8.8 earthquake hits Japan

The first tsunami waves should be reaching Taiwan in about 5 minutes. That will give a better idea of what might be expected in Hawaii and other island nations in the Pacific.

Taiwan orders evacuations after quake tsunami alert

TAIPEI, March 11 | Fri Mar 11, 2011 3:43am EST

TAIPEI, March 11 (Reuters) - Taiwan's Coast Guard Administration has begun evacuating some residents from the island's east coast following a tsunami alert issued after a major earthquake in Japan, it said on Friday.

The administration could not immediately give the number of people to be moved. The region is not heavily populated.

Waves of about 50 cm in height are expected to reach the island's north and east coasts later on Friday, the central weather bureau said. (Reporting by Rachel Lee; Editing by Ken Wills)

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Red Cross: the tsunami is higher than many Pacific islands.

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@McTag,

Crescent City in northern California is going to be the place to watch on the West Coast. That's the same city that was devastated from the tsunami generated after the 1964 Alaskan earthquake.

Their coastline is shaped as such that it magnifies the waves.

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Footage of the tsunamis is unreal. Revives meaning to the phrase "force of nature."

A
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T

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Moving the quake map here to the next page so we can see the aftershocks as they occur.

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Maps/10/140_40.gif

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@failures art,

It amazes me how well the buildings outside of the tsunami area (that we've seen so far) have survived the earthquake. The world has a lot to learn from Japan and their structural building standards.

Did you see how well the overpasses stood up to that huge wave while the buildings around it were swept away?

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@Butrflynet,

Tokyo is going to have problems trying to get their 13 million workers home to the outlying areas without their mass transportation systems. They'll have to feed and shelter them all while they're waiting.

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@Butrflynet,

Yes. Japan's architecture is very resilient against earthquakes. It is impressive. The tsunamis do a lot of damage. It's amazing that anything can resist it. They will wash the ground away around anything that doesn't move immediately. Each wave adds on to the damage. I wonder how many waves the overpasses can take?

A
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http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/11/quake-japan-nuclear-idUSLHE7E801E20110311

Fire at Tohoku Elec Onagawa nuclear plant -Kyodo
4:45am EST

TOKYO, March 11 (Reuters) - A fire broke out at Tohoku Electric Power Co's (9506.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) Onagawa nuclear plant in northeastern Japan following Friday's major earthquake, Kyodo news agency said.

Prior to the Kyodo report, the company had said it had not received information on whether there had been any problems at the nuclear power plant after the disaster.

Separately, Fukushima Prefecture, the site of a Tokyo Electric Power (9501.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) nuclear power plant, said on Friday the plant's reactor cooling system was functioning, denying an earlier report that it was malfunctioning.

Japanese media reported that the government had decided to declare a nuclear power emergency situation, which occurs if there is confirmation of radioactivity leaks from a nuclear power plant or a reactor cooling system breaks down. (Reporting by Chikako Mogi and Risa Maeda; Editing by Edmund Klamann)

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@Butrflynet,

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-11/cosmo-oil-refinery-set-on-fire-nuclear-power-reactors-shut-by-earthquake.html

Cosmo Oil Refinery Set on Fire, Nuclear Power Reactors Shut by Earthquake
By Tsuyoshi Inajima and Yuji Okada - Mar 11, 2011

March 11 (Bloomberg) -- Cosmo Oil Co.'s refinery near Tokyo caught fire and at least three other crude-processing plants and 11 nuclear power reactors were shut after Japan was struck by the world’s strongest earthquake in more than six years.

Damage from the temblor is widespread and some nuclear plants stopped operating without leaking radiation, Prime Minister Naoto Kan said in a nationally televised address today. Japan’s government is making all efforts to minimize damage from the earthquake, he said.

Cosmo Oil’s 220,000 barrel-a-day refinery in Chiba is burning after a fire started at the plant’s storage tanks following the quake, spokesman Yusuke Kaneda said today. Eleven reactors operated by Tokyo Electric Power Co., Asia’ biggest utility, Tohoku Electric Power Co., and Japan Atomic Power Co. were shut, the trade ministry said in an e-mailed statement.

The 8.9-magnitude quake struck at 2:46 p.m. local time 130 kilometers (81 miles) off the coast of Sendai, north of Tokyo, at a depth of 24 kilometers, the U.S. Geological Survey said. A 7.1-magnitude aftershock followed at 4:25 p.m., it said.

