After 300 years, is majestic Mount Fuji 'on standby' for next eruption?

Snow-capped, symmetrically cone-shaped and awe-inspiringly tall, Mount Fuji has for centuries provided Japanese with something of a spiritual backbone, attracting hundreds of thousands of climbers every year.

But often overshadowed by its beauty is the fact that the mountain straddling Shizuoka and Yamanashi prefectures is an active volcano with a history of frequent blasts — hence its nickname as the “department store” of eruptions.

Experts say the precise timing of the next big one is unpredictable, but one Japanese volcanologist paints an urgent picture of the situation.

“Mount Fuji is on standby for the next eruption,” said Hiroki Kamata, a professor of volcanology at Kyoto University.

More than 300 years, he pointed out, have elapsed since the last eruption in 1707, an eerily long silence that surpasses the previous interval of around 200 years.

“It was long gearing up for another blast, but shaken by the Great East Japan Earthquake (that struck the Tohoku region in 2011), it is more unstable than ever. If that doesn’t make the eruption imminent, I don’t know what will.”

If Mount Fuji were to erupt, it could cause up to ¥2.5 trillion in damage. | KYODO

The 1707 blast is known as the Hoei Eruption, named after the Japanese era at the time. It spewed a massive amount of volcanic ash that annals show wafted all the way to today’s Tokyo.

Should the mountain erupt again, cinders could rain down on parts of nearby cities such as Gotemba in Shizuoka, with potentially life-threatening results, according to a council of central and local government officials tasked with hammering out safety measures in the event of an eruption. An economic loss of up to ¥2.5 trillion is expected, the council says.

It is the arrival of volcanic ash, however, that experts say could paralyze Tokyo and its surrounding metropolitan areas.

Ash is forecast to drift to the east due to the westerlies blowing over the archipelago and travel past Tokyo all the way to Chiba, according to simulated data published by a government task force in March last year.

That would wreak havoc on high-tech Tokyo, possibly causing blackouts, water shortages and malfunctions of electronic appliances as well as disrupting telecommunications, according to the task force. Trains might be suspended, too.

Airport terminals will be forced to shut down, it said, if runway markings are covered with ash. Health problems might also arise, with the inhalation of ash likely to cause a “strong sense of discomfort.”

Given the 1707 Hoei Eruption was likely triggered by a magnitude 8.6 earthquake that struck south-central Japan 49 days earlier, Kamata believes there is a high likelihood that a magnitude 9 Nankai Trough earthquake — should it happen in the near future as forecast by the government — would do the same.

But Takayoshi Iwata, director of the Center for Integrated Research and Education of Natural Hazards at Shizuoka University, offered a more nuanced view.

“It’s true that history has shown eruptions can be caused by earthquakes, but there were also times Mount Fuji erupted of its own accord, so it’s not necessarily the case there is a correlation with quakes,” he said.

(Source: JT)

2018 flood has left dams, reservoirs in Kerala prone to earthquakes

As Kerala struggles to recover from the monsoon floods that ravaged the state yet again this season, research has highlighted that floods triggered by heavy rain has left reservoirs and dams highly prone to earthquakes.

The state has 43 dams and reservoirs predominantly located in the highly deformed and fractured Western Ghats. Of these 21 are now highly prone to tremors, a phenomenon called reservoir-induced seismicity (RIS), according to the latest geographic information system (GIS) analysis.

RIS occurs in deep reservoirs that have water columns more than 100 metres depth. Such huge water columns increase the stress on the earth crust, the infiltration of water from the reservoir reduces the effective stress. These changes in stress in the underlying rocks lead to RIS.

Studies have found that most of the seismic episodes occur after torrential rain lashes the region, indicating hydro-seismicity. (Photo: PTI)

“The RIS would have occurred during August 2018 flood itself, but this did not happen because all the dams of the overflowing reservoirs during the flood were opened and the water was released, our observations revealed," said S.M. Ramasamy of the Tamil Nadu-based Bharathidasan University, who led the study, which also involved researchers from Alagappa University. The findings were published in the journal Natural Hazards.

Kerala was ravaged by the worst floods of the century last year in August taking a heavy toll on lives and causing massive damage of an estimated $200 billion to infrastructure and property. After the floods, the research team studied the geology of the Western Ghats and found them to be highly deformed with folds and faults caused due to tectonic movements.

“The cracks are very active. With flooding going to become a recurring phenomenon, we need to study the hydro-dynamics of these dams and optimize their storage and water release to avert major disasters," said Ramasamy.

RIS has been known to be disastrous globally. In 1967, 180 people were killed and 1,500 injured due to induced seismicity in Koyna reservoir in Maharashtra.

Researchers found that in the case of Kerala, there are several conditions that can trigger RIS in and around the dams and reservoirs, including faults which are wide open.

The ecologically fragile Western Ghats cover almost half of Kerala, which has been known to be seismically active. The state has been witnessing seismicity of the magnitude of 3–5.5 for centuries. Previous studies have found that most of these seismic episodes occur after torrential rain lashes the region, indicating hydro-seismicity.

