Japan tsunami : A massive update for our CatDat Situation Report (Part 15)

This is part 15 of our ongoing reporting with many updates about the massive 9.0 earthquake / tsunami which struck Japan on March 11 2011.
Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7 - Part 8 - Part 9 - Part 10 - Part 11 - Part 12 - Part 13 - Part 14 - Part 15 - Part 16

NPA 01/06 (June 1 ) : Fatalities : 15,256 15,310 - Missing : 8,565 8,404 = Total : 23,714

FDMA 26/05 + prefecture reports (May 26 ) : Fatalities : 15,073 - Missing 8,657: = Total : 23,720

Damage, Fatalities, Injured etc. in-depth report : "CATDAT Excel Sheet (version 33)"

UPDATE 01/06 - 20:04 UTC : Even though they had seen the images of the areas devastated by the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami in the media, nothing could prepare visitors for seeing the areas up close. A busload of tourists from the Tokyo area got the chance to visit disaster-ridden Minami-Sanriku, Miyagi Prefecture, on May 29, joining an event to promote the town's rejuvenation. Organized by Kinki Nippon Tourist Co., the tour left Tokyo Station the previous night. Upon arrival in the area, the visitors shopped at a market in the quake-hit town to pick up local specialty foods and items from elsewhere around Japan.

UPDATE 01/06 - 20:02 UTC : After the earthquake and subsequent tsunami struck Japan in March, it wasn't just humans affected by the natural disasters. Tens of thousands of livestock, wildlife and household pets were left behind in the rush to get out of the devastated areas. Now, amongst all the misery, there are people trying to save those vulnerable animals. $$$

UPDATE 01/06 - 20:00 UTC : Sendai airport, now under reconstruction from March’s earthquake and tsunami, is due to resume hosting of international flights in late June.

UPDATE 31/05 - 18:00 UTC : Japan underestimated the risk of tsunamis and needs to closely monitor public and workers' health after the crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, a team of international safety inspectors said in a preliminary review of the world's worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl. $$$
Earthquake-Report.com comment : It took a couple of months to come out with some shortcomings which were clear to every specialist from the very beginning. We could have expected tsunami walls that would be able to sustain the historical tsunamis for ie 100 years. The paper wall they had installed was blown away by the force of the water. What annoyes earthquake-report.com is that all the attention is focused on the Nuclear plants, everyone seems to forget that more than 20,0000 people also lost their lives in this tragedy. A lot of these lives could have been saved if local authorities had paid attention to the same historic tsunamis.

UPDATE 30/05 - 20:00 UTC : Japan's recent magnitude 9.0 earthquake, which triggered a devastating tsunami, relieved stress along part of the quake fault but also has contributed to the build up of stress in other areas, putting some of the country at risk for up to years of sizeable aftershocks and perhaps new main shocks, scientists say.

UPDATE 29/05 - 20:46 UTC : Members of the antiwhaling group Sea Shepherd Conservation Society recently returned to the town of Otsuchi in Iwate Prefecture, angering some local people after they had received help during the massive March 11 earthquake and tsunami. According to local fishermen and Sea Shepherd’s website, several members of the group visited Otsuchi from late February to videotape and take pictures of fishermen and boats related to dolphin hunting.

UPDATE 29/05 - 20:44 UTC : VOGUE JAPAN and GQ JAPAN will support the activities of the "SAVE JAPAN! PROJECT" as its media partner on a long-term basis in sympathy with the objectives of the project. Organizers of the project opened a portal site immediately after the Great East Japan Earthquake to transmit region-by-region disaster information via Twitter and Facebook, providing useful information for disaster-stricken.
http://savejapanproject.com

UPDATE 28/05 - 19:04 UTC : Two weeks after announcing the meltdown of fuel inside Fukushima's No. 1 reactor, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) has said there have very likely been partial meltdowns at the other two reactors that were operating when the crisis began on March 11 as well. A spokesman for TEPCO, Japan's largest power company that has come under fire for its management of the crippled plant, said fuel rods at reactor No. 3 started melting March 13, two days after the 9.0 earthquake and ensuing tsunami struck the plant. Fuel rods at No. 2 probably started melting a day later, on March 14. $$$

UPDATE 28/05 - 19:02 UTC : Tourism ministers from Japan, China and South Korea agreed Sunday to jointly work out crisis management guidelines to address critical events that negatively affect tourism, such as natural disasters, terrorism and outbreaks of infectious diseases.

UPDATE 27/05 - 20:02 UTC : Japanese nuclear regulators trusted that the reactors at the Fukushima Dai-ichi complex were safe from the worst waves an earthquake could muster based on a single-page memo from the plant operator nearly a decade ago.

UPDATE 27/05 - 20:00 UTC : Disaster-hit Miyagi Prefecture on Saturday revealed a draft proposal for reconstruction, featuring concentration of agricultural land and realignment of fishing ports.The proposal also includes the transfer of residential zones from coastal areas to higher ground in order to prevent tsunami damage.

