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Anxiety in Japan grows as rescue workers find more bodies
In a nation besieged with grief over mounting casualties, fears of possible radiation and the threat of more earthquakes, the nightmare grew for Japanese residents Monday as thousands of bodies reportedly were found and crews struggled to keep damaged nuclear plants under control.
Friday's 8.9-magnitude earthquake and the ensuing tsunami killed thousands, based on official and Japanese media reports, but an exact accounting of the disaster remains hidden beneath widespread damage that rescuers are only beginning to unearth.
The confirmed death toll, growing every few hours, reached 1,897 on Monday. But that didn't account for the thousands of bodies Japan's Kyodo News said had been found in the Miyagi Prefecture on Japan's northeast coast. The number of dead is expected to rise as rescuers reach more hard-hit areas.
At least 3,002 people were still missing Monday, the National Police Agency said. Public broadcaster NHK reported that 450,000 people were living in shelters.
Meanwhile, officials fought to contain a nuclear emergency. The earthquake and tsunami led to problems at three of the country's nuclear power plants, one of which remained a serious concern Monday as crews continued a seesaw battle to control a damaged nuclear reactor complex.
In Fukushima Prefecture, an explosion in a building housing the No. 3 reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi plant injured 11 workers. Hours later, cooling problems at the plant's No. 2 reactor allowed nuclear fuel rods to overheat and generate radioactive steam that officials will have to vent into the atmosphere.
Crews thought they had the situation under control, but water levels dropped dangerously again Monday night when a buildup of steam prevented fresh seawater from entering the reactor chamber, Tokyo Electric Power Co. reported. Officials said they would be able to fix the problem.
The Japanese government has asked for additional types of equipment that will help provide water and keep nuclear reactors cool, according to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
"It's just adding insult to injury," said Ryan McDonald, an American living in Kitakata, about 60 miles west of the Fukushima Daiichi power plant. "The earthquake was horrible. Then the tsunami was horrible. And that's not enough. Now there's a nuclear fear."
In Tokyo, where many trains were not running or were severely delayed because of power outages, residents worried about the threat of more aftershocks as they started their workweek Monday.
"It didn't really feel safe going to an empty office," Tokyo resident Mia Moore said, citing the ongoing tremors that continue to rattle the city every few hours. "People want to stay with their families at this time to recover, really. It's quite exhausting feeling so nervous all the time. I think people want to get back to normality as soon as they can."
But normalcy seems a distant memory across the hardest-hit region of Japan. NHK, citing police and disaster management officials, reported that 63,000 buildings had been damaged, more than 6,000 of them obliterated.
In Miyagi Prefecture, rescue workers sifted through mountains of debris, and hope for survivors appeared to dim.
In the Sendai area, where buildings were disintegrated by rushing water within seconds during the tsunami, a bizarre mix of sport-utility vehicles, cabinets, sofas, a taxi and a doll were heaped in a pile outside the remnants of a house.
Solemn residents waited in lines that stretched blocks for food, water and gas. Despite the devastation surrounding them, the crowds appeared calm and orderly, even as stores rationed what they would sell to individual people.
At a shelter in Sendai, a shell-shocked man who fled the tsunami would not let go of his 3-week-old infant. "I have to protect my children. I have to protect my children," he said.
Another survivor wiped away tears after someone she barely knew gave her food and water.
Cold weather has increased the hardship for disaster victims and rescuers. Rescuers report that some victims have been exposed to cold weather and water, in some cases for days. Conditions are expected to worsen, with temperatures forecast to drop below freezing by Wednesday across portions of the earthquake zone, accompanied by snow, heavy rain and the threat of mudslides.
About 15,000 people have been rescued, Kyodo News reported Monday, citing Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan. On Sunday, he called on people to pull together and face sacrifices during what he called the "toughest and most difficult crisis for Japan" since the end of World War II.
Among the residents rescued was a woman carried into a shelter by a civil defense solider, NHK reported. After he gingerly set her down, the woman rose to her feet with some difficulty and bowed to the soldier, told him she was all right, bowed again and then collected herself to briefly tell her story, paraphrased by an NHK interpreter:
"She had been waiting for help all night, outside. She had been washed away by the wave. ... The moment she opened the door of the house, the water flooded in. ... She grabbed hold of a tree and hung on, hung on for dear life with the water all around her. A ... floor mat floated by, and she grabbed it and held on to that."
As the woman spoke in Japanese, the interpreter's voice trembled in English: "Her daughter was washed away. She was washed away, and she has not found her."
The problem of trying to keep Japan's large, modern industrial economy running added to the difficulties facing the nation.
With the imperiled Fukushima plant offline, Tokyo Electric Power said it was expecting a shortfall of about 25 percent capacity, which necessitated blackouts. Up to 45 million people will be affected by the rolling outages, which will last until April 8.
Experts predict that the earthquake and tsunami will rank among the costliest natural disasters on record.
Japan's central bank announced plans Monday to inject 15 trillion yen ($186 billion) into the economy to reassure global investors of the stability of Japanese financial markets and banks.
Still, Japanese markets dropped sharply Monday, the first trading day since the disaster. The benchmark Nikkei 225 fell 6.18 percent, marking the largest single-day fall since September 2008 after the collapse of Lehman Brothers during the financial crisis.
A massive emergency response operation is under way in northern Japan, with world governments and international aid groups coming together to bring relief to the beleaguered island nation. Ninety-one countries and regions and six international organizations have offered assistance, according to the Japanese Foreign Affairs Ministry.
