Japan in crisis: March 15

Japan in crisis: March 15

Follow the latest events around the Pacific Rim after an 8.9-magnitude earthquake off Japan's coast triggered a devastating tsunami.

Blog: Mar11-12 - Mar13 - Mar14

(All times are local in Japan GMT+9)

• Timestamp: 

  11:59pm

  That's it for today's live blog - but you can stay up to date with an all-new blog for March 16. Click here to read: Japan's nuclear emergency: Live blog

• Timestamp: 

  11:43pm

  The IAEA says Monday's explosion at Fukushima nuclear plant may have affected the integrity of the main containment vessel. We'll being you more on that as it develops.

• Timestamp: 

  11:32pm

  Following explosions in at least two reactor cores at Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant - and as the developing crisis is rated at level 6 of seven levels on the International Nuclear Events Scale - attention is turning to just what is happening inside the 40-year-old power plant in north-east Japan.
  
  Al Jazeera's Dan Nolan explains how a meltdown would happen.

• Timestamp: 

  11:22pm

  The ongoing crisis at Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant has been upgraded to a level 6 on the International Nuclear Events Scale. To put this into perspective, the Chernobyl diaster was a level 7, and the Three mile Island accident was a level 5.

  

  [Picture: International Atomic Energy Agency]

• Timestamp: 

  11:10pm

  Here's the very latest from Steff Gaulter, Al Jazeera's senior meteorlogist:

  The Japan Meteorological Agency did this earlier, and now the USGS have now upgraded the earthquake to a 9.0. This makes it the joint fourth largest earthquake ever recorded.
  
  Now back to the winds:
  They're currently still from the east or south-east, but they are going to slowly start to swing round to the north-west over the next few hours.

  The winds are then going to pick up as the snow falls, with gusts around 40kph.

  It's going to feel much colder than the thermometer reads, which tonight will only be 1C.

  Bad news for survivors, but potentially good news for the surrounding area.
  
  It's important to remember that these are winds at the surface, and winds at different heights go at different speeds and different directions. At an altitude of around 10km, the height that aeroplanes fly, the prevailing wind is towards the west coast of the USA.

  This means that what happens to the radiation depends on what was released - and how high in the atmosphere it travels.

  Currently it's raining in the area, which means that any radiation can't get particularly high in the atmosphere, so any problems should be confined to the immediate area to the west/northwest of the site - as the winds are coming from the east - south-east.

  As soon as the winds swing round, any radiation will be pushed clear of the coast, but where will it go?
  
  It will head across the Pacific, but it will only be a problem here if it is still radioactive by the time it arrives above the Americas - and this depends on the material which is being released.

  Some materials decay very fast, meaning that they certainly won't be hazardous by the time they reach the other side of the Pacific, thousands of miles away. The most hazardous radioactive materials, which take a long time to decay, ought to remain in the core, and as long as this is intact, the coast of North America should also be problem-free.

  You can follow Steff on Twitter: @WeatherSteff

• Timestamp: 

  10:55pm

  Thousands of people remain in evacuation centres, but it is the elderly and infirm who are most vulnerable. This is the scene in Kesennuma, Miyagi prefecture.

  

• Timestamp: 

  10:46pm

  Al Jazeera's Andrew Thomas, reporting from Tokyo, tells us:

  There is an anxiety that the radiation could come down this way - and there is a real possibility that it could, if the wind were unkind - that has worried many. There are long queues at petrol stations, and in supermarkets - for water, bread, biscuits. Not that people are trying to get away, but many are expecting they may have to hunker down for a while. At the airport, there was no mass rush to get out - though some foreign governments are advising against non-essential travel to the capital.

• Timestamp: 

  10:30pm

  Al Jazeera's Taymoor Tabili, reporting from Akita in northern Japan, tells us:

  The government has been stepping up measures to help citizens evacuate the area round Fukushima. Police can be seen going around the 20km zone, encouraging people to leave. The hospital that is inside that area has been evacuated - with some patients airflifted from the roof, as they were too sick to leave otherwise. There does seems to be a general movement away from the area.
  