UPDATE 26/05 - 20:06 UTC : None of the approximately 80 residents on Nonoshima Island was killed by the tsunami, thanks to a disaster prevention map and an evacuation route created more than half a century ago. They had also prepared for the possibility of disaster by conducting emergency drills over and over. In the scant 30 minutes that elapsed between the quake and the arrival of the massive tsunami, town officials knocked on the doors of every home, urging residents to evacuate. Using a special 2-meter-wide evacuation route that local residents had cleared through a bamboo grove, they fled to a local elementary and junior high school that was built on higher ground. $$$
Earthquake-Report.com remark : We congratulate all the people responsible for this unique example (villagers, administrators, etc)

UPDATE 26/05 - 20:04 UTC : The Meteorological Agency said it issued 73 quake warnings in the two months following the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake — four times the amount issued since the system debuted in October 2007 — but 64 percent of them were false alarms triggered by aftershocks. The agency sends warnings when it detects P-waves traveling faster than the S-waves that humans can sense as tremors.

UPDATE 26/05 - 20:02 UTC : Japan is considering a plan that would make it compulsory for all new buildings and houses to come fitted with solar panels by 2030, a business daily said Sunday. The plan, expected to be unveiled at the upcoming G-8 Summit in France, aims to show Japan's resolve to encourage technological innovation and promote the wider use of renewable energy, the Nikkei daily said.

UPDATE 26/05 - 20:00 UTC : The recent earthquake in Japan has increased the likelihood of seismic disruptions elsewhere in the country as stress is displaced along the fault which triggered the shock and accompanying tsunami say researchers. But, far from Japan's largest ever quake signalling a period of peace for the nation, scientists from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), Kyoto University and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) say the release of pressure on one part of the fault may cause problems elsewhere.

UPDATE 25/05 - 19:38 UTC : Insurance payments to victims of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami will amount to around 2.6 trillion yen, probably making it the biggest insurance payout resulting from a natural disaster in Japan, a Kyodo News tally showed Saturday.

UPDATE 25/05 - 19:36 UTC : The International Gymnastics Federation's Executive Committee decided Friday not to step in and move the worlds, the main qualifier for the 2012 Olympics in London. Instead, the final decision will come this weekend from the FIG Council, which originally awarded these world championships to Tokyo four years ago.

UPDATE 25/05 - 19:34 UTC : Harvesting of seaweed resumed in Miyako, Iwate Prefecture, on Saturday morning for the first time since the coastal city was damaged by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. $$$

UPDATE 25/05 - 19:32 UTC : Visiting Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao expressed gratitude Saturday for the action of a man in Miyagi Prefecture who lost his life after helping 20 Chinese trainees to escape a tsunami triggered by the March 11 earthquake.

UPDATE 25/05 - 19:30 UTC : Japanese students of the Russian language and culture have brought a thousand paper cranes to the Russian consular office in Osaka.
They said they did this in recognition of Russian efforts to help their country deal with the aftermath of the earthquake and the tsunami on March 11. In the days after the quake, there were candles, flowers and paper cranes outside the Japanese Embassy in Moscow. A gift of a thousand paper cranes is a traditional Japanese gesture to express good will and extend best wishes.

UPDATE 24/05 - 15:22 UTC : The Japanese government yesterday thanked China Airlines (CAL), Taiwan's leading carrier, for its relief efforts and endeavors in promoting tourism to Japan in the aftermath of the March 11 earthquake

UPDATE 24/05 - 15:20 UTC : Local governments in tsunami-prone areas across Japan have been swamped by thousands of public inquiries related to earthquake safety since the March 11 mega-quake and tsunami disaster. Nine prefectures expected to suffer serious tsunami damage in the event of strong quakes triggered by ocean trenches from Hokkaido in the north to Miyazaki in the southwest are now faced with easing public concern by reviewing their disaster prevention measures, such as escape routes and location of evacuation shelters.

UPDATE 24/05 - 15:18 UTC : The Japanese branch of a U.S.-based nonprofit organization Ashoka: Innovators for the Public, which supports "social entrepreneurs" worldwide, is looking for youths with positive ideas to help Japan recover from the devastation of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. Ideas can be anything ranging from bringing change to the tsunami-ravaged areas of the Tohoku region, and creating a new infrastructure for the post-quake Japanese society to proposals related to nuclear energy or energy in general, Ashoka Japan says.

UPDATE 24/05 - 15:16 UTC : Japanese business leaders launched a campaign Thursday to woo tourists back to Japan after the devastating earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster that sent foreigners fleeing the country. "I would like to say: Japan is safe," said Atsutoshi Nishida, the chairman of Toshiba, told a high-powered gathering of travel and tourism executives and officials from around the world.

UPDATE 24/05 - 15:14 UTC : Nissan Motor Co. is expected to restore its global output in June to the level it planned before the March 11 earthquake and tsunami given the good prospects for procuring components, industry sources said Friday.