The 21 reservoirs that are prone to dam induced tremors include the Parambikulam reservoir, Peringalkuthu dam, Idamalayar dam, Mattupetty dam, Mangalam dam, Siruvani dam, Pothundi dam, Idukki dam, Chulliyar dam, Sagar dam and the Mullaperiyar dam.

“There is urgent need for effective water management strategies, especially for these 21 reservoirs," said Ramasamy.

(Source: Live Mint)

Indonesia tsunami: 'It’s an absolute miracle' my child survived

When a powerful earthquake and tsunami hit the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, hundreds of children were separated from their parents. More than 2,000 people died, with large areas being declared mass graves. But in recent weeks there have also been some extraordinary reunions.

Fikri and Jumadil go missing

"What happened that day, my little one?" ADEK BERRY

Martha Salilama had left the stove on.

When the earth shook with incredible power, she grabbed seven year old Fikri, her great nephew, and rushed out of the house.

They had been cooking together, packets of yellow rice with fried chicken to sell at a beach festival to mark Palu city's anniversary.

"With things crumbling and falling around them, they ran out into the open. They were terrified that they would get trapped inside," says her sister Selfi Salilama, Fikri's grandmother.

When the earth stopped shaking, Marta left Fikri with some neighbours who had gathered around a horse statue that sits on the Palu bay.

She then went home to turn off the stove.

"When she came back Fikri was gone," says Selfi.

What she found was a scene of horror, a trail of destruction left by gigantic waves that had pounded the bay.

The earthquake and tsunami destroyed the city of Palu SOPA IMAGES

When the quake hit five year old Jumadil was on the beach building sandcastles.

His grandmother, Ajarni, who was looking after him that day, was selling food to festival goers on the street above the beach.

He had been clingy that day, she remembers.

"He wanted to be carried all the time, so I carried him around on my hip. He finally got bored and asked to be put down and went off and played in the sand," she says.

When the first quake struck she tried frantically to reach him but failed.

It was chaotic, she says, with people running in all directions as the earth threw them around.

"When I got closer to the shore I saw a wall of black water heading towards me."

"I ran as fast as I could, I had no idea where I was running"

With the monstrous waves about to pound the bay, she could look no more and ran.

"I ran as fast as I could, I had no idea where I was running. When the water swept me away I clung on to a motorbike."

The waves finally dumped her in the parking lot of a hotel.

She had survived. But Jumadil was gone.

That's where her husband, Daeng, the boy's grandfather, found her.

"I didn't recognise her at first, because she was covered in mud and blood and was crying. I turned to someone I knew and said I am looking for my wife and they said - that's her!"

"Her hair was caked with mud and blood, it was like instant noodles. I picked her up and cried out for help."

A passing motorbike rider took them to the nearest hospital.

"I was worried she would lose too much blood. There were lots of aftershocks, it was terrifying," he remembers.

Susi Rahmatia thought her son had drowned in the huge waves

The desperate search

News reached Jumadil's mum, Susi Rahmatia, at home.

"My uncle rushed in and said 'there are children's corpses everywhere near the shore'. I collapsed and cried, I thought for sure my son had been killed by the waves."

"That night my husband went searching for him. When he came across a body of a child he broke down and cried."

In the morning the grandfather, Asmudin, joined the search.

"The air around the beach was filled with the smell of corpses. I searched and searched for hours barefoot. I looked under the rubble and in places I thought he might have been washed up," he says.

Children's toys were scattered in the rubble of houses SOPA IMAGES

Satellite image ©2018 DigitalGlobe, a Maxar company.

Seven year old Fikri's family were also desperately searching for him.

His grandmother, Selfi Salilama, says they feared he, too, was dead.

"At the hospital we opened body bag after body bag that had a child in it," she says.

"Each time a wave of fear washed over us. And we would say 'Allah make us strong enough to do this' - each time hoping it wasn't Fikri."

"We were almost certain that we had lost him. We knew his 10-year-old brother had died. But in my heart I had a little hope that perhaps Fikri had run away in time."

Selfi Salilam feared both her grandsons were dead

Fikri's parents find out

Fikri's parents live and work 600km away in Gorontalo.

With telecommunications down Selfi says she couldn't contact them. She was also a little scared to tell them.

"I didn't want everyone to panic and worry. We wanted to search first and give them news with some certainty," she says.

But given the scale of the disaster keeping it a secret was impossible.

"We saw it all on television. I was just speechless. My husband Iqbal left straight away for Palu. I stayed here to look after my younger children," Susila says.

When Iqbal As Sywie arrived to hear both his sons were missing, he was devastated.

"He was angry and very upset and was saying to us 'why didn't you take better care of my sons?' I had to calm him down telling him this was out of our hands. That if Allah wanted to take them we had to accept that."

Photographs of missing people were displayed on the walls in days after
the disaster ULET IFANSASTI

They reported Fikri missing at child protection posts set up across the city.

They also did interviews with local television stations giving them details about the boy who was missing.

The break through

Jumadil's uncle posted a notice on a Facebook page for survivors in the city, hoping the picture of his nephew would jog someone's memory.

Sartini's daughter saw the picture and thought it bore a striking resemblance to the child her mother was looking after.

