Tag Archives: Earthquake

Emperor’s Engagement

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What happened on March 11 was the biggest earthquake hitting Japan in modern time resulting in the worst disaster in Japan since second world war, with more than 10000 people confirmed dead and more than 17000 people still missing. And as if that was not enough, a nuclear crises in the Fukushima #1 power plant.

Though everything about what has happened is tragic there are also some positive things. Like how people unite and help each other. There are stories about people that open up their homes and share the scarce food they have with strangers. Restaurants in the disaster areas that give away food. And many other stories like that.

Also, a very extraordinary thing is how the emperor and his family have reacted. It all started with the emperor speaking to the Japanese people via TV. This is very unusual if not the first time ever.

In Nasu the emperor has a summer house and it is located quite close to one of the shelters. The emperor has opened the bath for the people in the shelter. The summer house also has a farm where they grow vegetables and breed chicken etc. Food to be used for dinners that the emperor is hosting. The food is now donated to support the victims of the earthquake/tsunami. And though the emperor is not included in the rolling blackout he has volunteered to join Group 1.

All these may seem like small things, but they are not when considering the status of the Japanese emperor. The emperor usually does not interact with the common Japanese. Only once a year is he “shown” to the people, and then at a great distance. So for him and his family being so engaged in what has happened to Japan is quite extraordinary.

Water is NOT Safe

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In one of three water purification plants in Tokyo they now have detected levels of radioactive iodine that makes it unsafe for infants to drink [Kyodo News]. The limit for infants is 100 Bq/kg whereas the detected levels are 210 Bq/kg. Still this is well below the limit of 300 Bq/kg for adults. To be compared with the Swedish limit of 500 Bq/kg for adults.

Can’t Live with Them, Can’t Live without Them

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The title is referring to cell-phones and nothing else 🙂 And the reason for it is that they wake you up when you least want it. Just before midnight yesterday someone with an “Unknown ID” called my phone. Then very early morning an earthquake alarm was sent to the cell-phone, and although the earthquake never affected Tokyo the damage was already done. I was wide awake and could not have a good sleep after that.

After-quakes

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We are still having after-quakes along the north-east coast of Japan. Though the frequency and magnitude are in general going down. This afternoon there were two earthquakes at 6:25 pm and 6:30 pm. Both made the building I am sitting in swaying gently.

This was I don’t know what number of after quake, though CNN showed a summary of after-quakes yesterday and the number was up to almost 700. Luckily for us we do not feel all of them here in Tokyo.

Water is Safe

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Maybe you have heard about the increased levels of radioactive iodine in Tokyo tap water. Yes, the levels have increased but are still far below the threshold. In Sweden the threshold for radioactive iodine in liquids is 500 Bq/kg. In Tokyo tap water 2.9 Bq/kg was found, which is well below the Swedish threshold and even well below the Japanese threshold of 200 Bq/kg.

It was only one village with extremely high levels (more than 3 times the threshold) in the tap water where they have recommended people to not drink the water. This village, I forgot the name now, was basically within spitting distance from Fukushima #1 plant, or at least partly within the evacuation zone.