Updated March 22nd, 2011 @1:02pm
Hi guys: This is my last update for Japan. Many of the links (to resources, news and updates) posted below will be of use to you for a long time, still. In the categories menu on the right, there will always be a Japan Earthquake category, just as there is a Christchurch Earthquake category, where you’ll find these both posts for as long as my blog is up and running.
I have been neglected my life away from my laptop (well at least away from my blog), and I need to get back to it.
* I’ve found a series of interviews done by an American grad student at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. She’s been interviewing her dad – “a US Navy Commander (USNR, Ret.) and nuclear engineer with decades of experience on both nuclear submarines and nuclear power plants, including a plant very similar to the Fukushima plant” – about well, the nuclear situation in Japan. I’ve been trying to provide you all with views from scientists who should know about these things, and these interviews are a solid addition to the links below. Evelyn and her dad have been working hard on the interviews, and I think it’s a wonderfully educational thing that they’ve done.
Finally, the following link is to an article I read at The New Yorker this morning. It is eloquently written and a fitting last update.
* Letter from Japan: Aftershocks
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Updated March 21st, 2011 @9:54pm
* from BNC, Fukushima March 21st Update
* Rescuing Japan’s animals
* Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue – Facebook site * Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue Site – actual site
blurb from FB:
We are a coalition created to positively support rescue efforts for the animals who have been affected by the devastating earthquake that hit Japan March 11, 2011 and its aftermath.
We are a coalition of three no kill shelter groups;
HEART-Tokushima http://www.heart-tokushima.com/ENGLISH/WELCOME.html
Animal Garden Niigata http://angelswithfurjapan.wordpress.com/category/organizations/animal-garden-niigata/
Japan Cat Network http://www.japancatnet.com/ – As well as a individual volunteers who have put aside their own terror and confusion to help
We are no kill groups that have been rescuing and re-homing animals in Japan for many years. Funds will be used directly for animal rescue and support. We can not yet know what international groups will be specifically donating but we expect our funds to be paying for veterinary care including vaccines, microchips, antibiotics, and medicine, food, cages, and cost of transporting animals.
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Updated March 20th, 2011 @ 11:45pm
* from BNC, Fukushima: 19th March update(posted on the 20th) – these posts are basically updated through the comments until there’s another post
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Updated March 18th, 2011 @4:30pm
* from BNC, Fukushima: 18 March morning updates, radiation, tsunamis
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Updated March 18th, 2011 @ 12:45
*Ah! Thanks to Best Friends Animal Society, I’ve got many more resources and links for you in regards to our furry (and not so furry) family. I do love this organization.
* Also, HERE’S another blogger who seems to know what he’s talking about in regards to the nuclear plant situation
* from io9 – Why a nuclear reactor will never become a bomb. Also, How does radiation travel and what kind of damage does it do.
* also, a big shout out goes to the plant workers who are trying their hardest to get the situation under control
And, for current developments, stick with BNC link I posted last night. Through the comments, it’s constantly updated and evolving until he can post another one.
Some of you may be wondering why my latest updates have been almost entirely on the nuclear plant situation. In my mind, it’s the part of this whole horrid disaster that people are being the MOST misinformed about. And, there’s nothing worse than hysteria caused by hyperbole. To this end, I have been searching for people/scientists whom I think have the right knowledge/credentials/background to analyze the whole deal. I’ve been completely ignoring much of the MSM, because IMO, they’ve been the worst culprits with spreading bad science – it helps to find out the actual science and technical details behind something like this. They have certainly not been doing the public any favors there, and if I can help bring any clarity and facts to a situation in which much of the information presented is speculative, then I am doing what I set out to accomplish with this post. I am simply providing the links because, while I have my critical-thinking cap on 100% of the time, I, personally, am not qualified to analyze this whole thing myself – and I am leaving it up to you, my readers, to read the facts, data and analysis for yourselves and come to some sort of better-informed conclusions for yourselves. It’s what I’ve been trying to do myself this whole time, so I’m basically just making available what I’ve been reading. I hope this post has been of some use to you all.
