land.  Add to that the lack of fuel.

Other problems that are affecting all of Japan’s industries include lack of fuel, lack of electricity, lack of employees.  The result is that many companies are shut down, or have cut back on production.  Also, banks are having trouble making transaction, like cashing payroll checks, and ATM problems.

This is all exacerbated by the ongoing nuclear disaster.

Volunteers groups made up of individuals, and local businesses, are proving to be the best hope for Japan. They have been working to help those in the hardest hit areas. Many are bringing supplies into the disaster areas.  In one case one man is trying to help the hospitals with their drug shortage problem.  He has called all the hospitals in the hardest hit areas. At least 20% of the hospitals are not responding to his calls, so he is working his way to each hospital to find out their situation. The volunteer says what he notices is that there are no emergency “base camps” set up in the disaster areas.  There are no emergency medical teams in place.  It appears that hospital/medical issues were not considered in disaster planning.

Medical officials say the problem they see is there are no established priorities, there is no standardized emergency system in place in Japan.  This lack of priorities and standardization is also having a bad effect on donated supplies that are arriving in Japan. Apparently there isn’t a plan in place to address material donations.

At the beginning the Japanese military was involved in search and rescue/recovery only. This was due in part to the faulty assumptions on the national level.  Now, after it became clear that more needed to be done, they are working to clear access to the hardest hit areas, and help with supply efforts (they are also being involved in fighting the nuclear disaster).

Lessons: Officials made too many assumptions about what other levels of government would do. No priorities established.  No standardized emergency response system established.  Major aspects of the community were ignored, like what happens if the hospitals and emergency shelters are destroyed? What happens if all modes of transportation are shut down?  The biggest problem is that most people made the universal assumption that a catastrophic disaster could never happen to them.  After all, isn’t that what preparing for the worst case is all about?