Major Earthquake & Tsunami in Japan

[DK]

This just in. less than half an hour ago TEPCO started releasing radioactive water into the ocean from a tank they intend to use for highly radioactive water.

so it begins.

Don't be surprised if Greenpeace start one huge mega-protest.

 

[Leonidae@MFT]

No worries, Godzilla will deal with them.

 

[Robin]

This just in. less than half an hour ago TEPCO started releasing radioactive water into the ocean from a tank they intend to use for highly radioactive water.

so it begins.

Thats just so ridiculous, as if they couldn't get in some big tankers, park them in a lead box and pump the water into them. Having radioactive written off tankers is better than having the water pour into the ocean!!

Robin.

 

[Dotini]

A confidential document of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission was obtained by the NY Times. The story reported here discusses many sobering problems.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/06/world/asia/06nuclear.html

United States government engineers sent to help with the crisis in Japan are warning that the troubled nuclear plant there is facing a wide array of fresh threats that could persist indefinitely, and that in some cases are expected to increase as a result of the very measures being taken to keep the plant stable, according to a confidential assessment prepared by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Among the new threats that were cited in the assessment, dated March 26, are the mounting stresses placed on the containment structures as they fill with radioactive cooling water, making them more vulnerable to rupture in one of the aftershocks rattling the site after the earthquake and tsunami of March 11. The document also cites the possibility of explosions inside the containment structures due to the release of hydrogen and oxygen from seawater pumped into the reactors, and offers new details on how semimolten fuel rods and salt buildup are impeding the flow of fresh water meant to cool the nuclear cores.

In recent days, workers have grappled with several side effects of the emergency measures taken to keep nuclear fuel at the plant from overheating, including leaks of radioactive water at the site and radiation burns to workers who step into the water. The assessment, as well as interviews with officials familiar with it, points to a new panoply of complex challenges that water creates for the safety of workers and the recovery and long-term stability of the reactors.

While the assessment does not speculate on the likelihood of new explosions or damage from an aftershock, either could lead to a breach of the containment structures in one or more of the crippled reactors, the last barriers that prevent a much more serious release of radiation from the nuclear core. If the fuel continues to heat and melt because of ineffective cooling, some nuclear experts say, that could also leave a radioactive mass that could stay molten for an extended period.

The document, which was obtained by The New York Times, provides a more detailed technical assessment than Japanese officials have provided of the conundrum facing the Japanese as they struggle to prevent more fuel from melting at the Fukushima Daiichi plant. But it appears to rely largely on data shared with American experts by the Japanese.

Among other problems, the document raises new questions about whether pouring water on nuclear fuel in the absence of functioning cooling systems can be sustained indefinitely. Experts have said the Japanese need to continue to keep the fuel cool for many months until the plant can be stabilized, but there is growing awareness that the risks of pumping water on the fuel present a whole new category of challenges that the nuclear industry is only beginning to comprehend.

The document also suggests that fragments or particles of nuclear fuel from spent fuel pools above the reactors were blown “up to one mile from the units,” and that pieces of highly radioactive material fell between two units and had to be “bulldozed over,” presumably to protect workers at the site. The ejection of nuclear material, which may have occurred during one of the earlier hydrogen explosions, may indicate more extensive damage to the extremely radioactive pools than previously disclosed.

 

[Wiegert]

Some recent news stating that a magnitude 7.4 Earthquake just struck off the east coast of Honshu. There is currently a Tsunami warning for the north-east of Japan:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-13005110

 

[Speedy Samurai]

Some recent news stating that a magnitude 7.4 Earthquake just struck off the east coast of Honshu. There is currently a Tsunami warning for the north-east of Japan:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-13005110

It was big. Probably the second biggest I have felt, the biggest being the big one that caused all this hell.

 

[E28]

Some recent news stating that a magnitude 7.4 Earthquake just struck off the east coast of Honshu. There is currently a Tsunami warning for the north-east of Japan:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-13005110

Something strange is going on in Japan. 3 Earthquakes, a Tsunami, and a power plant that was in partial meltdown. This is very, very unlucky for Japan.

It was big. Probably the second biggest I have felt, the biggest being the big one that caused all this hell.

I hope you and your family are OK, and that all this madness stops soon...