Tokyo Electric shut seven reactors at its Fukushima Daiichi and Daini atomic plants while three reactors at Tohoku Electric’s Onagawa station were halted, the trade ministry’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said in the e-mailed statement. Japan Atomic Power. shut the No. 2 reactor at its Tokai plant, the agency said.

Four Million Homes

More than four million homes serviced by Tokyo Electric are without power following the quake, Daisuke Hirose, a spokesman for the utility, said today by phone.

JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corp. shut its refineries in Sendai, Kashima, and Negishi, according to a spokeswoman, who declined to be identified, citing company policy.

Electric Power Development Co. shut its 600-megawatt No.2 unit of Isogo coal-fired plant in Yokohama, spokesman Hiroshi Nakatani said by telephone.

Tokyo Electric’s Kashiwazaki Kariwa, Chubu Electric Power Co.’s Hamaoka and Hokkaido Electric Power Co.’s Tomari nuclear plants are operating, the agency said.

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http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/11/japan-quake-aid-idUSLDE72A0LJ20110311

Quote:

Aid groups scramble in face of huge Japan quake
5:33am EST

* Tsunami may wash over Pacific islands, Red Cross says

* 30 international search and rescue teams on alert-UN

By Stephanie Nebehay

GENEVA, March 11 (Reuters) - The tsunami set off by Japan's huge earthquake is currently higher than some Pacific islands that it could wash over, the Red Cross warned on Friday.

Developing countries are at greater risk from the tsunami than Japan, although many have beefed up early warning systems and evacuation plans since the 2004 tsunami, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said. "Our biggest concern is the Asia and Pacific region, where developing countries are far more vulnerable to this type of unfolding disaster. The tsunami is a major threat," spokesman Paul Conneally told Reuters in Geneva.

"At the moment, it is higher than some islands and could go right over them. That is a scenario that nobody wants to see," he said.

More than 226,000,000 people in 11 Asian countries died in the 2004 tsunami.

The biggest earthquake to hit Japan since records began 140 years ago struck its northeast coast on Friday, unleashing a 10-metre tsunami that swept away all in its path, including houses, cars and farm buildings. [ID:nL3E7EB0MF]

All national Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in the region including the Philippines, Papua New Guinea and Pacific Islands wer mobilised to help their populations, according to the Federation, the world's largest disaster relief network.

The United Nations said 30 international search and rescue teams were on alert to go to Japan to provide assistance.

"We stand ready to assist as usual in such cases," Elisabeth Byrs, spokewoman of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance (OCHA), told Reuters in Geneva.

U.N. disaster assessment and coordination teams, who deploy in emergencies worldwide to try to locate and treat survivors, normally include sniffer dogs and medical teams.

Conneally, referring to Japan, said: "We are hearing there is a lot of disruption to lives and agricultural lands, as for physical damage, but we have no reports of major loss of life so far. Certainly there will be injured and a lot of destruction that will affect the economy."

It was not clear whether Japan would request international assistance because its emergency services and civil defence mechanisms are highly developed, according to aid officials in Geneva.

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(Reuters) - Hawaii ordered evacuations from coastal areas due to the threat of a tidal wave set off by Friday's earthquake in Japan as a tsunami warning was extended to the whole of the Pacific basin, except mainland United States and Canada.

Authorities also ordered evacuation from low-lying areas on the U.S. island territory of Guam in the western Pacific, where residents there were urged to move at least 50 feet above sea level and 100 feet inland.

The U.S. Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said the warning extended from Mexico down the Pacific coast of South America.

...

The government advisory put the estimated arrival time in Hawaii of a first tsunami wave 3 a.m. local time, the advisory said.

Civil defense sirens blared statewide shortly before 10 p.m. local time to alert residents.

"Each individual wave crest can last five to 15 minutes or more and extensively flood coastal areas," the advisory statement warned. "The danger can continue for many hours after the initial wave as subsequent waves arrive."

The statement also said that debris carried by a tsunami could amplify its destructive force, said it warned that "urgent action should be taken to protect lives and property."

The state civil defense agency ordered all coastal areas for the entire state evacuated no later than 2 a.m. local time. The evacuation zone includes the famous Waikiki Beach, the main hotel and tourist hub in Honolulu on the island of Oahu, and traffic in the area soon grew heavy.

Lines of cars began to form at gasoline service stations on Oahu as motorists gassed up their vehicles.

In the town of Kailua, police with bullhorns were urging people to higher ground.

Ocean waves up to 6 feet above normal sea level were detected by deep-ocean gauges near Wake island, Midway and Guam in the North Pacific, said Chip McCreary, a spokesman for the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.

