Japan's Kan says nuclear clean-up could take decades

Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan said Saturday it will take decades to clean up and decommission the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant after the world's worst atomic accident since Chernobyl.

BEFORE

AFTER

Kan's comments marked the first time that Japan's government has offered a timeframe for the clean-up at Fukushima beyond the emergency measures now underway to shut down its reactors.

"It will take three, five, ten years, or eventually several decades to take care of the accident," Kan told local officials from his Democratic Party of Japan meeting in Tokyo.

The Fukushima nuclear plant lost power after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. Three of the reactors had uranium fuel meltdown, and a series of hydrogen explosions scattered radioactive debris across a wide area.

Some 80,000 people have been forced to evacuate the area around the plant because of the threat from radiation.

With the four-month anniversary of the accident approaching, Japanese officials are due to detail progress in bringing Fukushima under control in the coming days.

Kan, who has pledged a blank-slate review of Japan's energy policy, has been under fire for his handling of the nuclear accident and the government's response to the earthquake and tsunami.

Kan has said he will resign but has not specified when he will step aside, saying he sees it as his responsibility to see through initial recovery work and related legislation.

In a move that raised concern about power shortages stretching into 2012, officials said this week that now-idled reactors would be subject to a safety "stress test" before they would be cleared to restart.

The sudden announcement of stress tests for nuclear plants similar to those conducted by the European Union marked a sharp reversal in course. It also prompted criticism from local officials who complained they had been left in the dark.

Japan's Trade Ministry had been pushing for a quick restart of a reactor at the Genkai nuclear plant in southern Japan. Trade Minister Banri Kaieda signaled this week he would resign, saying he would take responsibility for the confusion at a suitable time.

The "stress tests" are intended to assess whether Japan's remaining nuclear plants could withstand the kind of massive earthquake and tsunami that pushed Fukushima into crisis.

Separately, a government senior official was quoted as saying Saturday Tokyo Electric Power Co has met a government-set target of setting up a cooling system at the Fukushima plant.

Goshi Hosono, the government minister appointed to oversee Japan's response to the nuclear crisis, told reporters he believed Tokyo Electric had achieved its target of establishing a stable cooling system for the reactors, the first of a series of steps needed to shut down the plant by January.

Efforts to cool the Fukushima reactors currently hinge on a complex and hastily constructed system to decontaminate thousands of tonnes of water being pumped into the reactors and then to circulate it back through the reactors.

Once the cooling system is in place, officials have said that they can focus on work to bring the reactors to a state of "cold shutdown" by January.

At that point, the uranium in the reactor cores would be cool enough so that it would not cause water being pumped in to boil away. It would also mean that there would be little threat from another loss of power to the plant.

source : REUTERS

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Japan plans expansion after quake horror

(Reuters) - Japan's professional basketball league has bold plans for expansion rather than mere damage limitation despite being plunged into chaos by the deadly earthquake and tsunami on March 11.

With the two worst-hit teams in danger of collapse, Basketball JapanLeague Commissioner Toshimitsu Kawachi told Reuters the push to increase the number of clubs from 16 to 20 would continue at full pace.

The Sendai 89ers, the team based closest to the devastating 9.0 magnitude quake, and the Saitama Broncos have had players sent out on loan after being forced to scrap their seasons.

"There is a risk (of bankruptcy) for Sendai, or that both teams will be unable to play next season," Kawachi said in an interview.

"We are doing everything we can to have them among the expanded league of 20 teams in October for 2011-12 in terms of reducing further financial burden on them from the disaster."

Tokyo Apache also halted operations as a result of the quake and giant tsunami, which triggered a nuclear crisis after smashing into a plant 150 miles north of Japan's capital.

"Our practice sites were turned into rescue shelters for the survivors," said Apache President Chris Hetherington, whose club donated $1 million to tsunami relief efforts.

"And while apparently stable, the nuclear reactor at the Fukushima power plant still presented risks. The downside risk was too great."

Unlike Sendai and Saitama, who are staring into the financial abyss, Apache have no such problems, although it remains to be seen if former NBA coach Bob Hill will return.

"It was disappointing to have to leave after all the hard work we had put in," Hill, who led San Antonio to an NBA-best 62 wins in 1994-95, told Reuters by e-mail.

"With so many folks dying ... and the quakes continuing in Tokyo, basketball seemed so unimportant."

