Japan earthquake

AFP: M5.7 quake jolts eastern Japan Tuesday morning —

• Almost 200 miles deep
• Expert: The big danger is water suddenly draining from Fukushima Unit 4 pool after quake or dropped cask

ENENews,

18 November, 2013

AFP, Nov. 19, 2013 at 6:55a JST: M5.7 earthquake jolts eastern Japan [...] on Tuesday morning, seismologists reported. No tsunami alert was issued. The quake struck at around 4:10 a.m. off the eastern Honshu coastline [...] The tremor struck far down at a depth of 332 kilometers, the USGS added. [...]

Japan Meteorological Agency, Nov. 19, 2013:

AP, Nov. 18, 2013: The rods have remained in a pool of cooling water 30 meters (100 feet) above the ground [...] making them vulnerable to another major earthquake. [...] A crane may drop a cask on the ground.

Radio Free Europe, Nov. 18, 2013: [Mycle Schneider, an independent nuclear consultant said,] “The big danger is that through a further earthquake or any kind of impact, the water in the pool gets drained beyond a level that can’t be topped up. That would lead to the spent fuel overheating and potentially burning.” [...] [Professor Komei Hosokawa, of Kyoto Seika University] and Schneider said the worst thing that could  happen during the operation would be a cask being dropped onto the wall  of the pool, which would result in a loss of water.

The Guardian, Nov. 18, 2013: [...] experts have warned [...] a sudden loss of coolant water or another earthquake could cause a chain reaction and release huge quantities of radiation into the atmosphere. [...] “After the explosion, one big challenge was to deal with the spent fuel pool because if the water evaporated it would cause a  radioactive cloud stretching all the way to Tokyo, which would have to  be evacuated,” Yuichi Okamura, deputy manager of the water treatment department at Fukushima Daiichi, told the Guardian on Monday.

NHK, Nov. 18, 2013: Fukushima resident: What I am most anxious about is — What will happen if the removal operation fails in some  catastrophic way?

Watch NHK’s broadcast here

Developing: Earthquake Hits Japan Amid Fukushima Fuel Rod Removal

The U.S. Geological Survey says earthquake has 5.7 magnitude, with details still unfolding

A strong earthquake has struck Japan’s coast south of the Fukushima nuclear plant currently undergoing a dangerous removal of highly radioactive Unit 4 fuel rods, according to online reports.

The U.S. Geological Survey reports that a 5.7 magnitude earthquake has struck Japan 25 kilometers southeast of Toba, releasing the following tweet:

Strong earthquake, NEAR S. COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN, Nov-18 19:10 UTC, 0 #quake tweets/min, http://t.co/jAAXkTfU5k

MSN reports

The quake struck at around 04:10am local time (0610 AEDT) on Tuesday off the eastern Honshu coastline, 25km from the city of Toba and 37km from the city of Ise, according to the US Geological Survey which monitors earthquakes worldwide.

The tremor struck far down at a depth of 332km, USGS added. There are no initial reports of damage.

http://earthfirstjournal.org/newswire/2013/11/18/developing-earthquake-hits-japan-amid-fukushima-fuel-rod-removal/