UPDATE 24/05 - 15:12 UTC : More than a hundred young nursing mothers living in Fukushima and nearby areas have signed up to get themselves checked for radiation contamination, but they would rather do it on their own, with no help from the Japanese government. A laboratory the women have selected will conduct the radiation checks, said nurse Saeko Uno, who recently joined the group Mothers Monitoring Breast Milk Radiation Contamination. "This is because we do not trust the government to release the correct figures," she added. $$$

UPDATE 24/05 - 15:10 UTC : In August 2011 the Russian resort city of Anapa will accept 270 children from Japan who will have a holiday and go through a rehabilitation program. All of the children will stay at the children's recreation center called SMENA or "Change." The center has considerable experience in pediatric rehabilitation.

UPDATE 23/05 - 08:10 UTC : With dozens of villages and towns devastated by Japan's tsunami, there is now growing debate about whether to rebuild the flattened communities or move them to higher ground. One town, regarded as a model community in preparing for such killer waves, now lies in ruins. $$$
Earthquake-Report.com comment : Rebuilding should only be allowed when a Tsunami shelter can be reached by walking within 15 minutes. Some of the valleys are simply to wide to allow a quick evacuation. Simply studying the videos from this event would result in what to do to avoid the same in the future.
At the same time "lessons learned" should conclude in making fast improvements of other potential tsunami harbors in other parts of the Japanese coastline.

UPDATE 23/05 - 08:08 UTC : Maldivian Red Crescent (MRC) has handed over the funds collected to help the victims of the devastating earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan in March. MRC handed over US$33,296 received as donations to the fund box kept from March 16 to May 11 to the Red Cross Society of Japan.

UPDATE 23/05 - 08:06 UTC : Kyushu Electric Power Co warned of power shortages this summer for its service area where several car and chip-making assembly lines are located

UPDATE 23/05 - 08:04 UTC : Cannes (Movie festival)
Several noted film directors around the world, including Spain's Victor Erice and China's Jia Zhangke, will produce short video messages for those affected by the devastating March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan. The filmmakers will each create a 3-minutes-11-seconds video under the theme of ''A Sense of Home'' at the initiative of Japanese director Naomi Kawase. $$$
http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/2011/05/91929.html

UPDATE 23/05 - 08:02 UTC : Prime Minister Naoto Kan assured that municipalities affected by the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant will be compensated amid growing concerns the plant operator will find it hard to shoulder massive damages.

UPDATE 23/05 - 08:00 UTC : The 8.9-magnitude earthquake which triggered a massive tsunami and devastated coastal region of Japan was so powerful that it shifted the ocean floor sideways by 79 feet, scientists have claimed.
The immense amount of seismic stress that remain there following the March 11 earthquake has also put the region at risk of further powerful earthquakes, the researchers warned.

UPDATE 20/05 - 10:25 UTC :
FDMA + prefecture reports:- currently at 14,951 dead and 8,874 missing = 23,825 dead or missing.
NPA:- currently at 15,149 and 8,881 missing = 24,030 dead or missing.

105,000 buildings destroyed with 4 municipalities still to count for destroyed buildings.
45,000 buildings partially destroyed with 10 municipalities still to count for partially destroyed buildings.
280,000 buildings damaged with 20 municipalities still to count for damaged buildings.

10,000 additional buildings tsunami inundated (yet to be defined).
27,500 Non-dwelling houses damaged with many cities/towns still to count.

Currently between 109000 (NPA) and 163000 (FDMA) people in shelter.

UPDATE 20/05 - 10:20 UTC : Salt may be removed from tsunami-hit rice fields by 2014. Stretching from Tohoku to Kanto, about 20,000 hectares of rice fields inundated by the tsunami following the Great East Japan Earthquake were left untillable due to saline contamination. To clean up the mess, the Cabinet on April 26 gave the nod to drafting a supplementary bill to cover 90 percent of the costs.

UPDATE 20/05 - 10:18 UTC : The Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) and Thai Travel Agents Association (TTAA) will work together for the first time to help restore two-way tourism after the number of visitors to both countries dropped after the double-punch tragedy in Japan

UPDATE 20/05 - 10:16 UTC : Two months after the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, the task of clearing up the wreckage has barely begun. Towns along the coast have been left clogged with vast amounts of debris and local authorities are struggling to find places to put it. $$$

UPDATE 20/05 - 10:14 UTC : Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) released Thursday handout tsunami waters photos taken from near its number 5 reactor at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant on March 11, when a 8.9 magnitude earthquake struck Japan that triggered the tsunami. $$$

UPDATE 20/05 - 10:12 UTC : U.S. researchers say newly developed models of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan reveal some surprising information about the disaster. One of the unexpected findings of the data analysis was the spatial compactness of the event, Simons said, noting the length of the fault that experienced significant slip during the earthquake was about 150 miles, about half of what would be expected for an event of this magnitude. Also, the area where the fault slipped the most -- 30 yards or more -- happened within a segment just 30 to 60 miles long. $$$

UPDATE 19/05 - 16:48 UTC : Justin Bieber visits Japan Earthquake Victims: Justin Bieber paid a visit to youngsters in Japan affected by the country’s devastating earthquake and tsunami earlier this year. During a visit to Tokyo, Bieber told the students “things can get better and things will get better. There’s good times to come. My prayers go out to all of your families and everybody that’s been through this.” The singer posed for pictures with the school aged children and invited the group and teachers to his “My World” concert. $$$

UPDATE 19/05 - 16:46 UTC : The Argentine soccer association says Japan has pulled out of July's Copa America for the second time due to problems forming a team following March's earthquake and tsunami.

