SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Fukushima Nuclear Plant at High Risk for Major Earthquake
Scientists issue call for safeguards to prevent another nuclear disaster
Feb 14, 2012
A new study shows that last year's catastrophic earthquake in Japan caused a seismic fault close to the Fukushima nuclear plant to reactivate, meaning another major earthquake could strike the area again, this time even closer to the Fukushima plant.
The new information (pdf) is published in European Geosciences Union's journal Solid Earth.
The March 11, 2011 earthquake's epicenter was about 160 kilometers from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. The scientists in the study explain that new tremors are happening even closer to the site:
"There are a few active faults in the nuclear power plant area, and our results show the existence of similar structural anomalies under both the Iwaki and the Fukushima Daiichi areas. Given that a large earthquake occurred in Iwaki not long ago, we think it is possible for a similarly strong earthquake to happen in Fukushima," says team-leader Dapeng Zhao, geophysics professor at Japan's Tohoku University.
The 11 April 2011 magnitude 7 Iwaki earthquake was the strongest aftershock of the 11 March earthquake with an inland epicentre. It occurred 60 km southwest of the Fukushima nuclear power plant, or 200 km from the 11 March epicentre.
The research now published in EGU's Solid Earth shows that the Iwaki earthquake was triggered by fluids moving upwards from the subducting Pacific plate to the crust. The Pacific plate is moving beneath northeast Japan, which increases the temperature and pressure of the minerals in it. This leads to the removal of water from minerals, generating fluids that are less dense than the surrounding rock. These fluids move up to the upper crust and may alter seismic faults.
"Ascending fluids can reduce the friction of part of an active fault and so trigger it to cause a large earthquake. This, together with the stress variations caused by the 11 March event, is what set off the Iwaki tremor," says Ping Tong, lead author of the paper.
The number of earthquakes in Iwaki increased greatly after the March earthquake. The movements in the Earth's crust induced by the event caused variations in the seismic pressure or stress of nearby faults. Around Iwaki, Japan's seismic network recorded over 24,000 tremors from 11 March 2011 to 27 October 2011, up from under 1,300 detected quakes in the nine years before, the scientists report.
"We think it is possible for a similarly strong earthquake to happen in Fukushima"
The scientists in the study report that since an earthquake near the Fukushima plant is likely, more attention should be paid to safeguards to prevent another nuclear disaster.
* * *
Meanwhile at the stricken plant, agencies report that the temperature at the No.2 reactor continue to rise to dangerous levels, though TEPCO says a faulty thermometer gauge may be the reason:
The Tokyo Electric Power Company said the temperature in one of the damaged reactors at its Fukushima nuclear station rose above safety limits yesterday, even as it injected increased amounts of cooling water.
One of three thermometers indicated the temperature at the bottom of the No.2 reactor pressure vessel rose to 93.7 degrees, , exceeding the 80 limit, said Ai Tanaka, a spokeswoman for the utility known as Tepco.
There are no signs of isotopes that would suggest the reactor has gone critical and there has been no increase in radiation around the site, the company said in a statement. The other two thermometers at the bottom of the vessel showed temperatures of 32.8 and 33.1 earlier yesterday, spokesman Naohiro Omura said. The thermometers have a margin of error of as much as 20 degrees, so the temperature could have climbed as high as 113.7.
''We think the thermometer may be faulty,'' Mr Omura said. The other two gauges had indicated temperatures were falling.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
A new study shows that last year's catastrophic earthquake in Japan caused a seismic fault close to the Fukushima nuclear plant to reactivate, meaning another major earthquake could strike the area again, this time even closer to the Fukushima plant.
The new information (pdf) is published in European Geosciences Union's journal Solid Earth.
The March 11, 2011 earthquake's epicenter was about 160 kilometers from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. The scientists in the study explain that new tremors are happening even closer to the site:
"There are a few active faults in the nuclear power plant area, and our results show the existence of similar structural anomalies under both the Iwaki and the Fukushima Daiichi areas. Given that a large earthquake occurred in Iwaki not long ago, we think it is possible for a similarly strong earthquake to happen in Fukushima," says team-leader Dapeng Zhao, geophysics professor at Japan's Tohoku University.
The 11 April 2011 magnitude 7 Iwaki earthquake was the strongest aftershock of the 11 March earthquake with an inland epicentre. It occurred 60 km southwest of the Fukushima nuclear power plant, or 200 km from the 11 March epicentre.
The research now published in EGU's Solid Earth shows that the Iwaki earthquake was triggered by fluids moving upwards from the subducting Pacific plate to the crust. The Pacific plate is moving beneath northeast Japan, which increases the temperature and pressure of the minerals in it. This leads to the removal of water from minerals, generating fluids that are less dense than the surrounding rock. These fluids move up to the upper crust and may alter seismic faults.
"Ascending fluids can reduce the friction of part of an active fault and so trigger it to cause a large earthquake. This, together with the stress variations caused by the 11 March event, is what set off the Iwaki tremor," says Ping Tong, lead author of the paper.
