日本地震最新报道英文版.docx
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日本地震最新报道英文版.docx
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日本地震最新报道英文版
Content
SeawallsOfferedLittleProtectionAgainstTsunami’sCrushingWaves1
PartialMeltdownsPresumedatCrippledReactors5
SeveralPlantWorkersAreIll,butRadiationRiskinJapanIsSeenasLowforNow9
MilitaryCrewSaidtoBeExposedtoRadiation,butOfficialsCallRiskinU.S.Slight11
DeathTollEstimateinJapanSoarsasReliefEffortsIntensify15
SeawallsOfferedLittleProtectionAgainstTsunami’sCrushingWaves
AtsunamisurgepouredoveraseawallinMiyakoCity,IwatePrefecture,shortlyaftertheearthquakelastFriday.
By NORIMITSUONISHI
Published:
March13,2011
JAKARTA,Indonesia—Atleast40percentof Japan’s22,000-milecoastlineislinedwithconcreteseawalls,breakwatersorotherstructuresmeanttoprotectthecountryagainsthighwaves,typhoonsoreventsunamis.TheyareasmuchapartofJapan’scoastalsceneryasbeachesorfishingboats,especiallyinareaswherethegovernmentestimatesthepossibilityofamajorearthquakeoccurringinthenextthreedecadesatmorethan90percent,likethenorthernstretchthatwasdevastatedbyFriday’searthquakeandtsunami.
Alongwithdevelopingquake-resistantbuildings,thecoastalinfrastructurerepresentspostwarJapan’smajorinitiativeagainstearthquakesandtsunamis.ButwhileexpertshavepraisedJapan’srigorousbuildingcodesandquake-resistantbuildingsforlimitingthenumberofcasualtiesfromFriday’searthquake,thedevastationincoastalareasandafinaldeathtollpredictedtoexceed10,000couldpushJapantoredesignitsseawalls—orreconsideritsheavyrelianceonthemaltogether.
TherisksofdependenceonseawallsweremostevidentinthecrisisattheDaiichiandDaininuclearpowerplants,bothlocatedalongthecoastclosetotheearthquakezone.Thetsunamithatfollowedthequakewashedoverwallsthatweresupposedtoprotecttheplants,disablingthedieselgeneratorscrucialtomaintainingpowerforthereactors’coolingsystemsduringshutdown.
CoolingsystemmalfunctionscausedoverheatingandpartialfuelmeltdownsattworeactorsattheDaiichiplant,becomingJapan’sworstnuclearaccident.
PeterYanev,oneoftheworld’sbest-knownconsultantsondesigningnuclearplantstowithstandearthquakes,saidtheseawallsattheJapaneseplantsprobablycouldnothandletsunamiwavesoftheheightthatstruckthem.Andthedieselgeneratorsweresituatedinalowspotontheassumptionthatthewallswerehighenoughtoprotectagainstanylikelytsunami.
Thatturnedouttobeafatalmiscalculation.Thetsunamiwallseithershouldhavebeenbuilthigher,orthegeneratorsshouldhavebeenplacedonhighergroundtowithstandpotentialflooding,hesaid.Increasingtheheightoftsunamiwalls,hesaid,istheobviousanswerintheimmediateterm.
“Thecostispeanutscomparedtowhatishappening,”Mr.Yanevsaid.
Somecriticshavelongarguedthattheconstructionofseawallswasamistaken,hubristicefforttocontrolnatureaswellasthekindofwastefulpublicworksprojectthatsuccessiveJapanesegovernmentsusedtorewardpoliticallyconnectedcompaniesinflushtimesandtotrytokick-startastagnanteconomy.Supporters,though,havesaidtheseawallsincreasedtheoddsofsurvivalinaquake-pronecountry,whereamountainousinteriorhashistoricallypushedpeopletolivealongitscoastline.
Afullerpictureofhowseawallsprotectedorfailedtoprotectareasbeyondthenuclearplantswillnotemergeforatleastafewmoredays.Butreportsfromaffectedareasindicatethatwavessimplywashedoverseawalls,someofwhichcollapsed.Eveninthetwocitieswithseawallsbuiltspecificallytowithstandtsunamis,OfunatoandKamaishi,thetsunamicrashedoverbeforemovingafewmilesinland,carryinghousesandcarswithit.
InKamaishi,14-footwavessurmountedtheseawall—theworld’slargest,erectedafewyearsagointhecity’sharboratadepthof209feet,alengthof1.2milesandacostof$1.5billion—andeventuallysubmergedthecitycenter.
“Thisisgoingtoforceustorethinkourstrategy,”saidYoshiakiKawata,aspecialistondisastermanagementatKansaiUniversityinOsakaandthedirectorofadisasterpreventioncenterinKobe.“Thiskindofhardwarejustisn’teffective.”
Mr.Kawatasaidthatantitsunamiseawallswere“costlypublicworksprojects”thatJapancouldnolongerafford.“Theseawallsdidreducetheforceofthetsunami,butitwassobigthatitdidn’ttranslateintoareductionindamage,”hesaid,addingthatresourceswouldbebetterspentonincreasingevacuationeducationanddrills.
GeraldGalloway,aresearchprofessorofengineeringatthe UniversityofMaryland,saidoneproblemwithphysicaldefensesprotectingvulnerableareaswasthattheycouldcreateasenseofcomplacency.“Therearechallengesintellingpeopletheyaresafe”whentherisksremain,hesaid.
