Japan races to avert a catastrophe after fire broke out on Wednesday at a nuclear plant that has sent low levels of radiation wafting into Tokyo, prompting some people to flee the capital and triggering growing international alarm at the escalating crisis. Refresh this page for latest updates.
5:45 pm: Tech site IEEE Spectrum reports that leading Japanese experts in rescue robotics are deploying wheeled and snake-like robots to assist rescue workers in the ongoing search for survivors. A team led by Satoshi Tadokoro of Tohoku University, the story says, will deploy the 'Active Scope Camera', a remote-operated, snake-like robot with a scope camera that is capable of slithering into small, cramped spaces. Dr Eiji Koyanagi of the Chiba Institute of Technology's robotics center will deploy Quince, an agile robot with tank-like tracks capable of driving over rubble and climbing stairs. The robotic assistants will be of help in the devastated regions, where huge piles of debris hamper the efforts of relief workers.
5:26 pm: The US Geological Survey reports a fresh quake, magnitude 5, at a depth of 24.7 km (15.3 miles) off the eastern coast of Honshu.
5:23 pm: A core team of 180 emergency workers who, earlier in the day, were ordered to evacuate the premises of Fukushima 1 after radiation levels rose to unacceptable levels, are now preparing to go back in and resume their attempts to cool off the reactor. Yahoo News has the full story
A more detailed understanding of what the workers are going through, and the problems they face, is encapsulated in this Time story
4:53 pm: An analysis of the status of the nuclear reactors at Fukushima No 1 plant, from Kyodo news:
Reactor No. 1: Cooling failure, partial melting of core, vapor vented, building damaged by hydrogen explosion, seawater being pumped in.
Reactor No. 2: Cooling failure, seawater being pumped in, fuel rods fully exposed temporarily, vapor vented, building damaged Monday by blast at Reactor No. 3, damage to containment vessel on Tuesday, potential meltdown feared.
Reactor No. 3: Cooling failure, partial melting of core feared, vapor vented, seawater being pumped in, building damaged Monday by hydrogen explosion, high-level radiation measured nearby on Tuesday, plume of smoke observed Wednesday, damage to containment vessel likely.
Reactor No. 4: Under maintenance when quake struck, fire Tuesday possibly caused by hydrogen explosion at pool holding spent fuel rods, pool water level not observed, fire observed Wednesday at building housing reactor, no water poured in to cool pool.
Reactor No. 5, No. 6: Under maintenance when quake struck, temperature slightly rising in spent fuel pool.
4:29 pm: In Japan, he is famous as the 'Dancing Maharajah' his films release in Tokyo the same day as in his native Chennai. When Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visited Japan in 2006 and addressed the Japanese Parliament, the most prolonged applause was for his reference to the popularity Rajnikanth in Japan, and how it helped buttress the relationship between the two countries. Times of India now reports that Rajnikanth is keen to do his bit to aid the quake victims in a land where he is so popular. The paper reports that besides exhorting other members of the south film fraternity to do all they can, Rajnikanth is setting up a team to visit Japan, take stock of the crisis and find out ways to help.
4:16 pm: Over 80,000 Self-Defense Forces personnel, police officers and firefighters are now engaged in relief and rescue operations in the devastated areas of northeastern Japan, where temperatures have dropped to sub-zero. Kyodo News quotes the National Police Agency as confirming 3,771 deaths in 12 prefectures and a further 8,181 people unaccounted for in six prefectures. Kyodo says the toll will start climbing rapidly now, as recovery of bodies mainly in the tsunami-hit coastal areas has just now started in full swing following the lifting of the tsunami warnings and the withdrawal of flood waters. The full story.
