tagged w/ Earthquakes
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Quake kills 1, knocks down church bell in northern Italy
By the CNN Wire Staff
updated 1:13 AM EDT, Sun May 20, 2012
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STORY HIGHLIGHTS
The USGS says a 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck northern Italy
Damage is reported in St. Agostino, Italian authorities say
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(CNN) -- A strong earthquake struck early Sunday in northern Italy, killing at least one person and knocking down a church bell in the region, authorities said.
The 6.0-magnitude quake occurred just after 4 a.m. (10 p.m. ET Saturday), 4 kilometers (2.4 miles) outside Camposanto, northwest of Bologna, according to the U.S. Geological Survey said.
Italy's Civil Protection Office said one person died and two were wounded in Emilia Romagna, the region where Camposanto is located.
In the town of St. Agostino, the quake knocked down a church bell.
Authorities were still assessing damage in the region, the Civil Protection Office said.
In January, the same area was struck by a 5.3-magnitude quake.
In 2009, a 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck near the central Italian city of L'Aquila, killing more than 300 people and causing widespread destruction.
CNN's Joseph Netto contributed to this report.
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Quake kills 1, knocks down church bell in northern Italy
By the CNN... more
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2012 is here! The Mayans said it would be crazy! Earthquakes are poppin’ off, tornadoes are rippin’ shit up, and it’s the hottest spring on record!
People are rioting all around the world, the money will be worthless soon.
The sun is angry and people are seeing UFO’s. Sounds like the perfect time for some False Flag fun! What if I told you governments of the world are conspiring to deceive the public with visions of UFO’s and rapture, all the while using hologram emitters, ionocrafts, and radio frequency plasma weapons? Read on:
http://rezn8d.net/2012/04/12/its-the-end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it/2012 is here! The Mayans said it would be crazy! Earthquakes are poppin’ off,... more
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Conversations about fracking, the controversial technique for natural gas extraction (alternately known as "that thing that turns your tap water flammable") are typically confined to Pennsylvania, where the critically acclaimed documentary Gasland was set, or the state of New York, currently debating whether or not it will allow fracking after a four-year hiatus for environmental review.
Don't feel left out, Angelenos, we've got fracking here too! And it might even be more dangerous than the kind that has allegedly poisoned drinking water and polluted the air in the Midwest and on the East Coast -- because injecting a high-pressure mixture of chemicals into the Earth to create fissures that release natural gas could have the effect of triggering a massive earthquake here in Southern California.
The Inglewood Oil Field in Baldwin Hills is the largest urban oilfield in the nation -- more than one million people live within five miles of the site -- and it sits atop a fault line capable of 7.4 magnitude earthquake. Which might be why Citizen's Coalition for a Safe Community and Food and Water Watch chose the little league field adjacent to the oil field as the site for a press conference Tuesday announcing a statewide campaign to ban the practice.
Drilling at the Inglewood Oil Field dates back to 1926, but the oil reserves were thought to be sucked dry ... until 2004, when PXP got the greenlight to drill three new wells.
On January 10, 2006, fracking at the Inglewood Oil Field released a cloud of fumes so toxic that residents of Baldwin Hills and Culver City were forced to evacuate their homes. That incident prompted a lawsuit by members of the community, settled in 2011. Under the terms of the settlement PXP would have to monitor air quality, cut down on the noise and reduce the number of wells from 600 to 500 by the year 2028.
According to a letter from PXP to Larry Jaramillo of the Los Angeles County Zoning Enforcement, in August of last year California's Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources once again approved fracking on the property.
After an appearance at Tuesday's press conference, Gasland director Josh Fox joined environmental writer Bill McKibben on stage at UCLA's Hammer Museum for a forum on fracking and the Keystone Pipeline. During the talk, Fox pointed out that scientists from the US Geological Survey recently released a study saying the six-fold increase in earthquakes felt in Colorado, Oklahoma and Arkansas since the inception of drilling in the areas was "almost certainly manmade."
The study, presented last month at a meeting of the Seismological Society of America, says that for three decades, 1970-2000, there were an average of 21 seismic events in the US midcontinent. Those numbers spiked once oil and gas companies began fracking in the region: there were 50 events in 2009, 87 in 2010 and 134 in 2011. USGS scientists found there was "strong evidence" linking the increase in earthquakes to fracking practices. The abstract of the study is available online.