RADIATION LEAKS

The disaster left 28,000 people dead or missing and destroyed vast areas of northeast Japan, while blackouts and fears over radiation leaks hit sporting events nationwide.

"I have no idea if I will be back again in Tokyo," added Hill, who also coached the New York Knicks, Indiana and Seattle in his NBA career.

"I have had little communication with ownership and management at this point."

Losing Hill after less than a year would be a blow to Apache, who twice finished league runners-up under Joe Bryant, father of Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe.

But former NFL fullback Hetherington had no regrets about the decision to end the team's campaign with their record at 20-14.

"This curtailed season will not hurt the Apache," he said.

"We will take this time to build a more efficient and effective business."

Apache could also rake in cash and gain extra exposure thanks to 19-year-old power forward Jeremy Tyler, who is tipped as a potential number one overall pick in June's NBA draft.

Kawachi's staff, meanwhile, continue to work tirelessly to keep Saitama and Sendai, two of the trail-blazing six teams who launched the league in 2005, afloat.

"Okinawa are the top team in the West right now and would have a player on loan from Sendai for the final four in Tokyo on May 21-22," said the commissioner.

"There will be bus loads down from Sendai! We will be collecting money from a full house of 20,000. We will take every step to keep these two teams operating.

"The disaster resulted in a big financial loss for the league too but cancelling the whole season would not have been correct.

"Sport has shown it has the power to bring hope to people in despair. It has given us all added incentive to come out of this bigger and better."

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New 7.1 quake hits Japan as evacuation zone widens

Japan on Monday widened the evacuation zone around a stricken nuclear plant exactly a month on from a huge natural disaster as another 7.1 magnitude quake and tsunami alert strained nerves anew.

The latest aftershock caused buildings to sway in the capital Tokyo, shortly after the nation had observed a minute's silence to remember the 13,000 people killed in the March 11 disaster and the 15,000 who officially remain missing.

The US Geological Survey said the 7.1 onshore quake hit at 5:16 pm (0816 GMT) at a depth of just 13 kilometres (eight miles). Its epicentre was 81 kilometres south of Fukushima city, near the troubled nuclear plant. Related article: Japan PM thanks global support

Japan's meteorological agency warned that a one-metre (three foot) wave could hit Ibaraki prefecture, one of the areas pummelled by last month's massive tsunami, before cancelling the alert less than an hour later.

Another tremor of 7.1 on April 7 -- just one of thousands of aftershocks to hit the traumatised country -- killed at least two people and cut electricity across a huge area of northern Japan.

Workers battling to contain the crisis at the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear plant were evacuated after the latest quake Monday, which briefly knocked out power to crippled reactors before electricity was restored. Scene: Nuclear refugees defy warnings to go home

People across the country had paused at 2:46 pm, the moment Japan's biggest ever recorded earthquake struck, setting off a chain of events that has left workers scrambling to tame runaway atomic reactors at the Fukushima plant.

It was the worst tragedy to envelop the country since World War II.

Prime Minister Naoto Kan promised Sunday he would "never abandon" tsunami survivors as he tried to focus attention on the future, despite the continuing high-stakes battle at the nuclear plant.

Kan, on only his second trip to the disaster zone in the month since the tragedy, said the government would "work as fast as possible" to house the more than 150,000 people still living in emergency shelters. Focus: Japan's post-disaster economy faces electric shock

Underlining the threat of long-term health damage from radiation, the government on Monday said it was to widen the evacuation area around the atomic plant to include some towns outside the current 20-kilometre exclusion zone.

Those areas were liable to receive potentially hazardous radiation levels of 20 millisieverts per year, top government spokesman Yukio Edano said, while stressing there was no deterioration at the Fukushima plant.

Engineers at Fukushima who last week sealed a leak spewing highly contaminated water into the sea have begun installing a "silt curtain" to try to prevent radioactive mud from spreading around the ocean. Focus: Japan tsunami survivors struggle to imagine future

But at the same time, plant operator TEPCO is deliberately dumping more than 10,000 tonnes of mildly radioactive water into the ocean to free up urgently needed storage space for highly toxic liquid.

On Sunday one worker was taken to hospital after complaining of feeling sick, the operator said.

Masataka Shimizu, the president of Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), on Monday visited Fukushima and apologised for the atomic emergency engulfing the area.

"I offer my personal apology from the bottom of my heart once again to the people in Fukushima prefecture and residents near the nuclear plant for having imposed such awful physical and mental burdens," he said.

