I’m not the only one to note the strange synchronicity of Ed’s post on recent Japanese earthquakes, and the very large tremor which rocked China this week. It feels a bit strange to blog about a part of Asia, and to not, at the very least, acknowledge the human tragedy, particularly since China has made […]

Had a hard time sleeping last night as a swarm of earthquakes kept rocking me out of my slumber over about an hour.
When I was first shaken awake by a strong jolt, I turned on the light and noted the time was 1:10 a.m. After settling back in and drifting off a bit, the […]

The Washington Post is running an article from Reuters about the consequences of a big earthquake in Tokyo. It contends that the foot traffic from 12,000,000 people would create incredible crowd densities of more than 6 people per square meter! The article also states that:

The Tokyo metropolitan government said in 2006 that a […]

The next time someone tells you that, in case of an earthquake, turn off the gas, get under a table, stand in a doorway, and do all of that other good stuff, remember this video which was taken by a camera that was rolling when the Great Hanshin (Kobe) Earthquake hit in 1995.

Straight from the Security and Safety Trade Expo in Tokyo is this emergency outfit for dogs. Designed to be either for a dog or cat, the coat includes pockets that contain emergency goods and food.
Why food? You would think that there would be plenty of fresh meat lying around for the enterprising dog or cat […]

A broadband and communications provider serving parts of the Tokyo area, will offer an earthquake advance warning sytem to subscribers beginning October 1, 2007. The “Urgent Earthquake News Flash”, issued from Japan’s Meteorological Agency, will be transmitted to specially installed terminals that use fixed-line phone lines.
The system forecasts the quake arrival time and the seismic […]

The Japanese government is claiming the problems that occurred at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power station in Niigata Prefecture following a powerful earthquake there were less serious than has been reported, and blames “foreign media organizations” (those that don’t come under the thumb of the kisha clubs) for blowing the whole thing out of proportion.
The Foreign […]

Workers used paper towels to wipe up radioactive water that spilled from a spent nuclear fuel storage pool at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant during the 6.8-magnitude earthquake that hit Niigata Prefecture.

Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) is saying that they have nothing to hide from International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors who are scheduled to arrive in Japan to inspect the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant, which was severely damaged by an earthquake recently.

• Japan, situated on the “Ring of Fire” arc of volcanoes and ocean trenches that partly encircles the Pacific Basin, accounts for about 20 percent of the world’s earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater.
• A tremor occurs in Japan at least every five minutes, and each year there are up to 2,000 quakes that can […]

Yesterday I posted a short piece about a radioactive water leak at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant, the world’s largest, in northeastern Japan following a major earthquake there on Monday.
Now we get word that in addition to the leaking water there were other problems caused by the quake, including nuclear waste drums that spilled, […]

Tokyo Electric Power Company has announced that its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant, the largest in the world, leaked radioactive water following a strong earthquake in northeast Japan today.

SunShine Co. Ltd., a security firm in Tokyo, is planning to market a home earthquake warning device from this coming October.

The size of a paperback book, the EQGuard accesses data from the early warning system network maintained by the Japan Meteorological Agency (JAMA) via the Internet and sounds a loud countdown up to 20 […]

Japan’s vulnerability to natural disasters is increasing as skyscrapers mushroom in cities, shopping malls go underground and the population ages, a recent government report says.
“In addition to growing risk of natural hazards, our society has become more vulnerable to disasters,” the disaster prevention white paper said. According to an Associated Press report in China Post:
Densely […]

An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.4 rocked central Japan injuring at least 11 people and damaging a 400-year-old castle’s stone wall in Kameyama which is in Mie Prefecture.
17 houses in the area and other structures including the castle wall suffered minor damage in the city. Chubu Electric Power Company which is in the area […]

An earthquake has hit Ishikawa, Japan, where officials are saying that one person is dead and more than a hundred are injured. The earthquake measured a magnitude of 6.9 and hit at about 9:40am Sunday.

Kumamoto rattled by 4.1 quake. No casualties or damage reported, although Overoften said to have “nearly spilt tea”. Further bulletins as events warrant.

Why is there so much white-collar crime in Japan?
Probably because it pays in terms of potential rewards if it goes undetected verses potential punishment if you are caught. A great illustration of this is the Aneha case that just wrapped up in the Tokyo District Court.
First some background:
Architect Hidetsugu Aneha confessed to and was […]

For 6,648¥ ($56) the Koban SP-220E plays music, detects earthquakes, and serves as a versatile survival appliance with LED flashlight, AM/FM radio, multiple phone chargers (Japan specific), and panic siren. It’s waterproof and also has a hand-crank in case you forget to charge it. Just the thing to have around in any earthquake-related emergency. The […]

Satoshi Takisawa, writing in Japanese in the Yomiuri Weekly and translated here, asks: “How Will You Get Home After the Big One?”
What will happen when a major earthquake strikes the Tokyo area and transportation systems are paralyzed? Just for argument’s sake, if 100 people try to walk from their offices in Shinjuku to their homes […]