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Friday, April 15, 2016

LARGEST EARTHQUAKE SINCE 2011 HITS JAPAN NEAR SENDAI NUCLEAR POWER PLANT: UPDATE 04/15

UPDATE: 04/15/2016

YET ANOTHER LARGE EARTHQUAKE HAS STRUCK  THE KUMAMOTO AREA OF JAPAN'S SOUTHERN ISLANDS, THIS TIME A 7.3 THAT HAS BEEN REPORTED NOW AS A 7.1 BY JAPAN'S METEOROLOGICAL AGENCY.

RESCUE UNITS ARE STILL PULLING PEOPLE FROM THE RUBBLE AFTER THE EARLY MORNING NEW QUAKE.

A BABY GIRL WAS RESCUED YESTERDAY IN WHAT HAS BEEN CALLED A MIRACULOUS SURVIVAL FROM BENEATH A LARGE, UNSTABLE PILE OF RUBBLE FROM THE BUILDING SHE WAS IN WHEN THE QUAKE HIT.

The death toll in the Kyushu earthquake rose to 19 people, according to Kumamoto Prefecture's disaster management office.

The tremors appear to have caused extensive damage, overturning cars, splitting roads and triggering a landslide as shown by TV Asahi footage. The area was rocked by as many as 165 aftershocks, some of them as strong as magnitude-5.3 struck in the hours after the quake.

Japan's Fire and Disaster Management Agency said 7,262 people have sought shelter at 375 centers since Friday in Kumamoto Prefecture. Suga said 20,000 self-defense forces are being deployed to the region for rescue efforts.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, in an emergency news conference early Saturday, said more than 300 calls came in to the Kumamoto police and another 100 to police in nearby Oita, seeking help and reporting people trapped or buried underneath debris.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, looking tired, said damage from the magnitude 7.3 quake could be "extensive" and urged rescue workers to do their utmost to help those trapped in the rubble.

Sirens of patrol vehicles could be heard in the background as NHK reported from Mashiki. The asphalt outside the town hall had a new crack, apparently made by the latest earthquake. In nearby Uto City, police reported that the City Hall building appeared to be unsafe because of damage.

The Nuclear Regulation Authority said no abnormalities were found at the Sendai nuclear plant, where the only two of Japan's 43 reactors are online. NHK video showed stones tumbled from the walls of historic Kumamoto Castle, and a wooden structure in the complex was smashed, adding to damage from Thursday's quake.
At the Ark Hotel, east of the castle, hotel guests woke up to strong shaking and a warning siren. Hotel staff told guests, including tourists and journalists covering the quake, to evacuate their rooms and gather in the lobby for safety.
Thursday's weaker magnitude 6.5 earthquake brought down buildings and injured about 800 people, in addition to the nine deaths. The epicenter of Saturday's earthquake was about 12 kilometers (8 miles) northwest of Thursday's and, at a depth of about 10 kilometers (6 miles), Saturday's quake was shallower.
Since Saturday's quake was bigger, Thursday's was technically a foreshock.

(END UPDATE)


THIS IS HAPPENING NEAR JAPAN'S ONLY ONLINE, CURRENTLY RUNNING, NUCLEAR POWER PLANT, SENDAI, WHERE, FOR THE PAST FEW DAYS THE SAKURAJIMA VOLCANO HAS BEEN ERUPTING.



THE NEWSPAPER, JAPAN TIMES, REPORTS NO DAMAGE TO THE NUCLEAR POWER PLANT AS OF EARLIER TODAY.

The quake struck on April 14, at 9:26 p.m. LOCAL time at a depth of 11 km (7 miles) near the city of Kumamoto, the Meteorological Agency said.


APRIL 14, 2016

"A fresh 6.5 magnitude earthquake has struck southern Japan - causing fires to spread and dozens of houses to collapse, trapping people underneath.

The powerful tremor was reported 6.6 miles southwest of Kumamoto at 4.03pm UK time (12.03am local time) - two-and-a-half hours after a 6.2 magnitude quake hit the same area, according to the US Geological Survey.

Although no tsunami risk has been reported, about 100 people have been admitted to hospital, including 10 with serious injuries.

The AFP news agency has reported that at least nine people have died.

A large blaze has broken out in Mashiki, a town of about 34,000 people not far from the quake's epicentre, and aerial footage has shown firefighters attempting to bring the flames under control.

Local media reports suggest 16,000 households in the area are without electricity, while 38,000 homes have lost their gas supply.

One of the earthquakes registered at the highest possible level of Japan's seven-scale system for measuring seismic intensity - and a quake of that size usually means it is "impossible to move at will" as people are "thrown by the shaking".

Scientists from Japan's Meteorological Agency have warned "relatively strong" aftershocks are expected in the coming days which could cause landslides and more buildings to collapse, NHK has reported.