Shimizu had wanted to go to the offices of the Fukushima prefecture government in the hope of meeting governor Yuhei Sato, but a local official said no meeting had taken place.

The official gave no reason, but Sato has previously refused to meet the boss of the embattled utility.

Proposals to lift the long shadow cast by Japan's disasters emerged over the weekend.

Tokyo's nationalistic governor, who was re-elected Sunday, said the vast city would bid for the 2020 Summer Olympics as part of efforts to boost recovery.

Shintaro Ishihara said Tokyo -- which lost out to Rio de Janeiro in the race to host the 2016 Olympics -- "can start raising our hand now" for the games.

The prime minister was expected later Monday to hold a press conference in Tokyo.

He will urge Japanese to avoid "excessive self-restraint", Jiji Press reported, amid repeated calls for seasonal "hanami" -- alcohol-fuelled cherry blossom viewing -- parties to be toned down.

Kan is worried that "stagnation in consumer spending caused by excessive self-restraint would be detrimental to the Japanese economy and reconstruction efforts in disaster-hit areas," Jiji reported, citing an unnamed official.

source: yahoo/AFP News 

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Asia stocks mixed amid uncertainty in Japan, Libya

(AP) BANGKOK –  Stocks in Asia were mixed following a retreat on Wall Street on Wednesday, as the staggering toll exacted by Japan's worst-ever earthquake came into sharper focus and uncertainties grew about the outcome of Western military action against Libya.

Japan's Nikkei 225 slid 1.2 percent in early trading to 9,496.21 after a strong day of gains after a newspaper reported that government estimates of damages from the catastrophic March 11 earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan's industrial northeast could exceed $300 billion.

The disaster also triggered a crisis at a nuclear power plant that forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of people and forced power cuts due to the shutdown of 11 of Japan's 54 nuclear power plants.

Three of the country's biggest brands — Toyota Motor Corp., Honda Motor Co. and Sony Corp. — put off a return to normal production due to shortages of parts and raw materials because of earthquake damage to factories in affected areas.

Toyota and Honda said they would extend a shutdown of auto production in Japan that already is in its second week, while Sony said it was suspending some manufacturing of popular consumer electronics such as digital cameras and TVs. The production slowdowns hit their stock prices: Toyota drooped 1.5 percent; Honda was down 1.4 percent, and Sony lost 0.8 percent.

Elsewhere, South Korea's Kospi index was up 0.1 percent to 2,016.35, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dropped 0.3 percent to 22,798.01.

Meanwhile, investors had a separate worry: the crisis in Libya and the real possibility that Moammar Gadhafi could stave off military action by Western powers intended to keep Gadhafi from overwhelming rebel forces trying to end his four-decade rule.

Oil prices hovered near $105 a barrel Wednesday in Asia as violent uprisings in the Middle East kept traders nervous about possible crude supply disruptions. OPEC-member Libya, which produces enough oil to meet nearly 2 percent of world demand, has almost totally stopped shipping it.

On Wall Street, stocks edged lower Tuesday, ending a three-day rally that had lifted the Dow Jones industrial average above 12,000 for the first time since an earthquake hit Japan more than a week ago.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 17.90 points to close at 12,018.63. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 4.61, or 0.4 percent, to 1,293.77. The Nasdaq composite index fell 8.22, or 0.3 percent, to 2,683.87

In currencies, the euro dropped to $1.4169 from $1.4207 late Tuesday in New York. The yen was unchanged against the greenback at 80.90.

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Japan Expected to Take Up to 5 Years to Rebuild, With History in Its Favor

(AP/Foxnews) WASHINGTON –  The Japanese economy has been staggered by an earthquake, a tsunami and a nuclear crisis. But history suggests it will bounce back with no lasting damage.

Wealthier countries with stable government institutions are especially suited to benefit from reconstruction after a natural disaster. So are countries with vast international trade and those that can easily raise money.

Japan falls into all those categories. Its own Kobe area recovered unusually quickly from a 1995 earthquake, for example. And researchers say the May 2008 quake in the Sichuan province of China led to stronger growth that same year.

The World Bank estimates Japan will spend up to five years rebuilding from the March 11 disaster. Reconstruction projects contribute to growth by putting people to work. Economies also benefit as damaged roads, ports, buildings and equipment are replaced. And typically, they are replaced with more efficient structures that help expand the nation's productivity and growth.

