News in Japan - April

GEJET:

Court finds Miyagi City responsible for tsunami death of student

Haunting Photographs of Residents Returning to Daily Activities in the Fukushima Exclusion Zone

Court dismisses demand to halt Sendai reactors A Japanese high court has dismissed a request by residents to suspend operations of 2 nuclear reactors at the Sendai nuclear plant in southwestern Japan. The Miyazaki branch of the Fukuoka High Court gave its decision on Wednesday.

USA:

5 Dead in Houston as Flash Floods Leave Thousands Stranded and Without Power All five victims were found inside vehicles submerged in high floodwaters. “Houston residents should avoid travel at all costs today.”

Greenspoint Evacuees Grapple With Uncertainty of What Comes Next (USA)

Quake risk in parts of central U.S. as high as in fault-filled California 

Disaster plans often neglect historic preservation (USA) In Florida, for instance, they found that 23% of the sites listed on the National Register of Historic Places are located in a 100-year floodplain. Most communities have not integrated historic preservation into their disaster management plans. Their survey of state hazard mitigation plans found just 40 percent included a representative from historic preservation on the core planning team while 60 percent did not. "Many disaster mitigation plans make no mention of historic resources," Rumbach said. "As more and more communities bank on historic resources to benefit the local economy, this needs to be remedied." Economics aside, he said, many communities draw a sense of identity from these historic sites and can become unmoored when they are damaged or destroyed.

Increased flooding, accelerated sea-level rise in Miami over last decade, new study shows

Netherlands:

Dutch public works department reinforces coastline at Zandvoort (Dutch) 2.4 million cubic meters of sand are being applied to the coast of Zandvoort and Bloemendaal. This previously happened in 2004 and 2008. The sand is deposited 750 meters from the beach at a depth of five meters. Wind, waves and currents then gradually spread the sand towards the beach. The work takes place over a length of 7.5 kilometers along the coastline, without disrupting beach visitors.

Snow in North of Netherlands and Randstad (Dutch) including fierce hail storms, leading to serious traffic accidents.

Earthquake in South Japan - part 3: Landslides

A first analysis of the landslides East of Kumamoto city have become available. The photos are courtesy of Kokusai Kogyo Co., Ltd. (国際航業株), taken on 16 April 2016; the maps are freely available from the Japanese GSI. These maps and photos show the earthquake damage points of concern (平成２８年熊本地震災害で懸念される地震被害箇所), with a focus on river blocking by collapsed hill sides (河岸崩壊による河道閉塞箇所).

Affected area #1 lies between Kumamoto city and Mount Aso (阿蘇), just west of Kawayo (河陽), on Bungo highway (国道57号線).

You can also view the before/after photos in a google earth type environment here, courtesy of the GSI. More pictures, videos and maps here. See also the 3D model of area #1 and this drone video of area #1.

Earthquake in South Japan - part 2

A second heavy earthquake has struck Kyushu island early Saturday morning, leading to more deaths. Below is an analysis of the earthquakes from the first 84 hours following the initial Thursday evening earthquake, along with an overview of the effects, combined with strong wind damages, and the earthquake in Ecuador.

How to help: Kumamoto quake info: where to go, how to help

Bridge collapse shows scale of Japan quake

Shindou	1	2	3	4	5-	5+	6-	6+	7	Total
2≤M<3	0	1	18	0	0	0	0	0	0	19
3≤M<4	0	6	92	26	0	0	0	0	0	124
4≤M<5	0	0	14	41	2	0	0	0	0	57
5≤M<6	0	0	0	2	4	2	2	1	0	11
6≤M<7	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	1	1	4
7≤M<8	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	2
Total	0	7	124	69	6	2	4	4	1	217

For further analysis only earthquakes on Kyushu island were taken into account, and shindou (shaking intensity) 5- and 6- were counted as 5.0 and 6.0 whereas 5+ and 6+ were counted as 5.5 and 6.6 respectively. 

Earthquake in South Japan

9 people are reported dead and over 750 injured after a shindou 7 earrthquake has struck Kyushu island. The list of heavy aftershocks in the 12 hours since the initial earthquake is long. The Public Works Research Institute is conducting a conference, serving as a disaster response headquarters.

Japantoday: The nine dead are three men and four women aged between 54-94 in Mashiki, and a 29-year-old man and 68-year-old woman in the Higashi Ward of Kumamoto City. As of 5 a.m., at least 765 people were being treated for injuries, of which 53 were serious, while about 44,400 people were taking shelter at about 500 sites in the prefecture, according to the prefectural government. The strong quake resulted in collapsed houses and fires in the prefecture, according to local authorities. No abnormalities have been found at the Sendai nuclear power plant in Kagoshima Prefecture or the Genkai nuclear power plant in nearby Saga Prefecture, according to operator Kyushu Electric Power Co and the Nuclear Regulation Authority.

BBC: About 16,000 homes were left without electricity and 38,000 without gas, reports say.