4:14 pm: Japanese Emperor Akihito made an unprecedented televised address to his disaster-stricken nation on Wednesday, saying he was "deeply worried" by the crisis at damaged nuclear reactors and urging people to help each other in difficult times. The full story
4:10 pm: Toyota Motor Corp, which suspended production in the wake of the March 11 quake, plans to resume limited production from Thursday, Kyodo News reports. The company will resume output of engine and other vehicle parts for domestic auto production, and next Monday will also resume the production of parts to be shipped overseas for local assembly, the company is quoted by Kyodo as saying. However, Toyota currently sees no prospects of resuming production of finished vehicles.
3:55pm: From Brahma Chellaney, Professor of Strategic Studies at the Center for Policy Research in New Delhi, comes a must-read nuclear morality tale worth reading if you are interested in the ongoing events in Japan, and its implications for nuclear power worldwide. Chellaney's argument, in gist, is that the Fukushima catastrophe will give reason for "nuclear newcomers" such as India to rethink the "go nuclear" policy that ostensibly seeks to create an alternate source of energy. The problem and solution are intertwined, Chellaney argues: nuclear reactors are best sited along coastlines, but that very fact makes them uniquely vulnerable to natural disasters of the kind that struck Tokyo March 11. "Fukushima," says Chellaney, "is likely to stunt the appeal of nuclear power in a way similar to the accident at the Three Mile Island plant in Pennsylvania in 1979, not to mention the far more severe meltdown of the Chernobyl reactor in 1986. If the fallout from those incidents is a reliable guide, however, nuclear power’s advocates will eventually be back."
3:30pm: Heavy snowfall is adding to the misery of the devastated north-east coast of Japan and hindering rescue operations, Reuters reports. To add to the problems, the met agency predicts that temperatures will drop to sub-zero levels tonight in the Sendai region. The news has prompted official broadcaster NHK to offer tips on staying warm -- such as wrapping your torso in newspaper and cling film, and how to boil water using empty food cans and candles.
3:22pm: There is no evidence of a significant spread of radiation from Japan's crippled nuclear plants, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday, calling on people to remain calm and not spread rumors. Japan's nuclear crisis appeared to be spinning out of control after workers withdrew briefly from a stricken power plant because of surging radiation levels, but desperate efforts to avert a catastrophic meltdown quickly resumed.
3:20pm: The Government of India today maintained there was no threat to the country from radiation leaks from the quake-hit nuclear plant in Fukushima in Japan as these were travelling east of that country and the distance too was more than 6,500 km across the ocean mass. "I would like to assure the nation that on the basis of information received till date there is no danger to India from the radiation leaks in Fukushima," Minister of State for Science and Technology Ashwini Kumar told reporters outside Parliament House. Full story
3:15pm: Our update of 2.25 pm explains the critical need to flood the fuel rods with water -- a task emergency workers were engaged on before rising radiation levels forced them to evacuate. An attempt was made to drop water on the rods via military helicopters, but Kyodo News now reports that this attempt has been abandoned thanks to high levels of radiation. This sets up a potentially dangerous vicious cycle: as water levels drain, radiation will rise; the only way to contain that is by increased flooding of the spent rods, and rising radiation prevents that.
3:00pm:The Self-Defense Forces will not conduct a planned operation Wednesday to drop water from helicopters on the troubled No. 3 reactor of the Fukushima nuclear power plant because of the high radiation level around the plant, Defense Ministry officials said. The Ground Self-Defense Force helicopters were on standby to drop water on the reactor as it is feared the reactor may have released radioactive steam due to damage to its containment vessel. (Kyodo News)
2:48pm: Army has aborted an operation to spray water on the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, Japan's NHK TV reports.
2:34pm: Foreign firms are evacuating staff in Japan, after fears of radiation leaks at the Fukushima Daiichi plant escalated further, BBC reports. While TCS has already started the process of relocation, Infosys and HCL have given its employees the option of returning to India.