"We expect growth in Japan will pick up as reconstruction efforts accelerate," Vikram Nehur, the World Bank's chief economist for East Asia, said Monday.

In the aftermath of the nuclear crisis, Japan also stands to benefit from research and development projects designed to find alternative energy and reduce its dependence on nuclear energy and imported oil, says Reinhard Mechler, an economist at Austria's International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis.

Researchers have documented that natural disasters, for all the death and destruction they leave, cause surprisingly little lasting economic damage.

A report last year by the Inter-American Development Bank found that natural disasters tend to cause long-term economic damage only when they trigger political upheaval. Iran and Nicaragua, for instance, were crippled economically by 1979 revolutions that followed killer earthquakes.

Otherwise, economies usually respond with long-term resilience after natural calamities.

Chinese government researchers have calculated that the Sichuan earthquake and the massive reconstruction effort that followed added to China's sizzling 9.6 percent growth in 2008.

And consider the deadly earthquake that hit Kobe, Japan, in January 1995. Experts predicted the area would need a decade to recover. Instead, Kobe's manufacturers were producing at 98 percent of pre-quake levels within a year and three months, according to a study by the late Purdue University economist George Horwich. About four in five retail shops, including all department stores, were open in a year and a half.

Even with the devastation in Kobe, Japan's economic growth more than doubled from 1994 to 1995.

Similarly, Hurricane Katrina devastated coastal Louisiana and Mississippi in 2005 but "didn't puncture investment or growth in the rest of the country," says Robert Shapiro, a former Commerce Department official and chairman of the economic consulting firm Sonecon.

And the reconstructions that followed the 1989 Northern California quake and the 1994 Southern California quake are widely believed to have helped the California economy.

Countries without deep financial reserves, trade relationships or skilled work forces are much less likely to benefit from rebuilding programs. Impoverished Haiti, for instance, lacked the resources to handle the aftermath of a deadly quake last year — even with help pouring in from overseas.

Japan, by contrast, has the institutions to handle a massive reconstruction effort, says Mark Skidmore, a Michigan State University economist. "They have high human capital," he says. "They have pretty darn good institutions."

And "if you've got trade, you've got ports and other distribution resources" that speed delivery of relief supplies and construction material to disaster zones.

Even in the developing world, the economic damage is typically short-lived. A poor country's economy typically shrinks in the first year after a calamity, then bounces back as investments pour in and money moves around, Mechler says.

Sonecon's Shapiro raises the concern that Japan won't prove as resilient this time as it was after the Kobe quake in '95. This month's quake damaged power plants, leaving communities with crippling electricity shortages. Shapiro says the threat of radiation leaks from a nuclear power plant damaged in the quake also could paralyze the economy. And the Tokyo government is deep in debt. Some question whether it could finance a rebuilding effort that is expected to cost more than $200 billion.

Others point out that the Japanese government can raise money by selling bonds to the Japanese public, which has a high savings rate. The United States, by contrast, relies heavily on foreign governments and investors to finance massive government deficits.

In its report Monday, the World Bank estimated that Japan's disaster would reduce the country's growth by up to 0.5 percentage points this year. But it also says the slowdown won't last much beyond mid-year.

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13,000 feared dead Japan races against time to cool reactors

(AFP, Reuters) TOKYO, Japan – The official number of dead and missing after a devastating earthquake and tsunami that flattened Japan's northeast coast has passed 13,000, police said Thursday, but reports hinted at a much higher toll.

This developed as operators of a quake-crippled Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan dumped water on overheating reactors on Thursday while the United States expressed growing alarm about leaking radiation and said it was chartering aircraft to help Americans leave the country.

The number of confirmed dead from Friday's twin disasters stood at 5,178, while the official number of missing remained at 8,606, the national police agency said in its latest update.

A total of 2,285 people were injured in the disaster.

But reports continued to come in which indicated that the final toll could be much higher.

The mayor of the coastal town of Ishinomaki in Miyagi prefecture said late Wednesday that the number of missing there was likely to hit 10,000, Kyodo News reported.

On Saturday, public broadcaster NHK reported that around 10,000 people were unaccounted for in the port town of Minamisanriku in the same prefecture.

Amid a mass rescue effort there were grim updates indicating severe loss of life along the battered east coast of Honshu island, where the monster waves destroyed or damaged more than 55,380 homes and other buildings.

