Registered Member #1675 Joined: Tue Nov 25 2008, 09:29AM : Posts: 3308
(CNN) -- Workers at a nuclear power plant in north-central Japan are having trouble cooling the reactor and authorities have asked nearby residents to evacuate, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said at a news conference.
The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant was shut down after the earthquake that hit the country.
"This is a precautionary instruction for people to evacuate. There is no radioactive leakage at this moment outside of the facility," he said. "At this moment there is no danger posed to the environment."
Japan declared a state of atomic power emergency after the earthquake, the Kyodo News agency reported. The government is sending senior officials and the defense force's Chemical Corps to the power plant, it said.
Map: 8.9 earthquake hits Japan
Massive whirlpool after Japan quake
Witness deals with quake terror
Buildings, windows damaged in Japan Fire broke out at a second facility, the Onagawa plant, but crews were able to put that fire out, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Edano said workers at the Fukushima Daiichi plant were having trouble generating sufficient electricity to pump water into the cooling system. They were using all available backup electricity, he said.
"The emergency shutdown has been conducted but the process of cooling down the reaction is currently not going as planned," he said.
Residents living within a 3-kilometer radius of the plant were asked to evacuate, while residents living within a zone 3 to 10 kilometers away were asked to stay inside their homes.
About 2,000 people were affected by the evacuation order, according to the Kyodo News Service.
Edano urged people to remain calm, saying there is plenty of time to evacuate.
Should have very minimal impact in Southern California, with the exception of inside harbors. Here's a more specific statement for out area...
901 AM PST FRI MAR 11 2011
...A TSUNAMI ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR ORANGE COUNTY AND SAN DIEGO COUNTY COASTAL AREAS...
A TSUNAMI WAS GENERATED IN THE FAR WESTERN PACIFIC OCEAN NEAR JAPAN AND HAS ARRIVED IN CALIFORNIA.
IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA THE LEADING SURGE HAS ARRIVED AND ADDITIONAL CYCLES OR SETS WILL CONTINUE FOR AT LEAST SEVERAL HOURS. A TSUNAMI ADVISORY MEANS WAVE HEIGHTS ARE FORECAST TO BE FROM 1 TO 3 FEET.
THE INITIAL WAVE ARRIVAL TIMES OCCURRED AT:
SAN PEDRO HARBOR.......AT 832 AM PST. LA JOLLA...............AT 841 AM PST.
FORECAST TSUNAMI WAVE HEIGHTS THIS MORNING:
HUNTINGTON BEACH.......2.3 FEET LAGUNA BEACH...........2.0 FEET LA JOLLA...............2.8 FEET BALLAST POINT..........2.3 FEET SAN DIEGO NAVY PIER....1.2 FEET NORTH IMPERIAL BEACH...2.6 FEET
LOW TIDE AT LA JOLLA FRIDAY WAS AT 757 AM PST.
ALTHOUGH NO WIDESPREAD INUNDATION IS LIKELY IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA...THERE IS A HIGH LIKELIHOOD OF STRONG CURRENTS AND WAVES DANGEROUS TO PERSONS IN OR NEAR THE WATER. THE STRONG CURRENTS WILL BE HAZARDOUS TO SWIMMERS...BOATERS...AND COASTAL STRUCTURES. STRONG CURRENTS IN THE HARBORS AND BAYS WILL CONTINUE FOR 10 TO 12 HOURS HOURS AFTER THE INITIAL WAVE ARRIVAL.
THE TSUNAMI ADVISORY WAS ISSUED FOR SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA AFTER AN 8.9 MAGNITUDE EARTHQUAKE STRUCK JAPAN AT 946 PM PST THURSDAY.
COASTAL RESIDENTS ARE ADVISED TO STAY OUT OF THE WATER...OFF THE BEACH...AND AWAY FROM HARBORS AND MARINAS. WAVE HEIGHTS AND CURRENTS ARE AMPLIFIED BY IRREGULAR SHORELINE AND ARE DIFFICULT TO PREDICT. THE INITIAL WAVE MAY NOT BE THE LARGEST. LATER WAVES MAY BE LARGER. MARINERS IN WATER DEEPER THAN 600 FEET SHOULD NOT BE AFFECTED.
For anyone who has friends or family in Japan, here is the People Finder tool from Google: [Click Here] . It was recently used during the earthquake crisis in New Zealand. It's a simple way for people to register where they are & okay (if there is internet access nearby). Hope this helps!
Registered Member #1675 Joined: Tue Nov 25 2008, 09:29AM : Posts: 3308
Tokyo (CNN) -- Officials ordered an evacuation Friday of residents living near a Japanese nuclear power plant, saying there has been no sign yet of leaks but indicating a struggle to "cool down" one of the atomic facilities.
A 8.9-magnitude earthquake led to cooling problems and a fire at two of Japan's nuclear plants closest to its epicenter, said government officials.
