Japan earthquake

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Money-Packed Safes Wash Up in Japan

Problem acute in a nation where many elderly do not use banks

(Newser) - Last month's devastating earthquake in Japan has created an unexpected problem—there's cash everywhere. Many people in Japan, especially the elderly, stash their money at home, and hundreds, if not thousands, of safes filled with valuables that were washed away in the massive tsunami are turning up. But identifying the...

Japan Earthquake Sends 'Island' of Debris to Hawaii, US West Coast
 'Island' of Earthquake 
 Debris Headed for US 
in case you missed it
Apr 10, 2011 6:09 AM CDT

'Island' of Earthquake Debris Headed for US

Tires, cars, and human remains to wash up in Hawaii, west coast

(Newser) - If oceanographers are right, a veritable island of cars, houses, human remains, and other debris from Japan’s earthquake will soon wash ashore in Hawaii, and from there travel to the west coast of the US. Using computer models developed by tracking buoys across the ocean, researchers at the University...

Fukushima Endgame: Years, a Fortune Away

Will likely take decades to decommission nuke plant

(Newser) - The day when radiation stops spilling out of Japan's Fukushima Dai-ichi is still unknown, but it'll be at least a decade and millions of dollars beyond that by the time the nuclear plant is decommissioned, reports the AP. That's the timeline from Toshiba, which built four of the six reactors,...

Honeymooning Couple Survives 6 Natural Disasters
Honeymooning Couple Survives 6 Natural Disasters
in case you missed it
Apr 9, 2011 7:09 AM CDT

Honeymooning Couple Survives 6 Natural Disasters

Stefan, Erika Svanstrom make it through snow, cyclone, flood, fire, quakes

(Newser) - When Stefan and Erika Svanstrom of Stockholm set out on a four-month-long honeymoon in December, they probably weren't expecting to immediately get stranded in Munich during one of Europe's worst snowstorms. They almost certainly weren't expecting to then survive a cyclone in Cairns, Australia. And it's safe to say they...

Team Weighs Mammoth Task: Dismantling Reactors

Planning begins as stabilizing efforts continue at Fukushima

(Newser) - It could be months or years before authorities have simply stabilized Japan’s nuclear crisis, but Japanese and American engineers are already teaming up to figure out how to dismantle the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant’s reactors. Toshiba and Westinghouse are among the firms planning the gargantuan task: Never before have...

Radioactive Water Leaks After Japan Aftershock

Death toll rises to four; 100 injured

(Newser) - The death toll from yesterday's aftershock in Japan rose to four as news came that the quake (revised to a magnitude of 7.1) also caused radioactive water to leak from one of the country's nuclear plants. The water leaked from the spent fuel pools at the Onagawa nuclear power...

Little Damage Reported After New Japan Quake
 2 Killed in Japan Aftershock 
UPDATED
Apr 7, 2011 11:54 PM CDT

2 Killed in Japan Aftershock

All appears normal at Fukushima plant after 7.1-magnitude quake

(Newser) - Thursday's 7.1-magnitude aftershock killed at least two people in Japan and injured dozens more as it shook Japan's battered northeast but the Fukushima nuclear plant was spared, reports AP. The aftershock knocked out power at three other nuclear plants, but backup systems kicked in, notes the New York Times...

Japan Earthquake: 7.4-Magnitude Quake Hits Japan
 7.1 Earthquake Hits Japan 
UPDATED
Apr 7, 2011 10:39 AM CDT

7.1 Earthquake Hits Japan

Tsunami warning now lifted in ravaged northeast

(Newser) - Weary Japan has been struck by an earthquake once again: The USGS is reporting a 7.1-magnitude earthquake hit near the east coast of Honshu at 11:32pm local time—that's about 90 miles from Fukushima and about 200 miles from Tokyo, where buildings reportedly shook for a full minute....

Japan's Search for Bodies Enters Evacuation Zone

Officers race against time as bodies decompose

(Newser) - Clad in protective suits, some 340 police officers began the search for bodies within the 12-mile evacuation zone surrounding the Fukushima plant today. Nearly four weeks have passed since the earthquake, and some 4,200 who lived within the zone remain missing, reports the New York Times . Officials now say...