Race against time

Engineers were rushing against time to run in a power line off the main grid to fire up the water pumps needed to cool two reactors and the spent fuel rods considered most at risk.

While Japanese officials were scrambling with a patchwork of fixes at the facility, the top US nuclear regulator warned that reactor No.4's cooling pool for spent fuel rods may have run dry and another was leaking.

“There is no water in the spent fuel pool and we believe that radiation levels are extremely high, which could possibly impact the ability to take corrective measures," Gregory Jaczko, head of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, told a US House Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing.

“It would be very difficult for emergency workers to get near the reactors. The doses they could experience would potentially be lethal doses in a very short period of time.”

The plant operator said it believed the No.4 reactor spent fuel pool still had water as of Wednesday.

US officials took pains not to criticize the Japanese government, which has shown signs of being overwhelmed by the crisis, but Washington's actions indicated a divide with the Japanese about the perilousness of the situation.

“The worst-case scenario doesn't bear mentioning and the best-case scenario keeps getting worse,” Perpetual Investments said in a note on the crisis.

Japan said the United States would fly a high-altitude drone over the stricken complex to gauge the situation, and had offered to send nuclear experts.

A State Department official said flights would be laid on for Americans to leave and family of embassy staff had been authorized to leave if they wanted.

Health experts said panic over radiation leaks from the Daiichi plant, Christaround 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo, was diverting attention from other life-threatening risks confronting survivors of last Friday's 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami, such as cold weather, heavy snow in parts and access to fresh water.

The head of the world's nuclear watchdog said it was not accurate to say things were “out of control” in Japan, but the situation was “very serious,” with core damage to three units at the plant.

However, Sebastian Pflugbeil, president of the private German-based Society for Radiation Protection, said Japan's efforts to pull the Fukushima plant back from the brink signaled “the beginning of the catastrophic phase.”

We have to pray

“Maybe we have to pray,” he said, adding that a wind blowing any nuclear fallout east into the Pacific would limit any damage for Japan's 127 million people in case of a meltdown or other releases, for instance from spent fuel storage pools.

The latest images from the plant showed severe damage to some of the buildings after several explosions.

A stream of gloomy warnings and reports on the Japan crisis from experts and officials around the world triggered a sharp fall in US financial markets, with all three major stock indexes slumping on fears of slower worldwide growth.

In a sign of the degree of concern among top policymakers, one G7 central banker, who asked not to be identified, said he was “extremely worried” about the wider effects of the crisis in Japan, the world's third-largest economy.

“I think the world economy is going to go right down and it has happened at a time when financial markets are still very fragile,” he said.

G7 finance ministers will hold a conference call later on Thursday to discuss steps to help Japan cope with the financial and economic impact of the disaster, a source said.

Radiation level falls

Japan's nuclear agency said radiation levels at the plant “continued to fall,” but the government appealed to private companies to help deliver supplies to tens of thousands of people evacuated from a 30-km (18-mile) zone around the complex.

Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) officials said bulldozers attempted to clear a route to the reactor so fire trucks could gain access and try to cool the facility using hoses.

High radiation levels on Wednesday prevented a helicopter from dropping water into No. 3 to try to cool its fuel rods after an earlier explosion damaged its roof and cooling system.

Another attempt on Thursday appeared to be partially successful, with two of four water drops over the site hitting their mark. The giant, twin-blade aircraft have to make precisely timed flyovers and drops to avoid the brunt of the radiation.

No. 3 high priority

The plant operator described No. 3 – the only reactor that uses plutonium in its fuel mix – as the “priority.” Experts described plutonium as a very nasty isotope that could cause cancer if very small quantities were ingested.

The situation at No. 4 reactor, where the fire broke out, was “not so good,” TEPCO said on Wednesday, while water was being poured into reactors No.5 and 6, indicating the entire six-reactor facility was now at risk of overheating.

Scores of flights to Japan have been halted or rerouted and air travelers are avoiding Tokyo for fear of radiation.

On Thursday, the US embassy in Tokyo urged citizens living within 50 miles of the Daiichi plant to evacuate or remain indoors “as a precaution,” while Britain's foreign office urged citizens “to consider leaving the area.”

The warnings were not as strong as those issued earlier by France and Australia, which urged nationals in Japan to leave the country. Russia said it planned to evacuate families of diplomats on Friday.