The social media post that help find Jumadil AFP

The wife of a local imam, Sartini, had met the boy at a police station in the aftermath of the quake.

She remembers that he was wailing uncontrollably, just repeating cries of "mummy" and "daddy".

"I only persuaded him by saying 'your mother is still buying milk for you'," she told AFP at the time. She befriended him and took care of him.

"What they saw on Facebook were old photos of Jumadil - so at first they weren't sure if it was really him," says his mother Susi.

"But when they read the details in the post about what he was wearing that day - a red striped shirt and that his pants were held up with a string because they were too big, that's when they knew it was the same boy."

A matching birthmark on the neck confirmed it was indeed Jumadil, setting the stage for a reunion.

"I couldn't sleep, I thought about him all night, wondering who saved my little boy," says Susi.

A reunion

Jumadil leaps off a motorbike into his mother's arms. Their emotional reunion after five long days is captured on film.

He clings to her while she smothers him in kisses, tears stream down both their faces. Jumadil crying so hard he is gasping for breath.

"He hugged me so tight like he never wanted to let go, his legs wrapped around me like a monkey," remembers Susi.

"We didn't speak. He was very scared. There were lots of people crowding around us. I just tried to show him that now everything was going to be alright."

Hundreds of children were separated from their parents in Palu GETTY IMAGES

She waited days before finally asking him what happened.

I asked him gently 'What happened that day, my little one? And he said 'I was playing in the sand and didn't understand why the whole world was shaking."

"So who picked you up, I asked? He said a police officer. We did try and find out who that was, but haven't been able to."

They believe he dodged the tsunami by a matter of minutes.

Jumadil reunited with his grandfather ADEK BERRY

Fikri is found

More days passed by and Fikri's family were close to giving up hope - when a social worker arrived at their door.

"They had a photo and they said - Mrs, is this your grandson? And it was him! We started telling everyone, 'they have Fikri. They have found Fikri!' We all gathered around and just cried and cried."

"They told us that he was alive and living in North Morowali - we had no idea how he had gone there."

He had ended up 500km away.

Fikri, shown here hugging his dad, had been washed up on the
side of a road UNICEF

It was not until they had Fikri in their arms, three weeks after he went missing, that the family understood how he had ended up there.

Twenty-year-old university student Kadek Ayu Dwi Mariati says she found Fikri on the side of the road.

He was injured. she remembers. and was crying out for his mother and father. He was only a wearing a t-shirt.

"To tell you the truth my first concern was saving my own life, I was in such a panic and was very scared," she said.

"But then I thought if I don't save this boy who will? I stopped and asked him where are your parents? He said they were gone and his house was destroyed, so I told him to come with me to higher ground."

When her parents reached Palu, a few days later, Fikri didn't want to leave her side.

"He didn't want to stay, he wanted to be with me. So he came home with us to our village," she says.

"I reported this to the police and social workers and told them if someone is looking for this child then he is with me. They told me, 'don't give him away to anyone' because there were fears of child trafficking at the time."

As the weeks past with no news her family built up a close bond with Fikri.

"He was a really good kid. Wasn't any trouble at all. I do really miss him now and was a little sad to see him go but at the same time I am so grateful, that it turns out, he had a family still alive to go home to," she says.

The miracle

Their reunion was also captured on film. His family was told by social workers to wait in a tent - no one speaks and they look at their hands nervously.

Then he was brought in. "Praise God," they cried as they hugged Fikri and held him tenderly.

Fikri was beaming, wearing a neat checked shirt and jeans.

"We cried and hugged and hugged him," Selfi recalled.

"I was so happy but also sad. I was filled with joy that Allah had given us more time with him but also sad that it was someone else that saved him. We could only cry and give thanks to Allah."

Fikri now lives with his parents UNICEF

The trauma

Fikri's parents have taken him back to live with them in Gorontalo. Schools are not back to normal in Palu and they want him close.

"He doesn't want to be left alone, even for a second, he said to us 'if you leave me and the earth shakes again where am I meant to go?," his mum Susila says over the phone.

"We have to wait for him outside the classroom. We don't talk about what happened. He just cries if it comes up. His older brother never came back."

His grandmother video calls with him often. "Show me your smile," she cries down the phone at him.

"Ah there you are! There is the most handsome boy in Gorontolo," she teases him.

Fikri's grandmother stays in touch with her grandson through video chats

Back to the beach

Jumadil too is still traumatised but each afternoon he has to go back to the same beach, to help his mother sell peanuts.

"He still has flashbacks, if the lights go off he jumps up and runs into my arms asking 'why are the lights off, Mum?' When the earthquake hit all the lights went off and it was black."

While we are talking at their stall another mother comes up and says her son was missing for four days.

He was caught up in the waves too, she says. Now it's a nightmare to get him to have a bath. He is terrified of water.

Jumadil's mother's peanut stall

While his mum serves the customer, Jumadil's grandfather, Daeng, takes him for a walk through the rubble.

He still can't quite believe his grandson has come back.

"It's hard for an everyday guy like me to get my head around it," he says.

"It's an absolute miracle he has come back"

"If you think about it logically it's amazing he was saved, given the power of the waves that destroyed everything. Buildings crumbled so humans shouldn't really have stood a chance. Lots of police officers died. I really want to know who saved our boy."

