Blog
EARTHQUAKE in Tokyo
Page 5
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^^^^^^Local Tokyo Time^^^^^^
Direct link to start of quake photos - You can return to the main site by clicking on the 4WARND logo at the top of the gallery pages.
7/22/2011 5:23pm - I think I am going back to the old style of news listing. The other way looks better but is time consuming to code. Because of work and other projects I also have a backlog of items I want to put up. Unfortunately many of the news items I have listed previously have a limited shelf life apparently and so some of the links are dead now. I guess the world has moved on to other news even if it is all still very current here. If you run across dead links feel free to let me know. The New York Times also throws a monkey wrench into things by moving a readily available story to their subscription site not long after it comes out. So the former story link takes you to their sign-in page.
Here are the last two installments from the 6/14/2011 blog entry:
NUCLEAR CRISIS: HOW IT HAPPENED / 'Nuclear power village' a cozy, closed community (part six)
NUCLEAR CRISIS: HOW IT HAPPENED / Time needed for fresh start of N-power policy (part seven)
The following are topics covering the last several weeks. I wish I had time to comment on all of them but I need to get them posted before they too disappear.
Kansai mulls own nuke nightmare vulnerability
Gov't allows part of radioactive tainted sludge to be buried
43 condenser pipes damaged at Shizuoka nuke plant
Fukushima City to give dosimeters to 34,000 children from fall
Govt refines evacuation system
Latest revisions confuse locals
The Dark Underbelly of Japan's Earthquake Recovery
Tokyo starts radiation checks at 100 locations
Japan to expand evacuation areas around nuclear plant
Gov't to use surplus funds to create 2nd quake-relief budget
Govt faces roadblocks on 2nd extra budget
Japan should start gradual sales tax hike in 2012: IMF officials
Number of foreign visitors to Japan halved in May
March 11 quake insurance payouts likely to top 1 tril. yen
Radioactive sushi fear hits markets
TEPCO suspends cleanup at Fukushima plant
Water cleanup system shut down at Japan nuke plant
Ships tossed ashore by Japan tsunami get rescued
Japan's "throwaway" nuclear workers
Japan's suicide rates soar by up to 39 per cent in areas hit by the earthquake
As Japan's towns scrutinize reactors, Tokyo sweats
Japanese turn from English, look inward
Japan cleaning radioactive water, says PM aide
Sunflowers to clean radioactive soil in Japan
Osaka could be submerged by tsunami after M9.0 quake: expert
TEPCO: Will Someone Turn Off the Lights?
Japan's contaminated beef scare widens
N-plant workers still labor under severe conditions
Japan tackles mountains of trash left in tsunami's wake
Return of evacuees still up in the air
Tepco plans for cold shutdown by January
Japan's nuclear crisis: Fukushima plant stability in sight?
7/25/2011 10:23am - Well I had wondered how long it would be before I backed off the edge and now I think I have an answer. Last night at 3:51am we had a 6.2M quake that lasted for a good while. It did wake me but didn't send me bolt upright though I knew I probably should have been more awake than I was. I guess nothing short of items flying around the room and furniture creaking madly as it wobbles will roust me now. I'm hoping that's not the case since total complacency is really not a good thing over here or anywhere I guess. In any event I ran across a really slick earthquake map animation this morning and figured I'd post it here. Let it run from the 11th-13th at least; starts slow until just before 3pm on the 11th. Between March 11-13 there were 343 quakes if you add in the 14th we had 414.
Also found a good map site for showing the distance from Tokyo to Fukushima. My apartment is about 10-15miles West, and the office is less than a mile West, of the Tokyo point.
7/31/2011 10:50am - At 3:53am we had another 6.4M quake. It definitely woke me up and got me out of bed because of how long it lasted; it just didn't seem like it could make up its mind, keep going or stop. It would hit a crescendo then relax a bit and change directions (left/right, forward/back) and start building up again. This is I think the 3rd 6M+ quake in almost exactly the same area in the past 10 days. It gets my mind thinking about that other shoe falling, or in this case another big quake coming.
addendum - I was looking for more quake info an ran across a conspiracy theory on a site that touts "natural health, natural living" Would you believe that there are those out there that think the triple disasters here were man-made brought about by a nuclear attack and everything that's happened since is a cover-up of that event? It amazes me what passes for "evidence" and "critical-thinking" out there and the lengths some will go to get their 15 minutes. This is one article I think can go without posting, they don't need the traffic.