At its worst, radiation in Tokyo has reached 0.809 microsieverts per hour this week, 10 times below what a person would receive if exposed to a dental x-ray.

But many Tokyo residents stayed indoors, usually busy streets were nearly deserted and many shops and offices were closed.

One bank, Mizuho, said all its automatic teller machines in the country briefly crashed. It doubted the problem was connected to the earthquake or power cuts, but it triggered a rush to withdraw cash from machines in the capital.

Nuclear fear

In a demonstration of the qualms about nuclear power that the crisis has triggered around the globe, China announced that it was suspending approvals for planned plants and would launch a comprehensive safety check of facilities.

China has about two dozen reactors under construction and plans to increase nuclear electricity generation about seven-fold over the next 10 years.

Russia said nuclear power was safe provided power stations were built in the right place and designed and managed properly, but ordered checks at nuclear facilities.

In Japan, the plight of hundreds of thousands left homeless by the earthquake and tsunami worsened following a cold snap that brought heavy snow to worst-affected areas.

Supplies of water and heating oil are low at evacuation centers

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Japan earthquake shortened days on Earth

JAPAN -- The massive earthquake that struck northeast Japan last March 11 has shortened the length Earth's day by a fraction and shifted how the planet's mass is distributed.

A new analysis of the 8.9-9.0 magnitude earthquake in Japan has found that the intense temblor has accelerated Earth's spin, shortening the length of the 24-hour day by 1.8 microseconds, according to geophysicist Richard Gross at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

Gross refined his estimates of the Japan quake's impact – which previously suggested a 1.6-microsecond shortening of the day – based on new data on how much the fault that triggered the earthquake slipped to redistribute the planet's mass. A microsecond is a millionth of a second.

"By changing the distribution of the Earth's mass, the Japanese earthquake should have caused the

 Earth to rotate a bit faster, shortening the length of the day by about 1.8 microseconds," Gross told SPACE.com in an e-mail. More refinements are possible as new information on the earthquake comes to light, he added.

The scenario is similar to that of a figure skater drawing her arms inward during a spin to turn faster on the ice. The closer the mass shift during an earthquake is to the equator, the more it will speed up the spinning Earth.

One Earth day is about 24 hours, or 86,400 seconds, long. Over the course of a year, its length varies by about one millisecond, or 1,000 microseconds, due to seasonal variations in the planet's mass distribution such as the seasonal shift of the jet stream.

The initial data suggests Friday's earthquake moved Japan's main island about 8 feet, according to Kenneth Hudnut of the U.S. Geological Survey. The earthquake also shifted Earth's figure axis by about 6 1/2 inches (17 centimeters), Gross added.

The Earth's figure axis is not the same as its north-south axis in space, which it spins around once every day at a speed of about 1,000 mph (1,604 kph). The figure axis is the axis around which the Earth's mass is balanced and the north-south axis by about 33 feet (10 meters).

"This shift in the position of the figure axis will cause the Earth to wobble a bit differently as it rotates, but will not cause a shift of the Earth's axis in space – only external forces like the gravitational attraction of the sun, moon, and planets can do that," Gross said.

This isn't the first time a massive earthquake has changed the length of Earth's day. Major temblors have shortened day length in the past.

The 8.8-magnitude earthquake in Chile last year also sped up the planet's rotation and shortened the day by 1.26 microseconds. The 9.1 Sumatra earthquake in 2004 shortened the day by 6.8 microseconds.

And the impact from Japan's 8.9-magnitude temblor may not be com¬pletely over. The weaker aftershocks may contribute tiny changes to day length as well.

The March 11 quake was the largest ever recorded in Japan and is the world's fifth largest earthquake to strike since 1900, according to the USGS. It struck offshore about 231 miles (373 kilometers) northeast of Tokyo and 80 miles (130 km) east of the city of Sendai, and created a massive tsunami that has devastated Japan's northeastern coastal areas. At least 20 aftershocks registering a 6.0 magnitude or higher have followed the main temblor.

"In theory, anything that redistributes the Earth's mass will change the Earth's rotation," Gross said. "So in principle the smaller aftershocks will also have an effect on the Earth's rotation. But since the aftershocks are smaller their effect will also be smaller." (Space.com)

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Japan hit by 8.9 magnitude earthquake and the Tsunami it unleashed

Tokyo (CNN) -- The morning after Japan was struck by the most powerful earthquake to hit the island nation in recorded history and the tsunami it unleashed -- and even as the earth continued to twitch with aftershocks -- the disaster's massive impact was only beginning to be revealed.