"It's an absolute miracle he has come back."

(Source: BBC)

Indonesia earthquake: What is liquefaction and what role did it play in the natural disaster?

Houses swallowed up by mudslides as increased pressure causes soil particles to lose stability

As Indonesia attempts to recover from the 7.5 magnitude earthquake and tsunami that devastated the island of Sulawesi in late September, the process of liquefaction has been blamed for the huge scale of the destruction.

Officials have confirmed 1,234 people died, mostly in the city of Palu, as a result of the disaster, many killed by buildings collapsing as the soil shifted beneath them.

Here’s an introduction to the phenomenon.

What is liquefaction?
The term refers to saturated sand and silt – that is, ground in which the space between particles is completely filled with water – taking on the form of liquid as a result of the aggressive disturbance the earth is subjected to by a powerful quake. Areas with shallow water tables close to the sea or rivers are particularly susceptible.

The quake increases water pressure, causing particles in the soil to lose contact with one another and sandy ground to ooze apart, potentially creating landslides and rattling buildings, trees and telegraph poles as the shifting earth slides about beneath them.

The reduced stability decreases the capability of the ground to support foundations, making the collapse of residences, blocks and bridges highly likely.

Liquefied soil sliding towards standing structures, like walls, can also place increased pressure on them and cause them to topple.

The term was first employed by American hydrological expert Allen Hazen, investigating the fall of California’s Calaveras Dam in 1918.

“If the pressure of the water in the pores is great enough to carry all the load, it will have the effect of holding the particles apart and of producing a condition that is practically equivalent to that of quicksand,” he wrote.

What happened in Indonesia?
In Sulawesi, approximately 1,700 houses were swallowed up in the Palu neighbourhood of Balaroa while an entire new development in Petobo was wiped away as though it had never been there.

“When the quake hit, the layers below the surface of the earth became muddy and loose,” said Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman of Indonesia’s national disaster mitigation agency.

“Mud with such large mass volume drowned and dragged the housing complex in Petobo so that most of them became as if they were absorbed. We estimate 744 units of houses are there.”

Where else has the phenomenon occurred?
The problem was last experienced on such a serious scale in Urayasu, Japan, following the 2011 Tohuku earthquake and tsunami.

As much as 86 per cent of the city’s land was liquefied as a result of the disaster, which killed 15,896 people in total, taking six years to repair the damage to its subterranean sewerage, water and gas facilities.

Liquefaction has been seen in previous Indonesian quakes as well as in the Great Alaska and Niigata earthquakes of 1964, in the San Fernando quake of 1971, California’s Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989, the Great Hanshin quake of 1995 and those that struck Christchurch in New Zealand in 2010 and 2011.

(Source: The Independent)

Indonesia tsunami: Death toll could reach thousands, officials say

Aftershocks rattle island of Sulawesi as vice-president warns nation to expect significant rise in fatalities

The confirmed death toll from the earthquake and tsunami that struck the Indonesian island of Sulawesi has risen to 832, and the vice-president, Jusuf Kalla, has warned it could reach into the thousands.

More than 150 aftershocks followed the 7.4-magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami that hit Sulawesi on Friday, causing thousands of homes, hotels, shopping malls and several mosques to collapse.

Of the fatalities, 821 were in the city of Palu, with 11 casualties so far recorded in Donggala, the worst-hit area, which is home to 300,000 people. Hundreds of bodies have been found on beaches and authorities fear many may have been washed out to sea.

Speaking at a press conference, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, the spokesman for the BNBP disaster agency, said the area affected was much bigger than originally thought.

“The deaths are believed to be still increasing since many bodies were still under the wreckage while many have not able to be reached,” said Sutopo, emphasising that access to Donggala, as well as the towns of Sigi and Boutong, was very limited so the final death toll was impossible to predict.

The city of Palu has been completely devastated by the earthquake and tsunami waves, which reached as high as six metres in some areas. In the city, partially covered bodies lay near the shore and survivors sifted through a tangled mess of corrugated steel roofing, timber, rubble and flotsam. One man was seen carrying the muddy corpse of a small child.

“Many corpses are scattered on the beach and floating on the surface of the sea,” one local resident, Nining, told local media. The identified bodies are being buried in mass graves, Sutopo said.

Sutopo confirmed there was no electricity in Palu and Donggala, while drinking water and fuel were running out. There was limited access to heavy equipment needed to help rescue efforts, so the search for people trapped in the rubble was mostly being carried out by hand.

Rescue efforts are continuing for dozens of people still trapped in the collapsed ruins of the eight-storey Roa Roa hotel in Palu, with voices heard screaming from the wreckage. “There are 50 people under the rubble of the building. Heavy equipment is needed for evacuation,” said Sutopo.

There were concerns about the whereabouts of hundreds of people preparing for a beach festival that had been due to start on Friday, a spokesman for the BNBP said.

At least 540 people had been badly injured, the agency said, as hospitals struggled to cope with the influx of casualties, setting up open-air clinics to treat the injured.

