JAPAN

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Fresh aftershock in Japan rouses fear, kills 2By the CNN Wire StaffApril 8, 2011 12:44 a.m. EDT

Tokyo (CNN) -- A powerful quake struck Japan on Thursday, killing two and triggering a tsunami warning for one prefecture and advisories in others, officials said.

The warning and advisories were lifted about 90 minutes later, the Japan Meteorological Agency said, but it left millions of Japanese rattled. The quake was closer to the Japanese coast than last month's 9.0-magnitude quake.

There were reports of two casualties in the earthquake zone, and 132 people were injured, officials said. Seventeen of the 132 were thought to have serious injuries, the National Police Agency said. A handful of roads were damaged as well as a few homes. The Yamagata Prefectural office said a 63-year-old woman died after a power outage caused by the quake stopped her oxygen, which relied on electricity. A second person died in the Miyagi Prefecture, the office there said, though it did not say who or how.

The Japan Meteorological Agency said the quake was a magnitude 7.4. The U.S. Geological Survey said it was 7.1. The USGS also said Thursday's quake could be considered an aftershock, making it the biggest one since the March 11 quake.

Workers evacuated the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant after the quake, the Tokyo Electric Power Company said. The company said it has communication with the plant, and the power is still on there. There were no immediate reports of damage, it said.

The workers returned later and were assessing any impact, CNN's Kyung Lah reported Friday. TEPCO later said its work was not impacted by the quake.



About four million homes remained without power, police said, and water and train services were disrupted in some places.

The quake's epicenter was off the coast of Miyagi Prefecture in northeastern Japan, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

The USGS said the quake was centered 41 miles (66 kilometers) from Sendai -- one of the areas worst hit by last month's 9.0-magnitude quake -- and 73 miles (118 kilometers) from Fukushima, where a crisis has been under way at the nuclear plant since last month's tsunami.

Public broadcaster NHK had reported a tsunami warning for Miyagi, saying people in that area should evacuate away from the shore to a safe place.

NHK also reported tsunami advisories for the Pacific coast of Aomori Prefecture, and for the Iwate, Fukushima and Ibaraki prefectures.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said based on all available data, "a destructive Pacific-wide tsunami is not expected and there is not a tsunami threat to Hawaii."

The quake was centered 207 miles (333 kilometers) from Tokyo, the USGS said. It was 30.4 miles (49 kilometers) deep, the agency reported. The Japanese Meteorological Agency estimated the depth as 60 kilometers.

The earthquake took place shortly after 11:30 p.m. (10:30 a.m. ET).


www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/04/07/japan.quake/index.html?hpt=T1&iref=BN1

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Three strong aftershocks jolt Japanese quake zone
The new temblors in northeastern Japan strike within a span of 10 minutes with magnitudes of 7.1, 6.0 and 5.6. They come as the government announces plans to expand the evacuation area near the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

April 11, 2011, 8:06 a.m.
Reporting from Tokyo and Rikuzentakata, Japan— Three powerful aftershocks struck already jittery northeastern Japan within the span of 10 minutes on Monday, as the government announced new plans to expand the evacuation area near a stricken nuclear plant due to high radiation levels.

Japan is trying to rebuild after a magnitude 9.0 earthquake on March 11 triggered a tsunami that killed thousands and left countless others homeless. The tsunami has also caused several fires and explosions at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, which has leaked dangerous isotopes into the air, soil and water.

The first of Monday's tremors, which trapped some victims in collapsed homes and vehicles, hit at 5:16 p.m. near the coast in Fukushima prefecture, registering a magnitude 7.1 at a depth of 6 miles underground, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.

Photos: Covering the Japan earthquake

It was sizable enough to rock buildings in Tokyo, about 150 miles to the south. A magnitude 6.0 quake hit a minute later in the same area, followed by another -- a magnitude 5.6 temblor -- nine minutes after that.

Aftershocks continued hours later, the agency said. In neighboring Ibaraki prefecture, one man died after falling and hitting his head during the shaking, according to the local Ryugasaki fire department.

The quakes also triggered a landslide that buried three homes in Iwaki city. A 16-year-old girl died in the landslide, and three other men pulled from the rubble were unconscious and taken to a hospital, according to public broadcaster NHK.

Officials issued a tsunami warning after the quakes but later lifted it.

The quakes temporarily knocked out the power to the Fukushima nuclear power plant and led to a 50-minute stoppage in the water-spraying operations to cool four of the plant's six reactors. Highways were closed, bullet train services to the region were halted briefly, and as many 220,000 homes in Fukushima prefecture were without power.

On Monday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said the government would expand a 12-mile evacuation area near the nuclear plant, adding to the thousands who have already been told to leave their homes.

Unlike the government's previous evacuation orders, the new one is based on data that show higher than normal radiation levels extending to towns and villages that are beyond even the government's recommendation to stay indoors for residents living 12 to 18 miles away.

It was unclear how many residents would be affected by the new order, which the government plans to carry out over the next month. Edano noted that the risk of a massive radiation leak from the Fukushima plant was "considerably lower."

Photos: Covering the Japan earthquake

framework.latimes.com/2011/04/04/behind-the-lens-covering-the-japan-earthquake-aftermath/#/0

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Japanese Nuclear Crisis Upgraded To Level 7 Event, On Par With ChernobylPublished on Tue, 04/12/2011 - 07:58

By Tim Tracy in General Interest, japan, News Update
The Japanese nuclear-safety authorities raised the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant crisis to a level 7 "Major Accident," which indicates a "major release of radioactive material with widespread health and environmental effects requiring implementation of planned and extended countermeasures."

That is the highest level on the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale, and has been assigned to only one accident in the past, the 1986 Chernobyl disaster in which 56 people were killed and multiple cities were completely abandoned.

The Nuclear Safety Commission cautioned comparisons to Chernobyl however, saying the amount of radiation leaking from the Fukushima plant was so far only around 10% of that released in the catastrophic 1986 disaster that occurred in the former Soviet Union.

The Fukushima crisis had previously been rated a level 5 event, on par with the Three Mile Island accident in the U.S. in 1979.

VIDEO:

fnno.com/video/japan/331-japanese-nuclear-crisis-upgraded-level-7-event-par-wi-japan?utm_source=FNNOMidday&utm_medium=email&utm_term=news+story&utm_campaign=04122011&mtcCampaign=13307&mtcEmail=37710688

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Radioactive Iodine Found In Philadelphia 4/11/2011 11:38:41 AM

New data released by the EPA shows the spread of radioactive iodine from the Fukushima nuclear accident to the Philadelphia drinking water supply. Video courtesy Fox News.

VIDEO:
online.wsj.com/video/radioactive-iodine-found-in-philadelphia/CF7600FD-4AD8-49CF-8839-4E015503BFBF.html?mod=WSJ_article_related