Saturday, March 12, 2011

The Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan

A powerful earthquake with magnitude of 8.9 on Richter Scale struck the north eastern coast of Japan on Friday unleashing Tsunami with more than 7 meters high waves that swept away boats, cars and homes while widespread fires burned out of control.

According to The Jakarta Globe, the earthquake was followed by more than 50 aftershocks for hours, many of them of more than magnitude 6.0. Dozens of cities and villages along a 2,100-kilometer stretch of coastline were shaken by violent tremors that reached Tokyo, located hundreds of kilometers from the epicenter.

BBC quoted local officials as saying that more than 1,000 people are thought to have died.and many others missing. Hundreds of bodies were found in the northeastern coastal city of Sendai. The death toll was likely to continue climbing given the scale of the disaster.

Electricity and Communications have been badly affected by the earthquake and tsunami until noon today.

This afternoon, a magnitude 6 earthquake has caused a large explosion at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in north-eastern Japan, close to the epicentre of Friday's earthquake. Officials fear a meltdown at one of the plant's reactors. Tens of thousands of people in the surrounding area have been urged to evacuate

Noriyuki Shikata, deputy cabinet secretary for the Japanese prime minister tweets: " Blast was caused by accumulated hydrogen combined with oxygen in the space between container and outer structure. No damage to container."
 
Officials of the Indonesian Embassy in Tokyo told TV-One that there are around 20.000 Indonesian citizens living in Japan at the moment, and in order to know their condition the Embassy in Tokyo and Consulate General in Osaka have opened a hot line phone connection.

The Tsunami has triggered alert in countries located south of Japan like Taiwan, the Philippines and Indonesia, but no casualty was reported. And region in the Province of Papua was affected. While in Bitung, North Sulawesi the height of sea waves increase only 10 Centimeter above normal.

President SBY has expressed sympathy and condolence and offered assistance, while countries Australia and New Zealand have sent their rescue team.

In this connection I would like to express my condolence and deepest sympathy to the families of the victims.

8 comments:

r10 said...

besarnya bencana diluar dugaan, tapi pemerintah Jepang dan warganya sudah sangat siap menghadapi gempa bumi dan tsunami

bisa dilihat dari perbandingan korban jiwa gempa tsunami Jepang dgn gempa tsunami Aceh 2004, padahal TOKYO kota besar dgn jumlah penduduk padat

Unknown said...

R10,

Anda benar bangsa Jepang terkenal sangat disiplin dan taat pada hukum. Mereka sangat sadar bahwa tanah air mereka sangat rawan gempa, kata Tsunami sendiri dari Jepang.

Sedangkan dikita semuanya bisa kompromi, daerah pantai yang harusnya ditanami bakau dan bebas bangunan sering kali dilanggar.
Izin mendirikan bangunan bisa melanggar masterplan kota/daerah.

Unknown said...

menyaksikan pemandangan gempa dan tsunami jepang memang sangat menakutkan..tapi sepertinya masayarakat jepang sudah terbiasa menghadapi bencana.jadi trauma tidak berkepanjangan seperti kasus yang pernah dialami bangsa kita beberapa tahun lalu

Sohra Rusdi said...

Sekaligus peringatan bagaimanapun canggihnya sebuah negara kiha menghadapi musibah tetap tidak akan bisa berbuat banyak

colson said...

Just like X-mas eve '04, this Tsunami and it's aftermath including the huge threat of the damaged nuclear plants, leaves one almost speechless.

Let's trust the Japanese who are well prepared, well equipped and well trained, manage to reign in the catastrophe.

Unknown said...

@Wisata Murah,
Mudah2an akibat gempa dan tsunami di Jepang tidak berkepanjangan.

@SEO Cetek,
Benar, dalam batas tertentu kita tidak akan bisa melawan alam.

@Colson,
The Japanese have been fully aware that they are living on top of 'ring of fire' therefore they have been prepared to handle crisis.

Terrans said...

My thoughts and my deepest prayers are for recovery to all those families who lost their homes and their love ones in this enormous disaster event. Terrans

Unknown said...

Hi Terrans,
Let us hope that the people affected by the earthquake and tsunami will be recovering soon.