Dwi Haris, who suffered a broken back and shoulder, rested outside Palu’s army hospital, where patients were being treated outdoors due to the continuing strong aftershocks. Tears filled his eyes as he recounted feeling the violent earthquake shake the fifth-floor hotel room he shared with his wife and daughter.

“There was no time to save ourselves. I was squeezed into the ruins of the wall, I think,” said Haris, adding that his family was in town for a wedding. “I heard my wife cry for help, but then silence. I don’t know what happened to her and my child. I hope they are safe.”

Munculnya lumpur dari permukaan tanah yang menyebabkan amblasnya bangunan dan pohon di Kabupaten Sigi dekat perbatasan Palu akibat gempa 7,4 SR adalah fenomena likuifaksi (liquefaction) Likuifaksi adalah tanah berubah menjadi lumpur seperti cairan dan kehilangan kekuatan. pic.twitter.com/uxTODECMEX

— Sutopo Purwo Nugroho (@Sutopo_PN) September 29, 2018

The Indonesian president, Joko Widodo, who visited the region on Sunday, said earlier the military was being called to the region to help search-and-rescue teams.

One of the first casualties of the earthquake, 21-year-old Anthonius Gunawan Agung, is being hailed a hero after he stayed in the air traffic control tower as the earthquake hit, to make sure that a flight to Bali could take off safely. Agung then jumped from the control tower as it was collapsing, but did not survive the fall.

Many residents slept in makeshift shelters, terrified that the powerful aftershocks could topple their damaged homes.

Villagers view a ship swept ashore by tsunami in Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. Photograph: Rio Mario/AP

Some voiced criticism of the agency that lifted the tsunami warning. The agency said it followed standard operating procedure and made the call to “end” the warning based on data available from the closest tidal sensor, about 125 miles (200km) from Palu.

“We have no observation data at Palu. So we had to use the data we had and make a call based on that,” said Rahmat Triyono, the head of the earthquakes and tsunami centre at BMKG. He said the closest tide gauge, which measures changes in the sea level, only recorded an “insignificant” 6cm wave and did not account for the giant waves near Palu.

The tsunami was triggered by a strong quake that brought down buildings and sent locals fleeing for higher ground as a churning wall of water crashed into Palu. “We all panicked and ran out of the house” when the quake hit, said Anser Bachmid, a 39-year-old Palu resident. “People here need aid – food, drink, clean water.”

Dramatic video footage captured from the top floor of a parking ramp in Palu, nearly 50 miles (80km) from the quake’s epicentre, showed waves bring down several buildings and inundate a large mosque.

About 17,000 people have been evacuated, the BNBP said.

“This was a terrifying double disaster,” said Jan Gelfand, a Jakarta-based official at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. “We have heard nothing from Donggala and this is extremely worrying. There are more than 300,000 people living there. This is already a tragedy, but it could get much worse.”

Friday’s tremor was also felt in the far south of the island in its largest city Makassar and on neighbouring Kalimantan, Indonesia’s portion of Borneo island.

The initial quake struck as evening prayers were about to begin in the world’s biggest Muslim-majority country on the holiest day of the week, when mosques are especially busy.

Indonesia is one of the most disaster-prone nations on earth. It lies on the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, where tectonic plates collide and many of the world’s volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur.

Earlier this year, a series of powerful quakes hit Lombok, killing more than 550 people on the holiday island and neighbouring Sumbawa.

Indonesia has been hit by a string of other deadly quakes including a devastating 9.1-magnitude tremor that struck off the coast of Sumatra in December 2004.

That Boxing Day quake triggered a tsunami that killed 220,000 throughout the region, including 168,000 in Indonesia.

(Source: The Guardian)

Indonesia tsunami: Rescuers struggle to reach cut-off city, toll rises to 384

Hospitals struggling to cope as hundreds injured

Rescuers are struggling to reach Donggala, a city of nearly 300,000 people in Indonesia, after a 7.5-magnitude earthquake and a powerful tsunami hit the coast of the country, killing at least 384 and injuring hundreds more.

Power and telecommunications to the region have been cut off and the roads are damaged, leaving officials unable to reach those in need.

Aid is also yet to reach the nearby town of Mamuju, which has been severely affected by the quake.

At least 384 people were killed in the hard-hit city of Palu, Indonesia's disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said.

A landslide has blocked a major road leading to Palu, the capital of Indonesia's Central Sulawesi province, according to the BBC, and a key bridge crossing a coastal river has also collapsed.

Thousands of homes as well as hospital buildings have been damaged in Palu. Hundreds have been injured, leaving medical staff overwhelmed.

Tens to hundreds of people involved at a beach festival are also missing, the disaster agency said earlier.

More than half of the 560 inmates in a Palu prison fled after its walls fell during Friday's quake, according to the warden, Adhi Yan Ricoh.

"It was very hard for the security guards to stop the inmates from running away as they were so panicked and had to save themselves too," he told state news agency Antara.

Ricoh said there was no immediate plan to search for the inmates because the prison staff and police were consumed with the rescue effort.

"Don't even think to find the inmates. We don't even have time yet to report this incident to our superiors," he said.