Meanwhile, the US Geological Survey has upgraded its damage assessment to red, which indicates extensive damage is probable and that the disaster is likely widespread.

The tremors derailed an out-of-service, high-speed bullet train as it was making its way back to a depot but no one was injured.

Nuclear regulators in Japan have said there are no reported problems at the only online power plant in the region.

Japan's chief cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga has said at least 19 homes have collapsed - and emergency services have received hundreds of phone calls to report damage to buildings.

He confirmed that 350 military personnel have been sent to help with the rescue effort, and added: "Because of the night darkness, the extent of damage is still unclear ... I ask people in the disaster zone to act calmly and help each other."

THE USGS WEBSITE REPORTS 18 QUAKES/AFTERSHOCK IN A CONCENTRATED AREA THERE AS OF TODAY.


THE ABOVE MAP, SHOWING MOST RECENT TREMORS, WAS POSTED JUST A BIT AGO BY EARTHQUAKE-REPORT.COM  AND SHOWS A LOT MORE AFTERSHOCKS (IN DARK BLUE) ABOVE 2.5 THAN THE 18 WHICH THE USGS SHOWS. 

FROM THE JAPAN METEOROLOGICAL AGENCY, ALSO MANY, MANY MORE 3.0 AND ABOVE TREMORS THAN USGS LISTS:

[Click on the date and time of the earthquake information issuance to see a) the observed Seismic Intensity (1 and above) and its location, b) the date and time of the earthquake, and c) its epicenter and magnitude.]