Friday's quake was the strongest in recorded history to hit Japan, according to U.S. Geological Survey records that date to 1900. The world's largest recorded quake took place in Chile on May 22, 1960, with a magnitude of 9.5, the agency said.
Source: AP
Friday's 8.9-magnitude earthquake and the ensuing tsunami killed thousands, based on official and Japanese media reports, but an exact accounting of the disaster remains hidden beneath widespread damage that rescuers are only beginning to unearth.
The confirmed death toll, growing every few hours, reached 1,897 on Monday. But that didn't account for the thousands of bodies Japan's Kyodo News said had been found in the Miyagi Prefecture on Japan's northeast coast. The number of dead is expected to rise as rescuers reach more hard-hit areas.
At least 3,002 people were still missing Monday, the National Police Agency said. Public broadcaster NHK reported that 450,000 people were living in shelters.
Meanwhile, officials fought to contain a nuclear emergency. The earthquake and tsunami led to problems at three of the country's nuclear power plants, one of which remained a serious concern Monday as crews continued a seesaw battle to control a damaged nuclear reactor complex.
In Fukushima Prefecture, an explosion in a building housing the No. 3 reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi plant injured 11 workers. Hours later, cooling problems at the plant's No. 2 reactor allowed nuclear fuel rods to overheat and generate radioactive steam that officials will have to vent into the atmosphere.
Crews thought they had the situation under control, but water levels dropped dangerously again Monday night when a buildup of steam prevented fresh seawater from entering the reactor chamber, Tokyo Electric Power Co. reported. Officials said they would be able to fix the problem.
The Japanese government has asked for additional types of equipment that will help provide water and keep nuclear reactors cool, according to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
"It's just adding insult to injury," said Ryan McDonald, an American living in Kitakata, about 60 miles west of the Fukushima Daiichi power plant. "The earthquake was horrible. Then the tsunami was horrible. And that's not enough. Now there's a nuclear fear."
In Tokyo, where many trains were not running or were severely delayed because of power outages, residents worried about the threat of more aftershocks as they started their workweek Monday.
"It didn't really feel safe going to an empty office," Tokyo resident Mia Moore said, citing the ongoing tremors that continue to rattle the city every few hours. "People want to stay with their families at this time to recover, really. It's quite exhausting feeling so nervous all the time. I think people want to get back to normality as soon as they can."
But normalcy seems a distant memory across the hardest-hit region of Japan. NHK, citing police and disaster management officials, reported that 63,000 buildings had been damaged, more than 6,000 of them obliterated.
In Miyagi Prefecture, rescue workers sifted through mountains of debris, and hope for survivors appeared to dim.
In the Sendai area, where buildings were disintegrated by rushing water within seconds during the tsunami, a bizarre mix of sport-utility vehicles, cabinets, sofas, a taxi and a doll were heaped in a pile outside the remnants of a house.
Solemn residents waited in lines that stretched blocks for food, water and gas. Despite the devastation surrounding them, the crowds appeared calm and orderly, even as stores rationed what they would sell to individual people.
At a shelter in Sendai, a shell-shocked man who fled the tsunami would not let go of his 3-week-old infant. "I have to protect my children. I have to protect my children," he said.
Another survivor wiped away tears after someone she barely knew gave her food and water.
Cold weather has increased the hardship for disaster victims and rescuers. Rescuers report that some victims have been exposed to cold weather and water, in some cases for days. Conditions are expected to worsen, with temperatures forecast to drop below freezing by Wednesday across portions of the earthquake zone, accompanied by snow, heavy rain and the threat of mudslides.
About 15,000 people have been rescued, Kyodo News reported Monday, citing Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan. On Sunday, he called on people to pull together and face sacrifices during what he called the "toughest and most difficult crisis for Japan" since the end of World War II.
Among the residents rescued was a woman carried into a shelter by a civil defense solider, NHK reported. After he gingerly set her down, the woman rose to her feet with some difficulty and bowed to the soldier, told him she was all right, bowed again and then collected herself to briefly tell her story, paraphrased by an NHK interpreter:
"She had been waiting for help all night, outside. She had been washed away by the wave. ... The moment she opened the door of the house, the water flooded in. ... She grabbed hold of a tree and hung on, hung on for dear life with the water all around her. A ... floor mat floated by, and she grabbed it and held on to that."
As the woman spoke in Japanese, the interpreter's voice trembled in English: "Her daughter was washed away. She was washed away, and she has not found her."
The problem of trying to keep Japan's large, modern industrial economy running added to the difficulties facing the nation.
With the imperiled Fukushima plant offline, Tokyo Electric Power said it was expecting a shortfall of about 25 percent capacity, which necessitated blackouts. Up to 45 million people will be affected by the rolling outages, which will last until April 8.
Experts predict that the earthquake and tsunami will rank among the costliest natural disasters on record.
Japan's central bank announced plans Monday to inject 15 trillion yen ($186 billion) into the economy to reassure global investors of the stability of Japanese financial markets and banks.
Still, Japanese markets dropped sharply Monday, the first trading day since the disaster. The benchmark Nikkei 225 fell 6.18 percent, marking the largest single-day fall since September 2008 after the collapse of Lehman Brothers during the financial crisis.
A massive emergency response operation is under way in northern Japan, with world governments and international aid groups coming together to bring relief to the beleaguered island nation. Ninety-one countries and regions and six international organizations have offered assistance, according to the Japanese Foreign Affairs Ministry.
Friday's quake was the strongest in recorded history to hit Japan, according to U.S. Geological Survey records that date to 1900. The world's largest recorded quake took place in Chile on May 22, 1960, with a magnitude of 9.5, the agency said.
Source: AP