The 3m tsunami was triggered by the earthquake and smashed into two cities and several settlements on Sulawesi island at dusk on Friday.

In some places the water rose as high as 6m.

"We got a report over the phone saying that there was a guy who climbed a tree up to 6m high," Nugroho said.

Palu, which has a population of 380,000 people, was strewn with debris from fallen buildings, including a shopping complex and a large mosque.

A mosque in Palu was badly damaged (AP)

Waters from the tsunami left the mosque partially submerged.

The city is the capital of the Central Sulawesi province and is built around a narrow bay which is said to have magnified the force of the tsunami water as it travelled inland.

Indonesian TV broadcast footage, filmed on a smartphone, showing the moment that the wave hit the land, causing people to scream in fear and flee.

Bodies in Palu lay partially covered in tarpaulin and a man carried a dead child through the wreckage.

Mr Nugroho said essential aircraft can land at Palu airport but AirNav, which oversees aircraft navigation, said that the runway is cracked and the control tower damaged.

A 21-year-old air traffic controller was killed in the quake after he stayed in the tower to ensure a flight he had just cleared for departure got airborne safely.

"We hope there will be international satellites crossing over Indonesia that can capture images and provide them to us so we can use the images to prepare humanitarian aid," Mr Nugroho said.

Indonesian president Joko Widodo told reporters on Friday that  he had instructed the security minister to co-ordinate the government's response to the damage.

Residents carry a quake victim through Palu (AP)

He has also called on the country's military chief to assist with the search efforts and evacuations as needed.

United Nations spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said UN officials were in contact with Indonesian authorities and "stand ready to provide support as required".

Indonesia is vulnerable to earthquakes because of its location on the Ring of Fire, an arc of volcanoes and faultlines in the Pacific Basin.

On 5 August, a powerful earthquake on the island of Lombok killed 505 people. Most died inside collapsing buildings.

The wave caused buildings to collapse (Reuters)

Another series of strong quakes in mid-August killed at least a dozen people on Lombok and Sumbawa, a nearby island.

In 2004, a huge earthquake off the Indonesian island of Sumatra triggered a tsunami across the Indian Ocean.

It killed 230,000 people in a dozen countries, including more than 120,000 in Indonesia.

(Source: The Independent)

Hokkaido toll climbs; half of power restored

 The number of people dead or in a critical condition in Hokkaido following a powerful earthquake has risen to 18, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Friday, amid fears the figure will continue to grow.

There have been 9 confirmed fatalities, while 9 others are in cardiopulmonary arrest, the government’s top spokesman said. Another 22 people are still missing.

In the town of Atsuma, where massive landslides buried a number of homes, police, firefighters and Self-Defense Forces personnel searched manually and used heavy machinery to dig through rubble. All of the missing people are located in Atsuma, according to the government.

Heavy rain is expected in Hokkaido through Saturday and the Meteorological Agency warned of more mudslides, saying that aftershocks of a similar intensity to Thursday’s quake could occur again in the region. More than 100 smaller temblors have been recorded in the region since the early Thursday morning quake, according to the agency.

The magnitude 6.7 earthquake, which left over 300 other people injured, caused a prefecture-wide blackout and left many homes without water, while over 10,000 people were forced to spend the night at evacuation centers.

“I have been living in Atsuma all my life but I have never experienced such a quake. I came here because I am scared of aftershocks,” said Toyokazu Kurashige, 79, who was staying at the evacuation center with five family members.

Kurashige was among more than 100 residents of the hard-hit town who took refuge in a shelter adjacent to the town office. The facility had no running water, and evacuees slept under blankets on thin mattresses in an open space without any partitions.

The quake registered at the highest reading of 7 on Japan’s seismic intensity scale in Atsuma and an upper 6 in the neighboring town of Abira, both southeast of Sapporo. Smaller aftershocks have continued in the prefecture.

Power had been reconnected Friday for 1.4 million households — about half of the total affected — and is expected to be restored to another 1 million homes later the same day, but it may take about a week until the supply is fully re-established, according to the industry ministry.

Industry minister Hiroshige Seko urged homes and offices already with power to limit their use as much as possible.

Water supplies were cut off at some 66,587 households at its peak but the figure had dropped to 38,300 as of 5:30 a.m. Friday, according to the health ministry. People formed long lines at emergency water stations set up in many areas.

The ministry also said 191 hospitals were still without power and 51 were without water Friday morning.

Transportation is slowly becoming available in the region, with some train and air services expected to resume during Friday.

Hokkaido Railway Co. said it was restarting its bullet train services to and from Hakodate and a train bound for Hokkaido left Tokyo on Friday morning, but the operator canceled its express trains for the day.

New Chitose Airport, the main gateway to Hokkaido, also restarted domestic arrivals and departures, although many people were unable to secure seats.

“I was told all the flights are booked. I’ve done everything I can but there is no way I can get out of Hokkaido,” said Masahiro Torimoto, 49, who was scheduled to travel to Fukuoka to take part in a national softball tournament.

More than 100 flights to and from the airport scheduled for Friday were canceled, affecting more than 17,000 people, according to airlines. In Sapporo, a city of some 1.96 million residents, neon and traffic lights were out Thursday night and parts of its road system had caved in, while long lines formed in front of a limited number of convenience stores and gas stands that had reopened.