2:25pm: As noted in an earlier update, the workers who at risk of their lives were operating inside the stricken Fukushima reactors, pumping sea water into the pods containing spent fuel rods to clear them out, have been forced to leave thanks to heightened radiation levels. This has a domino effect: as the pumping of water into the pods is stopped, and water levels ebb, radiation levels will increase. Professor David Hindle tells Tania Branigan of The Guardian how this domino effect works. Quote: "Spent fuel rods are strongly radioactive and the water above them shields against that radiation so as long as the water level is sufficiently high – you can walk up to the edge of the pool and pour a bucket of water in. Once it is even close to the top of the rods the levels are too high to approach the pool, which is clearly what has happened in unit 4." The rest of the very informative post is here.
2:15pm: Nuclear timeline: An issue of concern -- and one of the main reasons the people of Japan have been criticizing the government for its handling of the crisis -- is the lack of real information coming through on the nuclear crisis. The Japanese government and its officials have been criticized for being less than transparent in providing real time information. Underlining this is a Reuters timeline that lists the various statements made at various times during the last few cataclysmic days.
2:10pm: When Nature strikes: No words, nor even the mounting toll, can adequately present a picture of Nature's fury at its most raw. But sometimes, the right visuals help provide a sense of the scale and scope of natural disasters. A case in point is this interactive presentation by the NewYork Times, that presents before and after images of the stricken areas. Consider for example the area containing Minamisanriku, which at this time last week was a flourishing town and where, today, over 10,000 people are still missing.
SATELLITE PICTURES: Japan before and after tsunami
1:55:pm: Emperor Akihito, the 125th monarch to rule Japan as per tradition, made a rare public appearance March 16 when he delivered a brief address to his people on national television. In his first public reaction since the March 11 quake and tsunami the Emperor, who only addresses the public in times of national emergency and/or war, described the quake as "unprecedented" and said he was 'deeply worried' by the problems at the Fukushimi nuclear reactor, which he described as 'unpredictable'.
1:45pm: Mouse to the rescue: Walt Disney, which has a theme park in the tsunami-hit region of Chiba and a resort in Tokyo, both of which are believed to have suffered considerable damage, has reportedly chipped in with a $2.5 million contribution to help the relief and rescue efforts in Japan. This is in addition to the as yet unknown sums the company will have to spend to repair its damaged facilities.
1:25pm: A "Big One" still to come?: The March 11 quake is now officially listed as 9 magnitude -- but what if this is not the "big one" experts have been predicting will hit Japan at some point? The National Geographic, in an informative story replete with links and charts, points out that seismologists have been long predicting that the "big one" will likely be a repeat of the 1923 Kanto quake that occurred in a dangerous fault zone far closer to Tokyo, and resulted in the death of an estimated 142,000. "Most [experts] didn't expect one so big from there," Chris Goldfinger, director of the Active Tectonics and Seafloor Mapping Laboratory at Oregon State University, is quoted as saying. That's because the Japan Trench has always produced big but not monstrous quakes, at least in the thousand years since humans have been keeping track, he said. Here's the full story
1:18pm: An Emergency How-to: In another case study of the power of social media in times of crisis, students of the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies put out an appeal on Twitter. Instantaneously, volunteers responded and have since then translated an emergency online earthquake manual into 31 major and minor languages spoken by foreigners visiting and/or based in Japan. Kyodo News has the story
1:15pm: A hero's tale: The shining light in any disaster is the story of humans who raise themselves to the level of heroes in the face of tragedy, and respond with courage as those around them are stricken. One such is the story of Robert Bailey, a Lincolnshire native and teacher based in Japan who helped save his students and others when the quake and the tsunami struck on March 11. The Daily Mail story
1:04pm: Cesium, iodine found in tapwater in Fukushima, no impact on health - Reuters quoted Kyodo News as saying.
