Image via WikipediaThe news is constantly shifting and changing as fast as the earthquake shook this small nation in the Pacific Ocean. Sitting atop three continental plates, Japan lives in the most dangerous place in the world for severe and frequent earthquakes and resulting tsunamis: The Ring of Fire.
Japan is now 13 feet wider than before the earthquake. Japan as a country has also moved an additional eight feet from its previous position. This 9.0 earthquake has moved the Earth's axis. How much has yet to be determined. The previous 9.0 earthquake off Chile months ago moved the Earth's axis by three inches. It's no wonder the night sky constellations no longer are seen in the same positions as a year ago.
At this point in the nuclear crisis it is difficult for officials to assess fully the situation while they are trying to prevent a huge nuclear disaster beyond what is already unfolding. There are at least six nuclear reactors in crisis stages, from overheating to partial meltdown status. For some, the cooling systems have failed completely, others the containment walls exploded.
Any way you look at it, everyone on that island nation has been radiated up to 10 times, maybe 50 times, what are considered normal levels in a year's time. The Japanese have a habit of understatement. When they say the current radiation levels escaping into the country are at a level of what a normal person experiences from radiation in a year, well, count on it they really mean the radiation levels are that of what a person experiences in a decade.
At this date there are official counts of 190 found to be exposed to radiation. Those are just the people who have been monitored. Millions of citizens have yet to be tested.
Scientists have now upgraded the 8.9 earthquake up to a 9.0 quake which means the new level is 10 times greater than the 8.9 quake level.
The number of aftershocks are now counted as high as 275. The first day alone there were over 125 aftershocks.
A cooling system at a second nuclear plant has failed. The containment buildings at two of the nuclear plants have failed and sea water is being pumped in by hand, without electricity, in a last ditch effort to cool the reactors, avoiding an explosion sending radiation far worse into the air - and this process could take months to achieve safety.
Japan PM has stated this is the "worst crisis since second world war."
There are estimated to be at least 10,000 dead in Miyagi prefecture, a city of 2.3 million, still no counts for other areas of Japan. Officially, the death toll in Miyagi is at 2,800. Over 1,000 bodies washed up dead on the shores of Miyagi.
In the aid effort the Japanese government has sent in:
100,000 troops to start the aid effort and organize it
120,000 blankets
120,000 bottles of water
29,000 gallons (110,000 liters) of gasoline plus food to the affected areas.
Electricity may take days to restore.
How many are without water? At least 1.4 million households
How many are without electricity? At least 1.9 million households
Can they get gas for their cars? When available there are 5 hour waits in long lines.
How much food is available? Most are living on 10 percent of a usual day's food, mostly dried noodles and water. Help is not reaching them yet in a timely manner. It often takes up to 8 days for emergency crews to mobilize and spread out to reach survivors.
How many are living in emergency shelters or with relatives or friends? About 310,000
How many are homeless? That estimate is at about 550,000
How many are still stranded awaiting rescue three days since the disaster hit? Estimates are at about 24,000 people awaiting help.
Trains are operating on a limited schedule. Gas rationing, food and water rationing is in effect across the country, along with rolling power outages to conserve what electricity they do have. When the earthquake hit, there were three nuclear reactors that shut down immediately. Those three reactors were responsible for almost 48 percent of delivering energy to the country.
Damage is estimated to cost in the tens of billions to repair and rebuild and that sounds conservative. Consider this: the foundation bedrock of the entire nation has been moved by at least eight feet and 13 feet in other areas. Just how structurally sound is everything built in Japan, from residences to commercial buildings to the highways?
What about the nuclear power plants? They are designed to meet certain specifications. Those specifications are maladjusted now, resulting from the movement caused by the earthquake and the tsunami. Everything is literally out of whack.
The Japanese are not being honest about the real nuclear threat levels involved here from these melting down nuclear reactors. It doesn't matter if a reactor is in a partial meltdown or a full meltdown. A full meltdown usually follows a partial one. Both are emitting dangerous radiation exposure beyond from an explosion because there are no longer containment walls to protect people. Radiation is radiation. It can kill you now or kill you later. Why stick around and collect more by the minute?
What is the Japanese Government-Big Business industrial complex trying to hide from world view? It's odd they have rejected help from the IAEA, nuclear scientists and engineers, keeping everything under complete Japanese control and eyes. Have they been developing weapons grade nukes? Have they been selling to rogue nations? This need to hide the truth for this long goes beyond the pride of "saving face" and now looks strikingly suspicious and the world community should look into it.
The media, along with all the residents of Japan, all nonessential personnel, should be evacuating. Everyone and everything has been exposed to unbelievable levels of radiation as it has spread out for hundreds of miles from each explosion. Our government, and the people of Japan, should not be so complacent as to believe the understatements and deceptions they are uttering to avoid public panic. There should be a panic and a drive to get out of Japan quickly.
Millions of people have yet to be tested or monitored for radiation exposure. Decontamination must start immediately for the entire population. If the world community does not get serious about dealing with this nuclear threat, then in the weeks and months ahead we could be witnessing radiation deaths not seen since World War II.
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