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3 earthquakes greater than 6.4-magnitude rocked Japan last night as the Japanese Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) began testing for radiation in the sea near the badly damaged Fukushima power plant.
All three large earthquakes hit off Japan's eastern cost between 7:18am and 9:44am GMT (6.18pm and 8.44pm AEDT) in a reminder of the devastating temblor on March 11 that has left more than 22,000 people dead or missing, the Herald Sun reported.
The first and third quakes measured 6.6-magnitude, while the second was recorded as a 6.4-magnitude shock, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS).
The third quake was at a depth of only 15km off the eastern coast of the country, raising fears of further damage to the already devastated region.
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The 9.0-magnitude March 11 quake that the World Bank estimated caused $US235 billion worth of damage hit at a depth of 32km. Overall there were 17 quakes in the 12 hours to 1:00pm GMT (midnight AEDT), according to the USGS.
As emergency repair work continued on the Fukushima nuclear power plant, on Japan's northeastern coast, the JAEA was testing radiation levels in the sea near the crippled reactors.
Fukushima nuclear power plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) was also examining seawater at four locations.
In an initial study, levels of radioactive cesium were reportedly found to be 24.8 times higher than normal, while levels of radioactive iodine were 126.7 times higher.
Testing before the March 11 disaster found no radioactive substances in seawater.
No tsunami warnings or damage from the quakes have been reported.
Yesterday morning, work to restore power at the plant was delayed when smoke and steam again rose from damaged reactors, where workers have been battling to avert a large-scale disaster.
White steam-like vapor was seen rising from the No. 2 reactor and what looked like white hazy smoke was seen coming from the No. 3 reactor, Kyodo News agency reported.
It came less than 24 hours after smoke was seen billowing out of both reactors yesterday afternoon, leading to the temporary evacuation of workers.
The smoke stopped after a couple of hours, allowing workers to return, the plant's operator Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) said.
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said yesterday there were no plans to expand the evacuation zone around the plant from the existing 30km.
The nuclear agency's spokesperson, Hidehiko Nishiyama, said the cause of the smoke was not immediately known.
France's Nuclear Safety Authority warned that radiation from the plant could be a problem that would last "for decades and decades''.
Releases of radioactivity from the plant “are now significant and continuing'', the head of the agency, Andre-Claude Lacoste, told a press conference.
“We have to assume that Japan will have a long-term issue of managing the impacts,'' he said.
“It's a problem that Japan will have to deal with for decades and decades to come.''
Engineers have been working to restore power supply to the troubled plant, after cooling systems were knocked out by the tsunami and earthquake on March 11.
All six reactors were reconnected to the power grid on Monday.
So far electricity supply has been resumed to reactor No. 5 and some parts of reactor No. 2, although not to its cooling systems, according to the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency.
With the cooling systems out of order, fuel rods in the reactors are getting hotter at the aging facility 250km northeast of Tokyo.
Firefighters yesterday resumed water-dousing operations at reactors No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 reactors, Kyodo reported.
Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan said on Monday that "slow but steady progress" had been made.
However, two US Navy ships pulled out of the Japanese base at Yokosuka due to fears over rising radiation, Fox News reported.
Fears about radiation, food, water and acid rain have been simmering throughout Japan despite reassurances by authorities.
So far, residents in some areas have been advised against drinking tap water and the government has banned the export of spinach and milk produced in Fukushima.
However, Australia's food safety body says the risk Australians will eat irradiated foods imported from Japan is close to non-existent.
The risk was "negligible'', Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) said after a review of Japanese food imports potentially affected by the natural disaster and nuclear crisis.
There have been reports of milk, leeks and spinach from the worst-hit Fukushima prefecture showing elevated radioactivity, but FSANZ said these products were not imported to Australia.
"At the present time ... FSANZ considers the risk of Australian consumers being exposed to radionuclides in food imported from Japan to be negligible,'' the authority said on its website.
"Australia does not import fresh produce from Japan, (and) in fact Australia imports very little food from Japan.
"Imports are limited to a small range of specialty products, for example seaweed-based products, sauces, etc.
''(And) any processed Japanese food on supermarket shelves in Australia would have been imported before the earthquake and is therefore safe to eat.''
FSANZ said it would impose "no extra restrictions on Japanese food'' imports on top of normal quarantine processes, and this was "consistent with approaches being adopted by other countries with similar import profiles'' such as Canada and the US.
Meanwhile, TEPCO said the tsunami which struck Japan measured at least 14 metres high, more than double the maximum of what it had expected, Kyodo reported.
The Fukushima plants were designed to withstand earthquakes of magnitudes up to 8.0 and tsunami waves of up to 5.7 metres at the No. 1 plant and 5.2 metres at the No. 2. The March 11 quake had a 9.0 magnitude.
Japan's national police agency said 8450 people had been confirmed dead and 12,931 were officially listed as missing as a result of the disaster - a total of 21,381.
Miyagi prefecture was worst hit, with a confirmed death toll of 5053.
But Miyagi police chief Naoto Takeuchi told a task force meeting yesterday that the prefecture alone "will need to secure facilities to keep the bodies of more than 15,000 people", Jiji Press reported.
The municipal government of Ishinomaki city in Miyagi said on its website: "A final number of missing citizens in the city is expected to reach 10,000."
The second-worst hit prefecture was Iwate with 2650 confirmed deaths, and then Fukushima with 691 lives lost.