The strong link between fracking and the increase in earthquakes is why, Fox pointed out Tuesday, it might not be a great idea to drill in Baldwin Hills at a site that sits directly atop the Newport-Inglewood Fault.
At the same time anti-fracking activists (and at least one heckler from the oil and gas industry) gathered in Baldwin Hills on Tuesday, the Western States Petroleum Association was releasing a survey in which member oil companies self-reported using hydraulic fracturing on 628 wells in California last year.
California, which ranks fourth in oil production nationally, has imposed tougher regulations on fracking than exist at the federal level, but the state does not require oil companies to disclose whether they employ the controversial technique, nor which chemicals they use. Citizen's Coalition for a Safe Community and Food and Water Watch are looking to change that -- by having the practice banned in California altogether.
By Tessa StuartConversations about fracking, the controversial technique for natural gas extraction... more
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Members of the Group of Eight, in a declaration, said deep-water drilling and hydraulic fracturing were key to a safe and secure energy future.
The G8 industrialized nations wrapped up meetings last weekend at the U.S. presidential retreat at Camp David, Md.
In a 40-point declaration, the G8 said it was committed to a policy of energy security that focused on safety and sustainability.
"We are committed to establishing and sharing best practices on energy production, including exploration in frontier areas and the use of technologies such as deep water drilling and hydraulic fracturing, where allowed, to allow for the safe development of energy sources, taking into account environmental concerns over the life of a field," the declaration read.
Hydraulic fracturing, known also as fracking, uses a mixture of water, sand and chemicals to coax oil and natural gas out of underground shale formations. The practice is controversial because of the perceived toxicity of the chemical components. The United States has moved forward with the practice, though some European countries have placed a moratorium on fracking.
Deep-water drilling slowed in the wake of the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico but has since gained momentum.
"As our economies grow, we recognize the importance of meeting our energy needs from a wide variety of sources ranging from traditional fuels to renewables to other clean technologies," the G8 declaration added.
Read more: http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Energy-Resources/2012/05/21/G8-warms-to-fracking-deep-water-drilling/UPI-82701337603041/#ixzz1vZ0nFmZs
More at the linkMembers of the Group of Eight, in a declaration, said deep-water drilling and... more
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There is growing evidence that some of the Earth’s most catastrophic geological events were triggered by changes in the climate.
The melting of ice sheets and changes in sea level served as triggers to some of the world’s largest earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, according to British geologist Bill McGuire.
The best evidence of climatic influence on geology is from around 12,000 years ago, the end of the last ice age. Recent studies of volcanic deposits, have shown that this period of rapid change, as the ice sheets retreated, coincided with an outburst in geological activity.
Volcanic eruptions increased about 50 fold after the ice sheet retreated, and took around 1,500 years to return to the previous level.
McGuire argues that the weight of ice, two kilometers thick over Iceland, kept pressure on the volcanoes and suppressed the eruptions. As the ice sheet retreated, the surface of the ground in some places rose up by hundreds of meters, relieving the pressure.
Freysteinn Sigmundsson of the Nordic Volcanological Center at the University of Iceland in Reykjavik, is quoted as saying “Reduction of pressure enabled mantle rocks to melt, creating a zone of magma upwelling underneath Iceland.”
The production of magma then increased 30 fold, leading to the huge increase in volcanic eruptions.
(click on the link for the complete article)There is growing evidence that some of the Earth’s most catastrophic geological... more
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Vermont is poised to become the first state to ban a controversial natural gas drilling technique known as fracking.
The Legislature finished work on the measure Friday, and it's on its way to Gov. Peter Shumlin for his signature.
Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, involves injecting water and chemicals deep into the ground to fracture rock that contains bubbles of natural gas.
Chittenden Senator Ginny Lyons was a lead sponsor of the measure in the Senate. Even though there isn't much shale in Vermont that contains natural gas, Lyons said the ban is important as a preventative measure to protect the environment.
"We do have some deposits, shale deposits in the northwestern part of the state and possibly in the southern part of the state," she said. "As this kind of exploration goes on it results, possibly results, in significant problems with the drinking water safety. So it could affect ground water, as well as surface water.
Fracking has caused water and air pollution in other states, Lyons said. She says the Vermont ban could be lifted someday if studies show fracking is safe.
"But right now the industry is not forthcoming with the process and the chemicals that are used. So until we have total knowledge, I think we ought to err on the side of caution," she said.
