The head of the U.N. atomic agency toured Japan’s tsunami-wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant on Wednesday and said he is satisfied with still-contentious plans to release treated radioactive wastewater into the Pacific Ocean.

International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Mariano Grossi observed where the treated water will be sent through a pipeline to a coastal facility, where it will be highly diluted with seawater and receive a final test sampling. It will then be released 1,000 yards offshore through an undersea tunnel.

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Source: https://www.foxnews.com/world/un-atomic-agency-chief-visits-fukushima-nuclear-plant-supports-wastewater-release

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The region is part of northern Japan that was devastated by a deadly 9.0 quake and tsunami 11 years ago that also caused nuclear plant meltdowns.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said there was no longer a tsunami threat though the Japan Meteorological Agency kept its low risk advisory in place. NHK national television said tsunami waves of 8 inches already reached shore in one area.

The Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, which operates the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant where the cooling systems failed after the 2011 disaster, said workers found no abnormalities at the site, which was in the process of being decommissioned.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters that there were also no abnormalities at two other nuclear power plants in the area.

The Japan Meteorological Agency said the quake hit at 11:36 p.m. at a depth of 36 miles below the sea.

Japan’s Air Self-Defense Force said it dispatched fighter jets from the Hyakuri base in Ibaraki prefecture, just south of Fukushima, for information gathering and damage assessment.

NHK said there were reports of fire, damage to buildings and falling rocks in Iitate town in Fukushima. There was no word on any casualties.

More than 2 million homes were without electricity in the Tokyo region serviced by TEPCO due to the quake, the utility said on its website. The quake shook large parts of eastern Japan, including Tokyo, where buildings swayed violently.

East Japan Railway Co. said most of its train services were suspended for safety checks.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters that the government was assessing the extent of damage and promised to do its utmost for rescue and relief operations.

“Please first take action to save your life,” Kishida tweeted.

Matsuno said there were a number of emergency calls and local authorities were scrambling to assess damage.

“We are doing our utmost in rescue operations and putting people’s lives first,” he said.

He urged residents in the affected areas to use extra caution for possible major aftershocks for about a week.

Source: https://www.npr.org/2022/03/16/1086939902/japan-earthquake-fukushima

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The post Magnitude 7.3 earthquake hits Japan off Fukushima coast first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

South Korea held an emergency Vice Ministerial meeting and the country’s nuclear safety chiefl affirmed their stance on the matter.

“To share the main points of the letter, we’ve requested that during the process of collecting opinions, in addition to Japan, other countries’ opinions should be taken into account as well as. while cooperating with the international community. In addition, we requested that relevant information should be transparent, and Japan be cooperative and prompt to South Korea’s request to confirm the release is safe.”

This was the second time South Korea used its nuclear safety commission as a means to send a message to Japan.

The first time was earlier this year when Japan said it had decided to push for the discharge of more than 1 million tons of the water into the ocean.

Tepco’s appeal for regulatory approval this time around was around 500 pages long detailing how the water will be released as well as the extent of the dilution process.

The firm said pumps would move the treated water from the tanks to the seashore and through a seabed tunnel before releasing it at a depth of 12 meters, and about 1 kilometer out at sea.

South Korean authorities plan on examining the appeal thoroughly and will request additional information.

They will also strengthen its watch over the level of radioactivity in the sea.

Currently it has 32 spots in coastal waters to check for levels of tritium and cesium, and it is planning to add 2 more spots with more frequent checks being carried out.

Kim Do-yeon, Arirang News.
Reporter : tkim@arirang.com

Source: http://www.arirang.com/news/News_View.asp?nseq=289920

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The post Japan Earthquake Today: Extreme Moderate 7.2 quake hits near Sendai, Japan first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

A powerful magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck late Saturday off the coast of Tohoku, leaving at least 30 people injured and knocking multiple power plants offline.

The quake, which measured a strong 6 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale — the second-highest level — jolted Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures in the Tohoku region. No tsunami warning was issued.

The injuries were reported in Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures, but it was not immediately clear if anyone was seriously hurt.

Nationwide, at least 950,000 homes were without power as of midnight, top government spokesman Katsunobu Kato said at a news conference. Kato later said that multiple power plants in the nation were offline.

The quake, which was also felt in Tokyo, where it registered a 4 on the Japanese scale, struck at around 11:07 p.m., according to the Meteorological Agency. The epicenter was off the coast of Fukushima, about 220 kilometers (135 miles) north of Tokyo. Its focus was estimated to be at a depth of about 55 kilometers.

At a news conference early Sunday morning, a Meteorological Agency official said aftershocks of up to a strong 6 on the Japanese scale could occur for at least a week. The official said Saturday’s quake was believed to be an aftershock of the Great East Japan Earthquake that struck the same region on March 11, 2011.

“Because (the 2011 quake) was an enormous one with a magnitude of 9.0, it’s not surprising to have an aftershock of this scale 10 years later,” said Kenji Satake, a professor at the University of Tokyo’s Earthquake Research Institute.

The quake registered a strong 6 in the southern part of Miyagi, and in the Nakadori central and Hamadori coastal regions of Fukushima, the agency said.

Power outages were reported in parts of Fukushima, Miyagi, Iwate, and Tochigi prefectures, according to media reports. Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings reported blackouts across several prefectures as of early Sunday morning.

No abnormalities have been found at the Fukushima Nos. 1 and 2 nuclear power plants, according to Tokyo Electric Power. The same was true for Japan Atomic Power Co.’s inactive Tokai No. 2 nuclear power plant in the village of Tokai in Ibaraki Prefecture and Tohoku Electric Power Co.’s Onagawa nuclear plant in Miyagi Prefecture, according to their operators.

Following the quake, JR East temporarily halted operations of its Tohoku, Joetsu, and Hokuriku shinkansen lines. Power outages occurred on some sections. A landslide had covered a section of the Joban Expressway in Soma, Fukushima Prefecture, officials said, but no vehicles were found to be trapped.

The Kyodo News bureau in Sendai after a strong earthquake struck on Saturday | KYODO

Horizontal shaking lasted for a few minutes inside a traditional inn in Minamisoma, Fukushima Prefecture, with plates for food scattered in its dining room.

“The initial jolt felt more powerful than the one I experienced in the Great East Japan Earthquake,” said Tomoko Kobayashi, 68, who works at the inn. “I wondered if it would end.”

After the 7.1 quake, many smaller earthquakes with magnitudes between 3 and 5 occurred off Fukushima.

A bookshelf is seen tipped over at a home in Koriyama, Fukushima Prefecture, late Saturday after a powerful earthquake struck the region. | KYODO

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga immediately directed government agencies to assess the damage, rescue any potential victims, work with municipalities and provide necessary information about any evacuation plans and damage as soon as possible. The government was setting up a task force to examine the quake.

Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi directed the Self-Defense Forces to gather information on the scope of the damage and be prepared to respond immediately.

The quake, which comes less than a month before the 10th anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake, registered a 4 on the Japanese scale as far north as Aomori Prefecture and as far west as Shizuoka Prefecture. It was the strongest quake in the region since April 7 that year, the meteorology agency said.

The epicenter of the earthquake that occurred on Feb. 13 at 11:08 p.m. is located in Fukushima Prefecture | JAPAN METEOROLOGICAL AGENCY

Source: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2021/02/14/national/earthquake-fukushima/

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