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http://www.theage.com.au/environment/2000-bodies-washed-up-as-japan-shaken-by-new-tsunami-scare-and-reactor-blast-20110313-1bt30.html
2000 bodies washed up as Japan shaken by new tsunami scare and reactor blast
Ben Cubby
March 14, 2011 - 2:23PM
About 2000 bodies have reportedly been found on the shores of Miyagi prefecture.
The grim development, reported by Kyodo news agency, comes as Japan’s weather agency said there was no current risk of another deadly wave hitting Japan’s northeastern coast, following earlier TV reports of a three-metre wave heading for the coast.
About 1000 people were found washed up on the shores of Ojika Peninsulain Miyagi, while another were seen in the town of Minamisanriku, the agency said, adding that in Minamisanriku authorities have been unable to contact 10,000 people – more than half of the population living there.
Officials were hopeful about unconfirmed reports that many of the town's residents were uncountable because they had evacuated to nearby Tome city, Kyodo reported.
A Japan Meteorological Agency offical said in a live broadcast shown on public broadcaster NHK, following reports that the three-metre high wave was spotted from a fire department helicopter off Fukushima prefecture, that any wave was unlikely to be higher than several tens of centimetres.
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, and residents were being ordered to higher ground.
Earlier today a 5.8 magnitude quake - one of many aftershocks since Friday’s massive 9 quake - struck at a depth of 18 kilometres off Ibaraki prefecture, shaking tall buildings in Japan's capital.
Meanwhile, the Fukushima nuclear plant operator TEPCO said the reactor had survived another explosion, Jiji Press reported.
Japanese chief cabinet secretary Yukio Edano said the head of nuclear plant operator TEPCO advised authorities that the container vessel was still safe.
He said that according to the data and information he had, water injection into the plant was continuing and the pressure recorded within it was still of an acceptable range.
Operators had earlier halted injection of sea water into the reactor, resulting in a rise in radiation levels and pressure.
The government had warned that an explosion was possible because of the buildup of hydrogen in the building housing the reactor.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Japanese authorities reported that radioactivity levels "at the site boundary" of another nuclear power plant at Onagawa had returned to normal.
The UN nuclear watchdog said earlier that Tohoku Electric Power Company, which manages the Onagawa plant, was investigating why radioactivity readings were "exceeding allowed levels in the area surrounding the plant" in Miyagi prefecture, the region hardest hit by the natural disasters.
"The current assumption of the Japanese authorities is that the increased level may have been due to a release of radioactive material from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant," the IAEA said.
"Investigations at the site indicate that no emissions of radioactivity have occurred from any of the three units at Onagawa."
However, the emergency continues at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, about 250 kilometres north-east of Tokyo. About 210,000 tsunami survivors were being evacuated from its surrounding areas.
Radioactive material released during Saturday's explosion and containing potentially lethal iodine-131 and caesium-137 was detected, a signal that uranium fuel rods inside the plant's No.1 reactor had been damaged.
The pump for the cooling system at another nuclear complex, the Tokai Daini plant, also failed after the quake. But a second pump operated normally as did the reactor, said the utility, the Japan Atomic Power Company.
The Daiichi and Daini plants began to overheat on Friday when the tsunami destroyed back-up systems that were supposed to pump water through the reactor chambers to keep them cool.
In all, six reactors were having trouble keeping cool, the government said, and seawater was being pumped through two of them as an emergency measure.
All of the reactors at all of the 55 nuclear facilities across Japan shut down automatically when the earthquake shook the region.
A mass evacuation of about 210,000 tsunami survivors from near the Fukushima nuclear power complex was still under way last night.
1000 bodies recovered
Authorities said about 1000 bodies had been recovered from the mud-streaked wreckage along the coast north of Tokyo, but the death toll from Friday's tsunami in the worst hit Miyagi prefecture would rise beyond 10,000, police said. About 2.5 million homes were without power and 1.4 million without water.
A total of 380,000 people have been evacuated to shelters after more than 20,000 buildings were wiped out along the coastline.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) said 1973 Australians, including 102 in the affected areas, were confirmed safe as of 5.30am today.
There are 2948 Australians registered in Japan, with 234 registered in the areas devastated by the earthquake and tsunami.