12:55pm: A couch for the needy: Even as authorities scramble to aid those stricken by the March 11 quake, enterprising private organizations have been stepping up in interesting ways. The site Couchsurfing, a site that links travelers with locals to help the former procure decent, reasonably priced accommodation, has created a special site for the victims of the Japanese quake. The site invites displaced Japanese citizens in need of temporary accommodation to network with others who have space to spare. Here is the site
12:45 pm: Rajeev Sharma, an Indian who has just returned from disaster-hit Japan, said the Indian embassy in Tokyo had been of no help. When he got through to them after much trying, they reportedly told him they had no intimation from the government about what to do, and suggested he call again after five days. Five days, Sharma told Times Now, would have been "too late". On its website, the embassy says it has been answering up to 100 phone calls a day, and helping Indians cope with the crisis.
12:40pm:This infographic from Reuters shows the latest figures on Japan quake and tsunami
12:30pm: IPad2 launch delayed: Apple's latest version of the iconic tablet, which launched on March 11 -- the same day the 8.9 quake and resulting tsunami devastated the eastern coast of Japan -- will now face delays of up to four weeks before it arrives in Japan, CNet reports. As per the original schedule, sales of the IPad2 were slated to begin March 25, the same day the latest version of the tablet rolled out to 24 other countries around the globe. The full story
12:20pm:Fresh quakes in Japan: The United States Geological Survey reported two fresh quakes off the coast of Honshu. The first, of magnitude 5.8, is reported as located 31.1 km (19.3 miles) off the east coast of Honshu, while the second, of magnitude 4.7, is located at 25.1 km (15.6 miles), also off the east coast of Honshu.
12:15pm: Public trust in the Japanese government faces its biggest test since World War Two over the handling of the nation's nuclear crisis, raising concerns that a breakdown in confidence could fuel panic and chaos if appeals for calm go unheeded. Reuters reports that foreigners are leaving Tokyo, or shutting themselves indoors, and supermarket shelves are running empty despite authorities assuring citizens there is no need to panic. Locals have increasingly lost confidence in the government of Prime Minister Naoto Kan, which was already unpopular before the disaster struck. And it is not just the citizens who are feeling aggrieved -- Reuters reports that even the local mayor of a town close to the wrecked Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex complained that the government had failed to keep his office updated on the situation. "We've been asking the prefecture and the government to give us information quickly but we've been having to force information out of them," said Katsunobu Sakurai, mayor of Minamisoma. Read the full story
12.10pm: When tragedies strike, perhaps the saddest question that surfaces in the aftermath is "Could this have been avoided?". That question surfaced in relation to the Japan calamity, with Steven Swinford and Christopher Hope of the Telegraph, UK, reporting that an official from the International Atomic Energy Agency as warning, way back in December 2008, that safety rules in some Japanese nuclear plants were out of date, and that a strong earthquake could cause serious problems. Citing cables from Wikileaks, the Telegraph reported that the Japanese government had at the time pledged to upgrade safety measures at all its plants. However, though an emergency response center was built at the Fukushima plant, it was only designed to withstand tremors of 7.0 magnitudes, and not able to resist the 8.9 quake that struck on March 11.
11:55am: Shares in Fukushima's operator TEPCO plunge 24%7 in Tokyo's trade, the AFP reports.
11:31am: Rescue operations continues on Wednesday, with 80,000 Self-Defense Forces personnel and police officers mobilized in the devastated areas, where temperatures have dropped to midwinter levels.
The National Police Agency said it has confirmed 3,676 deaths in 12 prefectures, while 7,843 people remained unaccounted for in six prefectures as of 12:30 p.m.
The death toll, however, will inevitably climb higher as the recovery of bodies mainly in the tsunami-hit coastal areas started in full swing after waters there held back and tsunami warnings were lifted. Full story on Kyodo news
Though we have been watching it live ever since the 8.9 magnitude quake struck Japan March 11, it is still difficult …
11:40am: Though we have been watching it live ever since the 8.9 magnitude quake struck Japan March 11, it is still difficult to comprehend the scale and scope of the devastation. Aiding that understanding is this infographic from Live Science, that shows how earthquakes and tsunamis, while dangerous enough by themselves, become doubly catastrophic when they combine.
