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28/10/2011 22:02
riday afternoon 80 miles off the coast of Japan, the 5th largest earthquake since 1900 rocked the Island nation and then immediately sent a tsunami across the Pacific Ocean. Combined, the two events have left over 3,000 dead, tens of thousands more unaccounted for, eradicated coastlines and have brought Japan to the brink of nuclear disaster.
Some of the facts and statistics behind Japans horrific natural disaster include: The ground shook for 2.5 minutes in comparison to 15 seconds for the San Francisco earthquake of 1989 There have been 240 aftershocks greater than 5.0 MMS including a 7.1 MMS, 31 over 6.0 MMS. By comparison the devastating earthquake in Haiti last year was a 7.2 MMS. MMS is the replacement to the Richter scale The earthquake released energy equivalent
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Japans Earthquake Teaches Asset Management
28/10/2011 22:02
of earth may causes tremendous energy waves to form (like dropping a ball into a bucket of water). These waves can travel at 500 kilometers an hour across oceans. When the waves approach a land mass, the waves slow down, become compressed and the height of the wave grows resulting in a surge of water.
The USA and the Ring of Fire
The USA has thousands of miles of coastland on the Ring of Fire. Earthquakes have rattled California, Washington and Alaska since records started being kept. In fact the 1964 earthquake near Prince William Sound is the second largest recorded since 1900 as it measured 9.2 MMS with a TNT equivalent of 948 megatons. By comparison, the 1906 San Francisco was estimated to be about an 8 MMS.
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The release of energy when the land masses jerk causes the earthquakes. Should the movement occur underwater, the displacement
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The major difference between the Japan and the USA is that the geology is different, with most earthquakes occurring on land making the likelihood of a tsunami far less likely. The similarity is that the west coast has nuclear power plants that can be impacted by earthquakes.
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Japans Earthquake Teaches Asset Management
28/10/2011 22:02
1. Early warning systems. Seismometers detect the first shockwave Computers analyze the wave and estimate how powerful the second one will beIf that wave is estimated to be more powerful than a certain threshold (greater than 5 on the local scale), an alert is issued It is simple enough, but it is a critical step so that companies, utilities, petrochemical plants, rail operators and others can shut down facilities and minimize damage. Make no mistake the warning is issued mere seconds before the earthquake actually occurs. But it is just enough to make a difference for those further away from the seismic center as well as initiate a ripple effect across the globe. Source: Smart Planet 1. Practice and drilling of emergency action plans. Japan was able to issue shutdown orders to all nuclear plants within just a few minutes. 2. System redundancy. Japans nuclear power plants have multiple levels of redundancy that should prevent total system failures of aging utility plants. 3. Stricter building standards, buildings are designed to withstand earthquakes of higher magnitudes by incorporating spe-
Despite the confusion over the information available to the outside world, Japan has actually reacted very well and experts on Boiling Water Reactors indicate there is no danger of a nuclear explosion. Two excellent resources are There are no man-made structures on earth built to withstand 425 megatons of TNT explosive energy. Anything at ground zero when this much energy is released is history. Similarly, a wall of water can destroy even the best built buildings. When a natural disaster of this magnitude occurs there is going to be extreme damage and casualties.
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Japans Earthquake Teaches Asset Management
28/10/2011 22:02
cial dampening systems, spring systems as well as other technologies to reduce seismic wave susceptibility. 4. Nuclear Power plant assets are added regularly in Japan versus the USA which has not begun building a new nuclear reactors since 1974. Older assets require more preventive maintenance and are not built as well as new assets.
Earthquake Alarm
Most notable is the shutdown checklist (time allowing)
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