Issued at Observed at Region Name Magnitude Maximum seismic intensity
(JMA Seismic Intensity)
13:53 JST 15 Apr 201613:50 JST 15 Apr 2016Kumamoto-ken Kumamoto-chihoM4.03
12:49 JST 15 Apr 201612:46 JST 15 Apr 2016Kumamoto-ken Kumamoto-chihoM3.53
09:56 JST 15 Apr 201609:53 JST 15 Apr 2016Kumamoto-ken Kumamoto-chihoM3.93
09:06 JST 15 Apr 201609:02 JST 15 Apr 2016Kumamoto-ken Kumamoto-chihoM3.83
07:58 JST 15 Apr 201607:55 JST 15 Apr 2016Kumamoto-ken Kumamoto-chihoM3.23
07:51 JST 15 Apr 201607:46 JST 15 Apr 2016Kumamoto-ken Kumamoto-chihoM4.44
07:33 JST 15 Apr 201607:30 JST 15 Apr 2016Kumamoto-ken Kumamoto-chihoM4.24
07:23 JST 15 Apr 201607:20 JST 15 Apr 2016Kumamoto-ken Kumamoto-chihoM3.53
06:28 JST 15 Apr 201606:24 JST 15 Apr 2016Kumamoto-ken Kumamoto-chihoM3.03
05:35 JST 15 Apr 201605:32 JST 15 Apr 2016Kumamoto-ken Kumamoto-chihoM3.83
05:13 JST 15 Apr 201605:10 JST 15 Apr 2016Kumamoto-ken Kumamoto-chihoM4.64
05:05 JST 15 Apr 201605:01 JST 15 Apr 2016Kumamoto-ken Kumamoto-chihoM3.53
04:23 JST 15 Apr 201604:19 JST 15 Apr 2016Kumamoto-ken Kumamoto-chihoM3.13
03:41 JST 15 Apr 201603:37 JST 15 Apr 2016Kumamoto-ken Kumamoto-chihoM4.14
03:33 JST 15 Apr 201603:29 JST 15 Apr 2016Ibaraki-ken OkiM4.41
02:17 JST 15 Apr 201602:14 JST 15 Apr 2016Kumamoto-ken Kumamoto-chihoM4.23
02:02 JST 15 Apr 201601:59 JST 15 Apr 2016Kumamoto-ken Kumamoto-chihoM3.63
01:56 JST 15 Apr 201601:53 JST 15 Apr 2016Kumamoto-ken Kumamoto-chihoM4.85-
01:24 JST 15 Apr 201601:21 JST 15 Apr 2016Kumamoto-ken Kumamoto-chihoM4.03
01:08 JST 15 Apr 201601:04 JST 15 Apr 2016Kumamoto-ken Kumamoto-chihoM3.93
00:58 JST 15 Apr 201600:53 JST 15 Apr 2016Kumamoto-ken Kumamoto-chihoM3.84
00:53 JST 15 Apr 201600:50 JST 15 Apr 2016Kumamoto-ken Kumamoto-chihoM4.24
00:51 JST 15 Apr 201600:47 JST 15 Apr 2016Kumamoto-ken Kumamoto-chihoM3.33
00:38 JST 15 Apr 201600:34 JST 15 Apr 2016Kumamoto-ken Kumamoto-chihoM4.54
00:29 JST 15 Apr 201600:26 JST 15 Apr 2016Suruga-wan Nampo-okiM4.82
00:23 JST 15 Apr 201600:20 JST 15 Apr 2016Kumamoto-ken Kumamoto-chihoM4.03
00:17 JST 15 Apr 201600:13 JST 15 Apr 2016Kumamoto-ken Kumamoto-chihoM3.93
00:09 JST 15 Apr 201600:03 JST 15 Apr 2016Kumamoto-ken Kumamoto-chihoM6.46+
23:47 JST 14 Apr 201623:43 JST 14 Apr 2016Kumamoto-ken Kumamoto-chihoM5.04
23:32 JST 14 Apr 201623:28 JST 14 Apr 2016Kumamoto-ken Kumamoto-chihoM4.44
23:04 JST 14 Apr 201623:00 JST 14 Apr 2016Kumamoto-ken Kumamoto-chihoM3.33
22:54 JST 14 Apr 201622:51 JST 14 Apr 2016Kumamoto-ken Kumamoto-chihoM3.53
22:51 JST 14 Apr 201622:47 JST 14 Apr 2016Kumamoto-ken Kumamoto-chihoM3.53
22:46 JST 14 Apr 201622:43 JST 14 Apr 2016Kumamoto-ken Kumamoto-chihoM4.34
22:43 JST 14 Apr 201622:38 JST 14 Apr 2016Kumamoto-ken Kumamoto-chihoM5.05-
22:35 JST 14 Apr 201622:31 JST 14 Apr 2016Kumamoto-ken Kumamoto-chihoM3.33
22:30 JST 14 Apr 201622:26 JST 14 Apr 2016Kumamoto-ken Kumamoto-chihoM3.63
22:27 JST 14 Apr 201622:22 JST 14 Apr 2016Kumamoto-ken Kumamoto-chihoM4.64
22:23 JST 14 Apr 201622:19 JST 14 Apr 2016Kumamoto-ken Kumamoto-chihoM3.33
22:20 JST 14 Apr 201622:16 JST 14 Apr 2016Kumamoto-ken Kumamoto-chihoM4.24
22:15 JST 14 Apr 201622:09 JST 14 Apr 2016Kumamoto-ken Kumamoto-chihoM4.34
22:12 JST 14 Apr 201622:07 JST 14 Apr 2016Kumamoto-ken Kumamoto-chihoM5.76-
22:07 JST 14 Apr 201622:03 JST 14 Apr 2016Kumamoto-ken Kumamoto-chihoM3.32
22:04 JST 14 Apr 201622:00 JST 14 Apr 2016Kumamoto-ken Kumamoto-chihoM3.02
21:58 JST 14 Apr 201621:53 JST 14 Apr 2016Kumamoto-ken Kumamoto-chihoM4.04
21:48 JST 14 Apr 201621:42 JST 14 Apr 2016Kumamoto-ken Kumamoto-chihoM4.94
21:44 JST 14 Apr 201621:37 JST 14 Apr 2016Kumamoto-ken Kumamoto-chihoM3.94
21:36 JST 14 Apr 201621:26 JST 14 Apr 2016Kumamoto-ken Kumamoto-chihoM6.47
21:32 JST 14 Apr 201621:26 JST 14 Apr 2016Kumamoto-ken Kumamoto-chihoM6.47

[KEEP IN MIND THAT IT IS NOW APRIL 15 IN JAPAN.]

There were multiple aftershocks, the largest one with a preliminary magnitude of 6.4 shortly after midnight, according to the Meteorological Agency.  More than 20 homes have collapsed and several people were trapped under debris.
At least seven fires have been reported.
This was the first quake to measure 7 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale of 7 in Kyushu.

The Futagawa fault stretches more than 64 km from the village of Minamiaso to the tip of the Uto Peninsula via Mashiki, while the Hinagu fault runs some 81 km from near Mashiki to the south of the Yatsushiro Sea.   


VOLCANOES, EARTHQUAKES, TSUNAMIS, ALL WITHIN THIS SMALL AREA

MANY IN JAPAN HAVE PROTESTED THE REOPENING OF THE SENDAI PLANT BECAUSE IT LIES RIGHT ON THE COAST, IS VERY SEISMICALLY ACTIVE, AND THE PLANT IS LOCATED TOO NEAR THE SAKURAJIMA AND OTHER VOLCANOES.




SEE ALSO ...
"At least nine people were killed and 860 injured by a magnitude-6.5 earthquake that knocked down houses and buckled roads in Kyushu on Thursday night.

The temblor logged a 7, the highest level on the Japanese intensity scale. 