A bill that passed the House earlier called for a moratorium on fracking. But a conference committee sided with the Senate's version, which called for an outright ban.
More at the linkVermont is poised to become the first state to ban a controversial natural gas... more
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HuffPo: Large amounts of radioactive materials could be deposited across 1,000s of miles if water lost at Fukushima fuel pool — Media just beginning to grasp that danger to world is far from over -Nuclear Expert
Published: April 22nd, 2012 at 4:54 pm ET
By ENENews
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Title: Robert Alvarez: The Fukushima Nuclear Disaster Is Far From Over
Source: Huffington Post
Author: Robert Alvarez*
Date: Apr 22, 2012
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More than a year after the Fukushima nuclear power disaster began, the news media is just beginning to grasp that the dangers to Japan and the rest of the world are far from over. After repeated warnings by former senior Japanese officials, nuclear experts, and now a U.S. Senator, it’s sinking in that the irradiated nuclear fuel stored in spent fuel pools amidst the reactor ruins pose far greater dangers than the molten cores. This is why:
• Nearly all of the 10,893 spent fuel assemblies sit in pools vulnerable to future earthquakes, with roughly 85 times more long-lived radioactivity than released at Chernobyl
• Several pools are 100 feet above the ground and are completely open to the atmosphere because the reactor buildings were demolished by explosions. The pools could possibly topple or collapse from structural damage coupled with another powerful earthquake.
• The loss of water exposing the spent fuel will result in overheating and can cause melting and ignite its zirconium metal cladding resulting in a fire that could deposit large amounts of radioactive materials over hundreds, if not thousands of miles. [...]
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*Robert Alvarez, an Institute for Policy Studies senior scholar, served as senior policy adviser to the Energy Department’s secretary and deputy assistant secretary for national security and the environment from 1993 to 1999. He is an award winning author whose work has appeared in The Washington Post, the Nation, Technology Review, and the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists. He has also been featured on”60 Minutes”, Nova and All Things Considered.
Published: April 22nd, 2012 at 4:54 pm ET
By ENENews
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THE REPORT FOLLOWS...
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HuffPo: Large amounts of radioactive materials could be deposited... more
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Strong earthquake strikes Chile; no serious damage reported
By the CNN Wire Staff
updated 2:40 AM EDT, Tue April 17, 2012
Click link to play video
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STORY HIGHLIGHTS
NEW: A 72-year-old man died of a heart attack in an evacuation
A journalist describes what it felt like
The Canadian prime minister is okay
Chile is on the so-called "Ring of Fire"
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(CNN) -- A strong earthquake struck coastal Chile near the port city of Valparaiso late Monday, causing mudslides and some minor damage, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.
The 6.7-magnitude quake knocked out some power and phone lines in the region, authorities said.
The temblor was felt in the capital city, Santiago, located 69 miles from the epicenter. A CNN en Español anchor held onto his desk as the quake rattled the studio during a newscast in Huechurba, a suburb of the capital.
"We could feel the ground shaking," said journalist Richard Madan. "It felt like we were standing on a subway track but multiply that by about 200."
Madan, of CNN's Canadian affiliate CTV, is in Santiago as part of the traveling press for Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper's visit there.
Both he and the Canadian delegation were okay, Madan said.
No tsunami warning was issued, according to Chile's Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service, and a preventive evacuation for the area has been lifted. A 72-year-old man died of a heart attack during the evacuation, according to regional Mayor Raul Celis.
Quake rattles Chile, no tsunami warnings
The same part of the country was hit with an 8.8-magnitude earthquake in February 2010, killing hundreds of people.
Chile is on the so-called "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanoes and fault lines circling the Pacific Basic that is prone to frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
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CNN en Español's Jose Manuel Rodriguez contributed to this report.
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Strong earthquake strikes Chile; no serious damage reported
By the CNN... more
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Tsunami watch lifted after two big earthquakes
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By the CNN Wire Staff
updated 3:05 PM EDT, Wed April 11, 2012
Click link to play video
Preparing search and rescue post-quake
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STORY HIGHLIGHTS
NEW: Four slightly injured on Simeulue Island
Thailand announces evacuations along the Andaman coast
An 8.2-magnitude aftershock strikes, followed by a series of smaller quakes
There were no immediate reports of destruction or deaths
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Jakarta, Indonesia (CNN) -- A massive earthquake struck off the coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra on Wednesday afternoon, triggering a tsunami watch for the Indian Ocean, which was later canceled.