How Japan Quake Liquefied a Town 200 Miles Away

Urayasu dealing with warped streets, tilted buildings

(Newser) - Urayasu lies 200 miles south of the Japan earthquake epicenter, far from the danger zone—so why are residents relieving themselves in plastic bags while waiting for their sewage, water, and gas services to be restored? Though no buildings fell and no tsunami hit in this seaside town on March...

US Warns of Fresh Threats at Fukushima

But radioactive water leak is finally plugged at crippled nuke plant

(Newser) - The Fukushima nuclear plant is facing fresh threats that could persist indefinitely, according to a report prepared by American experts and obtained by the New York Times . The engineers warn that steps being taken to stabilize the plant are presenting threats of their own, including the risk that containment structures...

Japan Fallout: What That Radioactive Water Means

Effect should be limited experts say

(Newser) - Should the Japanese be worried about the tens of thousands of tons of radioactive water that Tokyo Electric started dumping into the Pacific yesterday? Yes and no. The water around the Fukushima plant is likely to be contaminated for years, experts tell the Wall Street Journal , but the danger elsewhere...

Tsunami Dog 'Ban' Back With Owner

Pooch was plucked from house wreckage after 3 weeks at sea

(Newser) - Ban, the Japanese wonder dog who survived the tsunami and three weeks adrift in the wreckage of his home, is back with his owner, reports Gawker. And yes, this pales in comparison to the ongoing humanitarian crisis over there, writes Maureen O'Connor, and we should "give a damn about...

Radioactive Water to Get Dumped Into Pacific

The 11.5K tons have only low-level radiation

(Newser) - In an effort to speed up the draining of its Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant, Tokyo Electric Power Co. said today that it will release 11,500 tons of low-level radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean. Ten thousand tons of water flooded a radioactive waste processing facility after last month's earthquake...

Two Workers' Bodies Recovered at Fukushima

Plant continues to leak highly radioactive water into the sea

(Newser) - The bodies of two workers have been recovered at Fukushima Dai-ichi, the first confirmed fatalities at the foundering nuclear plant. The men had rushed to check equipment in the basement in the wake of the 9.0 earthquake, reports the LA Times —and autopsies confirmed they were killed in...

Japan Plant Offers 'Jumpers' $5K a Day for Hazard Duty

Workers risk lives for high pay inside nuclear plant

(Newser) - How on earth do the operators of Japan's nuclear plant convince workers to risk their lives exposing themselves to huge doses of radiation? Money helps, apparently. TEPCO officials are advertising for so-called "jumpers" to carry out dangerous jobs for up to $5,000 a day, reports Reuters . They're called...

Concrete Pit Leaking Radioactive Water Into Ocean

Japan trying to plug newly found crack at Fukushima plant

(Newser) - Japan might have figured out why seawater near the Fukushima plant has been showing such high levels of radioactivity: a cracked concrete maintenance pit. The newly discovered crack may have been allowing radioactive water to leak directly into the ocean since the earthquake, and workers are trying to plug it...

'Potato Earth' Reveals Gravity's Uneven Pull

Goce satellite image gives clues on climate change, earthquakes

(Newser) - Gravity pulls harder on the French than it does on Americans—and a new image proves it. The graphic from earth’s lowest-flying scientific satellite shows the uneven distribution of gravity across the world, resulting in an exaggerated “potato”-shaped image, the BBC reports. The new data could have...

Radiation Thwarts Search for Bodies in Japan

Many near Fukushima Dai-ichi reactor can't be recovered

(Newser) - Japanese authorities delivered some devastating news to the thousands waiting for word of their loved ones’ fates yesterday: Radiation may prevent many bodies near the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant from being recovered. Yesterday, for example, police told CNN that they found a body in the town of Okuma, but had to...

Fukushima's Disaster Plan: A Stretcher and a Fax

Plant was woefully unprepared for natural disaster

(Newser) - Tokyo Electric Power Co. had a disaster plan in place at its Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant, but certainly not a very thorough one: It only involved one stretcher, and relied heavily on a satellite phone and fax machine for emergency communications. In a look at the plan, the Wall Street ...

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