“I can’t use anything at my all-electric home. I can’t even flush a toilet so I have to use my neighbor’s,” said a 39-year-old woman in the city.

Garbage collection in the city was canceled for the day, with the city government saying it had been unable to secure fuel for garbage collection vehicles.

(Source: JT)

Fears grow for Japan quake survivors as death toll rises

Rescuers continued to search for survivors of a powerful earthquake on Japan's island of Hokkaido, as the death toll rose to 16.

Dozens are still missing with many feared buried under rubble after the magnitude 6.7 quake triggered landslides.

Some 1.6 million residents across Hokkaido remain without power.

Emergency crews are racing against the clock to find survivors

The quake is the second disaster to hit Japan this week, after a deadly typhoon lashed the country's west coast.

The earthquake struck early on Thursday and thousands of people spent the night in evacuation centres.

'I thought I would die'
The village of Atsuma was among the hardest hit, where roads and houses collapsed after huge landslides.

"We've heard there are people still stuck under the mud, so we've been working around the clock but it's been difficult to rescue them," a rescue worker in Atsuma told public broadcaster NHK.

One resident said: "It was horrendous. The land slid all the way down and I thought I would die. I thought my house would collapse."

With bad weather on the way, it is feared the landslides may continue

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe confirmed 16 people had been killed, many people injured, and 26 remained missing.

"Please give your sympathy to people who spent a dark night in fear, and do everything you can to restore electricity as soon as possible," he instructed his ministers at an emergency cabinet meeting on Friday.

Authorities said it could take at least one week to restore power lines to the sparsely populated countryside.

With bad weather expected over the next days, officials are warning people to remain cautious and be prepared for aftershocks.

Transport to resume
The island's main airport resumed flights on Friday and train services are also scheduled to restart before the weekend.

The quake also affected several manufacturers on the island. Operations at Toyota plant will be suspended until power is restored, the carmaker said.

A football friendly between Japan and Chile scheduled for Friday has been called off.

The earthquake comes on the heels of a deadly typhoon lashing the west of Japan over the past few days.

Jebi, the strongest typhoon to hit the country in 25 years, killed at least 10 people and caused widespread damage and disruption.

Japan is one of the world's most seismically active nations and accounts for around 20% of quakes worldwide of magnitude 6.0 or more.

In June, a deadly tremor hit Osaka region, killing five and injuring more than 300 people.

(Source: BBC)

How ready are you for Japan’s next big earthquake?

Emergency kits are a must-have in earthquake-prone Japan, but a survey by The Japan Times has found that a number of people did not use theirs when a deadly quake rocked Osaka Prefecture and its vicinity last week.

The June 18 quake, which affected 30 percent of the approximately 250 people who provided valid responses to the online questionnaire conducted in its wake, prompted many to re-examine their preparations amid fears of a possible follow-on temblor, it found.

And while 42 percent of respondents said they have emergency kits both at home and at work, several revealed the need to better plan for earthquakes and other disasters.

A burst water pipe caused a sinkhole in Takatsuki, Osaka Prefecture, after a powerful earthquake hit the prefecture and its vicinity on June 18. | KYODO

A 32-year-old British woman who declined to give her name said her family of five — including her husband and three children — had “an iron-clad emergency plan and an awesome kit” in the event of a disaster. However, she hadn’t considered the prospect that a big quake would hit when she was neither at home nor at work.

“I was on a train to work, far from my home,” said the woman who lives in Osaka and works in Kobe. While the rest of her family was at home, she was stranded in a crowded train car for about two hours before passengers were led on a roughly 30-minute walk to the nearest station.

“I’ve been vigilant about keeping earthquake bags, but I realize they are important but limited in their role,” she said. “If you’re not at home or work, they serve little meaning at all. I naively didn’t consider that a big earthquake would hit on a Monday rush hour morning.”

A natural disaster can indeed strike at any time of day. The Osaka quake jolted Kansai at 7:58 a.m., just as commuters were heading to their offices, schools and elsewhere. The 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake — which at a magnitude 9 was the largest-ever recorded in Japan — came at midday on a Friday.

The Great Hanshin Earthquake in 1995 hit Kobe and the surrounding areas before most people were awake, at 5:46 a.m. on a Tuesday. And the two major quakes that struck Kumamoto Prefecture in April two years ago both occurred at nighttime.

The unpredictable nature of natural disasters is all the more reason to make sure you’re fully prepared, and officials say an emergency kit with basic necessities such as drinking water and emergency provisions that can feed a family for at least three days is just one of the many ways to get ready.

Parker Rom, a 26-year-old English teacher from the U.S., said the Osaka quake made him realize how unprepared he was for a major disaster.

“I’ve had to completely reconsider how to deal with an earthquake,” said Rom, who lives in Hirakata, one of the hardest-hit cities in Osaka Prefecture. “I started to put together an emergency kit and looked up where the nearest emergency shelter is. I plan to research more what to do when an earthquake strikes in different situations. I also have to think about where to store things around my apartment so that if something glass breaks, it won’t be in the way of my front door if I have to leave quickly.”