  Certainly among the foreigners here, they are seeming to move much more - probably because they can and have other places to go to.
  
  The roads are basically still passable - some are showing earthquake damage, and some have ben blocked - but the main problem is that people have very limited access to petrol. Some people are sleeping in their cars overnight outside petrol stations, hoping to get supplies when they are delivered.
  
  There is a general sense the cleanup is being hampered because of the nuclear situtaion - and because of a sense of a general lack of leadership from the government.

• Timestamp: 

  10:25pm

  Google has been hosting an excellent resource centre, with emergency contact numbers, its 'people finder' service, shelter locations, message boards and times of expected power blackouts.

  You can access it by clicking here: Google crisis response

  in addition, the site has been hosting some highly informative maps, as independent developers produce overlays.

  This one shows the evacuation zones around the Fukushima nuclear plants. Some 170,000 have been told to evacuate their homes since the disaster hit on Friday.

  The yellow pin shows the first site, site of several reactor explosions and partial meltdowns.  The yellow circle indicates the 20km evacuation zone. The largest circle shows the 30km limit. Between the two perimeters, residents are told to: "Wait indoors, close doors and windows, shut down air ventilators - and dry laundry indoors."

  The pink pin shows the second troubled site, which has also declared a state of emergency - though less urgent. the circle around that site indicates the 10km exclusion zone there.

  

• Timestamp: 

  9:52pm

  Steff Gaulter, Al Jazeera's senior meteorologist, gives us the latest forecast:

  Currently there's drizzle in Sendai, Japan - but this will turn to snow in the next few hours. It's going to get colder and colder in the next few days.
  
  For Fukushima, obviously the winds are important for determining where the radiation travels: Currently they are from the south-east at 10kph, but are forecast to change in around an hour, becoming 20kph from the north or north-west.

  You can follow Steff on Twitter: @WeatherSteff

• Timestamp: 

  8:45pm

  The US military says that it has moved several Navy ships including the carrier USS Ronald Reagan closer to the Japanese coast after initially pulling them back due to radiation concerns.

  A spokesman for US forces in Japan said favorable weather conditions allowed the ships to move closer to Japan's northeast coast to support Japanese relief and search and rescue operations.

• Timestamp: 

  8:15pm

  Al Jazeera's Harry Fawcett reports the latest on the nuclear crisis from Iwate prefecture.

• Timestamp: 

  7:56pm

  New pictures of the moment the tsunami struck in Japan on Friday are still emerging. They show the terrifying scenes, as whole towns were swept away. 

  But some also show amazing escapes as Al Jazeera's Caroline Malone reports.

• Timestamp: 

  7:31pm

  The Geneva-based UN Weather Agency says Japan winds are dispersing radioactive material over the ocean, Reuters news agency reports:

  No danger for Japan or the region for now

• Timestamp: 

  7:19pm

  Our nuclear scientist Imad Khadduri who has been a great on-set guest guiding us through the crisis says this web site is the best out there.

  It was apparently created on Saturday and is the go-to site for the scientific community tracking the nuclear story.

• Timestamp: 

  6:47pm

  The threat from the damaged nuclear reactor in Fukushima is "extremely high," says France's foreign minister as Japan meets with other Group of Eight major powers. Alain Juppe said on Europe 1 radio, after Japan's Takeaki Matsumoto briefed him and their other G8 counterparts on the situation on Monday evening:

  The situation is extremely serious... The risk is extremely high. [...] It is up to the Japanese to say how we can help them after the deadly quake and tsunami.

  Juppe added that French President Nicolas Sarkozy wants the G20 grouping of big economies "to be at Japan's service."

• Timestamp: 

  6:38pm

  Japan's Tokyo Electric Power Co says it has pulled out 750 workers from its Daiichi nuclear plant this morning, leaving 50 there to deal with problems with the reactors.

• Timestamp: 

  6:35pm

  Japan's nuclear safety agency says there are two holes of 8-metres square in a wall of the outer building of the quake-hit Fukushima Daiichi No.4 reactor after the blast this morning, Reuters news agency reports.

