Massive Quake Hits NE Japan

[germanos]

Meh, that honestly sounds normal. The ground shakes and the reactor automatically shuts down.

BBC now reports:


1841 GMT: The situation at the nuclear reactor at Fukushima seems to be worsening. Japanese authorities are now to release radioactive vapour to ease pressure, AP news agency reports. Engineers are trying to fix the cooling system to the main reactor, damaged in the quake.


It looks the Japanese will not be spared anything

[Guynemer]

Oh dear.

[ColdWizard]

Yahoo.

[...]
After the quake triggered a power outage, a backup generator also failed and the cooling system was unable to supply water to cool the 460-megawatt No. 1 reactor, though at least one backup cooling system is being used. The reactor core remains hot even after a shutdown.

The agency said plant workers are scrambling to restore cooling water supply at the plant but there is no prospect for immediate success.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said the 40-year-old plant was not leaking radiation. The plant is in Onahama city, about 170 miles (270 kilometers) northeast of Tokyo.

If the outage in the cooling system persists, eventually radiation could leak out into the environment, and, in the worst case, could cause a reactor meltdown, a nuclear safety agency official said on condition of anonymity, citing sensitivity of the issue.

Another official at the nuclear safety agency, Yuji Kakizaki, said that plant workers were cooling the reactor with a secondary cooling system, which is not as effective as the regular cooling method.

Kakizaki said officials have confirmed that the emergency cooling system -- the last-ditch cooling measure to prevent the reactor from the meltdown -- is intact and could kick in if needed.

"That's as a last resort, and we have not reached that stage yet," Kakizaki added.
[...]

[C0ckney]

death toll now at 350 and rising.

[onodera]

Terrible. I hope our Pacific Fleet and Emercom will rush to help, territorial disputes set aside in this tragic moment.

[The Mad Monk]

There is word of a second quake hitting central Japan, 6.6.

[The Mad Monk]

Strong quake strikes central Japan, felt in Tokyo
Associated Press / March 11, 2011

TOKYO—Japan's Meteorological Agency says a magnitude 6.6 earthquake struck the central, mountainous part of the country hours after a massive quake hit off the country's northeastern coast.

Dozens of aftershocks have rattled Japan's northeast since Friday's magnitude 8.9 temblor, but the most recent quake was in an entirely different location.

The latest quake hit early Saturday at a depth of six miles (10 kilometers), about 105 miles (170 kilometers) north of Tokyo.

It caused buildings in Tokyo to sway. There were no immediate reports of damage.

© Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2011/03/11/strong_quake_strikes_central_japan_felt_in_tokyo/

[germanos]

'Aftershocks' are a gross understatement. The first 'aftershocks' were similar in magnitude than the one that devastated Kobe (7.2).

[The Mad Monk]

Apparently evacuating from the tsunami was made much harder by the aftershocks continually knocking people off their feet.

[Dinner]

There is word of a second quake hitting central Japan, 6.6.

Yeah, you're going to have a lot of those for the next week or two until it calms down. That's what always happens with the really big ones but the good news is usually the largest after shock is 1-2 orders of magnitude lower then the main quake so this is likely to be the largest after shock.

[germanos]

Apparently evacuating from the tsunami was made much harder by the aftershocks continually knocking people off their feet.

The tsunami could well have travelled 500 km/h. That would have left them with 1/2 an hour to get out at the moment the first tremors started. Not a very realistic scenario.

[Docfeelgood]

Almost simultaneously with the strong shock that hit Japan and triggered a giant tsunami in the Pacific, the Russian Kamchatka volcanoes erupted two. Erupcji towarzyszyły trzęsienia ziemi. Eruption was accompanied by earthquakes.

Indonesia volcano erupts just hours after massive quake in Japan

Wow, that is odd. The earth is very active these days.

BTW
They say the axis of the earth has shifted 10 cm. What ever that means.

[Docfeelgood]

Yeah, you're going to have a lot of those for the next week or two until it calms down. That's what always happens with the really big ones but the good news is usually the largest after shock is 1-2 orders of magnitude lower then the main quake so this is likely to be the largest after shock.

May not be the big one.

[The Mad Monk]

The tsunami could well have travelled 500 km/h. That would have left them with 1/2 an hour to get out at the moment the first tremors started. Not a very realistic scenario.

I figured that was well known.

[germanos]

BTW
They say the axis of the earth has shifted 10 cm. What ever that means.

I call BS.


Reuters: Japan trade ministry says pressure inside Fukushima reactor may have risen to 2.1 times designed capacity.