The quake struck about 434 kilometers (270 miles) southwest of Banda Aceh, the capital of Indonesia's Aceh province, and had a magnitude of 8.6, the U.S. Geological Survey said. It took place at a depth of 23 kilometers (14 miles).
A second large quake, with a magnitude of 8.2, occurred off the west coast of Sumatra about two hours later, the USGS said.
Gary Gibson from the Seismology Research Center in Melbourne, Australia, said the location of the second quake reduced the possibility of a tsunami.
There was also a series of smaller quakes off the west coast of northern Sumatra with magnitudes between 5.1 and 5.4.
There were no reports of destruction or deaths.
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said on local television that there were no reports of casualties or damage in Aceh.
Four people were slightly injured on Simeulue Island, off the coast of Aceh, the National Disaster Management Agency said Wednesday.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a tsunami watch for the entire Indian Ocean. And a few hours later, the center announced the tsunami watch was canceled.
"A significant tsunami was generated by this earthquake. However, sea level readings now indicate that the threat has diminished or is over for most areas," the center said.
The center earlier said that "when no major waves have occurred for at least two hours after the estimated arrival time or damaging waves have not occurred for at least two hours, then local authorities can assume the threat is passed." The center posted approximate arrival times for waves in different parts of the region, which were predicted at various times in different cities throughout the day.
Waves were reported at 1-meter (about 3.3-foot) amplitude -- or height above sea level -- offshore in Meulaboh, Indonesia, but in other cities, they were reported at about a foot or less, according to the warning center.
British Prime Minister David Cameron announced that Britain "stands ready to help if required."
It appears to have involved a horizontal movement rather than a vertical movement, so it is less likely that it will generate a tsunami, Gibson said.
He also said that the tremor took place a long way offshore and was therefore unlikely to have caused much damage.
Still, officials called on coastal residents in some low-lying areas in the region to seek higher ground.
The power went out in Banda Aceh, and residents moved to higher elevations, said Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, a spokesman for the Indonesian National Disaster Management Agency.
The areas most at risk of a tsunami are coastal areas of Aceh, particularly the island of Simeulue, Prih Harjadi, an official for the Indonesian geophysics agency, said on Metro TV.
In some areas, residents were allowed to return after the tsunami watch was lifted.
In Thailand, the National Disaster Warning Center issued an evacuation order for residents and tourists along the Andaman coast, state-run news agency MCOT said.
"The tremor was felt as far as in Bangkok where office workers at several high-rise buildings said their workplaces were shaken" for three to five minutes, the report said. "Several southern provinces also felt the tremors."
In the Maldives, some resorts were evacuated in advance of possible waves, according to CNN's Erin Burnett, who was on vacation in the region.
"What strikes me most is essentially the lack of a warning system" in the Maldives, she said. Officials rely primarily on information from the USGS, Burnett said.
In 2004, a 9.1-magnitude underwater earthquake off the coast of Sumatra triggered a tsunami that killed more than 200,000 people in 14 countries. The majority of the deaths were in Indonesia, with Aceh bearing the brunt.
That quake took place 250 kilometers (155 miles) south-southeast of Banda Aceh at a depth of 30 kilometers (19 miles).
The tsunami, which washed away entire communities, caused nearly $10 billion in damage and more casualties than any other tsunami in history, according to the United Nations.
Since then, officials have worked to improve warning systems and have carried out drills in the region.
Indonesia is on the so-called Ring of Fire, an arc of fault lines circling the Pacific Basin that is prone to frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
The earthquake Wednesday comes just over year after a magnitude-9 quake off the northeast coast of Japan caused a devastating tsunami. The death toll from that disaster stands at about 15,850.
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Tsunami watch lifted after two big earthquakes
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By the CNN Wire... more
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Frack The Planet! -- Earthquakes, Toxic Chemicals, Flammable Water and more...
http://veracitystew.com/?p=33328Frack The Planet! -- Earthquakes, Toxic Chemicals, Flammable Water and more...... more
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A U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) team has found that a sharp jump in earthquakes in America’s heartland appears to be linked to oil and natural gas drilling operations.
As hydraulic fracturing has exploded onto the scene, it has increasingly been connected to earthquakes. Some quakes may be caused by the original fracking — that is, by injecting a fluid mixture into the earth to release natural gas (or oil). More appear to be caused by reinjecting the resulting brine deep underground.