• Timestamp: 

  5:36pm

  Reporters of Dutch and Flemish public broadcasters NOS and VRT are also being pulled out of Japan due to radiation risk, sources tell Al Jazeera.

• Timestamp: 

  5:20pm

  Japan's soccer J.League is postponed indefinitely following Friday's earthquake, Kyodo news agency reports.

• Timestamp: 

  5:07pm

  Dutch broadcaster RTL pulls back its reporters from Japan due to raised radiation levels, says one of RTL's reporters on Twitter.

• Timestamp: 

  4:38pm

  China is confident that Japan can overcome the hardships facing the country, the Chinese foreign ministry says. Spokeswoman Jiang Yu told reporters during a press briefing:

  We are confident that they will be able to overcome these hardships, and China will provide more aid based on the needs of Japan.

  China's nuclear safety agency says it is "closely monitoring" developments and strengthening checks on radiation levels in China, though no increase had been detected so far in China.

• Timestamp: 

  4:30pm

  Yukio Edano, a cabinet minister, insists that radiation levels are not posing a health risk at the moment. At the No 2 reactor water is being supplied right now.

  The radiation level at the front gate was 8217 this morning. [...] It has since come down to the level that can do no harm, according to the information that I have received.

  

• Timestamp: 

  3:48pm

  Tokyo's outspoken conservative governor Shintaro Ishihara apologised for describing Japan's deadly earthquake and tsunami as "divine punishment". Ishihara, 78, who is seeking re-election on April 10, told a news conference:

  (The remarks) hurt victims, Tokyo residents and victims. [...] I deeply apologise.

  Yesterday Ishihara said Japanese people were becoming "greedy" and highlighted the case of people who continue to pocket their parents' pensions by delaying death notifications.
• Timestamp: 

  3:31pm

  A good interactive explainer by the New York Times: How a Reactor Shuts Down and What Happens in a Meltdown

• Timestamp: 

  3:12pm

  Here is a sketch by our graphics team illustrating the cooling system at reactor No 2 that failed, leading to a build-up of pressure in the containment vessel - the same problem units one and three encountered before they exploded.

• Timestamp: 

  3:05pm

  A sketch by the Al Jazeera graphics team of the Fukushima nuclear power plant. Tuesday's explosion occurred at Unit 2, where there are significant numbers of fuel rods submerged in water.

   

• Timestamp: 

  2:34pm

  Al Jazeera’s Steve Chao, reporting from Yamagata, says a no-fly zone has been established in a 30 km radius over the Fukushima nuclear plant.

• Timestamp: 

  2:27pm

  Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 slumps more than 14 per cent as radiation fears rise. Some $720bn in market value has been wiped off the Tokyo’s exchanges top companies since Friday, according to Reuters.

• Timestamp: 

  2:05pm

  Events have taken a turn for the worse in Japan. The prime minister has warned people living within 30 kilometres of a nuclear plant damaged by Friday's earthquake to stay indoors.
  
  Naoto Kan made the announcement during a press conference after a third explosion was reported at Fukushima, triggering more concerns about contamination of the atmosphere.

   Al Jazeera's Stefanie Dekker reports.

• Timestamp: 

  1:22pm

  Al Jazeera's Steve Chao, reporting from Yamagata, says there is a lot of concern about further radiation leakage.

  Many people are watching the wind directions. Over the last 24-hours we have seen the US carrier group that has been helping in the humanitarian relief efforts move away from the Fukushima plant out of safety concern. With the new explosion we've seen at the plant, there is growing concern that the situation will only worsen.

   

• Timestamp: 

  12:43pm

  A fire which broke out at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear-power plant has been extinguished, Kyodo news agency and other media quoted the power station operator as saying.
  
  The fire broke out earlier on Tuesday following an explosion in the building housing the number-four reactor of the plant.

• Timestamp: 

  10:33am

  Reuters news agency has reported that Japan's prime minister said on Tuesday that radioactive levels had become high around an earthquake-stricken nuclear power plant after an explosion there, and there was a risk of radiation leaking into the atmosphere.
  
