Area around Fukushima Nuclear Plant. Large Yellow circle, right center, is the locus of the 8.9 earthquake, Power Plant is yellow Marking Pin in the lower left quadrant. Red circles are seismic events in the last hour, orange are events in the last 24 hours, yellow are events in the last week. The entire area is not represented in the confines of this picture.
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Tohoku Electric Power (Co) thermal power plant Haramati Affairs Group
Japan, 〒 975-0021 54 Oohuna Sako S Minami Souma, Fukushima Prefecture, Kanazawa City, Haramachiku
This is translated from a label on Google Earth, marking what I believe to be is the nuclear power plant that is having a major unpleasantness occurring.
Real Time Earthquakes Add-in on Google Earth showed approximately 30 quakes occurred in that region in the week before the big quake. You would think someone might have looked into extra generators for the nuclear plant, just in case... or asked for some big friends to stick around with nuclear bandages... but what actually happens is the usual dream-world of bureaucracy: nothing.
The Aftershocks are spread around the area like balls on a Bocce court, where the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant is the Pallino. Measuring around the pallino, within the last 24 hours, the nearest aftershock was 14 miles away and measured 5.1 on the Richter scale.
Counting the events a week before and now after the 8.9 quake, there are more than a hundred seismic events there.
This is the story of our times: two back-ups, neither work; two fail-safes, two failures.
When it was decided to build a nuclear plant close to a severe earthquake zone, I am sure all the best science went into it, but once again, we see that the system that exists of Science+Politics+Government+Maximum Profits is insufficient to meet the needs of a complex society.
At least the Japanese do not have newly elected legislators who are trying to remove Science from the classroom and cut funding for the Sciences.
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