Last August, a USGS report examined a cluster of earthquakes in Oklahoma and reported:
Our analysis showed that shortly after hydraulic fracturing began small earthquakes started occurring, and more than 50 were identified, of which 43 were large enough to be located. Most of these earthquakes occurred within a 24 hour period after hydraulic fracturing operations had ceased.
In November, a British shale gas developer found it was “highly probable” its fracturing operations caused minor quakes.
Then last month, Ohio oil and gas regulators said “A dozen earthquakes in northeastern Ohio were almost certainly induced by injection of gas-drilling wastewater into the earth.”
Now, in a paper to be deliver at the annual meeting of the Seismological Society of America, the USGS notes that “a remarkable increase in the rate of [magnitude 3.0] and greater earthquakes is currently in progress” in the U.S. midcontinent. The abstract is online. EnergyWire reports (subs. req’d) some of the findings:
The study found that the frequency of earthquakes started rising in 2001 across a broad swath of the country between Alabama and Montana. In 2009, there were 50 earthquakes greater than magnitude-3.0, the abstract states, then 87 quakes in 2010. The 134 earthquakes in the zone last year is a sixfold increase over 20th century levels.
The surge in the last few years corresponds to a nationwide surge in shale drilling, which requires disposal of millions of gallons of wastewater for each well. According to the federal Energy Information Administration, shale gas production grew, on average, nearly 50 percent a year from 2006 to 2010.
The USGS scientists point out that ”a naturally-occurring rate change of this magnitude is unprecedented outside of volcanic settings or in the absence of a main shock, of which there were neither in this region.” They conclude:
While the seismicity rate changes described here are almost certainly manmade, it remains to be determined how they are related to either changes in extraction methodologies or the rate of oil and gas production.
EnergyWire points out, “all of the potential causes they explore in the paper relate to drilling, or more specifically, deep underground injection of drilling waste.”
More at the linkA U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) team has found that a sharp jump in earthquakes in... more
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The New York Times...
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February 27, 2012
Japan Weighed Evacuating Tokyo in Nuclear Crisis
By MARTIN FACKLER
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TOKYO — In the darkest moments of last year’s nuclear accident, Japanese leaders did not know the actual extent of damage at the plant and secretly considered the possibility of evacuating Tokyo, even as they tried to play down the risks in public, an independent investigation into the accident disclosed on Monday.
The investigation by the Rebuild Japan Initiative Foundation, a new private policy organization, offers one of the most vivid accounts yet of how Japan teetered on the edge of an even larger nuclear crisis than the one that engulfed the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. A team of 30 university professors, lawyers and journalists spent more than six months on the inquiry into Japan’s response to the triple meltdown at the plant, which followed a powerful earthquake and tsunami on March 11 that shut down the plant’s cooling systems.
The team interviewed more than 300 people, including top nuclear regulators and government officials, as well as the prime minister during the crisis, Naoto Kan. They were granted extraordinary access, in part because of a strong public demand for greater accountability and because the organization’s founder, Yoichi Funabashi, a former editor in chief of the daily newspaper Asahi Shimbun, is one of Japan’s most respected public intellectuals.
An advance copy of the report describes how Japan’s response was hindered at times by a debilitating breakdown in trust between the major actors: Mr. Kan; the Tokyo headquarters of the plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power, known as Tepco; and the manager at the stricken plant. The conflicts produced confused flows of sometimes contradictory information in the early days of the crisis, the report said.
It describes frantic phone calls by the manager, Masao Yoshida, to top officials in the Kan government arguing that he could get the plant under control if he could keep his staff in place, while at the same time ignoring orders from Tepco’s headquarters not to use sea water to cool the overheating reactors. By contrast, Mr. Funabashi said in an interview, Tepco’s president, Masataka Shimizu, was making competing calls to the prime minister’s office saying that the company should evacuate all of its staff, a step that could have been catastrophic.
The 400-page report, due to be released later this week, also describes a darkening mood at the prime minister’s residence as a series of hydrogen explosions rocked the plant on March 14 and 15. It says Mr. Kan and other officials began discussing a worst-case outcome if workers at the Fukushima Daiichi plant were evacuated. This would have allowed the plant to spiral out of control, releasing even larger amounts of radioactive material into the atmosphere that would in turn force the evacuation of other nearby nuclear plants, causing further meltdowns.