The island of Kauai is expected to be first hit because the tsunami was advancing from the west and would likely take 20 to 30 minutes to cross the entire state, McCreary said.

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Looks like the Pacific Rim Tsunami threat may not be as great as anticipated.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/world/view/20110311-324797/Tsunami-hits-Taiwan-no-damageweather-bureau

Tsunami hits Taiwan, no damage—weather bureau

Agence France-Presse

Posted date: March 11, 2011

TAIPEI – (UPDATE) Taiwanese authorities said Friday that minor tsunamis set off by a massive quake in Japan reached the island's coastline without causing any damage.

Waves around 10 centimeters (four inches) high hit Taiwan's east and northeast coasts in the evening, the central weather bureau said.

The bureau said it did not expect more and bigger waves but will only lift the warning when the Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center does so.

Taiwan's central emergency response center told AFP that the waves had caused no damage.

Earlier on Friday, schools and offices in several coastal cities were closed while coast guards patrolled ports instructing fishermen to take shelter on land in preparation for the tsunamis, officials said.

Taiwan's President Ma Ying-jeou voiced concern over quake damage in Japan and pledged to send rescue teams if necessary.

"We need to stay vigilant. Disaster prevention is better than disaster relief," he told reporters.

Taiwan's foreign ministry issued a travel warning against four Japanese cities, as the death toll from the massive 8.9-magnitude quake reached 32, according to Japanese press reports.

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@Butrflynet,

Quote:

More than 226,000,000 people in 11 Asian countries died in the 2004 tsunami

The Asian tsunami was devastating but I think there might be a few too many 0's there....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Indian_Ocean_earthquake_and_tsunami

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http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/42025882/ns/world_news-asiapacific/

State of emergency is declared at Japanese nuclear plant Process for cooling reactor 'not going as planned' in wake of quake, administrator

TOKYO— The Japanese government issued a state of emergency at a nuclear power plant Friday after a cooling system failure in the wake of the giant earthquake and tsunami off the east coast of the Pacific nation.

An administrator at the Tohoku Electric Power Co's Onagawa facility said the process for the cooling reactor is "not going as planned," adding that "nuclear emergency situation" has been declared. The company asked people nearby to stay calm, the official TV news channel NHK reported.

A fire broke out at the plant following the quake, the Kyodo news agency said. Prior to the Kyodo report, the company had said it had not received information on whether there had been any problems at the plant after the disaster.

Separately, Fukushima Prefecture, the site of a Tokyo Electric Power nuclear power plant, said on Friday that the plant's reactor cooling system was functioning, denying an earlier report that it was malfunctioning.

It was not immediately clear if there was a risk of a radioactive leak as a result of the fire at the plant operated by Tohoku Electric Power. Miyagi prefecture, where it is located, was one of the areas worst hit by the tsunami.

Kyodo also reported that an emergency core-cooling unit had been activated at the Fukushima nuclear plant, without giving further details.

The four Japanese nuclear power plants closest to the epicenter of the quake have been safely shut down, the UN atomic watchdog said Friday.

The quake struck just under 250 miles northeast of Tokyo, the U.S. Geological Survey said. It was followed by more than a dozen aftershocks, one as strong as 7.1.

Earlier, Prime Minister Naoto Kan said the quake caused "major damage" in northeastern Japan, but that nuclear power facilities in the area were not damaged and there was no radiation leakage.

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Tsunami warnings arrival times

http://i.imwx.com/images/maps/tropical/map_spectrop16_ltst_6nh_enus_440x297.jpg

These arrival times are all about 2 hours from right now.

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@Cycloptichorn,

It seems odd to me that news stations are reporting the death toll at 60 people currently. Why do they do that? Judging from the tsunami videos it seems clear that the loss of life is going to be in the thousands at least. Or maybe those videos just look worse than they are, but they look pretty devastating to me.

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Hi all! Thanks BFN for all your input here.

Just heard on a major radio station here, 5 minutes ago, that the tsunami will hit the west coast of Vancouver Island (British Columbia) in 30 minutes.

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@Reyn,

Keep us informed, Reyn. Hope you and your family are secure.

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@Reyn,

Reyn wrote:

Just heard on a major radio station here, 5 minutes ago, that the tsunami will hit the west coast of Vancouver Island (British Columbia) in 30 minutes.

Apparently, nothing so far, but it is expected to come in waves over the next 4 to 5 hours.

I'm way inland, so not affected at all.

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8.8 earthquake hits Japan

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