 

[BWX]

^^ 3 earthquakes? There's been more like 1,000 earthquakes since the big one off the coast of Japan.

 

[GOTMAXPOWER]

^^ 3 earthquakes? There's been more like 1,000 earthquakes since the big one off the coast of Japan.

Yeah http://neic.usgs.gov/neis/qed/ ,I guess its unusual to have aftershocks as big as that after the initial one, also after the earthquake the stress in the plates as possibly moved down south towards Tokyo, but when that comes or the scale of it is a total mystery until it happens.

 

[DK]

No worries, Godzilla will deal with them.

Which one, the giant lizard or the one that's in my avatar?

 

[Dotini]

The following videos are superb examples of "earthquake lights" and lightning strokes occurring with the 7.1 earthquake of this morning, April 7, 2011. See between the 9 and 20 second mark in either video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUYHfuMOCko

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgooTL9hEc0

Edit: A CME to go with it all.
http://stereo.gsfc.nasa.gov/browse/2011/04/03/ahead_20110403_cor2_256.mpg

 

[Dotini]

http://www.ic.unicamp.br/~stolfi/temp/image-198534-galleryV9-orwt-e.jpg

Some older more inert spent fuel rods laying about, and a big gray blob of melted fuel (center of photo), it is said. This is apparently from the SFP at unit 3. Broken fuel rods landing outside of this building are said to have been bulldozed over to permit work to continue.

Week 1 photo of unit 3, showing smoke coming from areas of SFP and RPV.
http://s015.radikal.ru/i331/1104/bf/c5b510cc2750.jpg

For reference, the Markey letter from the NRC regarding core breach of unit 2.
http://markey.house.gov/docs/4-6-11markey_e-mail_2_-nrc_question_regarding_fukushima_unit_2.pdf

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/09/world/asia/09japan.html?_r=2


Ugly developments at unit 1.
Pressures are again at 8 atmospheres, and another explosion is feared.
http://www.physicsforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=34141&d=1302255355

 

[BWX]

The following videos are superb examples of "earthquake lights" and lightning strokes occurring with the 7.1 earthquake of this morning, April 7, 2011. See between the 9 and 20 second mark in either video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUYHfuMOCko

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgooTL9hEc0

Edit: A CME to go with it all.
http://stereo.gsfc.nasa.gov/browse/2011/04/03/ahead_20110403_cor2_256.mpg

They look like transformers blowing up to me. I've seen that in really bad snow storms in Buffalo NY.. When heavy wet snow was knocking over trees and powerlines.

 

[Dotini]

They look like transformers blowing up to me. I've seen that in really bad snow storms in Buffalo NY.. When heavy wet snow was knocking over trees and powerlines.

Thanks for your input. You may be right! My assumption was that we were looking from Sendai out over the ocean, but that really remains to be determined.

 

[BWX]

Yeah I wondered if it was out in the ocean too. If it was, I doubt it was transformers blowing. At least a few of them look to be over regular city lights though.

 

[Akira AC]

They look like transformers blowing up to me. I've seen that in really bad snow storms in Buffalo NY.. When heavy wet snow was knocking over trees and powerlines.

That is far from transformers blowing up,is way bigger than that judging from the perspective of the photo and the intensity of the light,besides the sky looked clear to me,I believe that it could be "blue light" or Cherenkov light which is sourced by nuclear power plant fuel pods.

 

[BWX]

That is far from transformers blowing up,is way bigger than that judging from the perspective of the photo and the intensity of the light,besides the sky looked clear to me,I believe that it could be "blue light" or Cherenkov light which is sourced by nuclear power plant fuel pods.

I don't know, have you ever seen a transformer blow up? It definitely lights up the sky, I think you'd be blind if you saw it up close. Maybe I'll try to find an example of that.