Rescue efforts began with the first light as military helicopters plucked survivors from roofs and carried them to safety.

The 8.9-magnitude temblor, which was centered near the east coast of Japan, killed hundreds of people, caused the formation of 30-foot walls of water that swept across rice fields, engulfed entire towns, dragged houses onto highways, and tossed cars and boats like toys. Some waves reached six miles (10 kilometers) inland in Miyagi Prefecture on Japan's east coast. 

"The earth shook with such ferocity," said Andy Clark, who said he had gotten used to earthquakes during his 20 years in Japan but never experienced what he felt Friday at the airport outside Tokyo. "I thought things were coming to an end ... it was simply terrifying." Buildings shook, heaved and collapsed by the score, and numerous fires ignited. Hundreds more people were missing, Japanese media reported, citing local and national police. Tens of thousands of people were displaced, according to Japan's Kyodo News Agency. 

Prime Minister Naoto Kan said the "enormously powerful" earthquake had caused "tremendous damage over a wide area." The quake, which struck at 2:46 p.m. (12:46 a.m. ET), prompted the U.S. National Weather Service to issue tsunami warnings for at least 50 countries and territories. 

The epicenter of Friday's main quake was located off Miyagi Prefecture, about 230 miles (370 kilometers) northeast of Tokyo, the U.S. Geological Survey said. Also in Miyagi, officials reported that a train had derailed and authorities had lost contact with four trains in coastal areas, Kyodo reported, citing the East Japan Railway Company. Six million households, more than 10% of the total in Japan, were without electricity, said Japan's ambassador to the United States, Ichiro Fujisaki. 

In Tokyo, rail service was suspended overnight, elevated highways were shut early Saturday and surface streets remained jammed as commuters -- thousands of whom had spent the night in shelters -- tried to get to their homes in outlying areas. Video aired by Japanese broadcaster NHK showed extensive fires in Miyagi and in the port city of Hakodate, in the southern part of Hokkaido island in northern Japan. An oil refinery was burning in Chiba Prefecture near Tokyo, according to NHK. 

And Kyodo News said fires could be seen in extensive areas of Kesennuma in Miyagi. Aerial views of Kesennuma showed plumes of white smoke emanating from the center of the city and large, black areas the flames had already traversed. In the city of Minamisoma in Fukushima Prefecture, all that was left of many structures were their foundations. Only concrete and steel buildings appeared to have withstood the wash. 

No people were visible in the streets of the town, whose population on Friday had been 70,000. And a dam in Fukushima Prefecture failed, washing away homes, Kyodo reported. There was no immediate word of casualties, but the Defense Ministry said 1,800 homes were destroyed. The National Weather Service sent a warning to 50 countries and territories it said could be affected by the tsunami. Scores of aftershocks jarred the country Saturday, punctuated by a pair of strong earthquakes in the early morning, including one with a magnitude of 7.1 and another with a magnitude of 6.8. 

A leak occurred in an atomic power plant in northeast Japan, a spokesman for Japan's nuclear agency said Saturday. Cooling equipment stopped working when generators failed in the quake, and the temperature inside the plant in the Fukushima prefecture had risen; officials lowered the pressure inside the plant hangar by venting it, said spokesman Kazuo Kodama. But high levels of radiation led officials to suspend the release, NHK said. 

Alternative plans were being evaluated, the broadcaster said. Citing Japan's nuclear safety agency, Kyodo said radiation levels were 1,000 times above normal in the the control room of the facility's reactor. An evacuation order was extended to people who live within 10 kilometers (6 miles) of the plant, named Fukushima Daiichi, about 160 miles (260 kilometers) north of Tokyo. The agency said the radiation amount posed no immediate threat to the health of nearby residents, Kyodo reported. 

Cooling problems also appeared to have affected to another of the Tokyo Electric Power Company's nuclear facilities. Kyodo reported the power company alerted authorities that the cooling system at three units of another plant in the same prefecture. That prompted Japanese authorities to add that plant to its emergency list, along with the another plant, Kyodo said. 

Prime Minister Kan inspected the plant and the rest of the affected region from a helicopter. The government ordered the evacuation of residents nearest the plant as efforts to keep it cool after it was shut were initially hampered. Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported Saturday that the death toll is more than 900, with about 700 others reported missing. 

