2 quakes strike off coast near Fukushima

This made me giggle... "Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), which runs the Fukushima plant, said that it had found no anomalies at the site following the quakes."

Of course they didn't... Anomalies don't just run up to you, and rub up against your leg... You have to go look for them. Too bad I don't trust TEPCO to be out there looking very hard.

Just as well we have a keen and hungry tradition of investigative journalism here to get the truth out.

Oh wait, no we don't. Thanks to the Secrecy Bill last December, journalists who ask the wrong questions face three years in jail.

So we'd better just believe what TEPCO tell us, eh? No point making problems...

But thanks to strict building codes, even powerful quakes that might wreak havoc in other countries frequently pass without causing much damage.

While that may be true, let's also make clear that building codes before 1971 (and some percentages before 1981) were proven by Kobe earthquake that it is prone to fail.

Felt both of them here in Yokohama...

Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), which runs the Fukushima plant, said that it had found no anomalies at the site following the quakes.

and we are supposed to BELIEVE them ???

@Pan: If you aren't worried, you don't understand the problems. Shindo 4 can do plenty of damage to a nuclear power plant that is on its knees.

@Pan, like I wrote, if you don't understand, you can't be worried. Must be nice.

@Pan, you obviously don't understand the state of the buildings and 'systems' / water storage tanks at Dai-Ichi. So, you rest easy.

@The Res, yes, but as you well know I leave when necessary, prudent and sensible. Good solid survival logic. Wins every time. x

@Nana: Thankfully, we know different. Perimeter alarms were going off a good few minutes before the tsunami(s) arrived.

Quote: "Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), which runs the Fukushima plant, said that it had found no anomalies at the site following the quakes. Two other plants in the region also reported no problems."

We have been assured repeatedly that it was the tsunami that caused the damage and NOT the earthquake. No evidence to the contrary has been admitted or even permitted for discussion.

We have been assured repeatedly that NPPs in Japan cannot be affected by earthquakes.

Why do they bother reporting 'no problems' or 'no damage' at nuclear power plants after each large earthquake, after we have been assured that damage is impossible???

@Pan: You exist in the internet age, history's most information fed time... and you're asking ME for content? Interesting.

@Pan, it appears you're working from a position that I didn't put forward, if you read my post I condition my statement with the word 'can', can suggests possibility, not actuality. I quote:

Shindo 4 can do plenty of damage to a nuclear power plant that is on its knees

OK, let's look at one of the myriad possibilities. TEPCO has said it doesn't know how safe it's water storage tanks are, so we must agree that this an area of grave concern. Yes? The tanks? Well 'workers' have built more than 1,000 tanks to store the mixed water, which accumulates at the rate of an Olympic swimming pool each week. The tanks are built from parts of disassembled old containers brought from defunct factories and put together with new parts, they used steel bolts... do you see where that is going? Dai Ichi is next to the ocean, so salt air. Steel corrodes... Tepco itself says it does not know how long the tanks will hold. It reckons it would need to more than double the current capacity over the next three years to contain all the water. It has no plan for after that. Shindo 4... CAN do a lot damage to a Nuclear Power Plant on its knees.

You also seem to be working under the premise that the structures and systems in place are in the condition of --or in the case of the ad-hoc system-- having been built to the highest earthquake codes? As you may or may not know Units 1 to 4's structural integrity was severely compromised, you can not apply the same logic to these buildings as you would new or undamaged structures. Also when a system stops everyday due to a plastic bag, or a rat, you can not apply the same safety parameters. You can't. That wouldn't make sense either. Shindo 4 can damage weakened, poorly built structures... Shindo 4 CAN do a lot damage to a Nuclear Power Plant on its knees.

Same people make the same doom laden posts about Fukushima every time there is a tremor- you'd think it would get tiring!

There have been a few noticeable quakes in Tokyo over the past few day, on the fault off the coast of Fukushima, as well as closer to Kanto.

I'm hoping these aren't the precursor to something bigger like 2011.

No bickering please.

@Res: We suspect you mean what would one do if the Sagami Trough ruptured; rather than any fault 'under Tokyo Bay', as the only fault of any real significance under TB --proper-- is the Tokyowan-hokubu fault which has seen no faulting since the late Pleistocene and Holocene epochs. Is that what you meant? Or did you mean the Sagami Trough which is often sited as the cause of the next major quake that will hit the Tokyo area? As to regards as to what one would do, well, I'd check out what you were doing and do the exact opposite. Why? Because I will not suffer the anxiety of a mind which prefers the postponement of meeting a crisis head on; but instead will follow the mind that embraces action.

Haven't TEPCO shown that they can't be reaily trusted? Would they report anything wrong after earthquakes in the region? What do others think?

@YongYang - I understand completely. Can I quote Wikipedia for you regarding the effects of a Shindo 4 quake?

"Other buildings can receive slight damage. Earthquake-resistant structures will survive, most likely without damage."

and

"Hanging objects swing considerably and dishes in a cupboard rattle. Unstable ornaments fall occasionally. Very loud noises."

Oh noes, the world's going to end! Rattling!

If you are worried about a Shindo 4 quake affecting Fukushima Daiichi, it's you who need some education.

No it can't, YongYang. Shindo 4 doesn't even knock books of the shelf. Shindo 6-ish will cause damage, but not much to something large and reinforced.

And on it's knees? Overdramatize much? It's been stabilized for a long time now.

Ah YongYang, I knew you could not provide any information. Accusations, but no information.

I just wanted to read this information you have that is so different from everything else I have read, that structurally the plant has been reinforced and is physically quite stable. After all, it has endured hundreds of Shindo 4 quakes in the past 3.5 years without further damage. But now it is on the brink of collapse, after 3.5 years of reinforcement and recovery work? I don't think so.

A shindo 4 quake is too weak to cause damage. Thumb me down all you want but this is 100% correct.

Shindo 4... CAN do a lot damage to a Nuclear Power Plant on its knees.

You keep repeating this and keep not backing this up with any facts at all. HOW does a Shindo 4 cause damage when it won't even knock a book off the shelf in an office? WHY is Fukushima Daiichi "on it's knees" despite all official and unofficial news to the contrary? Again, there's been 3.5 years of renovation and reinforcement of the plant, and over a hundred shindo 4 or greater quakes in that time, none of which have caused any damage.

you can not apply the same logic to these buildings as you would new or undamaged structures

I ask you only for a shred of evidence to this effect. That's all. Not your assertions, just a reputable scientific study to show this. Do not tell me to google it. Provide me with the reports that lead you to this conclusion.

My goodness, folks. It was a shindo 4. A shindo 4 is not going to cause any damage - use your head.

......but YongYang continues to stay in Japan along with his Children. I would have though this irresponsible beyond reproach whiilst continuing to lecture the rest of us.

You know YongYang, you always do this. Terse, strong statements with no content. What do YOU know about the state of the buildings and water storage that nobody else knows?

Specifics, not declarations. You know so much, so much more than what is reported so why don't you share it all with us? Give your expertise on Fukushima Daiichi.

@YY - And your escape plan is what should a Magnitide 8.0 or higher occur under Tokyo Bay?