Disasters

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Disaster in Japan : Instant Guide
Debris floats off the coast of Japan soon after the March earthquake and tsunami: A maritime garbage field larger than Texas is now slowly making its way toward the U.S.

Japan's 'massive' wave of tsunami debris

Millions of tons of wreckage from the March disaster is floating, slowly but surely, toward the U.S. When and where will it hit?

6 Comments
Disaster in Japan : Instant Guide
Ventilation stacks between two Fukushima nuclear reactors: Lethal pockets of radiation, exceeding 10 sieverts per hour, are shown in red.

Fukushima's deadly new radiation leak: The worst yet

Pockets of extremely high radiation levels are now being reported at the damaged nuclear palnt. Will Fukushima ever be safe again?

Disaster in Japan : Fact Sheet
An inspector at the Fukushima nuclear plant: A group of construction workers, truck drivers, and others have been recruited to clean up the plant after its March meltdown.

Fukushima's 'nuclear gypsies'

Thousands of unskilled workers are toiling at Japan's tsunami-ravaged nuclear plant, risking radiation exposure for $127 a day

Disaster in Japan : Opinion Brief
A bunny born without its signature floppy ears near Japan's troubled nuclear plant is causing a panic, even though experts say radiation exposure is not a factor.

Japan's earless rabbit: A radiation mutant?

A freakish bunny born near the leaking Fukishima Daiishi nuclear plant is prompting panic — but skeptics maintain it's all just an eerie coincidence

Disaster in Japan : Opinion Brief
Workers inside the dangerously toxic Fukishima Daiichi Nuclear Power plant: A "suicide corps" of retired engineers wants to replace the young workers.

Japan's 'sacrificial' elderly nuclear cleanup squad

A group of more than 250 retirees wants to replace the younger workers cleaning up the toxic Fukushima nuclear plant. Should Japan green light this "suicide corps"? 

9 Comments
Disaster in Japan : Burning Question
Workers wearing protective suits enter a part of the Fukushima Daiichi plant: Tokyo Electric said Tuesday that additional meltdowns likely occurred at Reactors 2 and 3.

Fukushima's nuclear disaster: Worse than Japan thought?

Power company Tepco announces that three out of six reactors almost certainly suffered serious meltdowns after the deadly earthquake and tsunami

Disaster in Japan : The List
A remote-controlled "PackBot" opens a door in the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant: The PackBots are made by the same U.S. company that brought us the Roomba vacuum robot.

The 'mighty' robots of Fukushima

A guide to the global crew of robots — including a hulking machine called the "Rescue Dragon" — that's going where humans fear to tread: Inside Japan's stricken nuclear plant

Disaster in Japan : Controversy
Tepco President Masataka Shimizu unveiled a plan to stabilize Fukushima. Step 1: Building new cooling systems to replace the ones destroyed by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

Japan's 'ambitious' plan to end its nuclear crisis in nine months

As anxious evacuees wonder when they can go home again, power company executives announce a timetable to resolve Japan's worst nuclear disaster ever

Disaster in Japan : Flashback
As if the grief of loved ones lost isn't enough, Japanese survivors are now suffering from "earthquake sickness," with symptoms like dizziness and anxiety.

Phantom quakes and Japan's 'earthquake sickness'

Aftershocks are fraying the nerves of survivors in Japan. And some people feel them even when the ground is perfectly still

24 Comments
Disaster in Japan : Opinion Brief
A man sprints through a parking lot in Iwaki City, Japan, as a tsunami wave roars behind him.

'Terror and panic': The Japanese who outran a tsunami wave

In new footage of last month's catastrophe, frantic citizens have mere seconds to escape from a deadly wall of water

Disaster in Japan : Instant Guide
By examining rocks and soil in northeastern Japan, geologist Masanobu Shishikura knew the area had a history of killer waves... and that it was due for another one.

The geologist who predicted Japan's tsunami

Masanobu Shishikura and his colleagues knew northeastern Japan was due for a big temblor — and missed warning Fukushima officials by less than two weeks

6 Comments
Disaster in Japan : In-depth briefing
A water-filled tank in Virginia is used to cool and store used-up radioactive fuel rods: Pools like these in the U.S. are holding about four times more than originally intended.

Radioactive fuel rods: The silent threat

Japan’s nuclear crisis has highlighted the danger of the spent fuel rods piling up outside America’s nuclear plants

Disaster in Japan : Opinion Brief
The 60-pound Quince robot, which will measure radiation levels at Japan's leaky Fukushima reactor, can withstand radiation doses that would kill humans.

Robots vs. the Fukushima nuclear crisis

Japan is the "superpower" of robotics — so why did it take so long to deploy a fleet of radioactivity-resistant robots to help with the country's toxic nuclear mess?

Disaster in Japan : Opinion Brief
Office workers brace themselves during the second earthquake (this one a 7.1 magnitude) to hit north east japan in less than a month.

Japan's new earthquake: How serious is it?

Nearly a month after the afflicted island nation's catastrophic 9.0-magnitude temblor, another big aftershock rattles the country's buildings — and its psyche

Disaster in Japan : Instant Guide
About 3 million gallons of radioactive water from Japan's damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant will be dumped directly into the Pacific Ocean.

Is it safe for Fukushima to dump radioactive water into the sea?

Japan pumps contaminated water from the tsunami-damaged Fukushima nuclear plant right into the Pacific Ocean. An instant guide

Disaster in Japan : Opinion Brief
The "tsunami dog" is taken to a vet by its coast guard rescuers after being discovered clinging to detritus at sea.

A tsunami dog's 'remarkable' rescue... after 3 weeks

A dog stranded at sea after Japan's catastrophic tsunami is reunited with its owner, after she sees a TV report on her pet's dramatic rescue

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