The report quotes the chief cabinet secretary at the time, Yukio Edano, as having warned that such a “demonic chain reaction” of plant meltdowns could result in the evacuation of Tokyo, 150 miles to the south.
“We would lose Fukushima Daini, then we would lose Tokai,” Mr. Edano is quoted as saying, naming two other nuclear plants. “If that happened, it was only logical to conclude that we would also lose Tokyo itself.”
The report also describes the panic within the Kan administration at the prospect of large radiation releases from the more than 10,000 spent fuel rods that were stored in relatively unprotected pools near the damaged reactors. The report says it was not until five days after the earthquake that a Japanese military helicopter was finally able to confirm that the pool deemed at highest risk, near the No. 4 reactor, was still safely filled with water.
“We barely avoided the worst-case scenario, though the public didn’t know it at the time,” Mr. Funabashi, the foundation founder, said.
Mr. Funabashi blamed the Kan administration’s fear of setting off a panic for its decision to understate the true dangers of the accident. He said the Japanese government hid its most alarming assessments not just from its own public but also from allies like the United States. Mr. Funabashi said the investigation revealed “how precarious the U.S.-Japan relationship was” in the early days of the crisis, until the two nations began daily informational meetings at the prime minister’s residence on March 22.
The report seems to confirm the suspicions of nuclear experts in the United States — inside and outside the government — that the Japanese government was not being forthcoming about the full dangers posed by the stricken Fukushima plant. But it also shows that the United States government occasionally overreacted and inflated the risks, such as when American officials mistakenly warned that the spent fuel rods in the pool near unit No. 4 were exposed to the air and vulnerable to melting down and releasing huge amounts of radiation.
Still, Mr. Funabashi said, it was the Japanese government’s failure to warn its people of the dangers and the widespread distrust it bred in the government that spurred him to undertake an independent investigation. Such outside investigations have been rare in Japan, where the public has tended to accept official versions of events.
He said his group’s findings conflicted with those of the government’s own investigation into the accident, which were released in an interim report in December. A big difference involved one of the most crucial moments of the nuclear crisis, when the prime minister, Mr. Kan, marched into Tepco’s headquarters early on the morning of March 15 upon hearing that the company wanted to withdraw its employees from the wrecked nuclear plant.
The government’s investigation sided with Tepco by saying that Mr. Kan, a former social activist who often clashed with Japan’s establishment, had simply misunderstood the company, which wanted to withdraw only a portion of its staff. Mr. Funabashi said his foundation’s investigators had interviewed most of the people involved — except executives at Tepco, which refused to cooperate — and found that the company had in fact said it wanted a total pullout.
He credited Mr. Kan with making the right decision in forcing Tepco not to abandon the plant.
“Prime Minister Kan had his minuses and he had his lapses,” Mr. Funabashi said, “but his decision to storm into Tepco and demand that it not give up saved Japan.”
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PHOTO:
Issei Kato/Reuters, via Bloomberg
Journalists, in protective gear, were taken on a tour last week of Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, at the center of the crisis last yea
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February 27, 2012
Japan Weighed Evacuating Tokyo... more
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February 21st, 2012
12:14 PM ET
4.0 quake jolts Missouri
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Residents across 13 states reported feeling a 4.0-magnitude earthquake that struck southeastern Missouri early Tuesday.
The U.S. Geological Survey reports the temblor struck at 3:58 a.m. Central time with an epicenter nine miles east-southeast of Sikeston, Missouri, and 16 miles southwest of Cairo, Illinois. The quake was at a depth of 3.1 miles.
It was felt in 13 states, with the furthest location from the epicenter being New Bern, North Carolina, more than 800 miles to the east, according to reports to the USGS. Besides Missouri, Illinois and North Carolina, residents in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Wisconsin, Kansas, Arkansas and Oklahoma reported feeling the quake.
Lonnie Thurmond, city administrator in East Prairie, Missouri, about five miles from the epicenter of the quake, said he'd gotten reports of things falling from shelves and off walls when the quake hit, but no reports of major damage.
But he said he expected his community would be getting reports of underground service line breaks over the next few weeks as that is what usually happens when quakes hit the area, which sits near the New Madrid fault.
"Some water lines will be broken," Thurmond said. "It's just inevitable."
