M6.4 Shock Strikes Off Fukushima Coast

Megaquakes could split Honshu island

Strong shock strikes about 126 km  ENE from Iwaki, Japan

FIRE-EARTH believes the recent strong shocks may be foreshocks to one or more “Earth Shattering” Megaquakes striking the region. Up to 4 Megaquakes [M ≥8.0] Could Strike Japan Region by 2015. The earthquakes could potentially split Honshu island.

See earlier earthquake forecasts posted at Japan Earthquakes: FIRE-EARTH Forecasts and Recent History.

The following quake details has just been released by Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA)

Earthquake Information (Information on seismic intensity at each site)
Issued at 19:59 JST 29 Mar 2011

Magnitude: 6.4
Depth:  very shallow
Location: 37.4ºN 142.4ºE
Occurred at 19:54 JST 29 Mar 2011
Region Name:   Fukushima-ken Oki (Offshore Fukushima Prefecture, Honshu, Japan)

Distances (USGS)

• 126 km (78 miles) ENE (72°) from Iwaki, Honshu, Japan
• 152 km (94 miles) SE (127°) from Sendai, Honshu, Japan
• 161 km (100 miles) ESE (102°) from Fukushima, Honshu, Japan
• 296 km (184 miles) NE (48°) from TOKYO, Japan

Earthquake Location Map

10-degree Map Centered at 35°N,140°E

Source: USGS

Related Links

• Global Disaster Forecast – 16 Mar 2011
• TOKYO AREA QUAKE WARNING
  Large Earthquake Could Strike Tokyo Area – Megaqauke measuring up to 9.2Mw could strike Tokyo / Chiba Area:  FIRE-EARTH Forecast

• FIRE-EARTH Forecasts: Japan Earthquakes
  As Many as 4 Large Earthquakes [Megaquakes measuring ≥8.0] Could  Strike Japan Region by 2015

• M6.5 Aftershock Strikes Offshore Miyagi
• Significant Seismicity in Tohoku Region, Japan
• Japan Earthquakes: FIRE-EARTH Forecasts and Recent History

How Nuclear Reactors Double as Nuclear Weapons!

Japan Govt on “Maximum Alert”

The nuclear situation “continues to be unpredictable. [The government ] will tackle the problem while in a state of maximum alert,” Japan PM Naoto Kan said.

Plutonium Detected Outside Fukushima NPP

Traces of highly radiative plutonium have been detected in soil outside Fukushima NPP in half dozen locations, NHK quoted Japanese officials as saying.

The plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), said  the radioactive traces may have come from the plutonium fuel in the damaged reactors. But they said the levels present were too small to pose a health risk.

Plutonium-239, the primary fissile isotope used as reactor fuel and for the production of nuclear weapons, is a reactor bred, highly radioactive heavy metal with a half-life of about 24,200 years.

Photo shows part of the wreckage caused by several explosions at Reactor No. 4, Fukushima Daiichi NPP, March 27, 2011. Source: Japan Ground Self-Defence Force/ via Kyodo/ via Reuters.

TEPCO said Monday that water found in a utility tunnel outside  Reactor 2 was highly contaminated, emitting more than 1,000 millisieverts per hour.

Radioactive Iodine in Massachusetts

Trace amounts of radioactive iodine-131 believed  to have originated from the quake-and-tsunami stricken Fukushima NPP have been detected in rainwater samples in Massachusetts, Reuters quoted state officials as saying.

The findings are consistent with similar occurrences in California, Ohio, Washington state and Pennsylvania, but do not pose  any threat to drinking supplies, according to public health officials.

“The drinking water supply in Massachusetts is unaffected by this short-term, slight elevation in radiation,” said Massachusetts Public Health Commissioner.

“We will carefully monitor the drinking water as we exercise an abundance of caution,” he added.

Radio-active iodine has a short life of only 8 days and should not pose any risk to human health at the current levels detected in the U.S.

Related Links

• Japan Nuclear Emergency – Update 28 March
• Japan’s Nuclear Crisis: Worst of its Triple Disasters
• Japan Earthquakes: FIRE-EARTH Forecasts and Recent History