9/11/2011 2:46:23pm - On the anniversary of both the U.S. tragedy ten years ago and the Japanese disasters 6 months ago I thought I should post something to commemorate the events. (You'll note the time listed for this post is the same as the quake back in March.) When I watched the World Trade Center destruction on TV here in Japan I was simply stupefied. In March many of the same conflicted thoughts and feelings hit me again but with a few added since I was actually here when the disaster struck. It's harder to have the remote, removed, TV viewing experience when it's happening to you right now. It makes things more visceral to be sure but after some time looking back from relative safety all you can think is that the world, and the people in it, have the potential for some really nasty things on incredibly large scales. It makes me glad for the days in-between but forcefully reminds me to try and be prepared since one really has no idea what is coming one's way or when. It's Aesop's Fable about The Ant and the Grasshopper with a twist being the unknown time frame. (Additionally it is the whole "forewarned forearmed" theme from which this site takes its name.)
It's really hard to maintain vigilance, I've said this more than once. Six months out it is still fresh in my mind and I am still working to make myself more prepared however I have also let some things go. Radiation still leaks from the Fukushima plant but I've pushed the thought of it further back in my mind to an area that only provides a niggling tingle. So I do check radiation readings every few days but I still haven't bought a radiation bunny suit, mask, or Geiger counter and more telling perhaps is that I am still here in Japan. For those of you still out there reading here, thanks, I hope some of the information has proved interesting if not particularly sunny in outlook. Actually the trading company has been slowly picking up which is definitely a ray of sunshine. One drawback is that my office looks more like a storeroom. To paraphrase a friend of mine: I'm looking forward to the day we are moving so much product that it won't fit in my office anymore.
I've been collecting the following info for a few weeks so it's not exactly "new" news.
High-level radiation detected again at Fukushima Daiichi plant
Vice minister says gov't still aiming for 10 tril. yen tax hike
Japanese rice to be tested for radioactive cesium - Some rice has been found to be tainted but supposedly below health risk.
Tepco to start work by year-end to block radiation water leak to sea
AP IMPACT: Japan ignored own radiation forecasts
Japan tsunami tore off huge chunk of Antarctica ice shelf
Govt inspection abilities stretched to limit
Unit 3 MOX likely melted through
TEPCO knew waters could reach 15 meters
Cesium release equal to 168 Hiroshima A-bombs
Six lessons Japan can teach the West
Spooked consumers snapping up cheap Geiger counters
Government's move to monitor online sparks public outcry - Big Brother?
Fukushima Robot Operator Writes Tell-All Blog - Read this one. It got away from Big Brother.
Japan Triples Airborne Radiation Checks as 'Hot Spots' Spread
Chances of big quake below Tokyo rising
34 spots top Chernobyl evacuation standard - These only reflect points within the expanded evac zones and not a comprehensive sampling outside those areas.
TEPCO announces compensation details
JOC files for Tokyo's Olympic bid - Irresponsible? The failed bid for the 2016 games cost $184.3 million not to mention what it will cost if they actually have to put the games on.
Plugging leaks will end crisis, not cold shutdown: analysts
Tepco builds frame of cover for reactor No. 1
Effect of contaminated soil on food chain sparks fears
Is the Japanese mafia exploiting workers at Fukushima?
9/21/2011 5:33pm - TYPHOON! - This is the worst I've had here. Water is blowing under the sliding glass balcony doors and hosing my carpet and tatami flooring. Tried to go out and tape the door seams but it only helped a little. Can't tell for sure if it's only the windows leaking or a gap at the frame but it's coming in and I can only slow it. I just hope the panes don't blow out. I'm already out of towels so I'm just trying to keep from getting more on the carpets. What a mess! The wind is so strong the building is shaking like a mild quake (my fish quake detector is swinging slightly) and this is a 12 story concrete building.
9/21/2011 7:35pm - The worst has past. A bit further West of me they clocked wind speeds of around 100mph. I wouldn't be surprised if it was pretty close to that here. I covered the kitchen and other vents with plastic wrap and tape to try and decrease the wind from blowing through the apartment and bringing with it water; at first it held the plastic wrap without tape like a vacuum. The typhoon shut down nearly all of the trains and subways around Tokyo from about 4pm. I had talked to my guys at the office earlier and they had recommended that I stay home today; good thing I listened to them. ;-)
One other thing of interest, I've been monitoring the radiation at a number of locations maintained by the government via my iPod and over the last 10 days or so the readings had not moved more than about .001-.002µSv/h (Oshima .054µSv/h and Ukishima .064µSv/h near Kawasaki; South of me). Today the readings were .074µSv/h and .091µSv/h at those locations. Also for comparison here's a pair of graphs taken from the Geiger Counter link on page 2. Charts
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