  Naoto Kan urged people within 30 km (18 miles) of the facility north of Tokyo to remain indoors and the French embassy in the capital warned in an advisory that a low level of radioactive wind could reach Tokyo within 10 hours.
  
  Tuesday's explosion was the third at the plant since it was damaged in last Friday's massive earthquake and tsunami.

• Timestamp: 

  10:30am

  A radiation leak is feared after Japan's Nuclear Safety Agency reported a third explosion at Unit 2 of the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear-power plant in the country's northeast.
  
  Shinji Kinjo, an agency spokesman, said that "a leak of nuclear material is feared", after the explosion was heard at 6:10am local time (21:10 GMT) on Tuesday.

• Timestamp: 

  9:30am

  Al Jazeera's Harry Fawcett, reporting from Ichinoseki, in Japan's northeast, said:

  People didn't know what was happening and they wonder what they can do. Some say that they can't get out due to lack of fuel.
   
  We know that there was a sound of explosion at reactor 2, where there are significant parts of the fuel rods submerged in water.
   
  The government is sticking to the line that radiation level is within safety level, but it is a fast-changing situation.

• Timestamp: 

  8:46am

  TEPCO reported that they confirmed 8217 micro Sievert at the front gate of the Daiichi Fukushima Powerplant.
  This is 3 times of what a person normally exposed to in a year in one hour.

• Timestamp: 

  8:45am

  Japanese officials: about 50 staff are still at nuclear plants to monitor the situation.
  
  

• Timestamp: 

  8:21am

  Japanese nuclear safety agency reports a third explosion at Unit 2 of Fukushima Daiichi plant.

• Timestamp: 

  6:18am

  Clint Eastwood's movie Hereafter has been pulled from Japanese cinemas.

  The film follows three people questioning life, death and a potential afterlife.

  Exorcism film The Rite, starring Anthony Hopkins, was due to open this weekend - but its release has now been delayed, said Warner Bros, distributors of both films.

  The official death toll from the earthquake and tsunami currently stands at around 2,800, but tens of thousands remain missing.

• Timestamp: 

  6:11am

  Naoto Kan, Japan's prime minister, is setting up a joint nuclear response headquarters.

  Kan, a phsyics graduate and former science and technology minister, says he will personally lead operations at the headquarters, to be located at the main office of the embattled Tokyo Electric Power Company.

• Timestamp: 

  5:50am

  Google has some excellent maps online, which are even better if you read Japanese or have translation software. Click here to interact with the multi-layered version.

  This one shows Japan's nuclear power stations.

  

   

  And this one has click-through links powered by the excellent Ushahidi crisis-mapping platform - which allows crowdsourced reports to be uploaded by anyone on the ground with a mobile phone. Purple dots are news/information reports, pink show available services, red show medical facilities, green show facility info and turquoise show sources of supplies.

  

• Timestamp: 

  5:21am

  Google is currently tracking nearly 162,000 people through it's Japan Person Finder service.

  If you're looking for someone in Japan, or have details about someone, click here to enter their details.

• Timestamp: 

  5:12am

  A earthquake registering 4.1 on the Richter scale has just shaken Tokyo in the past few minutes. Skyscrapers were reported swaying, but no injuries or damage has been reported, and no tsunami warnings issued.

• Timestamp: 

  4:55am

  So here's the latest developments concerning the 7th fleet of the US Navy, much of which is helping in relief efforts in Japan. A statement from the US military tells us:

  The USS Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group, which includes the cruiser USS Chancellorsville (CG 62), the destroyer USS Preble (DDG 88), and the combat support ship USNS Bridge (T-AOE 10) - along with the guided-missile destroyers USS Fitzgerald (DDG 62), USS John S. McCain (DDG 56), USS McCampbell (DDG 85) and USS Curtis Wilbur (DDG 54) will continue operations off the east coast of Honshu.

  An additional destroyer, USS Mustin (DDG 89), is at sea south of the disaster site. In the coming days, USS Ronald Reagan will serve as a floating platform to refuel helicopters from the Japan Self Defence Force, Japan Coast Guard, fire and police - and other civilian authorities involved in rescue and recovery efforts ashore.
  
