The day after one of the biggest earthquakes ever experienced, hit Japan with a likely death toll in excess of a thousand, a new disaster looms for the country, already reeling from the disastrous quake. The quake caused an explosion and fire at one of the Fukushima nuclear plants and whilst initially the damage hadn’t affected the reactor, the government now say that radiation has been detected outside the reactor leading to fears that it has gone into meltdown.
The government have declared a state of emergency in the area and evacuated residents whilst engineers confirm their worst fears.
Cooling of the reactors was suspended on Friday after the quake cut the power supply and since then radioactive caesium and iodine had been detected near the number one reactor leading to strong fears that the core may have started melting.
Whilst the situation is not critical at the moment, engineers are running out of options if a nuclear disaster is to be prevented. They have already opened vents to release air from the reactor to relieve the huge pressure that is already building but there are fears that if the meltdown isn’t controlled, the reactor itself may explode, releasing up to a tonne of radioactive material into the atmosphere, creating another Chernobyl. There is also the potential that the core could melt through the floor of the reactor and then dissipate its radioactivity through the ground around it.
The world, and the Japanese people wait with bated breath. Many of you as seen tv news massive earthquake and tsunami has devastated the north east coast of Japan and residents have been urged to find high ground with more waves expected.
The quake measured 8.9 on the Richter Scale, which is one of the largest earthquakes the country has suffered. To put it in context it is 100 times more powerful than the earthquake which has just devastated the city of Christchurch in New Zealand.
Tsunami waves washed away cars and ferries while buildings were shaken to their core. In Tokyo the shaking caused fires and all public transport has been ceased for the time being.
Millions of people are without power after a nuclear power station was forced to shut down while several steel works and factories are ablaze. Live footage on an American news site showed boats and houses being swept away by the massive surge of water in one coastal area.
Tokyo Narita airport is also closed and many airlines have suspended flights to Japan for the time being. It is not yet known how many casualties there were but several people have been reported trapped in buildings.