------ EDIT --------
The color of the explosions is what gives it away to me, but in real life it's much more impressive. The entire sky lights up when they go, it looks like greenish-blue flickering lightning. There are probably different sized transformers too, maybe some explode bigger and brighter too? Not sure really. Ball lightning can happen near earthquakes too though, I think that's documented. It seems like the way the lights were in that earthquake vid, that they were going in kind of a pattern, like transformers would. It's an interesting video either way.

this one shows how big and bright they can be
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uZV6pakxIA

this one is bright
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JT6uz7P_UEQ

a couple more- I'm sure there are better examples somewhere on Youtube....
This one is good..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujAhPeOmDnM

This one at 35sec.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YY7TGnSaHw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hy6UXxhzYlk

 

[Dotini]

it could be "blue light" or Cherenkov light which is sourced by nuclear power plant fuel pods.

Akiraacecombat, thanks for using the term "Cherenkov" radiation. I never in my life thought I'd have occasion to pronounce that term. But now Fukushima has happened...

I'd like to use this unhappy occasion to introduce another delightfully abstruse term - bremsstrahlung - a term generally used in the context of fusion plasmas. This may have some bearing on our mystery.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bremsstrahlung

I don't know, have you ever seen a transformer blow up? It definitely lights up the sky, I think you'd be blind if you saw it up close. Maybe I'll try to find an example of that.

BWX, thanks for those charming videos! I'm a huge fan of loud noises, stinky smoke and intense electrical events, so they were well appreciated. Videos of volcanoes with lightning erupting are interesting to me. Please keep them coming.

Respectfully,
Dotini

 

[Jawsers]

A 404 error indicates "page not found". Although you first found it (the connection between CME's and earthquakes) here on this page, I found it both in nature and in the literature of physics, so I'm several steps ahead of you. Both CME's and earthquake lights are plasma, and are historically found in close association with one another. Research by NASA reinforces my case. http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2010/27jul_spacequakes/

If you weren't so boringly intent on trolling your fellow man, you might wish to join him in the spirit of free and open inquiry, exploration and discovery.

I clicked the link and I got nothing. I was slightly curious myself, as there has been no CME earth directed for a week or so. Just a massive magnetic filament on the southeastern limb of the sun, which in itself would not be earth directed if it erupts.

Solar flares and magnetic storms belong to a set of phenomena known collectively as "space weather". Technological systems and the activities of modern civilization can be affected by changing space-weather conditions. However, it has never been demonstrated that there is a causal relationship between space weather and earthquakes. Indeed, over the course of the Sun's 11-year variable cycle, the occurrence of flares and magnetic storms waxes and wanes, but earthquakes occur without any such 11-year variability. Since earthquakes are driven by processes in the Earth's interior, they would occur even if solar flares and magnetic storms were to somehow cease occurring.

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/faq/?faqID=343

Many readers have asked if this week's terrible earthquake in Japan was connected to the contemporaneous geomagnetic storms of March 10th and 11th. In short, no. There is no known, credible evidence of solar activity triggering earthquakes. Moreover, in the historical record, there are thousands of examples of geomagnetic storms without earthquakes, and similar numbers of earthquakes without geomagnetic storms. The two phenomena are not linked.

http://www.spaceweather.com/archive.php?view=1&day=12&month=03&year=2011

It is speculated what earthquake lights could be formed by, but as of now, there is no evidence supporting one theory over another. We know they exist, we just don't know the origins of them.

 

[Dotini]

I clicked the link and I got nothing. I was slightly curious myself, as there has been no CME earth directed for a week or so. Just a massive magnetic filament on the southeastern limb of the sun, which in itself would not be earth directed if it erupts.

It is speculated what earthquake lights could be formed by, but as of now, there is no evidence supporting one theory over another. We know they exist, we just don't know the origins of them.

Thank you for your scholarly and thoughtful contribution, Jawsers. All your remarks and links are appropriate to bring us right up to the state of the art in this rather exciting and active field of science.

Note: I had thought that I posted this link to the CME noted by NASA in its April 4 edition of Spaceweather.com. It was not Earth directed at it's launch, but I'm not sure it didn't strike the Earth's magnetosphere a glancing blow. CME's have been observed to change course, if I recall correctly.
http://spaceweather.com/archive.php?view=1&day=04&month=04&year=2011
BRIGHT CME: NASA twin STEREO spacecraft observed a spectacular coronal mass ejection launched from the vicinity of decaying sunspot 1176 on April 3rd around 0500 UT. The blast was not Earth directed. Nevertheless, there is a chance that the expanding cloud will deliver a glancing blow to Earth's magnetic field on or about April 6th. CME movies: STEREO-A, STEREO-B.