  The 7th Fleet temporarily repositioned its ships and aircraft away from the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant yesterday, after detecting low level contamination in the air and on its aircraft operating in the area. 

  As a precautionary measure, US 7th Fleet ships conducting disaster response operations in the area moved out of the downwind direction from the site.
  
  Today, SH-60 helicopters assigned to Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron (HS) 14 and Helicopter Anti-submarine Squadron Light (HSL) 51 - based at Naval Air Facility Atsugi - conducted surveys of the at-sea debris field, and conducted search and rescue missions along the coastline. 
  
  USS Tortuga (LSD 46) with two heavy-lift MH-53 helicopters, is steaming towards Tomokomai on the eastern coast of Hokkaido, where it will arrive tomorrow.  There, it will onload about 300 Japan Ground Self Defense Force personnel, and 90 vehicles, and deliver them to Aomori, on the northern end of Honshu.
  
  USS Blue Ridge (LCC 19), USS Essex (LHD 2), with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, USS Harpers Ferry (LSD 49) and USS Germantown (LSD 42) are en-route to the area from Southeast Asia. They are expected to begin arriving on Wednesday, March 16.
  
  US Navy P-3 "Orion" aircraft from VP-4 in Kadena AFB, Okinawa, are flying missions to survey and assess the debris field at sea.

• Timestamp: 

  4:25am

  Moody's credit rating agency has said it will review the rating of embattled Fukushima nuclear power plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co, with a view to a possible downgrade from its Aa2 status.

  The agency predicted the electricity giant to be hit in the immediate future with "substantial costs, such as capital expenditure relating to replacing damaged units and costs for sourcing replaceent power for customers".

  Tepco's shares plummeted by 24 per cent when the Tokyo stock exchange opened this morning.

• Timestamp: 

  4:10am

  With economic losses expected to run into the hundreds of billions of dollars, and the human cost too large to count, a report from Reuters spells bad news for investors in Tepco, Asia's largest electric power utility company - and operator of the crisis-hit Fukushima nuclear plant.

  Citing "a source familiar with the situation", Reuters says the insurance policies taken out on Japan's nuclear facilities don't cover damage caused by earthquakes or tsunami...

  We'll being you more on this as it comes in...

• Timestamp: 

  3:30am

  Before the tsunami, Rikuzentakata was home to 24,000 people. After the huge wave wiped out the entire town, 18,000 of its residents are missing.
  
  Al Jazeera's Harry Fawcett reports from the devastated town in northern Japan.

• Timestamp: 

  3:14am

  The nuclear fuel rods at Fukushima's crisis-hit plant show no sign of meltdown, the International Atomic Energy Agency says. A spokesman said:

  I think at this time we don't have any indication of fuel ... currently melting.

  His words follow those of Japan's cabinet secretary Yukio Edano, who earlier said it was "highly likely" the fuel was beginning to melt in each of the facility's three troubled reactors.

• Timestamp: 

  2:55am

  With a humanitarian crisis unlike any experienced in Japan since WWII - millions of people without power, and tens of thousands of homes destroyed, officials are racing to prevent a nuclear disaster adding to the devastation caused by the earthquake and tsunami.

  In this photo, Tokyo Electric Power Co. Vice-President Sakae Muto (R) and other executives of Japan's largest power utility bow to apologise over a crisis at its nuclear power plants in quake-hit Fukushima Prefecture.

  

  [Picture: Reuters]

• Timestamp: 

  2:45am

  As temperatures plummet, millions of people are spending a fourth night without foods, water or heating.

  Overwhelmed shelters are housing 550,000 people along Japan's east coast after the earthquake and tsunami killed at least 10,000 people. Kyodo news agency reports that authorities have lost contact with a further 30,000 citizens.

  In Ishinomaki, Patrick Fuller, of the International Federation of the Red Cross, says:

  It is the elderly who have been hit the hardest.