UPDATE 19/05 - 16:44 UTC : Self-defence forces win support and respect along coast ravaged by March's earthquake and tsunami Inside the walls of the Zen Buddhist Kazo-ji temple in the port of Otomo, in Iwate prefecture , six khaki army tents are pitched beside a stone garden.

UPDATE 19/05 - 16:42 UTC : An American teacher of English at a middle school in Miyagi Prefecture has set up funds to solicit donations for rebuilding primary schools that were damaged by the tsunami following the massive earthquake in March.

UPDATE 19/05 - 16:40 UTC : Nearly 3,000 evacuees living in shelters in three of the northeastern Japan prefectures worst affected by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami have been taken to hospital by ambulance, according to a Kyodo News survey released Tuesday. At least 2,816 evacuees suffering from stress and poor hygienic conditions were rushed to hospitals from shelters in coastal parts of the Pacific prefectures Iwate, Fukushima and Miyagi, the survey of 15 local fire departments showed.

UPDATE 19/05 - 16:38 UTC : The Kan Cabinet submitted to the Diet the basic reconstruction bill that stipulates the guiding philosophy and the framework of undertaking the country's reconstruction efforts in the aftermath of the Great East Japan Earthquake. It has been two months since the huge quake and tsunami. Compared with the response after the Great Hanshin Earthquake in 1995, the submission of the basic bill is one month late. As a result, the creation of a recovery framework will also lag. The political response is sluggish and frustrating. $$$

UPDATE 19/05 - 16:36 UTC : Northeast Japan may be far more seismologically dangerous than previously thought, according to scientists investigating the Great East Japan Earthquake. The huge scale of the March 11 temblor appears to challenge existing models of the region's geology, according to the scientists. They are now investigating whether a previously unknown cause of giant earthquakes may have been triggering massive events in the region at intervals of between several hundred and 1,000 years. $$$

UPDATE 18/05 - 07:36 UTC : Japan has confirmed the deaths of 24 foreigners in the massive March 11 earthquake and tsunami that hit eastern and northeastern Japan, while several dozen others remain missing, a senior Foreign Ministry official said Monday.

UPDATE 18/05 - 07:34 UTC : A total of 169 public schools in Fukushima, Iwate and Miyagi prefectures have been forced to temporarily relocate or close due to damage in the aftermath of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

UPDATE 18/05 - 07:32 UTC : Apple customers with Macs, displays, and iOS devices that were directly damaged in the Japan earthquake and tsunami may be eligible for free repairs. The offer, posted on the company's Japanese website, excludes iPod classic, nano, and shuffle, and only applies to customers living in areas covered by the Ministry of Health's Disaster Relief Act.

UPDATE 18/05 - 07:30 UTC : Japan's ambassador to the EU has called for "stringent" restrictions on food imports from the earthquake-stricken country to be lifted "as soon as possible"

UPDATE 17/05 - 13:50 UTC : The mood of consumers in Japan deteriorated further in April, a survey has found, as the fallout from the devastating earthquake and tsunami continued to weigh on sentiment. The consumer confidence index fell to 33.1, down from 38.6 in March, according to the Cabinet Office.

UPDATE 17/05 - 13:46 UTC : Prime Minister Kan suggested Monday that the second extra budget for fiscal 2011 to secure additional funds for reconstruction of areas ravaged by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami will not be ready by at least August.

UPDATE 17/05 - 13:44 UTC : Japanese core machinery orders in March were unexpectedly up 2.9% from February even as the earthquake and tsunami disrupted supply chains nationwide

UPDATE 17/05 - 13:42 UTC : Japan is expected to get back on the tourist map of Chinese visitors after a temporary plunge caused by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami and the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi plant. The Consulate-General of Japan in Shanghai accepted visa applications from a group of tourists from Zhejiang province last Friday who want to visit Tokyo.

UPDATE 17/05 - 13:40 UTC : It wasn't only the massive tsunami that stripped the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power plant of its essential cooling capability on 11 March: the magnitude-9.0 megaquake had almost immediately caused a failure of the number 1 reactor's primary emergency backup cooling system, which uses the steam generated by the reactor to push coolant around it.

UPDATE 17/05 - 08:40 UTC : List of the deceased persons (confirmed and missing people) in Natori (Japanese). Click here to read the PDF

UPDATE 17/05 - 07:14 UTC : During the Golden Week holidays from April 28 to May 8, a total of some 78,000 volunteers worked in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures, which were devastated by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, according to "disaster volunteer centers" set up by local governments in the prefectures. On and after May 9, however, that number dropped sharply

UPDATE 17/05 - 07:12 UTC : Naomi Campbell's charity is piggybacking on the high-wattage Cannes Film Festival to organize a fashion show in aid of the Japanese Red Cross' earthquake and tsunami relief fund.

