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Japan struggling amid food, water shortages, radiation leak
Source: Xinhua |
March 15, 2011, Tuesday
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Online Edition
Online Edition
TENS of thousands of Japanese and foreign workers are racing against time to rescue survivors four days after the historic 9.0-magnitude earthquake devastated northeast Japan and an ensuing tsunami engulfed many coastal cities in the region.
The Japanese government has sent 100,000 troops to lead the aid effort. It has sent 120,000 blankets, 120,000 bottles of water and 110,000 liters of gasoline plus food to the affected areas.
The Japan Self Defense Forces, firemen, and police from all over the country were mobilized to search for survivors and dig out bodies.
"We are still focusing on searching for the survivors," said Wataru Suzuki, a fireman from the fire department of Osaki, Miyagi prefecture. He said it is hopelessly difficult as there are too many missing people.
The firemen used hand picks and chain saws to clear away mounds of broken timber, plastic sheets, roofs, sludge, twisted cars, tangled power-lines and household goods. Meanwhile, ambulances were on standby, and helicopters were patrolling the area.
A 15-member Chinese international search and rescue team yesterday morning set out to join the relief work in Ofunato, Iwate, a densely populated coastal city severely hit by the earthquake and ensuing tsunami.
The Chinese team is one of the first overseas groups to join and help out with relief work in the city. Team leader Yin Guanghui said they have brought along life exploration devices and other equipment to help with the rescue.
By yesterday, food supplies were shipped to four shelters in Minamisanryuku, Miyagi prefecture, reaching at least 3,000 people.
However, electricity will take days to restore. From Iwate to Fukushima, power supplies were still limited to a small urban area. Telecommunications were impossible in Minamisanryuku, Kesennuma or other seriously-hit coastal areas. Cars queued for hours to get gasoline.
According to public broadcaster NHK, some 430,000 people are living in emergency shelters and another 24,000 people are stranded. As rescue workers are struggling to reach the victims, it was estimated that millions of people were spending a fourth night Monday without water, food or heat in the cold northeastern region.
The Japan Tourism Agency said about 1,000 of the 4,900 tourists visiting the devastated areas could not be contacted by yesterday afternoon.
The Chinese embassy in Japan has not received any casualty report of Chinese nationals following Friday's colossal earthquake, Press Counselor Deng Wei said Monday.
Deng said the embassy has sent three working groups to the quake-hit areas, and the safety of up to 8,446 Chinese has already been confirmed.
Many Chinese students studying in Sendai prefecture, one of the hardest-hit regions, have been evacuated to Osaka in Southern Honshu Island to head back to China, and the rest will be evacuated to Niigata, President of Sendai Chinese Students and Scholars Association Cao Pengyu told Xinhua.
President of Chinese Students and Scholars Association at Fukushima University Zhao Yaotong told Xinhua in an email that part of the roughly 250 Chinese students studying at the university have been staying in the university's student exchange center, where there is sufficient food and water. They are considering leaving for China, fearing a possible nuclear leak at Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant about 75 km away.
As rescue workers are racing against time, the possibility of a nuclear meltdown at the quake-hit Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant has aroused great concern among governments and the public worldwide.
A third explosion occurred at 6:10 am today (2110 GMT on Monday) at the No.2 reactor and damaged the reactor's suppression pool, said a spokesman for the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, Shigekazu Omukai.
Another agency spokesman Shinji Kinjo said detectors showed 11,900 microsieverts of radiation three hours after the explosion, up from 73 microsieverts beforehand.
Later fire broke out at the No. 4 reactor, causing more radiation near the complex.
Japan's prime minister warned against further leaks and told people living within a radius of 30 km of the affected plant to stay indoors.
Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), owner and operator of the Fukushima complex, said it is evacuating some workers from the plant, except those who are working to cool the reactor, a sign that the situation is worsening.
Failure of the cooling function had resulted in two hydrogen explosions at the No. 3 reactor Monday and No.1 reactor Saturday respectively, damaging the outer walls. But it did not pierce the reactors' steel and concrete containment vessel.
The nuclear plant shut down automatically due to Friday's massive earthquake, but the catastrophe knocked out its cooling systems, raising fears of a major radiation leak.
Prime Minister Kan said earlier today that the government and TEPCO will set up integrated headquarters, headed by the premier, to address issues at the Fukushima No. 1 plant.
While US and Russian nuclear experts are rushing to Japan, it was reported that the latter had also asked the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), to provide experts in a joint effort to deal with the incidents at the nuclear power plant.
