Another quake

Yesterday we had a M7.3 quake off the coast of the Tohoku area. It was the biggest quake we've had since the major aftershocks of the 3.11 big one last year, and they say we should be mindful of aftershocks over the next few days. This one, like the big one, also happened on a Friday, although yesterday I was home from work when it happened.

Right from the onset it felt different from the rumbling quakes we usually get here. It felt like it was building up rather than the instant max power of the normal small-ish quakes. I guess when you've had as many as we got this last year you kind of develop a feel for this kind of thing.

Then after the quake ended about a minute later, I checked NHK and the news was going wild. They were announcing tsunami warnings and all the big shit you don't want to hear. And for a second it brought back a rush, not so much of memories, but of the feelings I had last year watching the waves hit again and again on the TV screen. It was scary, I won't deny that, until a few minutes later when the facts got around and it was obvious that the waves weren't going to be big ones.

Hmm... just now as I'm writing this (at 7:58pm) we're getting a small aftershock. Good timing I suppose.

Thankfully there wasn't a lot of damage this time. News reports said 11 people were injured but nothing serious. On my front I almost had the microwave push my coffee maker off the shelf, and some deodorant and hand creme fell down in the bathroom but that's it.

I guess I have to say I'm thankful once again for the insanely tough building codes in Japan. My apartment may have shook like crazy, but it withstood the quake with no problem. As did the rest of my town and most places even closer to the epicentre. If it had happened in a lot of countries there would've been buildings collapsing left and right.

While I'm on the subject of quakes and whatnot I wanted to comment about some news coming out about the Fukushima nuke plants.

As reported on Fukushima Diary (a good source of info but it tends to veer into the wild and sensational side), Tepco released a report about radiation exposure test results among workers at the plant. Here's the original document in Japanese: Report on nuclear plant worker radiation doses.

Here are the highlights: If you tally the numbers they say 165 workers got doses over 100 millisieverts of radiation with 5 of them getting doses over 250mSv. That's with a workforce of over 20,000 people. The highest dose on record was 678.8mSv. And then on top of that 44 workers got iodine 131 equivalent doses to their thyroids over 1 sievert, with 2 people getting equivalent doses over 10 sieverts. Fucking nuts.

What does that mean for the plant workers? Well, as of yet there aren't any deaths reported due to radiation. But getting over 100mSv ain't good. It does result in higher rates of cancer and all kinds of illness.

I also have to say that I don't think they could've possibly caught everything with their screenings. A dosimeter or even a full body scan won't reveal exactly what rads you got. Radiation alas isn't so easy to keep track of. So these numbers IMO have to be taken as a minimum. Meaning Tepco and the government better bend over backwards to provide cancer screening and medical care to the plant workers. They are the soldiers at the front, literally fighting to save the rest of Japan (and the world). They need to get the treatment and respect they deserve. Will they get what they need?