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Updated March 17th, 2011 @10:52pm
Well, the most sane, rational, informative and least hysterical analysis I’ve found is still coming from Professor Barry Brook at the University of Adelaide (Australia). I’ve been posting links from his BraveNewClimate website in earlier updates and I’m posting the March 17th overview here – in every one of his updates, he posts links to his earlier posts. This is the only link I’m going to post tonight before I go to bed, because I’ve been up for days reading about all the stuff I’ve been posting about, and my brain has reached saturation point for now. I ran outside to take pictures of the beautiful night earlier and posted them, so I could take a big, deep, much-needed blog breath. It’s been intense. I’ve neglected my bass guitar practice (I haven’t played all week) and haven’t studied my German as much as I should, so, I’m going to take tomorrow day and give the updating a rest. [Strangely enough, I did manage to work on my book for the first time in a few months, so that was good:)]
So, goodnight for now. And, thank you for sticking with me:)
* BNC March 17th Fukushima Nuclear Accident update
Oh, I know. I already said goodnight, but I just had to add this one in since I just found it. It concerns pets/animals.
* Animal Refuge Kansai is non-profit organization affiliated with the SPCA, and seems to have a location in Tokyo and one in Osaka – they have information and possible help for lost and found pets – read more on the website – it is in English and Japanese (please let me know if you hear of any other resources concerning pets)
* I found that website under the comments HERE – which is a website written by a young man working in Japan, who is doing a fantastic job posting updates and resources on the earthquake (see especially his Quick Links and Information)
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Updated March 17th, 2011 @6:00am
Hey guys – I have some more links for you. Mostly on the nuclear situation.
Firstly, I’ve been reading a lot about how how nuclear power works, not having known a thing about the science/physics of any of it before this all happened. I have several links in the earlier updates which will help with that (especially with technical specifics about the nuclear reactors in Japan and what’s going on], but I’ve decided to add some basic stuff as well:
* Difference between Chemical and Nuclear Reactions
* Very Elementary [Relevant] Physics – mostly nuclear – helpful to learn/review/piggy-back to other bits you might want to review or learn more about
* What the hell is a millisievert (+all kinds of other Radiation info)
* Further explanation on radiation, millisieverts and grays (http://Sciblogs.co.nz)
* More Radiation Basics
* Nuclear Power Basics – in more accessible terms [keep in mind that the reactors in Japan are Boiling Water Reactors – for when you get to that section]
* Nuclear Power Science – more scientifically detailed, but not impossible to understand – the tabs at the top are just bookmarks for the page – also if you click on the blue words, they’re defined for you
* How to Shut Down a Nuclear Reactor
Secondly, here are a few (relevant) Japan News Site links:
* Kyodo News/English – Live Updates and Recent News – specifically on the nuclear situation
* NHK World/English – Japan Broadcast Corporation – Updates and Relevant News
* NHK World TV Live Video Stream/English
*Mainichi Daily News/English
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Updated March 16th, 2011 @3:30pm
* another update from the guy at the Uni of Adelaide who’s been explaining things really well – Here’s the blurb he starts with: “Note that this is a blog, not a news website, and thus the following analysis, like all others on BraveNewClimate, is a mixture of news and opinion — but facts remain paramount.”
Stick with the facts.
* Also, How to Shut Down a Nuclear Reactor – from Sciblogs.co.nz
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Updated March 16th, 2011 @ 12:30am
Obviously the worst case scenario will be far from pleasant, but it’s not going to be equivalent to Chernobyl. I’m only going to say this once, and for right now, simply post a few articles. There isn’t enough time in the world to combat the mass hyperbole, misinformation, and hysteria (largely perpetrated by the MSM).
* Japan’s nuclear crisis and Chernobyl: key differences – Christian Science Monitor
* Chernobyl-style meltdown ‘not possible’ in Japan: Analyst – Deutche Welle
* Japan Nuclear Danger Is No Chernobyl – Discovery News
* Sizing Up Japan’s Nuclear Emergency: No Chernobyl – NPR
* Also, an accessible explanation of the science involved for what happened with the reactors in Japan and subsequent updates.
*more updates here and Japanese Broadcast Corporation News here
p.s. Apparently, Bill Nye the Science Guy was interviewed on CNN on the nuclear plant situation in Japan. Hmmm. During his interview, he stated that the control rods used in controlling the chain reaction within the core were made with Cesium. That is wrong. Cesium (specifically Cesium-137) is a common product of nuclear fission, not one of the materials used to control it. He apparently screwed up a few other things, but I thought this was the most important. The second to the last link above has been quite helpful. Before I read it, I would never have known that. You learn something new every day.