UPDATE 17/05 - 07:10 UTC : JAPAN has started the first evacuations of homes outside a government exclusion zone after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami crippled one of the country's nuclear power plants. About 4000 residents of Iidate-mura village and 1100 people in Kawamata-cho town, in the quake-hit northeast, began the phased relocations to public housing, hotels and other facilities in nearby cities. $$$
http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/world/japan-widens-evacuation-zone-around-fukushima-nuclear-plant/story-e6frfkui-1226056379940

UPDATE 17/05 - 07:08 UTC : Two months after the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, the task of clearing up the wreckage has barely begun. Towns along the coast have been left clogged with vast amounts of debris and local authorities are struggling to find places to put it.

UPDATE 17/05 - 07:06 UTC : Only two of the families who have taken charge of the over 100 children orphaned by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami have applied for government benefits under the kinship foster care program, welfare ministry officials said Saturday.

UPDATE 16/05 - 05:34 UTC : The death toll has dropped by over 600 in the last 3 days, as expected. We hope for a further decrease as the missing continue to be found. The death toll from FDMA has dropped to 23,955 (14,870 dead, 9,085 missing), and from NPA to 24,178 (15,057 dead, 9,121 missing).

UPDATE 15/05 - 23:30 UTC : Prius Seekers May Have to Wait a Year. Prius because of battery shortages brought on from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan that has forced the automaker to delay production, according to the Associated Press.

UPDATE 15/05 - 23:28 UTC : At long last, Japan received a bit of bright news May 7, when it was announced that two sites in Japan, the historic Hiraizumi area in Iwate Prefecture and the Ogasawara Islands some 1,000 km south of Tokyo, were almost certain to be designated as World Heritage Sites at meetings next month of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee in Paris. $$$
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/ed20110515a1.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm;_medium=feed&utm;_campaign=Feed:%20japantimes%20%28The%20Japan%20Times:%20All%20Stories%29

UPDATE 15/05 - 23:26 UTC : Japan has slammed Russian attempts to take this year’s world gymnastics championships away from Tokyo over health fears, insisting the city posed no radiation risks to athletes. A senior Japan Gymnastics Association (JGA) official told Reuters on Saturday that Tokyo was “completely safe,” despite the current nuclear crisis north of the Japanese capital.

UPDATE 15/05 - 23:24 UTC : The Kuwaiti Embassy in Tokyo achieved on Saturday a great success in a charity bazaar aimed at raising funds for the March 11 disaster victims in Japan, with a large number of visitors attending the one-day event.

UPDATE 15/05 - 23:22 UTC : Village unscathed by tsunami - thanks to mayor's 'crazy idea'. When the mayor of the Japanese coastal village of Fudai ordered a 51ft-high wall built in the 1970s to protect his people from the potential ravages of a tsunami, he was called crazy, foolish and wasteful.But after Fudai survived the monster wave that followed the 11 March earthquake unscathed, he is now regarded as a saviour.

UPDATE 15/05 - 23:20 UTC : Japan needs to attract a large number of foreigners to help revive the farming and fishery industries in areas devastated by the March 11 earthquake.

UPDATE 15/05 - 23:18 UTC : Public interest in earthquake insurance has soared since the Great East Japan Earthquake. Many people's houses were swept away by tsunami triggered by the massive earthquake. Earthquake insurance payments will be a vital means for victims of this disaster to rebuild their lives. As of Thursday, insurance payouts for the March 11 earthquake and tsunami had reached 670 billion yen. We hope non-life insurance companies will steady Public interest in earthquake insurance has soared since the Great East Japan Earthquake. $$$

UPDATE 14/05 - 16:24 UTC : An ageing Japanese nuclear plant is being shut down in a bid to prevent calamity from a predicted earthquake. The Chubu Electric Power Company has started to close reactors at its Hamaoka nuclear plant, which is located in the Tokai region southwest of Tokyo. $$$

UPDATE 14/05 - 16:22 UTC : The Japanese government will provide tens of billions of dollars to the operator of the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant to help the company pay compensation to victims of the nuclear crisis. $$$

UPDATE 14/05 - 16:20 UTC : Sentiment in Japan's service sector improved in April following a two-year low logged the previous month, the Cabinet Office said Thursday in its monthly "Economy Watchers" survey. The current conditions index rose to 28.3 in April from a two-year low of 27.7 in March and the Cabinet Office said the moderate gain was due to consumer sentiment picking up after a period of restraint shown after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

UPDATE 14/05 - 16:18 UTC : In a development that is likely to delay efforts to bring the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station under control, the plant’s operator said Thursday that one reactor, No. 1, had sustained much more damage than originally thought and was leaking water.

UPDATE 14/05 - 16:16 UTC : A senior official of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on Thursday voiced willingness to promote exchanges and cooperation with Japan across all fields.

UPDATE 12/05 - 22:16 UTC : Nuclear radiation is not the only invisible enemy threatening Japan's disaster-hit Fukushima -- its people say they also face discrimination and the stigma of being "Japan's Chernobyl". While radioactive material has spewed from the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant over nearby homes since the devastating March 11 earthquake and tsunami, locals say the psychological fallout extends much further. $$$

UPDATE 12/05 - 22:14 UTC : Groups of Japanese women living in New York and London are putting efforts into charity projects for victims of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami

UPDATE 12/05 - 22:12 UTC : Japan's trade surplus fell by 34.3% in March compared with the same month a year ago, after the country's massive quake and tsunami devastated exports.