Most victims were in the hardest-hit town of Mashiki, Kumamoto Prefecture, about 15 km (9 miles) east of the city of Kumamoto, said Kumamoto prefecture disaster management official Takayuki Matsushita.
As of Friday at 5 a.m., 44,400 people were evacuated from their homes and staying at 500 shelters in the prefecture.


 FOR ANYONE WONDERING ABOUT RELATIVES, THE LIST OF THOSE KNOWN TO HAVE BEEN KILLED BY THE QUAKE HAS BEEN RELEASED:

"According to Kumamoto police, the four men and five women killed in the quake are:

Toshiaki Ito, 61, 
Fujito Aramaki, 84, 
Masataka Murakami, 61,  
Tatsuya Sakamoto, 29, 
Sueko Fukumoto, 54, 
Yoko Miyamori, 55, 
Tomoko Tomita, 89, 
Hanae Murakami, 94 and  
Yumiko Matsumoto, 68."


SENDAI NUCLEAR PLANT LIES BETWEEN THE SAKURAJIMA VOLCANO AND THE SEA.

VOLCANIC ASH, IN EVEN MODERATE AMOUNTS, POSES A DANGER TO THE COOLING SYSTEM AS IT WOULD SHUT DOWN IF CLOGGED WITH ASH.

"Sakurajima, approximately 50 km (31 mi) from Sendai Nuclear Power Station, is classified as a Decade Volcano, one of “16 volcanoes identified by the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth’s Interior (IAVCEI) as being worthy of particular study in light of their history of large, destructive eruptions and proximity to populated areas” Nearby Mount Unzen is also a Decade Volcano.

Kyushu Electric has underestimated the potential impacts of ash deposits on operations of the Sendai nuclear reactors following a major volcanic eruption. This could lead to loss of electrical power and cooling function for the reactors and a nuclear accident… 30 cm ash layers at the nuclear plant would exceed the building code for the spent fuel buildings with the risk of structural collapse.“

It takes time to shutdown reactors, and remove fuel.

They can never completely be shut down.

(See: https://miningawareness.wordpress.com/2014/10/19/japan-more-larger-volcanic-eruptions-expected-over-next-decades-a-ticking-nuclear-time-bomb/)

Even the pro-nuclear IAEA in “Volcanic Hazards in Site Evaluation for Nuclear Installations for protecting people and the environment, No. SSG-21 Specific Safety” warns that “volcanic events can present significant hazards for nuclear installations.” (p. 7) and on pp. 8-9, Table 1, give volcanic phenomena-characteristics which would affect nuclear installations and most of which preclude the siting of a nuclear reactor. http://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/publications/PDF/Pub1552_web.pdf

Kyushu Electric plans to replace ash blocked air filters for emergency diesel generators after 26.5 hours, whereas the U.S. NRC assessments for a nuclear plant in the Pacific Northwest anticipates replacing filters after 2.3 hours.

"The NRA has blindly accepted Kyushu Electric’s flawed volcano analysis on nuclear risks and preventative accident measures. They need to suspend their current review process of the Sendai reactors and reject current plans as not credible to meet the real threats from volcanic eruptions. Failure to act in the interests of public safety is not acceptable,” said Shaun Burnie.

SENDAI OPERATING WITHOUT NECESSARY MODIFICATIONS

John Large, of the Consulting Engineers Large & Associates, expressed his concern about Kyushu Electric’s preparedness for coping with volcanic ash fallout, noting that “the NRA’s original draft volcanic effect guide required the nuclear plant operator to provide a risk-informed approach accounting for probabilities and ‘off the cliff-edge’ situations.

This included that the Sendai plant needed to be physically modified against these extremes by setting up volcanic design-basis resilience. However, the final NRA guide dropped all of these requirements thereby permitting Kyushu Electric not to include these common sense safeguards against the inevitable—as a result, the final Sendai volcanic site evaluation is weak, departing considerably from the IAEA’s volcano safety guidelines for nuclear plants.”

Inevitably, in the aftermath of major volcanic eruption, the impact of ash fallout will include short-circuiting (flashover) of electricity distribution networks and switchgear, leading to loss of off-site electrical power (LOOP), for which the nuclear plant relies upon to cool both the reactors and the spent fuel in the storage ponds—this will place the two Sendai nuclear reactors and their spent fuel ponds in much the same risk situation as the Fukushima Daiichi reactors following the earthquake and before the arrival of the tsunami; "

HAD THERE BEEN A TSUNAMI FOLLOWING THIS QUAKE, ANY LARGE QUAKE, THE SENDAI FACILITY WOULD MOST LIKELY HAVE BECOME "ANOTHER FUKUSHIMA". 

THE ABE ADMINISTRATION OBVIOUSLY DOESN'T CARE ABOUT THAT RISK.

SOMEONE SHOULD CARE ENOUGH TO DEMAND THAT FACILITY BE CLOSED.




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