Korean peninsula moved 5 cm according to GPS survey by KASI

Posted on March 24, 2011 by Rashid Faridi

The Korean Peninsula has moved a 5 centimetres to the east due to the massive quake that rocked Japan. The Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI) said that based on detailed global positioning system (GPS) data, the peninsula moved between 1 cm to 5 cm depending on the location, with Ulleung Island and nearby Dokdo islets in the East Sea being most affected.

The south-western part of the country and Jeju Island off the peninsula’s southern coast moved far less.

Ulleung and Dokdo are the closest South Korean territories to the epicentre of the 9.0 magnitude tremor that devastated the north-eastern part of Honshu Island .

The epicentre was located 130 kilometres east of Sendai city under the Pacific Ocean.

The institute, said that the Japan moved roughly 2 meters to the east.

Source: The Hindu

Posted in earth, GPS, Japan Tsunami, News, seismic activities | 1 Comment

Good News:Japan sees some stabilization in nuclear crisis

Posted on March 19, 2011 by Rashid Faridi

One of Japan’s six tsunami-crippled nuclear reactors appeared to stabilize on Saturday but the country suffered another blow after discovering traces of radiation in food and water from near the stricken power plant.


Fire trucks sprayed water for nearly half a day on reactor No.3, the government said, cooling overheating nuclear fuel rods considered the most dangerous in the ravaged Fukushima Daiichi complex because of their use of highly toxic plutonium.

“The situation there is stabilizing somewhat,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told a news conference.

But traces of radiation exceeding government limits were found in milk from a farm about 30 km (18 miles) from the plant in Fukushima prefecture and spinach grown in neighboring Ibaraki prefecture.

Tiny levels of radioactive iodine were also found in tap water in Tokyo, one of the world’s largest cities about 240 km (150 miles) south, where many tourists and expatriates have already left and where many residents are staying indoors.

Source

Posted in Alternative Energy, Environment, Japan Tsunami, News | Leave a comment

Siting of Nuclear plants and seismic zones in India

Posted on March 18, 2011 by Rashid Faridi

Dear Readers

Found this article and a very good map here . I am reproducing it. Read it and Think.  I found it very relevent in the wake of recent happenings in Japan.

FoThe massive earthquake in Japan and the subsequent nuclear crisis has triggered fears of nuclear security across the world, including India.

Most of India falls in the moderate risk to very high risk seismic zones and so do a majority of India’s nuclear reactors. While there are no nuclear projects in Zone V (seismic intensity of 8 and above), the proposed Jaitapur Nuclear Power plant falls in Zone IV on the earthquake hazard zoning map. The map  plots India’s nuclear power plants on a seismic map.

 

Source:IBN Live

Posted in Alternative Energy, Countries, India, seismic activities | Leave a comment

NASA’s Aqua Satellite Spots Rare Southern Atlantic Sub-Tropical Storm Arani

Posted on March 16, 2011 by Rashid Faridi

NASA’s Aqua satellite spotted some strong convection in a recently formed low pressure area that strengthened into Sub-Tropical Storm Arani in the South Atlantic. Arani formed near the coast of Brazil and is now moving away from it. Tropical cyclones in the Atlantic are a rare occurrence and since 2004 there have only been three of them, Arani being the third.

On March 14, 2011 at 1553 UTC (11:53 a.m. EST) the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument that flies aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite captured an infrared image of Sub-Tropical Storm Arani moving away from the Brazilian coast. Most of the convection and thunderstorms were limited to the eastern half of the storm at the time of the image. The strong areas of convection (rapidly rising air that condenses and forms the thunderstorms that power a tropical cyclone) appeared on the imagery as a sideways boomerang, and were off-shore, paralleling the coast.

read more at source(NASA)

Posted in Natural Calamities, News | Leave a comment