UPDATE 12/05 - 22:10 UTC : Toyota's quarterly profit crumpled more than 75 percent after the March earthquake and tsunami wiped out parts suppliers in northeastern Japan, severely disrupting car production

UPDATE 12/05 - 22:08 UTC : The operator of Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear plant says nuclear fuel rods inside one of the reactors have most likely melted after being fully exposed. Tonnes of water are being pumped into the No. 1 reactor every hour to try to keep the rods cool. $$$

UPDATE 12/05 - 22:06 UTC : Japan will start culling thousands of cattle and other livestock in the 20-kilometre (12-mile) evacuation zone around its stricken Fukushima nuclear plant, the government said Thursday.

UPDATE 12/05 - 22:04 UTC : Nissan Motor Co produced a stronger than expected 7.2 percent rise in quarterly operating profit despite Japan's biggest earthquake on record and predicted its global output would return to normal by October $$$

UPDATE 12/05 - 22:02 UTC :A Japanese leading seismologist and head of the government's earthquake prediction advisory board said that the science of predicting earthquakes has never been an exact one, as evidenced by the death and destruction caused by Japan's recent disaster but experts say significant advances are being made and improvements already in place may have saved countless lives.

UPDATE 12/05 - 22:00 UTC : More than two months after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, construction of temporary housing for disaster victims and the restoration of lifelines such as electricity, gas, city water and sewerage have become urgent tasks. Close attention also must be paid to employment of disaster survivors. $$$

UPDATE 11/05 - 14:22 UTC : Prime Minister Naoto Kan said that Japan would abandon plans to build more nuclear reactors, saying his country needed to "rethink" his energy policy.

UPDATE 11/05 - 14:22 UTC : Interior Minister Daniel Lipšic has invited children affected by the March earthquake and tsunami in Japan to spend the summer in Slovakia.

UPDATE 10/05 - 16:21 UTC : The head of TEPCO asked the government Tuesday to help it pay the enormous costs expected in compensating victims of the nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant while promising to streamline the company's operations as urged by the government. $$$

UPDATE 10/05 - 16:16 UTC : About 100 evacuees were allowed into the exclusion zone around Japan's troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant Tuesday for a brief visit to gather belonging from their homes.

UPDATE 09/05 - 16:06 UTC : More than 90 percent of non-Japanese studying or working in the country are willing to stay despite the risks and damage caused by the March 11 disasters, an online survey indicated.

UPDATE 09/05 - 16:05 UTC : A blossoming Australian tourist season to Japan collapsed following the earthquake and tsunami, with neither the soaring dollar nor spectacular cherry trees able to lure visitors to the disaster-stricken country. Before Japan's deadly natural disasters and nuclear scare in March, 30,700 Australians had visited Japan, a jump of 6.7 per cent on the same period last year. According to the Japan National Tourism Organisation, March visits collapsed by 46.8 per cent and the April figures will be similarly flat.

UPDATE 09/05 - 16:04 UTC : A shelter that houses Chusonji Konjikido in Hiraizumi, Iwate Prefecture, will likely be named a UNESCO World Heritage site. Iwate Prefecture's cultural Hiraizumi area and Tokyo's Ogasawara islands have won endorsements to be listed as World Heritage sites, sources from the Environment Ministry said May 6. $$$

UPDATE 09/05 - 16:03 UTC : Sendai : Major public universities in four prefectures hard-hit by the March 11 quake and tsunami have incurred more than 90 billion yen in damage to facilities and equipment, including those for advanced research, from the disaster. $$$

UPDATE 09/05 - 16:02 UTC : A chorus group from quake-hit Sendai will perform at a benefit concert later this month in New York's Carnegie Hall. The mixed chorus group Hagi will take part in the Japan-U.S. Chorus Charity Concert for Sendai scheduled for May 20.

UPDATE 09/05 - 16:01 UTC : A volunteer's journal of hope for Tohoku. Many willing hands in organized groups are aiding in the massive post-March 11 clean-up. $$$

UPDATE 09/05 - 16:00UTC : Japan's third biggest power operator on Monday agreed to shut down a nuclear plant, until it can be better defended against the type of massive tsunami which in March triggered the worst atomic crisis in 25 years. Chubu Electric Power Co said it would agree to a request by Prime Minister Naoto Kan to close its Hamaoka plant, about 200 km southwest of Tokyo. $$$

UPDATE 08/05 - 16:39 UTC : New NPA casualty update : Fatalities : 14,817 14,898 - Missing : 10,171 9,922 = Total :24,820

UPDATE 06/05 - 23:35 UTC : UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Yuna Kim says she will donate her silver prize money of $27,000 from the World Figure Skating Championships to children affected by the Japanese earthquake. “I was heartbroken at the news that still many children in Japan are suffering from the devastating earthquake. So I decided to donate my '2011 World Figure Skating Championships' prize money to UNICEF to support these children,” Ms. Kim said.