Late Friday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told reporters that people within 2 to 3 kilometers (1.2 to 1.8 miles) of the Fukushima Daiichi power plant have been told to leave the area. Those closer by -- within 3 to 10 kilometers -- were asked to stay home. Japan's Kyodo News Agency estimated that the evacuation order directly affected about 3,000 people.
"This is a precautionary instruction for people to evacuate," Edano said. "There is no radioactive leakage at this moment outside of the facility."
Massive whirlpool after Japan quake
Witness deals with quake terror RELATED TOPICS Earthquakes U.S. Geological Survey Yet Edano said the Fukushima Daiichi reactor "remains at a high temperature," because it "cannot cool down." The Kyodo agency reported Friday that the radiation level was rising in a turbine building at the plant.
That plant and three others were shut down following the quake, after Japan declared a state of atomic power emergency.
Cham Gallas, a professor of disaster management at the University of Georgia, said that it wouldn't be surprising if reactors get "both thermally hot and radioactively hot" after the reactors were shut down.
"When they shut down reactors, it takes a long time for them to go down," said Dallas. "It does not necessarily mean radioactive material got out of the reactor."
While authorities are "bracing for the scenario," the minister said, "At this moment, there is no danger to the environment."
Fire broke out at a second facility, the Onagawa plant, but crews were able to put that fire out, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.
The trouble at the Fukushima plant happened after the plant successfully shut down, Edano said. Crews had difficulty generating enough electricity to pump water into the facility to cool it, he said.
Janie Eudy told CNN that her husband, Joe, was working at the plant and was injured by falling and shattering glass when the quake struck. As he and others were planning to evacuate, at their managers' orders, tsunami waves struck and washed buildings from the nearby town past the plant.
"To me, it sounded like hell on earth," she said, adding that her husband ultimately escaped.
The government said earlier that it was sending senior officials and the defense force's Chemical Corps to Fukushima power plant, according to the Kyodo news agency per cnn
Registered Member #1675 Joined: Tue Nov 25 2008, 09:29AM : Posts: 3308
The Oregonian reports that 6-foot waves have hit Curry County, Ore., along the southern coast, despite low-tide conditions:
“We’re looking at 4 and a half to 5 feet so far,” said Don Kendall, emergency services coordinator for the county. “We’re in the middle of a low tide so it’s not hitting us as bad as it would have had we had high tide.”
He said conditions at Gold Beach resemble a winter storm, with rough seas. Port Orford reported 4-and-a-half foot waves with larger ones expected in Brookings around 7:30 a.m.
Two hours later, about the time the peak waves were supposed to hit, buoy readings 20 to 40 miles off Port Orford showed waves cresting about 6 feet, Kendall said.
Registered Member #1675 Joined: Tue Nov 25 2008, 09:29AM : Posts: 3308
The Daily Mail reports:
A large number of tourists are thought to be among 400 passengers feared drowned after a high-speed bullet train and cruise ship went missing following the devastating Japanese earthquake earlier today.The massive earthquake - 8,000 times stronger than the one that hist New Zealand last month - sent a catastrophic 33 foot tsunami hurtling across the Pacific Ocean.
Registered Member #1675 Joined: Tue Nov 25 2008, 09:29AM : Posts: 3308
ABC News reports:
In the Bay Area, some of the biggest damage is at Santa Cruz's Harbor. Around 8:10 a.m., within seconds, the water dropped by about 9 feet as the harbor turned into a river as water was sucked out to sea. Several boats broke loose and part of a dock was also pulled away during one of several surges, each of which took about 10 minutes.
Registered Member #1675 Joined: Tue Nov 25 2008, 09:29AM : Posts: 3308
1:42 p.m. ET, 3:42 a.m. Tokyo] Using Air Force planes, the U.S. government has sent over coolant for the Fukushima nuclear plant, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Friday. Japan's officials say a small radiation leak could occur at the plant after Friday's earthquake and tsunami.
Registered Member #110 Joined: Tue Oct 31 2006, 12:51PM : Posts: 2258
Funny, they asked a Japanese physicist about this "special coolant" that Hillary said we are sending them, he gently laughed and said there is no "special coolant", it's plain distilled water, period. The trouble was getting electricity to the pumps. Sounds like Hillary put her foot in mouth.....again. Shut Up and Fish!
TYPE: STRUCTURE FIRE AREA: SUGARLOAF UNITS: MA291A MA291 BC3602 ME96 E292 ME291 P3150 CLOCK10D 3XX CEDAR LN - SUG X LAUREL LN MAGNOLIA LN A CELLULAR RE-BID HAS OCCURRED, CHECK THE ANI ALI VIEWER FOR DETAILS,WPH2 LAT:34
TYPE: VEHICLE FIRE AREA: BIG BEAR LAKE UNITS: MT281 431XX GOLDMINE DR - BBLC BEAR MOUNTAIN SKI X CLUB VIEW DR MOONRIDGE RD WPH2 LAT:34.17132100 LON:-116.840243 METERS:98 %:063,WPH2 LAT:34.17132100 LON:-116.840243 METERS:9
MAJOR EARTHQUAKE NEAR JAPAN
