Japan: Earthquake and Tsunami in March 2011

An earthquake shook magniture 9 to Japan, followed by a tsunami that caused most damage yet.

Because the buildings are constructed according to strict anti-seismic rules, they have withstood the earthquake. However a large amount of houses were destroyed.
Then a wave of 23 meters, according to experts, prevailed over the coasts cars and everything that was there. Again, houses were sprayed. Several coastal cities were completely razed.
The number of dead and missing is 20,000.

A Japanese, Hiromitsu Shinkawa, was found at sea 15 km from shore, clinging to the roof of his house.

On the beaches of Miyagi, two thousand bodies were stranded Monday, March 14.

The entire Japanese archipelago has been moved by 2.4 meters. GPS reflect this change by designating objects now shifted from that distance. The Earth has also seen its axis shifted.

Road cut with scissors

Why this astonishing cut as precise, at the yellow stripe?

A likely explanation: the two sections were made at different times to allow driving on one side while the other is under construction. The soil is different.

A boat on the roof of a building

The tsunami wave carried the boat into the land and left it there by retiring.

Rikuzentakata city after the tsunami

According to the National Police Agency, Saturday, March 19 there were 117,770 buildings damaged by the tsunami and 14,623 completely destroyed.

A dolphin found in a paddy field

He was swept away by the tsunami wave in the land at 2 km from the sea. It survived in the water but it had no access road to the ocean. It was therefore carried to it by local residents.

Nuclear threat

The nuclear reactor in Fukushima who has suffered several explosions, releases radiations that are estimated to be equivalent to 1/10th of that of Chernobyl. The number of indirect deaths there were 1 million people.

Where are the robots?

The main reason why we can not reduce the risk of nuclear explosion is that no one can approach because of radiation. Helicopters dump water into the reactors to cool them fly too high to be exact. Further down the pilot would be irradiated.
It is the same for the electrical circuit, it is broken and we must repair it to restore the cooling system. How to get there?
Several firefighters doused the reactor are already in hospital.

This measures the gap of TEPCO officials. Because Japan shows off an impressive gallery of robots. They are strangely absent from a situation where they are needed. It is used elsewhere in the world for mine clearance, Big Dog from USA provides transportation in the mountains of Afghanistan. Currently, the robot Robonaut 2 from USA too, works in a space station with astronauts.
A rudimentary robot manufactured by NUSTEK was used, which resembles a demining machine, remotely controlled. Several manufacturers have offered their services with for example a KOHGA3. They still needed to evacuate the irradiated materials.

According to Computer World, the U.S. will send robots to work on the disaster site in the irradiated areas inaccessible to humans. iRobots are already at work. We measure the shortcomings of TEPCO in this area.

An answer to the question by Japan Times.

The Tepco president quits in May while the firm faces $15.3 bn loss for the past year. It is the biggest in Japan's history.

According to New York Times, the disaster was avoidable. Tepco just ignoring all warnings coming from its own engineers.

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