UPDATE 06/05 - 23:26 UTC : International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC) announced its support today for efforts by Christian churches in Japan to provide housing for as many as 1,000 families in the Japanese prefectures hardest hit by the tsunami – Miyagi, Fukushima and Iwate.

UPDATE 05/05 - 21:41 UTC : Fortunately, the total reduced below 25,000 today (24,988), given the large drop in missing in the last week. Again, we are predicting somewhere between 21,000 and 23,000 as the final death toll. More updates to come including another update to the CATDAT Situation Reports.

UPDATE 05/05 - 07:26 UTC : We are still waiting on the NPA update for their total dead and missing, but we are hoping that the total will reduce below 25,000 today, given the large drop in missing yesterday. Again, we are predicting somewhere between 21,000 and 23,000 as the final death toll.

UPDATE 04/05 - 22:26 UTC : A rare, and highly prized Stradivarius violin is to go to auction in June to raise money for the relief effort in earthquake and tsunami devastated Japan.

UPDATE 04/05 - 17:08 UTC : Police in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures will collect DNA samples from the belongings of people still listed as missing and from their relatives, national broadcaster NHK said.

UPDATE 04/05 - 12:38 UTC : A Hit-Album featuring Lady Gaga, Bob Dylan, Madonna, Justin Bieber, John Lennon and Elton John to name a few of the performers of the 38 tracks, raised more than 5 million $. More than 500,000 albums have been sold so far.

UPDATE 04/05 - 12:38 UTC : Japanese electronics company, Panasonic, send products not normally on sale, like solar-powered LED lanterns, to help in the relief effort. Japan's big companies like Toyota, Sony, Toshiba have made big donations and some have sent their products to the NorthEast.

UPDATE 04/05 - 10:53 UTC : The Japanese economy will be suffering a setback until June following a disastrous earthquake and tsunami in March this year, but will start actively recovering in the second half of the year said the President of the Asian Development Bank

UPDATE 04/05 - 10:51 UTC : Honda Motor said Wednesday that the production halt at its Chinese plants was unrelated to the March earthquake that hampered its supply chains.

UPDATE 04/05 - 10:45 UTC : With entire towns reduced to wreckage by the March earthquake, the Association of Polish Architects (SARP) has taken the initiative in raising funds for the embattled country.

UPDATE 04/05 - 05:55 UTC : Japanese people living in Taiwan have paid advertisements in 2 Taiwanese newspapers to thank the Taiwan people for their support and donations.

UPDATE 04/05 - 05:53 UTC : An important delegation of the Japanese government is visiting Miyagi prefecture and will have talks with local officials to find out the needs for reconstruction

UPDATE 03/05 - 22:46 UTC : New NPA casualty update : Fatalities : 14,728 14,755 - Missing : 10,808 10,706 = Total : 25,536 25,461

UPDATE 03/05 - 22:42 UTC : People in the North Eastern area of Japan have less and less powerful aftershocks. Maximum intensity was 4 (on a scale from 0 to 7) since April 27. It looks like the constant shaking comes to an end.

UPDATE 03/05 - 22:32 UTC : TEPCO is developing a device to remove radioactive substances from seawater. It hopes to install it in the Pacific Ocean near the Fukushima nuclear plant by the end of May.

UPDATE 03/05 - 09:29 UTC : Approx. 10,000 people have lost their jobs due to the earthquake. 80% can have a job back, but most of the offerings are far away from the original working locations . The mismatch is causing problems, as the people do not want to leave their family members in the present conditions.

UPDATE 03/05 - 09:22 UTC : Twelve Habitat for Humanity volunteers from universities across Japan are travelling to Ofunato, in Iwate Prefecture, to assist families affected by the March 11 earthquake. The trip is part of Habitat’s response operation in Japan.

UPDATE 03/05 - 09:20 UTC : The Ministry of Culture of Thailand has presented a two million baht donation in cash received from charity concert ‘Magokoro 2011,’ organized on 4 April 2011 in Bangkok to assist Japan

UPDATE 03/05 - 09:17 UTC : Japan's parliament passed a $50 billion emergency budget for disaster relief and reconstruction. It will be the country's biggest public works effort in six decades. The total cost of damage is estimated at $300 billion.

UPDATE 02/05 - 13:40 UTC : New NPA casualty update : Fatalities : 14,575 14,728 - Missing : 11,324 10,808 = Total : 25,899 25,536

UPDATE 02/05 - 11:53 UTC : After modeling the upper and lower counts on dead and missing from previous Japanese earthquakes and tsunamis, as well as worldwide values, we expect that the final death toll should be between 20674 (16390 dead, 4284 missing) and 22592 (15718 and 6874 missing) with a median of 21285 dead (16191 dead and 5094 missing).
The above numbers are "calculated numbers" based on the present data combined with historical data. The above information is being shared with our readers, but we cannot be held responsible if the final numbers will be different. Final NPA numbers will hopefully be as low as our lowest calculated numbers.

UPDATE 02/05 - 10:36 UTC : Car sales in April were down by 47.3% compared to April 2010 (which Earthquake-Report finds very normal).

