Japan Tsunami: Death toll likely to cross 10,000?

Tokyo, Mar 13: Japan experienced a massive earthquake following tsunami on Friday, Mar 11. Two days have already passed and the government officials reported 2,000 deaths, officially till Sunday afternoon. But a police official on the terms of anonymity, claimed that death toll may cross 10,000 in Miyagi alone. So, what is the total death toll in all tsunami hit regions.

Police official on Sunday stated that the prefecture's police chief told a gathering of disaster relief officials that his estimate for deaths in the prefecture was more than 10,000 in Miyagi which is the worst affected by the recent catastrophe.

However, according the figures given by the government sources, there were only 379 officially confirmed deaths in Miyagi out of a total of 801 as of Sunday afternoon.

Meanwhile, 18 people were infected by the radioactive rays after the second leak in Japan's Fukushima power plant. Following the tsunami, the first nuclear explosion on Saturday, Mar 12 but the second explosion was feared to occur on Sunday.

Japan ordered to evacuate almost 170,000 people from the area near the damaged nuclear power plant, informed the UN nuclear

watchdog. People were ordered out of a 20-kilometre radius surrounding the Fukushima, sources reported.

Earlier reports showed that the explosion was not of the reactors, but occurred in the plant. The outer wall of the building holding the first reactor was blown off in the impact.

Authorities informed that if the cooling system remains inoperative for many hours, the water will eventually boil away, and the fuel will begin to melt.

However, Secretary of States, Hillary Clinton informed, "We just had our Air Force assets in Japan transport some really important coolant to one of the nuclear plants." Confirming Clinton's statement, Presindent Barack Obama also earlier claimed, "So Air Force planes were able to deliver that. So we're really deeply involved in trying to do as much as we can on behalf of the Japanese and on behalf of US citizens."

The crisis at the aging plant confronted Japan with its worst nuclear accident and perhaps the biggest mishap at nuclear plant since the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986.

OneIndia News

View the original article here

Another quake jerks Japan; fresh Tsunami alert issued

Monday, March 14, 2011, 8:52 [IST]Tokyo, Mar 14: Once again earthquake reported from the land of rising Sun - Japan on Monday, Mar 14. Local media reported that on wee morning, the country experienced another bash from nature. This time the quake was 5.8-magnitude, sources informed.

Fresh tsunami alerts also has been issued in the country as the new quake shook Japan. Sources reported that on Monday, the shake was heavily observed from the capital of the country and struck at a depth of 18 kilometers off Ibaraki prefecture. Recent earthquakes in past 7 days.

Residents are advised to vacate the sea level areas and are ordered to higher ground as the sea was reportedly seen retreating off Iwate prefecture in the north-east of Honshu island, a phenomenon that occurs before the massive waves hit.

Meanwhile, a fresh hydrogen explosion has occurred in the third reactor of Fukushima nuclear power plant. 160 people are feared to have been poisoned over the radioactive rays.

More than 18,000 people were shifted from the near regions of the nuclear power plant. The total death toll is estimated crossed 10,000. Though 2,000 deaths have been declared officially.

Japan experienced earthquake of 8.9 magnitude followed by a devastating tsunami on Friday, Mar 11. Now, fresh volcano eruption was also reported. Japan's Kyodo news agency reports that about 2000 bodies have been found on the shores of Miyagi prefecture. Miyagi was one of the the worst effected places during Friday's quake and tsunami.

OneIndia News

View the original article here

Tsunami waves kill one in US, spark evacuations in Lat America

Los Angeles, Mar 12: Tsunami waves from Japan's huge quake have killed at least one person and sparked mass evacuations on the American continent, but failed to inflict major damage.

Surges of 2.4 meters high crashed ashore on the coasts of California and Oregon yesterday, up to 12 hours after the 8.9-magnitude quake triggered tsunami alerts in dozens of countries across the Pacific.

In California''s Del Norte County, a 25-year-old man was confirmed dead after being swept into the Pacific Ocean near the mouth of the Klamath River. The man and two friends were taking photographs of the incoming tsunami waves.

"We have at least 35 boats that have been crushed. We have boats on top of other boats," said Cindy Henderson, emergency services manager in Crescent City, 350 miles north of San Francisco.

The US Coast Guard added that there had also been damage to about six boats in a marina in Santa Cruz, further south, after they collided with each other due to the buffeting tsunami waves.

Santa Cruz port director Lisa Ekers estimated the damage at more than USD 10 million, according to CNN.

California's governor Jerry Brown, meanwhile, declared a state of emergency in four of the state's coastal counties -- a procedure that unblocks federal funds to help with the clean-up.

Before reaching the US mainland the tidal waves hit Hawaii, which had been given only four hours to evacuate low-lying areas, sirens blared as locals and tourists scrambled to higher ground.

Many residents had already taken refuge in shelters, after the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre issued an ocean-wide alert for the giant waves along the West Coast, down through Central and South America as far as Antarctica.

Several hours later, Hawaii Governor Neil Abercrombie said the tsunami warning had been downgraded to a tsunami advisory.

"Although we were fortunate that a more destructive tsunami did not materialise, I can assure everyone that our agencies and officials are well-prepared to respond to emergencies of this nature," the governor said.

Canada also issued an alert for the north coast of British Columbia, warning it may "produce strong currents dangerous to those in or near the water." The tsunami warning came after the largest ever recorded earthquake in the Asian nation''s history, triggering walls of water which swamped the Japanese coastline and left hundreds of people dead.

AFP

View the original article here