The number of earthquakes in Iwaki increased greatly after the March earthquake. The movements in the Earth's crust induced by the event caused variations in the seismic pressure or stress of nearby faults. Around Iwaki, Japan's seismic network recorded over 24,000 tremors from 11 March 2011 to 27 October 2011, up from under 1,300 detected quakes in the nine years before, the scientists report.
"We think it is possible for a similarly strong earthquake to happen in Fukushima"
The scientists in the study report that since an earthquake near the Fukushima plant is likely, more attention should be paid to safeguards to prevent another nuclear disaster.
* * *
Meanwhile at the stricken plant, agencies report that the temperature at the No.2 reactor continue to rise to dangerous levels, though TEPCO says a faulty thermometer gauge may be the reason:
The Tokyo Electric Power Company said the temperature in one of the damaged reactors at its Fukushima nuclear station rose above safety limits yesterday, even as it injected increased amounts of cooling water.
One of three thermometers indicated the temperature at the bottom of the No.2 reactor pressure vessel rose to 93.7 degrees, , exceeding the 80 limit, said Ai Tanaka, a spokeswoman for the utility known as Tepco.
There are no signs of isotopes that would suggest the reactor has gone critical and there has been no increase in radiation around the site, the company said in a statement. The other two thermometers at the bottom of the vessel showed temperatures of 32.8 and 33.1 earlier yesterday, spokesman Naohiro Omura said. The thermometers have a margin of error of as much as 20 degrees, so the temperature could have climbed as high as 113.7.
''We think the thermometer may be faulty,'' Mr Omura said. The other two gauges had indicated temperatures were falling.
A new study shows that last year's catastrophic earthquake in Japan caused a seismic fault close to the Fukushima nuclear plant to reactivate, meaning another major earthquake could strike the area again, this time even closer to the Fukushima plant.
The new information (pdf) is published in European Geosciences Union's journal Solid Earth.
The March 11, 2011 earthquake's epicenter was about 160 kilometers from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. The scientists in the study explain that new tremors are happening even closer to the site:
"There are a few active faults in the nuclear power plant area, and our results show the existence of similar structural anomalies under both the Iwaki and the Fukushima Daiichi areas. Given that a large earthquake occurred in Iwaki not long ago, we think it is possible for a similarly strong earthquake to happen in Fukushima," says team-leader Dapeng Zhao, geophysics professor at Japan's Tohoku University.
The 11 April 2011 magnitude 7 Iwaki earthquake was the strongest aftershock of the 11 March earthquake with an inland epicentre. It occurred 60 km southwest of the Fukushima nuclear power plant, or 200 km from the 11 March epicentre.
The research now published in EGU's Solid Earth shows that the Iwaki earthquake was triggered by fluids moving upwards from the subducting Pacific plate to the crust. The Pacific plate is moving beneath northeast Japan, which increases the temperature and pressure of the minerals in it. This leads to the removal of water from minerals, generating fluids that are less dense than the surrounding rock. These fluids move up to the upper crust and may alter seismic faults.
"Ascending fluids can reduce the friction of part of an active fault and so trigger it to cause a large earthquake. This, together with the stress variations caused by the 11 March event, is what set off the Iwaki tremor," says Ping Tong, lead author of the paper.
The number of earthquakes in Iwaki increased greatly after the March earthquake. The movements in the Earth's crust induced by the event caused variations in the seismic pressure or stress of nearby faults. Around Iwaki, Japan's seismic network recorded over 24,000 tremors from 11 March 2011 to 27 October 2011, up from under 1,300 detected quakes in the nine years before, the scientists report.
"We think it is possible for a similarly strong earthquake to happen in Fukushima"
The scientists in the study report that since an earthquake near the Fukushima plant is likely, more attention should be paid to safeguards to prevent another nuclear disaster.
* * *
Meanwhile at the stricken plant, agencies report that the temperature at the No.2 reactor continue to rise to dangerous levels, though TEPCO says a faulty thermometer gauge may be the reason:
The Tokyo Electric Power Company said the temperature in one of the damaged reactors at its Fukushima nuclear station rose above safety limits yesterday, even as it injected increased amounts of cooling water.
One of three thermometers indicated the temperature at the bottom of the No.2 reactor pressure vessel rose to 93.7 degrees, , exceeding the 80 limit, said Ai Tanaka, a spokeswoman for the utility known as Tepco.
There are no signs of isotopes that would suggest the reactor has gone critical and there has been no increase in radiation around the site, the company said in a statement. The other two thermometers at the bottom of the vessel showed temperatures of 32.8 and 33.1 earlier yesterday, spokesman Naohiro Omura said. The thermometers have a margin of error of as much as 20 degrees, so the temperature could have climbed as high as 113.7.
''We think the thermometer may be faulty,'' Mr Omura said. The other two gauges had indicated temperatures were falling.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.