UPDATE 02/05 - 10:34 UTC : The first supplementary budget for the Tohoku earthquake recovery program was unanimously approved by the House of Councilors during a plenary session.

UPDATE 02/05 - 10:31 UTC : The European Commission Humanitarian Aid department has published an overview document emphasizing the efforts of every individual country which took part in relief actions for JapaN;

UPDATE 02/05 - 10:23 UTC : A lot of volunteers (thousands) from all over Japan will use their free time during the Golden Week to assist relief groups who are active in the tsunami hit areas.

UPDATE 02/05 - 10:21 UTC : A small group of individual stockholders will submit a motion to the board to close all the company's nuclear power plants.

UPDATE 02/05 - 10:16 UTC : TEPCO, the operator of the Fukushima nuclear power plant presently uses nearly 1,000 own and contracted employees. As TEPCO want to work faster it will add another 1,000 employees to the workforce. TEPCO has a pool of approx. 3,000 people who are qualified to work in the power plant.

UPDATE 29/04 - 12:34 UTC :
- A massive update for CatDat Situation Report 26.
- We have split losses into many different types like Coastal and Non-Coastal municipalities. Of course there will be earthquake related damage in the coastal municipalities (where most of the extent is, but you can start to see the main damage.)
- At the moment, NPA has 14,616 killed and 11,111 missing. (25,727 killed or missing)
FDMA and additional prefecture values have 14,348 killed and 11, 359 missing. (25,707 killed or missing).
- Of the 25,700 total victims, we will need to wait for further separation of losses from the coastal municipalities. At the moment, 92.2% of the fatalities can be attributed directly to drowning, with 7.1% either due to crushing due to tsunami force, housing collapse, landslides or other causes.
148 people have been burnt to death, either by fire or other burn related causes.
- In non-coastal municipalities, around 133 people are presumed to have died or are missing from this earthquake.
- In addition with more still to count, over 78,000 houses have been destroyed and over 300000 other buildings damaged.
- For Sendai, the following data has been found from the prefecture:
The total damage cost (direct loss) is around 8 billion USD (640 billion yen) for just the 5 municipalities of Sendai.
For the damage cost to the Municipal institutions involved: approximately 350 billion yen (4.29 billion USD) of which:
Water, gas, sewerage and related (Lifelines) - around 185.7 billion yen (2.28 billion USD)
Metro, highway bridges, parks and urban infrastructure - 119.8 billion yen (1.47 billion USD)
Waste treatment facilities, Health Industry - 2.7 billion yen (33 million USD)
Schools, municipal housing, building relationships and building - 38.6 billion yen (473 million USD)
Residential Houses: 23 billion yen (282 million USD)
Agricultural installations: approximately 51 billion yen (625 million USD)
Farmland, farm equipment and about 5 billion yen (61 million USD)
Fishermen about 80 million yen (1 million USD)
Commercial and industrial facilities: approximately 210 billion yen (estimated from the disaster situation, such as product inventory and fixed assets) - (2.575 billion USD)

This provides a good break down of the types of losses incurred to this major city in Miyagi prefecture.

UPDATE 28/04 - 16:19 UTC : OCHA Regional Center for Asia-Pacific has released a map which gives an overview of which relief organization was helping where on April 14. The map gives a good idea of the many relief organizations busy since March 11 to help the unfortunate victims of the earthquake. Click here to go to the map.

UPDATE 28/04 - 16:14 UTC : AAR JAPAN (Association for Aid and Relief Japan) is preparing soup kitchens, providing medical support, operating regular bus services, and assisting in institutional recovery. The supplies will be distributed to 45,000 People in 330 Locations.

UPDATE 28/04 - 16:08 UTC : Representatives of the Embassy of the State of Kuwait will visit the Kesennuma City Hall, Minami-Kesennuma Elementary School, Kesennuma Junior High School and Kesennuma Gymnastic Hall (K-Wave) in Miyagi Prefecture to donate 240 footballs, writing materials and other relief goods.

UPDATE 28/04 - 15:20 UTC : The Japanese government has warned the people living in coastal areas to be at Alert for high tides and typhoons, as the land below sea level has been five-folded since the earthquake from March 11.

UPDATE 28/04 - 14:54 UTC : Good news out of the Fukushima Nuclear plant. The radioactivity of the seawater at the nuclear plant has been decreased by 50% compared to April 27. The decline is the first one in 3 days. It is unsure whether the decrease had a relation with the bad weather in the area.

UPDATE 28/04 - 13:51 UTC : Warner Entertainment Studios in Ishinomaki Japan is offering 500 free tickets daily from April 28 to May 3 to the various shelters in the area.

UPDATE 28/04 - 13:44 UTC : Missing and killed people statistics, now diving under 26,000 :
Missing : 11,324
Killed : 14,575

This is part 15 of our ongoing reporting with many updates about the massive 9.0 earthquake / tsunami which struck Japan on March 11 2011.
Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7 - Part 8 - Part 9 - Part 10 - Part 11 - Part 12 - Part 13 - Part 14 - Part 15 - Part 16

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