Earlier Saturday the nation's Kyodo News News Agency, citing police, reported that the death toll was 433, with at least 784 missing. The official death toll is likely to rise as authorities continue rescue and relief efforts in the worst-hit areas. Kyodo predicted the death toll would surpass 1,000. The news agency, citing Japan's defense forces, also said 60,000 to 70,000 people were being evacuated to shelters in the Sendai area of Miyagi Prefecture. 

The prime minister said an emergency task force had been activated, and he appealed for calm. The government dispatched 8,000 troops to assist in the recovery effort and asked for U.S. military assistance, according to Kyodo. A spokesman for the U.S. military bases in Japan said all service members were accounted for and there were no reports of damage to installations or ships. By early Saturday, more than 50 countries had offered help, said Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 

U.S. President Barack Obama offered his condolences and said the United States was standing by to help "in this time of great trial." The U.S. Navy initiated reconnaissance flights to map the disaster zone and was moving the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan into position to assist the Japanese government with relief efforts, defense officials said. 

Images from Japanese media and CNN iReporters showed smoke pouring from buildings and water rushing across fields, carrying away entire structures. "I wasn't scared when it started ... but it just kept going and going," said Michelle Roberts, who lives in central Tokyo. 

"I won't lie, it was quite scary. But we are all OK. We live on the third floor, so most everything shook and shifted." The quake toppled cars off bridges and into waters underneath. Waves of debris flowed like lava across farmland, pushing boats, houses and trailers in their paths. 

The quake also disrupted rail service and affected air travel. Hundreds of flights were canceled, Kyodo said. Some 13,000 people were stranded at the Narita airport, and 10,000 were stuck at the Haneda airport, the news agency said. Flights into and out of both airports had resumed Saturday. 

At Tokyo Station, one of Japan's busiest subway terminals, shaken commuters grabbed one another to stay steady as the ground shook. Dazed residents poured into the streets, and offices and schools were closed. Children cried. "This was larger than anyone expected and went on longer than anyone expected," said Matt Alt, who lives in Tokyo. "My wife was the calm one. ... She told us to get down and put your back on something, and leave the windows and doors open in case a building shifts so you don't get trapped." 

The magnitude of the earthquake and its shallow depth -- 15.2 miles (24.5 kilometers) -- created a lot of energy, said Shenza Chen of the U.S. Geological Survey. The impact was felt far and wide. In McKinleyville, California, a wave swept three men into the Pacific Ocean as they were reportedly trying to take photos of the incoming tsunami waves, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. Two of the men returned to shore, but one died, officials said. 

Japanese government officials said large tsunami waves were still a risk to coastal Japan, and they urged residents in coastal areas to move to higher ground. The tsunami brought waves of nearly 7 feet to a harbor in Maui, authorities said, but other areas reported lower levels. 

On the U.S. mainland, wave heights from Alaska to California ranged from less than a foot to more than 8 feet. The highest measurement, 8.1 feet, was at Crescent City, California. Tsunamis are a series of long ocean waves that can last five to 15 minutes and cause extensive flooding in coastal areas. Sometimes, the waves hit in succession -- often the highest not being the first, CNN meteorologist Ivan Cabrera said. 

Humanitarian agencies were working with rescue crews to reach people affected by the earthquake and tsunami. "When such an earthquake impacts a developed country like Japan, our concern also turns to countries like the Philippines and Indonesia, which might not have the same resources," said Rachel Wolff, a spokeswoman for World Vision. Wolff said her agency is helping people in Japan and teaming up to help others in countries along the path of the tsunami. The quake was the latest in a series around Japan this week. 

On Wednesday, a 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Honshu, the country's meteorological agency said. Early Thursday, an earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.3 struck off the same coast. Friday's quake is the strongest earthquake in recorded history to hit Japan, according to U.S. Geologic Survey records. The previous record was an 8.6-magnitude earthquake that struck near the Chubu Region near  southwestern Honshu on October 28, 1707, that may have killed 5,000 people, CNN meteorologist Sean Morris said. That quake generated a 33-foot (10-meter) tsunami wave, and some scientists believe the quake may have triggered the eruption of Mount Fuji 49 days later, Morris said. 

The world's largest recorded quake took place in Chile on May 22, 1960, with a magnitude of 9.5, the USGS said.

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