About 360,000 people have been displaced from their homes and have taken shelter in evacuation facilities in 15 prefectures.
All three large earthquakes hit off Japan's eastern cost between 7:18am and 9:44am GMT (6.18pm and 8.44pm AEDT) in a reminder of the devastating temblor on March 11 that has left more than 22,000 people dead or missing, the Herald Sun reported.
The first and third quakes measured 6.6-magnitude, while the second was recorded as a 6.4-magnitude shock, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS).
The third quake was at a depth of only 15km off the eastern coast of the country, raising fears of further damage to the already devastated region.
Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar.
.End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar.
The 9.0-magnitude March 11 quake that the World Bank estimated caused $US235 billion worth of damage hit at a depth of 32km. Overall there were 17 quakes in the 12 hours to 1:00pm GMT (midnight AEDT), according to the USGS.
As emergency repair work continued on the Fukushima nuclear power plant, on Japan's northeastern coast, the JAEA was testing radiation levels in the sea near the crippled reactors.
Fukushima nuclear power plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) was also examining seawater at four locations.
In an initial study, levels of radioactive cesium were reportedly found to be 24.8 times higher than normal, while levels of radioactive iodine were 126.7 times higher.
Testing before the March 11 disaster found no radioactive substances in seawater.
No tsunami warnings or damage from the quakes have been reported.
Yesterday morning, work to restore power at the plant was delayed when smoke and steam again rose from damaged reactors, where workers have been battling to avert a large-scale disaster.
White steam-like vapor was seen rising from the No. 2 reactor and what looked like white hazy smoke was seen coming from the No. 3 reactor, Kyodo News agency reported.
It came less than 24 hours after smoke was seen billowing out of both reactors yesterday afternoon, leading to the temporary evacuation of workers.
The smoke stopped after a couple of hours, allowing workers to return, the plant's operator Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) said.
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said yesterday there were no plans to expand the evacuation zone around the plant from the existing 30km.
The nuclear agency's spokesperson, Hidehiko Nishiyama, said the cause of the smoke was not immediately known.
France's Nuclear Safety Authority warned that radiation from the plant could be a problem that would last "for decades and decades''.
Releases of radioactivity from the plant “are now significant and continuing'', the head of the agency, Andre-Claude Lacoste, told a press conference.
“We have to assume that Japan will have a long-term issue of managing the impacts,'' he said.
“It's a problem that Japan will have to deal with for decades and decades to come.''
Engineers have been working to restore power supply to the troubled plant, after cooling systems were knocked out by the tsunami and earthquake on March 11.
All six reactors were reconnected to the power grid on Monday.
So far electricity supply has been resumed to reactor No. 5 and some parts of reactor No. 2, although not to its cooling systems, according to the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency.
With the cooling systems out of order, fuel rods in the reactors are getting hotter at the aging facility 250km northeast of Tokyo.
Firefighters yesterday resumed water-dousing operations at reactors No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 reactors, Kyodo reported.
Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan said on Monday that "slow but steady progress" had been made.
However, two US Navy ships pulled out of the Japanese base at Yokosuka due to fears over rising radiation, Fox News reported.
Fears about radiation, food, water and acid rain have been simmering throughout Japan despite reassurances by authorities.
So far, residents in some areas have been advised against drinking tap water and the government has banned the export of spinach and milk produced in Fukushima.
However, Australia's food safety body says the risk Australians will eat irradiated foods imported from Japan is close to non-existent.
The risk was "negligible'', Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) said after a review of Japanese food imports potentially affected by the natural disaster and nuclear crisis.
There have been reports of milk, leeks and spinach from the worst-hit Fukushima prefecture showing elevated radioactivity, but FSANZ said these products were not imported to Australia.
"At the present time ... FSANZ considers the risk of Australian consumers being exposed to radionuclides in food imported from Japan to be negligible,'' the authority said on its website.
"Australia does not import fresh produce from Japan, (and) in fact Australia imports very little food from Japan.
"Imports are limited to a small range of specialty products, for example seaweed-based products, sauces, etc.
''(And) any processed Japanese food on supermarket shelves in Australia would have been imported before the earthquake and is therefore safe to eat.''
FSANZ said it would impose "no extra restrictions on Japanese food'' imports on top of normal quarantine processes, and this was "consistent with approaches being adopted by other countries with similar import profiles'' such as Canada and the US.
Meanwhile, TEPCO said the tsunami which struck Japan measured at least 14 metres high, more than double the maximum of what it had expected, Kyodo reported.
The Fukushima plants were designed to withstand earthquakes of magnitudes up to 8.0 and tsunami waves of up to 5.7 metres at the No. 1 plant and 5.2 metres at the No. 2. The March 11 quake had a 9.0 magnitude.
Japan's national police agency said 8450 people had been confirmed dead and 12,931 were officially listed as missing as a result of the disaster - a total of 21,381.
Miyagi prefecture was worst hit, with a confirmed death toll of 5053.
But Miyagi police chief Naoto Takeuchi told a task force meeting yesterday that the prefecture alone "will need to secure facilities to keep the bodies of more than 15,000 people", Jiji Press reported.
The municipal government of Ishinomaki city in Miyagi said on its website: "A final number of missing citizens in the city is expected to reach 10,000."
The second-worst hit prefecture was Iwate with 2650 confirmed deaths, and then Fukushima with 691 lives lost.
About 360,000 people have been displaced from their homes and have taken shelter in evacuation facilities in 15 prefectures.