Whateverhumansbuild,naturehasawayofovercomingit.Mr.GallowaynotedthatNewOrleansisgettingasubstantialupgradeofitshurricaneprotectionsystem,buthesaid,“Ifallthenew levees wereinandwehadaKatrinatimestwo,alotofpeoplearegoingtostillgetwet.”Similarly,hesaid,someofthefloodwallsinJapan,whichcanbealmost40feethigh,butvaryfromplacetoplace,weresimplytoolowforthewave.
“Ifalittlebitdribblesoverthetop,yougetalittlewetinside,”hesaid.“Ifit’samassiveamount,thenyougetbuildingswashedaway.”
SomeJapaneseexpertssaidtheseawallsmayhaveplayedausefulroleinthiscrisis.
“Thistime,almosteverybodytriedtoflee,butmanydidn’tsucceedinfleeing,”saidShigeoTakahashi,aresearcherattheAsia-PacificCenterforCoastalDisasterResearchinYokosuka.“Butbecauseoftheseawalls,whichslowedthearrivalofwavesevenjustbyalittle,alotofpeoplewhowouldnothaveotherwisesurvivedprobablydid.Justoneortwominutesmakesadifference.”
AsofSunday,theJapaneseauthoritiesconfirmed1,300casualtiesbutexpectedthatthefinaltollwouldexceed10,000,withalmostallthedeathsresultingdirectlyfromthetsunami.
ButitremainsfarfromclearwhetherevensuchanelevatedtollwilldampJapan’sembraceofseawalls,whoseconstructionovertheyearshasfueledheavyinvestmentinJapan’spublicworks,especiallyinruralareaswithweakeconomiesbutdependablevotes.Ifprivatecompaniesspearheadedthedevelopmentofquake-resistantbuildings,theseawallsaretheproductsofthesameJapanesegovernmentsthatbuiltnetworksofunnecessaryroadsandbridgesthroughoutthecountry,especiallyinthe1980sand1990s.
Theconstructionofseawallscontinuedinthelastdecade,andatleasttwomassiveantitsunamiseawallsareunderconstruction.OneinKuji,acityinIwatePrefecturethatwasdamagedinFriday’stsunami,wasscheduledtobecompletedsoon.
Massiveantitsunamiseawallstendtobelocatedinharborsandnumberaroundadozennationwide,Mr.Kawatasaid.Butsmallerseawalls,oftenreachingashighas40feet,andotherstructuresextendalongmorethan40percentofthenation’scoastline,accordingtofiguresfromtheMinistryofLand,Infrastructure,TransportandTourism.
Theseawallsaretypicallybuiltalongtheshorelineofinhabitedareas.Theytendtorestrictaccesstotheshoreandblocktheviewoftheseafrominland,oftencastingshadowsonhousesbuiltalongtheshore.Environmentalistsandtourismofficialshavedescribedthemaseyesores;fishermenhavealsobeenamongtheirfiercestcritics,complainingthattheyneedtoseetheseafromtheirhomes.
Criticshavesaidthattheseawallsreducecoastalresidents’understandingoftheseaandtheirabilitytodeterminewhentofleebylookingforcluesinchangingwavepatterns.
Theheightofseawallsvariesaccordingtothepredictionsofthehighestwavesinaregion.Criticssaythatnomatterhowhightheseawallsareraised,therewilleventuallybeahigherwave.Indeed,thewavesfromFriday’stsunamifarexceededpredictionsforJapan’snorthernregion.
Seawallsalsotendtobebuiltinareasthathavesufferedtsunamis.Butbecauseseawallscannotbeconstructedalongallofacommunity’sshoreline,theytendtobeclusteredalongstretchesthathavebeendirectlyhit,leavingotherareasexposed.
“Theperversethingabouttsunamisisthatwhentheycomeagain,”Mr.Kawatasaid,“theyusuallydon’tcomeatthesameplacetheydidbefore.”
KeithBradshercontributedreportingfromHongKong,andJohnSchwartzfromNewYork
PartialMeltdownsPresumedatCrippledReactors
DaisukeTomita/YomiuriShimbun,viaAssociatedPress
HospitalpatientswhomighthavebeenexposedtoradiationwerecarriedintoaradiationtreatmentcenterinNihonmatsu,FukushimaPrefecture,onSunday.
By HIROKOTABUCHI and MATTHEWL.WALD
Published:
March13,2011
TOKYO—Threedaysafteramassiveearthquakeandtsunami,theJapaneseauthoritieswerestillstrugglingSundaytoavoidfullmeltdownsataplantwithtwostrickenreactorson Japan’scoast.
AsofSundaynight,technicians’increasinglydesperatemeasurestokeepthereactorsfromoverheating,andpossiblymeltingdown,hadnotyetbroughtthemundercontrol.InonecaseSunday,amechanicalfailurelefttheplantfarmorevulnerabletoadditionalfuelmeltingandthereleaseofmoreradiation.
Twenty-twopeoplewholiveneartheplantarealreadyshowingsignsofradiationexposurefromearlierreleases.Thechallengeofbringingtheplantundercontrolcomesasthecountryisalsostrugglingtorescueandfeedpeopleburiedinrubbleorstrandedafterthecountry’slargestearthquakeinrecordedhistory.
JapaneseofficialssaidtheyhadorderedthelargestmobilizationoftheirSelf-DefenseForcessinceWorldWarIItoassistinthequakereliefeffort,includinghelpingwiththeevacuatio
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