Thurmond said the quake jolted the entire community awake in the early morning darkness.
"It seems like there was not anyone it didn't wake up," he said, adding that his father, who lives near the epicenter, told him it sounded like a meteor had hit.
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February 21st, 2012
12:14 PM ET
4.0 quake jolts Missouri
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I realize that bitching about petty politicians is far more important than actually DOING something about things that really matter to most people.
But here is a fantastic song/video that addresses a hugely overlooked crisis in a very educational way.
FRACK THE FRACKIN’ FRACKERSI realize that bitching about petty politicians is far more important than actually... more
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In his State of the Union speech, President Obama lauded natural gas from shale as a key part of his clean energy plan. Fracking shale for natural gas is an intensive extractive process that has polluted the water and air of communities across the country. There is nothing clean about it.
President Obama said that he "will not walk away on the promise of clean energy." Tell him that the gas industry's promises are deceptive.
Fill out the form below to send a message today!
More at the linkIn his State of the Union speech, President Obama lauded natural gas from shale as a... more
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Strong earthquake hits off Antarctica's coast
By the CNN Wire Staff
updated 6:58 PM EST, Sun January 15, 2012
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
The quake struck Sunday morning near Antarctica's Shetland Islands
The USGS reports it struck at a depth of 6.2 miles
A U.S. agency warns there's a "small possibility of a ... regional tsunami"
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(CNN) -- A strong 6.6-magnitude earthquake struck Sunday off the coast of Antarctica, prompting a warning that there was a "small possibility" it could trigger a tsunami.
The tremor was centered in waters south of South America's southern tip, about 334 miles (539 kilometers) west of Coronation Island and 388 miles northeast of Palmer Station in Antarctica, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.
It hit at 9:40 a.m. local time (8:40 a.m. ET) on Sunday, according to the federal agency, and had an estimated depth of 6.2 miles.
Afterward, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center released a statement saying that there appears to be no threat of "destructive widespread tsunami" because of the quake.
But the agency did state "there is a small possibility of a local or regional tsunami that could affect coasts located usually no more than a few hundred kilometers from the earthquake epicenter.
"Authorities in the region near the epicenter should be made aware of this possibility," the warning center added.
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Strong earthquake hits off Antarctica's coast
By the CNN Wire... more
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After viewing the documentary GASLAND, I was mortified and ashamed of what our species is capable of. If you think this is a free country... THINK AGAIN! The Bush/Cheney administration did everything in their power to take away as many freedoms as possible so doors could be opened to allow THE CORPORATE "BEING" to have free reign on getting at any type of resource no matter who or what was in the way. I know it's hard to believe that they would go so far as to ruin our planet if only to make another buck. But with every dollar, they get a nickel’s worth of power. The Power to Destroy. If you haven't seen Avatar I recommend you rent it. It is a chilling glimpse into the future of what can happen to Mother Earth when all her natural resources are depleted. Think it a fairytale? (Another... THINK AGAIN!) Watch the trailer Gasland below and The Daily Show featuring the filmmaker of Gasland, Josh Fox. Stay enlightened, information may be the only weapon we have to help save our planet against The Corporate World who will kill every living creature upon it, if they are allowed too.
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UPDATE 2012 - I blogged this page almost 2 years ago, since then we have had Earth tremors and quakes in the Fracking areas that some experts believe are the direct result of Fracking. I know the Republicans want us all to feel that Corporations will do no harm, they care about us and our Earth. To that I say... THE SHIT OF THE BULL! Even in my own hometown there are people who are willing to destroy in order to gain BIG BUCKS for themselves... Go to this link to see how greed is on a steady course of destruction EVERYWHERE. http://www.youtube.com/user/liveoaklandfill
Please watch GASLAND and then watch the propaganda film on HOW WONDERFUL NATURAL GAS IS, brought to you by one of the United Corporations of America.
thinkingblue
PS: 3 Cheers for Montana!!! Montana Supreme Court upholds election spending limits
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-montana-court-20120104,0,5533901.story
Ohio earthquake was not a natural event, expert says
http://news.yahoo.com/ohio-earthquake-not-natural-event-expert-says-002703764.htmlAfter viewing the documentary GASLAND, I was mortified and ashamed of what our species... more
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— A northeast Ohio well used to dispose of wastewater from oil and gas drilling almost certainly caused a series of 11 minor quakes in the Youngstown area since last spring, a seismologist investigating the quakes said Monday.— A northeast Ohio well used to dispose of wastewater from oil and gas drilling... more
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CNN...