Those confirmed safe include registered and unregistered Australians, a DFAT spokesman said.
A total of 6797 calls have been received by the Consular Emergency Centre since Friday.
Australia's ambassador to Japan Murray McLean said it was difficult to know exactly how many Australians were affected by the earthquake.
"We really, honestly, do not know how many Australians were in Japan on the day of the big earthquake," he told the ABC.
"The numbers are fluctuating."
Foreign Affairs Minister Kevin Rudd said DFAT had no further information about 25-year-old Melbourne man Jason Briffa, whose mother was concerned he had not been in contact since Friday afternoon before the quake.
But he said DFAT officials were working with the Japanese to find Mr Briffa, who was working as an English teacher in Sendai.
"We will not spare any effort in tracking down the whereabouts of each and every Australian that we haven't been able to identify so far," Mr Rudd told the Nine Network this morning.
Huge aftershocks continued to rumble through the region yesterday, and tsunami warnings were still current along many sections of the coast.
Hundreds exposed to radiation
About 160 people had been exposed to dangerous radiation levels close to the power stations, the Japanese Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said, with at least three plant workers showing severe symptoms of radiation sickness. One power station worker was killed while operating a crane at the site, and eight others have been injured.
Japanese public television broadcast nuclear emergency warnings, telling people who were still close to the plants to stay indoors, not to drink water, to cover exposed skin and to place wet towels over their mouths and noses to ward off contamination. Some people had been issued with iodine pills to counteract radiation sickness.
Australia's nuclear safety agency, ARPANSA, said there was no immediate risk outside a 20-kilometre exclusion zone around the plants.
Australian nuclear specialists told the Herald there were grounds for believing the Japanese authorities could bring the emergency under control if enough water could be pumped through into the reactors to keep the uranium fuel rods cool for the next few days.
A complete meltdown - the collapse of a power plant's ability to keep temperatures under control - could release uranium and dangerous contaminants into the environment and pose major, widespread health risks.
Experts noted, however, that even a complete meltdown would probably be far less severe than the 1986 disaster at Chernobyl, where a reactor exploded and sent a cloud of radiation over much of Europe. That reactor, unlike the ones in Fukushima, was not housed in a sealed container.
Significant build-up of radiation is unlikely
Ziggy Switkowski, who was chairman of the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation [ANSTO] until a few months ago, said a significant build-up of radiation was unlikely.
"The contribution, if any, to this [disaster] from the nuclear fleet, I expect even under worst case scenarios is going to be small," he told Fairfax Radio Network this morning.
"That's not to deny that people are always concerned and justly concerned about the integrity of the nuclear reactor network," Dr Switkowski said.
"The Japanese reactors are probably as good as you can find around the world, but this magnitude 9 earthquake may well have tested the limits of their design."
Japan has 55 reactors spread across 17 complexes nationwide.
100,000 soldiers involved in relief efforts
The wider relief effort included 100,000 soldiers, who have concentrated in the crescent of coast north of Tokyo, including the Miyagi and Chiba prefectures.
In Iwaki, residents were leaving due to concerns over supplies. The town had no electricity and all shops were closed. Police had taken in about 90 people and given them blankets and rice balls but there was no sign of aid trucks.
The earthquake itself was upgraded to magnitude 9 by Japanese seismologists - making it the biggest to hit that region.
"Our country faces its worst crisis since the end of the war 65 years ago," the Prime Minister, Naoto Kan, said yesterday. "I'm convinced that working together with all our might the Japanese people can overcome this."
Losses of nearly $US34.5 billion feared
The devastating earthquake could lead to insured losses of nearly $US35 billion, risk modelling company AIR Worldwide said, making it one of the most expensive catastrophes in history - even without expected additional tsunami losses that are not yet counted.
AIR said its loss estimate range was $US14.5 billion to $US34.6 billion. That was based on a range of 1.2 trillion yen to 2.8 trillion yen, converted at 81.85 yen to the US dollar.
The company cautioned that the estimate was preliminary, and its models do not factor in the effects of the tsunami that followed the earthquake, or any potential losses from nuclear damage.
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july 19 
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14 มี.ค. 54 10:37:03
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update เหตุการณ์ Tsunami ถล่ม ญี่ปุ่น{แตกประเด็นจาก E10333940}