11:26am: Workers have returned to the damaged Fukushima Daiichi plant after an evacuation order was lifted, Tokyo Electric Power Company said.
11:15am: Setting aside recent tensions in their bi- and multilateral relationships, the United States and China have joined hands to help Japan cope with the aftermath of the quake and consequent tsunami, Wired.com reports. "Japan and the United States have had their share of tensions with China lately, thanks to feuds over US-Korean exercises near China's borders and disputes between China and Japan over where those borders actually lie, among other issues," Wired points out, adding that the US already has a number of warships operating on relief and rescue missions off the Japanese coast, including the entire carrier group headed by USS Ronald Reagan, and four destroyers. Four more US ships are expected to arrive off the Japanese coast within the day, Wired says. Full story
10:45am: Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh on Tuesday promised that additional safeguards would be put in place before giving environmental clearance to the planned Jaitapur Nuclear Power Plant (JNPP) in Ratnagiri, Maharashtra. Earlier this week, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh had said an immediate technical review of India's atomic plants has been ordered to check if they can withstand the impact of large natural disasters such as tsunamis and earthquakes. Read the full story on Yahoo India
10.30am: The death toll in Japan from Friday's 9.0-magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami stood at 3,676 Wednesday afternoon, authorities said, though the number of missing people increased.
9:45am:The container of the No.3 reactor of the quake-hit Fukushima No.1 nuclear power plant is feared to have been damaged and may have leaked radioactive steam Wednesday, emitting high-level radiation, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said.
The radiation level briefly topped 6 milisievert per hour at the plant, the government's nucler safety agency said.
The explanations were given after smoke was seen rising from the No.3 reactor since around 8:30 a.m., according to Edano. (Kyodo News)
9:30am: Chen Guangbiao, a 42-year-old billionaire and chief executive of recycling company Jiangsu Huangpu Renewable Resources, headed to Japan Friday to personally donate rescue supplies and 13 million yen (US$158,820) to the country’s earthquake and tsunami victims. Read more
9:00am:Dealing with the dead has become a pressing problem in Ishinomaki. The town's vice-mayor, Etsuro Kitamura, estimates that 10,000 out of a population of 160,000 may have died in the tsunami that pulverized the Japanese coast on Friday.
Although cremations are traditional, this is not an option given the shortage of fuel and the lack of facilities. "Our city has only one crematorium, which can handle perhaps 18 bodies a day," Kitamura said. "If there are 10,000 dead, it will take 500 days to burn them all. Read more on Guardian.co.uk
8:30am: Workers at Japan's earthquake-damaged Fukushima nuclear plant have evacuated the plant, after radiation levels rose, Japan's chief cabinet secretary, Yukio Edano, said.
"All the workers there have suspended their operations. We have urged them to evacuate, and they have," he said, according to a translation by NHK television.
8:20am: The IAEA says contamination levels at the plant shot up to 167 times the average dose.
Radiation exposure levels compared.
8:00am: A new fire hits the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant Wednesday, the latest in a series of setbacks that increases fears of widespread radiation contamination.
The operator of the quake-crippled plant said workers were trying to put out the blaze at the building housing the No4 reactor of the nuclear facility in Fukushima, 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo.
Experts say spent fuel rods in a cooling pool at the reactor could be exposed by the fire and spew more radiation into the atmosphere. Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said two workers were missing after blasts at the facility a day earlier blew a hole in the building housing the No 4 reactor.
Officials in Tokyo said radiation in the capital was 10 times normal at one point but not a threat to human health in the sprawling high-tech city of 13 million people.
Toxicologist Lee Tin-lap at the Chinese University of Hong Kong said such a radiation level was not an immediate threat to people but the long-term consequences were unknown.
Fears of trans-Pacific nuclear fallout sent consumers scrambling for radiation antidotes in the US Pacific Northwest and Canada. Authorities warned people would expose themselves to other medical problems by needlessly taking potassium iodide in the hope of protection from cancer.
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