Work halted at 4 more Ohio fluid-injection wells in wake of quake
From Maggie Schneider, CNN
updated 6:18 PM EST, Sun January 1, 2012
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Officials have shut down fluid-injection wells in eastern Ohio in the aftermath of heightened seismic activity in the area.
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STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Ohio officials order the closure of four fluid-injection wells near Youngstown
This comes amid a probe looking at links between "fracking" and recent quakes
"We need to get more information," an official says of any possible connection
A magnitude 4.0 quake struck Saturday, one of 11 to occur in the past year
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(CNN) -- Work has been halted at four more fluid-injection wells in eastern Ohio in the aftermath of heightened seismic activity in the area, a state official said.
Ohio Department of Natural Resources Director James Zehringer had announced on Friday that one such well -- which injects "fluid deep underground into porous rock formations, such as sandstone or limestone, or into or below the shallow soil layer," the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency explains -- was closed after a series of small earthquakes in and around Youngstown.
Then on Saturday, a magnitude 4.0 earthquake struck that released at least 40 times more energy than any of the previous 10 or more tremors that had rattled the region in 2011.
Andy Ware, deputy director of Ohio's natural resources department, told CNN on Sunday that Zehringer and Gov. John Kasich subsequently have ordered the closure of four other nearby injection wells as well.
The decision comes as authorities investigate a possible link between the earthquakes and hydraulic fracturing, better known as fracking. That controversial drilling technology involves injecting water, sand and chemicals deep into the ground at high pressure to crack the shale and allow the oil or gas to flow.
Last Friday's order affecting the first well in Youngstown came six days after a magnitude 2.5 earthquake that struck that area around 1:24 a.m. on December 24. After Saturday's larger earthquake, scientists recommended that operations stop at all wells within a 5-mile radius of that original site.
"We need to get more information," Ware said.
The epicenter for Saturday's tremor was 5 miles northwest of Youngstown, 6 miles southeast of Warren and 55 miles east-southeast of Cleveland, the U.S. Geological Survey reported. According to the preliminary estimate, the earthquake struck 1.4 miles deep.
There was a lot of shaking "and a rumbling sound," said Jimmy Hughes, a former Youngstown police chief running for sheriff of Mahoning County. "I could see the house move. ... It seemed like the ground was moving. "
Ohio is far from the edges of Earth's major tectonic plates, with the nearest ones in the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, the U.S. Geological Survey explains on its website. Still, there are many known faults in this region, with the federal agency noting that it is likely there are additional "smaller or deeply buried" ones that haven't been detected.
While earthquakes are not unprecedented in the area, the rate of them in the past year has been unusual. That fact led Zehringer, the Ohio department head, to act late last week.
"While conclusive evidence cannot link the seismic activity to the well, Zehringer has adopted an approach requiring prudence and caution regarding the site," the natural resources department said Friday in a press release, explaining its decision to shut the first well.
Ben Lupo -- CEO of D&L Energy, an independent natural gas and oil exploration, production and marketing group that oversees the first well that was closed -- recently told CNN affiliate WKBN that there's full cooperation with experts, though he expressed grave doubts that the injection wells were to blame for the quakes.
"We have approximately 1,000 wells between Ohio and Pennsylvania and we've never had a problem ... with an earthquake or spill," Lupo said.
Dr. Won-Young Kim, one of the Columbia University experts asked by the state to examine possible connections between fracking and seismic activity, said that a problem could arise if fluid moves through the ground and affects "a weak fault, waiting to be triggered." He explained the underground waste "slowly migrates" and could cause issues miles away, adding that the danger could persist for some time as the fluid travels and seeps down toward the fault.
"In my opinion, yes," the recent spate of earthquakes around Youngstown is related to a fluid-injection well, Kim stated -- though there has been no definitive determination, by the state or other authorities, indicating as much.
There have been "moderately frequent" reports of earthquakes in northern Ohio since the first recorded one was reported in 1823, the federal agency noted. A 1986 tremor, measuring magnitude 4.8, caused some damage. Another in 1998 measured a 4.5 and was centered in northwest Pennsylvania.
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CNN's Susan Candiotti and Ross Levitt contributed to this report.
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Work halted at 4 more Ohio fluid-injection wells in wake of quake
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