The Japanese government Monday asked the IAEA to send experts to help the country deal with the nuclear safety crisis.
The Japanese government has sent 100,000 troops to lead the aid effort. It has sent 120,000 blankets, 120,000 bottles of water and 110,000 liters of gasoline plus food to the affected areas.
The Japan Self Defense Forces, firemen, and police from all over the country were mobilized to search for survivors and dig out bodies.
"We are still focusing on searching for the survivors," said Wataru Suzuki, a fireman from the fire department of Osaki, Miyagi prefecture. He said it is hopelessly difficult as there are too many missing people.
The firemen used hand picks and chain saws to clear away mounds of broken timber, plastic sheets, roofs, sludge, twisted cars, tangled power-lines and household goods. Meanwhile, ambulances were on standby, and helicopters were patrolling the area.
A 15-member Chinese international search and rescue team yesterday morning set out to join the relief work in Ofunato, Iwate, a densely populated coastal city severely hit by the earthquake and ensuing tsunami.
The Chinese team is one of the first overseas groups to join and help out with relief work in the city. Team leader Yin Guanghui said they have brought along life exploration devices and other equipment to help with the rescue.
By yesterday, food supplies were shipped to four shelters in Minamisanryuku, Miyagi prefecture, reaching at least 3,000 people.
However, electricity will take days to restore. From Iwate to Fukushima, power supplies were still limited to a small urban area. Telecommunications were impossible in Minamisanryuku, Kesennuma or other seriously-hit coastal areas. Cars queued for hours to get gasoline.
According to public broadcaster NHK, some 430,000 people are living in emergency shelters and another 24,000 people are stranded. As rescue workers are struggling to reach the victims, it was estimated that millions of people were spending a fourth night Monday without water, food or heat in the cold northeastern region.
The Japan Tourism Agency said about 1,000 of the 4,900 tourists visiting the devastated areas could not be contacted by yesterday afternoon.
The Chinese embassy in Japan has not received any casualty report of Chinese nationals following Friday's colossal earthquake, Press Counselor Deng Wei said Monday.
Deng said the embassy has sent three working groups to the quake-hit areas, and the safety of up to 8,446 Chinese has already been confirmed.
Many Chinese students studying in Sendai prefecture, one of the hardest-hit regions, have been evacuated to Osaka in Southern Honshu Island to head back to China, and the rest will be evacuated to Niigata, President of Sendai Chinese Students and Scholars Association Cao Pengyu told Xinhua.
President of Chinese Students and Scholars Association at Fukushima University Zhao Yaotong told Xinhua in an email that part of the roughly 250 Chinese students studying at the university have been staying in the university's student exchange center, where there is sufficient food and water. They are considering leaving for China, fearing a possible nuclear leak at Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant about 75 km away.
As rescue workers are racing against time, the possibility of a nuclear meltdown at the quake-hit Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant has aroused great concern among governments and the public worldwide.
A third explosion occurred at 6:10 am today (2110 GMT on Monday) at the No.2 reactor and damaged the reactor's suppression pool, said a spokesman for the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, Shigekazu Omukai.
Another agency spokesman Shinji Kinjo said detectors showed 11,900 microsieverts of radiation three hours after the explosion, up from 73 microsieverts beforehand.
Later fire broke out at the No. 4 reactor, causing more radiation near the complex.
Japan's prime minister warned against further leaks and told people living within a radius of 30 km of the affected plant to stay indoors.
Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), owner and operator of the Fukushima complex, said it is evacuating some workers from the plant, except those who are working to cool the reactor, a sign that the situation is worsening.
Failure of the cooling function had resulted in two hydrogen explosions at the No. 3 reactor Monday and No.1 reactor Saturday respectively, damaging the outer walls. But it did not pierce the reactors' steel and concrete containment vessel.
The nuclear plant shut down automatically due to Friday's massive earthquake, but the catastrophe knocked out its cooling systems, raising fears of a major radiation leak.
Prime Minister Kan said earlier today that the government and TEPCO will set up integrated headquarters, headed by the premier, to address issues at the Fukushima No. 1 plant.
While US and Russian nuclear experts are rushing to Japan, it was reported that the latter had also asked the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), to provide experts in a joint effort to deal with the incidents at the nuclear power plant.
The Japanese government Monday asked the IAEA to send experts to help the country deal with the nuclear safety crisis.
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