  The tsunami engulfed half the town and many lie shivering uncontrollably under blankets. They are suffering from hypothermia having been stranded in their homes without water or electricity.

  Snow is expected within the next few days.

• Timestamp: 

  2:15am

  More business news: European shares have fallen to a three-month low following Japan's disaster.

  One Tocqueville Finance fund manager said:

  Anything related to the nuclear sector is under pressure as traders bet on tougher regulation. At the same time the renewable sector is in favour as the other side of the trade.

  But Liquefied Natural Gas, diesel and jet fuel have all risen in price, as speculators eye profits to be made from increased Japanese demand. Gold is also rising in price, as central banks look to stabilise currencies.

  And Panasonic has announced it intends to ramp up production of dry batteries to meet a shortage in japan's quake-hit areas, where rotating power blackouts are in operation after the country's nuclear energy sector was taken offline.

• Timestamp: 

  1:48am

  Smoke billows from the No.3 reactor at Fukushima nuclear power plant after a large explosion yesterday. Reactor No.1 - at the bottom of the picture - already faced a huge explosion on Saturday, which blew the roof and walls off the outer containment facility.

  

  [Picture: Reuters]

• Timestamp: 

  1:40am

  Yesterday, we spoke to Greenpeace, now the global debate over nuclear power has been reopened.

  Today, Finland has ordered a safety review of its own nuclear network - particularly concentrating on how power plants' internal and external electricity supply functions during disruptions and accidents.

  And Germany has just suspended a controversial agreement signed last year - which extended the life of several of Germany's oldest nuclear plants beyond their original planned closure dates.

• Timestamp: 

  1:15am

  Disaster experts say the next 48 hours are critical when it comes to finding survivors in Japan.
  
  To try and improve their chances, the number of military personnel has been doubled to 100,000, as Al Jazeera's Steve Chao reports from Natori.

• Timestamp: 

  1:09am

  A partial meltdown is likely underway at three of the four reactors at Fukushima No.1 nuclear plant, says Japan's cabinet secretary.

  The nuclear fuel rods inside reactor Nos. 1, 2 and 3 appear to be melting after being exposed. Yukio Edano says:

  Although we cannot directly check it, it's highly likely happening.

  This is where we run into a terminology problem. Some experts would consider that a "partial meltdown", while others reserve the term for when nuclear fuel melts through a reactor core's inner chamber, but it contained within the outer shell.

• Timestamp: 

  12:51am

  Nuclear fuel rods at the No.2 reactor at the Fukushima nuclear power plant - where both reactors Nos. 1 and 2 have already had explosions and partial meltdowns - are once again exposed, Japanese media is reporting.

  The rods, normally surrounded by cooling water, heat rapidly once exposed - quickly building pressure inside the reactor core.

  If water levels fall too far, there is a risk of meltdown, damage to the reactor core and a large radiation leak.

• Timestamp: 

  12:44am

  The UN's own disaster management team has arrived in Japan. The team of seven experts from France, the UK, Sweden, India, Republic of Korea and Japan will help authorities with humanitarian assessments and coordinating international relief efforts.

  More than a dozen countries have already sent specialist search and rescue teams.

  The United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination team "is designed to assist the UN in meeting on site coordination requirements and international needs for early and qualified information during the first phase of a sudden onset emergency. It deploys disaster response experts within 24 hours anywhere in the
  world."

• Timestamp: 

  12:22am

  Some 230,000 doses of iodine have been distributed to evacuation centres around the earthquake-damaged Fukushima nuclear plant, the IAEA says.

  The neighbourhoods surrounding the plant, the site of two reactor explosions in recent days, have been evacuated of around 185,000 residents, said the International Atomic Energy Agency - the UN's nuclear watchdog.

  However, Japanese safety officials told the IAEA:

  The iodine has not yet been administered to residents; the distribution is a precautionary measure in the event that this is determined to be necessary.

• Timestamp: 

  12:02am

  Welcome to our live blog for March 15. We'll continue bringing you all the latest news as it happens. But if you want to catch up, you can read yesterday's reports by clicking here - Disaster in Japan: March 14