Respectfully yours,
Dotini

 

[BWX]

BWX, thanks for those charming videos! I'm a hugefan of loud noises, stinky smoke and intense electrical events, so they were well appreciated. Videos of volcanoes with lightning erupting are interesting to me. Please keep them coming.Respectfully,Dotini

LOL.. Sure thing.

 

[Dotini]

Long ago we all wanted this story to go away so we could pound our tom-toms and do our victory lap. Unfortunately, that's not the way this is working out...

http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/2011/04/84721.html
The Nuclear Safety Commission of Japan released a preliminary calculation Monday saying that the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant had been releasing up to 10,000 terabecquerels of radioactive materials per hour at some point after a massive quake and tsunami hit northeastern Japan on March 11.

The disclosure prompted the government to consider raising the accident's severity level to 7, the worst on an international scale, from the current 5, government sources said. The level 7 on the International Nuclear Event Scale has only been applied to the 1986 Chernobyl catastrophe.

The current provisional evaluation of 5 is at the same level as the Three Mile Island accident in the United States in 1979.

According to an evaluation by the INES, level 7 accidents correspond with a release into the external environment radioactive materials equal to more than tens of thousands terabecquerels of radioactive iodine 131. One terabecquerel equals 1 trillion becquerels.

Haruki Madarame, chairman of the commission, which is a government panel, said it has estimated that the release of 10,000 terabecquerels of radioactive materials per hour continued for several hours.

The commission says the release has since come down to under 1 terabecquerel per hour and said that it is still examining the total amount of radioactive materials released.

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/ra...und-soil-30-km-away-fukushima-rice-harvest-qu
Now a new study from Hiroshima and Kyoto Universities has found that the radioactive content of soil samples beyond the 30 km semi-evacuation zone is as much as 400 times the normal. From Asahi: "The predicted changes in the level of radiation at the ground surface were calculated after analyzing the amounts of eight kinds of radioactive materials found in the soil and taking into consideration the half-lives of each material. The study results are considered more accurate than the study conducted by the science ministry, which only released information concerning two types of radioactive material. [Scholars] collected soil samples from five locations in the village at depths of five centimeters. All the locations were outside the 30-km radius and were by roadways in various hamlets. The study found cesium-137 at levels between about 590,000 and 2.19 million becquerels per cubic meter." Comparing this to Chernobyl: "After the Chernobyl nuclear accident in the former Soviet Union in 1986, residents who lived in areas where cesium-137 levels exceeded 555,000 becquerels were forced to move elsewhere. The amounts of cesium-137 found in Iitate were at most four times the figure from Chernobyl."

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-...-fukushima-as-crisis-enters-second-month.html
Steam, Nitrogen Leak

Radioactive steam and nitrogen is escaping from the containment vessel at the No. 1 reactor and the company is checking radiation levels around the reactor, spokeswoman Megumi Iwa****a said by phone today.

Tepco started injecting nitrogen into the vessel to reduce the risk of a hydrogen explosion. The pressure inside the vessel is rising more slowly than expected, indicating a leak, Iwa****a said. Work continues at the reactor and other parts of the Fukushima Dai-Ichi power station, she said.

Edit: Okay, it's basically official now: http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/12_05.html
The Japanese government's nuclear safety agency has decided to raise the crisis level of the Fukushima Daiichi power plant accident from 5 to 7, the worst on the international scale.

The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency made the decision on Monday. It says the damaged facilities have been releasing a massive amount of radioactive substances, which are posing a threat to human health and the environment over a wide area.

 

[a6m5]

On top of all the negative news from the Fukushima plant, I'm starting to see headlines regarding economic crisis in Japan, and another 7.0 quake Monday?

This is truly disastrous, all around. I'm rooting for big comeback, but in a way, this is going to be much harder than one our grandparents pulled off in the 40's.

 

[Dotini]

On top of all the negative news from the Fukushima plant, I'm starting to see headlines regarding economic crisis in Japan, and another 7.0 quake Monday?

This is truly disastrous, all around. I'm rooting for big comeback, but in a way, this is going to be much harder than one our grandparents pulled off in the 40's.

