Tsunami warnings in effect.
Very breaking news.
Earthquake Information (Information on seismic intensity at each site)
Issued at 02:28 JST 26 Oct 2013
Occurred at (JST) Latitude
(degree) Longitude
(degree) Depth Magnitude Region Name
02:10 JST 26 Oct 2013 37.2N 144.6E 10 km 6.8 Fukushima-ken Oki
Follow NHK for updates http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/index....
Published on Oct 25, 2013 http://youtu.be/Gc5aQLLBjbM ty missingsky101
Japan Hit By 7.3-Magnitude Earthquake Off Fukushima Prefecture Coast, Tsunami Advisory Issued
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10...
http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/site/ind...
http://www.google.org/publicalerts/al...
TEPCO rushes to transfer contaminated water
The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant is rushing to take measures to prevent radioactive water in outdoor barriers from overflowing as a severe tropical storm approaches.
Water in barriers around tanks has been accumulating after a series of heavy rains since mid-September. The water is contaminated with radioactive substances.
The tainted water overflowed 11 barriers on Sunday.
At 6 of them, the spilled rainwater contained radioactive strontium above the government-approved release limit.
Tokyo Electric Power Company is transferring water from barriers to other tanks capable of holding a total of 4,000 tons.
TEPCO also plans to move the tainted water to underground pools. Some of those pools leaked radioactive water in April.
The utility has added 19 additional pumps, each of which can deal with 60 tons per hour, as well as 12 vehicles such as fire engines and water tank trucks.
But as of 4PM on Friday, the company did not finish the transfer work at some barriers.
On Thursday, Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority allowed TEPCO to simplify its procedure to release water from barriers by eliminating the step of temporarily transferring it to other tanks.
But the measure will be taken only if contamination levels in barriers are below the NRA-set standard.
NRA allows simplified release of barrier water
Japan's nuclear regulator has allowed the operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant to simplify its procedure to release water from barriers around tanks holding water contaminated by radioactivity.
A Nuclear Regulation Authority, or NRA, taskforce made the decision on Thursday.
It had previously only permitted the Tokyo Electric Power Company to discharge rainwater from the barriers after it moved the water temporarily into other tanks and confirmed the contamination levels were below the NRA-set standard.
However, since last month, TEPCO has not been able to keep pace with the increase in rainwater volume inside the barriers due to recent downpours.
This has caused water above the permitted contamination level to overflow the barriers.
The situation has prompted the NRA to approve TEPCO's proposal to drop the procedure of temporarily transferring the rainwater in the barriers to other tanks.
Oct. 24, 2013 - Updated 19:45 UTC
Atomic commission advised to quit policy making
A government panel says the Japan Atomic Energy Commission should no longer set the country's nuclear policy.
Panel members on Thursday discussed a proposal for ending the policy-making role of the commission.
They gave their general approval to the proposal. Panel members said the commission's work is limited to the field of nuclear energy, while the industry ministry drafts the country's overall energy policy.
But some panel members question the ministry's neutrality, since it promotes nuclear energy.
The panel agreed to continue discussions on this and other related issues.
The commission has since 1956 revised Japan's long-term nuclear policy about once every 5 years.
The policy deals with issues such as the ratio of nuclear power in the country's total energy use and recycling spent nuclear fuel.
The panel has also been discussing abolition of the commission itself. It plans to make a decision by the end of this year.
Oct. 24, 2013 - Updated 19:45 UTC
Izu Oshima residents ordered to evacuate
About 1,200 residents on Izu Oshima island, south of Tokyo, have been ordered to swiftly evacuate due to the rising risk of more mudslides from an approaching powerful storm.
As of 6 PM local time, severe tropical storm Francisco was heading northeast at a speed of 30 kilometers per hour along the southern ocean off the main island of Japan.
Since Tuesday total rainfall has reached 400 to 600 millimeters on some of the Pacific coasts of the Shikoku and Kyushu regions of western Japan. That's 2 to 3 times the average rainfall for the whole month of October.