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Updated March 15th, 2011 @12:15pm
Well, I’ve now added a Japan Earthquake category to the right, especially for this post, where it will always be found. I think I’ve added some really important ones in the next paragraph – and I’ve got a lot of info and links below which will remain relevant for some time – many of the news sites I’ve linked to are constantly updating the news, especially on the nuclear situation. I have been visiting a lot of posts on Sciblogs.co.nz lately. Mostly because it’s a site based New Zealand (where I live) and many of the posts they’ve been doing, like these, Tsunami Forecast Animation and Warning Systems, Earthquake prediction: Is GPS our best Shot, and Ring of Fire – Animated Map of World Earthquakes between Jan 1st and March 12th, are especially pertinent to all of us countries in the Ring of Fire – not to mention of great interest in general. Also, Weekend shorts (including Japan earthquake links), is choc-full of great science information, which is really good for people like me , who go straight for the science when these things happen (as you can probably tell, by many of the links I’ve posted below). Like I said before, it’s what makes me feel better.
Finally, one of my friends posted this on FB, and I’d like to share it. It’s a translation of the much quoted opening lines from the classical Japanese text, the Hōjōki (1212), by Kamo no Chōmei.
行く川のながれは絶えずして、しかも本の水にあらず。よどみに浮かぶうたかたは、かつ消えかつ結びて久しくとゞまることなし。世の中にある人とすみかと、またかくの如し。
Ceaselessly the river flows, and yet the water is never the same, while in the still pools the shifting foam gathers and is gone, never staying for a moment. Even so is man and his habitation.
[Trans: Sadler]
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Updated March 13th, 2011 @12:05 pm& 5:25pm (Added video links and visit Live Update news sites for news on nuclear plants and latest developments – plus International Atomic Energy Agency(IAEA) website – links below) Also, it’s probably still early, but if anyone has information on efforts to rescue animals/pets please let me know and I will post those links.) In the meantime, Facebook has a group here that you can click on to help one organization send rescue dogs to Japan
Updated March 13, 2011 @12:01am (Tsunami warning canceled for NZ by NZCD. See below for that link and final NZ effects) Also, for nuclear plant updates, see particularly The Guardian’s coverage – link below.
Updated March 12, 2011 @11:50 (Several of the links I have posted below were provided by the helpful scientists at Sciblogs.co.nz – visit for even more links to sites with info and articles. )
First published Mar 11, 2011 @23:0 5
And we were just in Tokyo for a couple of days last month on our way back from our trip. I haven’t even posted the pictures yet.
From what I gather, Tokyo is built exceedingly well for earthquakes, SkyNews keeps saying that it could have been worse in the city – the epicenter was 168km east of Tokyo and they had a bit of warning thanks to their Quake Warning System – keep in mind, this is only still a maximum of around 30 seconds.
Reading the news of the earthquake and watching the footage, my heart just sinks for the people of Japan. Kia Kaha!
Okay. To the links.
RELATED ARTICLES/SITES THAT WILL HAVE ONGOING UPDATES/EMERGENCY NUMBERS AND RESOURCES:
* First, the Japan earthquake was NOT related to the NZ [Christchurch] earthquake. Here’s why, See also here.
* And, because many of you are probably asking again about being able to “predict” earthquakes, here are several scientists’ solid explanations. And, no, Ken Ring still can’t predict earthquakes. His particular moon-y claims are false.
*Live Updates & News from The Guardian, Reuters Live Blog, Al-Jazeera English Live Blog, BBC News, NZ Herald, ABC (Australian) Live Update
*Live Updates from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
* more nuclear plant info gathered by the Science Media Centre – SMC (NZ) – it’s best to be informed before we panic, imo
* provided by Google Crisis Response – Emergency numbers, maps, resources, latest news: On this page we are providing the information regarding the disaster and damage with realtime updates: Local Japan Emergency dials, Alarm and warning, Disaster message boards, Transportation status (Japanese language), Blackout info (Japanese language), Useful maps, Missing Person Finder, Latest News
* from Al-Jazeera English: the World sends help to Japan
*Reuters Factbox: Chronology of Events: [power out for 4,000,000 homes – that’s the whole population of NZ!]
* More news from The Telegraph, including a report that there’s an problem with a key cooling system at a nuclear reactor. That can’t be good. I’m sure we’ll be kept updated on that. All of the above places with Live Updates will have those. (See also IAEA website above)
*photos from the LATimes, Boston Globe, NZHerald, photos and info and at the Sydney Morning Herald and before and after photos from ABC (Australia)
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SCIENCE:
*Data, statistics, charts, and maps from the USGS (US Geological Survey)
* How to Track a Tsunami across the Ocean Floor – in particular, how this one was tracked
* Tsunami Time Travel Map from (US) National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration [NOAA] in an article about the possible resulting impending tsunami in Hawaii
* Updates from LiveScience.com – one of which says that the entire island of Honshu has moved eastward by 8ft
* @Live Science – Why Do Some Earthquakes Cause Tsunamis But Others Don’t?