I'm not too worried about the ability of the Japanese people to turn around economic problems or recover from a 7.0 quake. However, I'm concerned that in the general cultural struggle between reformers and the status quo, the status quo will always have the upper hand. For example, it seems there is an incestuous, indeed corrupt, revolving door between government regulators and the nuclear industry such that even the most simple and obvious changes are very hard to come by.

 

[Speedy Samurai]

On top of all the negative news from the Fukushima plant, I'm starting to see headlines regarding economic crisis in Japan, and another 7.0 quake Monday?

This is truly disastrous, all around. I'm rooting for big comeback, but in a way, this is going to be much harder than one our grandparents pulled off in the 40's.

Japan's been in economic crisis for 3 decades. lol. government in japan is an old boys club and no one says anything. in this case the 'shikata ga nai' (it can't be helped) attitude of the japanese is hindering their recovery.

 

[a6m5]

Japan's been in economic crisis for 3 decades. lol. government in japan is an old boys club and no one says anything. in this case the 'shikata ga nai' (it can't be helped) attitude of the japanese is hindering their recovery.

I completely agree with you, and to be completely honest, if anything, I thought this might be that kick in the pants that could propel Japan to at least put up some economic fight. It just went on too long, and every time we hope for a leadership who might get the country to turn the corner, we seem to take another step back. Way I see it, this, combined with this 1-2-3 punch of earthquake/tsunami/nuclear crisis, might take Japan to a new low, and keep it there.

Every time I mention concern regarding Japan's ability to come back from the quake/tsunami, every American I know replies that Japan will recover, without hesitation. I'm not gonna lie, I am bit of a cynic, and skeptical of those views. As you might remember, I haven't lived in Japan in a very long time. In the U.S., when things got tough, there was unanimous sense of urgency here. Americans are extremely passionate about their nation, and they get involved. Political shows are huge business here, and for good reason. Japan used to have this. It faded away as I got older, and from my impression, it was much stronger before I was born. Japan doesn't have to be a super power. They don't have to compete with the Chinese. But they do need direction, and capable leadership. OK, the last part was a tall order. Just ask most of the world.

I hope I'm wrong, I hope my earlier assumption comes true, and all this tragedy will somehow serve as a wake-up call. I sense that Japan is just getting too comfortable taking it, lying down. I don't know, maybe I am too disconnected from Japan. It's the impression that I get from where I'm at.

 

[nk4e]

Reading certain Time magazine articles. Japan is having its recession.

 

[Speedy Samurai]

I hope I'm wrong, I hope my earlier assumption comes true, and all this tragedy will somehow serve as a wake-up call. I sense that Japan is just getting too comfortable taking it, lying down. I don't know, maybe I am too disconnected from Japan. It's the impression that I get from where I'm at.

I'm right here and I see the same things. Looking at Japan from the inside with foreign eyes there are so many instances where I thought, "WTF?". Politics and business were a couple of them. Japan has been heading downhill since 1990 and this might just increase its momentum that way. I don't see Japan bouncing back the way it did after WWII. America directed Japan's recovery then. This time it will be only the Japanese who have to do it themselves and they've proved incapable for quite a while now.

 

[Speedy Samurai]

Reading certain Time magazine articles. Japan is having its recession.

Japan's in its third decade of recession.

 

[a6m5]

I'm right here and I see the same things. Looking at Japan from the inside with foreign eyes there are so many instances where I thought, "WTF?". Politics and business were a couple of them. Japan has been heading downhill since 1990 and this might just increase its momentum that way. I don't see Japan bouncing back the way it did after WWII. America directed Japan's recovery then. This time it will be only the Japanese who have to do it themselves and they've proved incapable for quite a while now.

Yeah, after the "bubble", my impression of the Japanese leadership were that they ran stuck on this rail, for the life of them, they could not think outside of their little box. Now, they just plain look like they are in denial.

I'm not a historian. Maybe this is fairly predictable course for country like Japan. I have to admit. Clearly, I have this "homer" attitude about Japan. It's not just any ordinary country by any means, but I do hold it too high. Maybe Japan would have to hit the absolute rock bottom, before it can rebound again. Like you mentioned, the rebound it's been waiting since 1990, maybe 89-ish, I forget.