* Scientists say that although a major earthquake was expected to occur sometime in the next 30 years, the magnitude 8.9 still came as a surprise
* Also, Japan’s quake shifted the earth’s axis by 25 centimetres! Which just goes to show how massive an event this was. In comparison, the the 8.8 Chile earthquake (Feb 2010) shifted the earth’s figure axis by 8 cm, shortening a day by 1.26millionths of a second! wow. Read more: http://www.canada.com/news/Japan+quake+shifts+earth+axis+centimetres/4426356/story.html#ixzz1GL97VCam
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INTERACTIVE MAPS:
*blurb from seattletimes: An interactive map of the Japan earthquake and tsunami by Esri incorporates social media updates along with news and seismic information. The map allows users to view geotagged Twitter updates, YouTube videos and Flickr photos and search for specific hashtags or terms within each. It also has a Ushahidi.com layer, which displays messages related to locating trapped people, Esri says. Go HERE to get directly to the map. It might take a minute to load all the info.
* from ABC (Australian Broadcast Company) Comparison of notable earthquakes
*Tsunami Map of the World
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VIDEO:
* from The Guardian: Japan confronts full scale of quake devastation
* from Al-Jazeera English: Quake-related videos
* videos at the BBC
* collection of footage from NZ Herald
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STREAMING VIDEO:
*Live Stream at Al-Jazeera English
* Japanese News Stream of TBStv: I don’t speak Japanese (I have been watching it anyways), but some of you might understand/speak Japanese, so here you go. Thanks to Jack Yan for providing the link.
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NEW ZEALAND:
* NZ Herald: 9:08pm The US tsunami monitoring centre has widened a warning to virtually the entire Pacific coast, including New Zealand, Australia and South America.
* Huh, never seen a Tsunami Alert message on the www.google.com search page before. Now there’s a resource pages link. (See above)
* NZ Civil Defence – official site
* Full NZ Civil Defence warning: (from NZ Herald)
A tsunami marine warning is in effect for New Zealand. The tsunami warning will remain in effect until a cancellation message is issued by MCDEM.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre (PTWC) has issued a Tsunami Warning for New Zealand in response to the earthquake in Japan. The New Zealand Tsunami Expert Panel assessment is that this is a marine threat only for New Zealand. A Marine Threat means strong and unusual currents are possible in the sea, rivers and estuaries. No land threat is expected at this time.
Historical events and pre-calculated tsunami models indicate that the largest impact (up to 1 m wave height at the coastline) is expected along the coasts of the central and northern North Island (i.e. from East Cape northwards and from Kaipara northwards). First arrivals in the upper North Island are expected to coincide with a low tide.
Only messages issued by MCDEM represent the official warning status for New Zealand. Local civil defence authorities may supplement these messages by applying local threat assessments.
The first wave to arrive to New Zealand will be in the areas around North Cape at approximately 6:23am tomorrow, March 12. The first wave may arrive later and may not be the largest.
*Update: Australia and New Zealand , have been removed from the US Pacific tsunami warning list. The Joint Australian Tsunami Warning Centre has confirmed there is no tsunami threat to Australia but New Zealand’s Civil Defence has still issued an advisory/tsunami marine warning.
* Update (12/3/11 – 11:50): NZCD keeps the advisory/tsunami marine warning. Waves hitting NZ have increased in height.
People in coastal areas marked Green and Blue on the Threat Level map [below] should:
1. Stay off beaches
2. Stay out of the water (sea, rivers and estuaries, including boating activities)
3. Do not go sightseeing
4. Share this information with family, neighbours and friends
5. Listen to the radio and/or TV for updates
6. Follow instructions of your local Civil Defence authorities.
First arrival at North Cape indicates that actual arrival times may be up to an hour later than the modelled times published earlier.
MCDEM and scientific advisors are closely monitoring the situation to determine the severity of the threat to New Zealand. This warning has been issued to all local civil defence authorities, emergenency services, other agencies and media.
*Update (13/3/11 12:01)
1730, 12 March, 2011
Issued by the Ministry of Civil Defence & Emergency Management (MCDEM). Tsunami warning cancelled:
According to scientifc advice, no further tsunami threat exists for New Zealand coastlines as a result of the earthquake described below. Nonetheless minor fluctuations in sea level may continue for up to 48 hours and caution is advised on beaches and in marine environments.
* from NZ Herald: Tsunami Warnings put Kiwis on Edge
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