While none of his large items fell and nothing broke, he said the quake left his apartment “a mess.”

“Many trinkets flew off my shelves, many papers and books spilled out of my cabinets, food and toiletries fell into my sinks, and my washing machine and TV stand both moved forward a few inches,” he said.

Authorities recommend that residents take measures in their homes to avoid being hurt by falling furniture and broken glass, including pinning down large pieces of furniture and appliances using screws or nonpermanent methods such as tension rods and placing mats that prevent slipping in cupboards and shelves.

In the survey, 27 percent of respondents said they had taken some kind of measure to quakeproof their home.

Alison Kinoshita, who lives in the city of Osaka with her husband and three children, said she saw “things falling off walls and out of cupboards” as she and her son took cover underneath their dining table.

Afterward, the 51-year-old Australian who has lived in Japan for 25 years removed objects from the top of her furniture, fixed cabinets to the walls with screws and prepared thick-soled slippers in case of glass or debris on the floor.

“As the chances of a large quake in this region are higher now, I think I’ve prepared better than in the past,” she said, admitting that she was not ready “at all” for the 1995 Hanshin quake — her first earthquake experience.

Kinoshita was among 57 percent of respondents who said they know the location of the closest evacuation center to their residence.

Recommended list of items to include in emergency kits

• bottled water
• food
• first-aid kit
• helmets/disaster prevention hoods
• valuables (cash, bank book, health insurance card, etc.)
• face masks
• portable toilets
• thick gloves
• flashlight
• portable radio
• batteries
• mobile phone charger
• blankets
• towels
• lighter
• candles
• knife
• can/bottle opener
• paper plates/cups
• plastic forks/spoons, chopsticks

A closer look at the shindo seismic scale

The Japan Meteorological Agency has a unique seismic scale called shindo that measures the degree of shaking in the event of an earthquake. This set of numbers, ranging from 0 to 7, is different from an earthquake’s magnitude, which is a numerical value reflecting the size or energy of the temblor at its source.

The shaking and effects become greater as the number increases, with shindo 5 and 6 further divided into lower and upper levels. At maximum 7, people cannot stay standing and may be thrown into the air, while unsecured pieces of furniture are likely to topple over or be tossed up in the air and reinforced concrete walls may collapse.

The June 18 quake that struck the Kansai region had a magnitude of 6.1, while the intensity varied depending on how strong the effects of seismic movement was.

The areas nearest to the epicenter — the cities of Takatsuki, Hirakata, Ibaraki and Minoh and Osaka’s Kita Ward — registered a lower 6, which the agency describes as a level where people find it difficult to remain standing, unsecured furniture will likely fall and wall tiles will sustain damage.

Seismic intensity of upper five — where people find it difficult to move and dishes could fall out from cupboards — was recorded in some other areas of northern Osaka Prefecture and parts of Kyoto Prefecture and lower five — which may cause hanging objects to swing violently — at some locations in Osaka, Kyoto, Shiga, Hyogo and Nara prefectures.

The agency defines level 4 as felt by most people even if they are walking and likely to awake people who are sleeping and cause hanging objects to swing significantly, and 3 as felt by most people who are staying still and likely to make plates in cupboards rattle.

Many people who are not moving around can feel shindo 2 quakes, which will make hanging objects swing slightly, while only some people staying put may feel slight movement in level 1. Zero intensity is detected by seismometers but not perceptible to people. 

(Source: JT)

Neighbors and family members mourn those who died in Osaka quake

Neighbors and family members mourned Tuesday for those who died in the powerful earthquake that rocked Osaka Prefecture a day earlier, including a 9-year-old girl remembered as a bubbly child who often greeted them with a smile.

Rina Miyake, 9, was on her way to elementary school in Takatsuki, Osaka Prefecture, when a concrete wall surrounding the school’s swimming pool collapsed, killing her.

The girl, who lived with her brother and parents, had left for school 10 minutes earlier than usual on Monday to join a greeting campaign as a class representative.

“She usually left for school around 8 a.m. but told me she had to leave early since it was her turn to join the greeting (campaign),” said a 71-year-old woman who lives across the street from the girl’s family. “It’s unfortunate that the quake occurred on this day.”

Another neighbor remembered Rina as a gregarious child. “Since many cars pass close to the school, children usually walked at the side of the road,” the 69-year-old woman said. “I will miss her as she always smiled and waved to me.”

A temporary memorial was set up Monday evening in front of the school, where bouquets of flowers lined its main gate in memory of the girl.

A woman cries near a memorial adorned with flowers for Rina Miyake, 9, who was killed in the major earthquake that hit Osaka Prefecture on Monday morning when a school concrete wall collapsed on her as she was making her way to class. | KYODO

In Higashiyodogawa Ward, Osaka, Minoru Yasui, 80, was also killed when a wall collapsed in the quake.

Yasui, who lived with four other family members, had been bound for his daily practice of keeping watch over children making their way to school.

A few minutes after leaving home and immediately after greeting an acquaintance the quake struck, and Yasui, who walked with a cane, was buried under the collapsed wall of a nearby residence.

Neighbors and family members rushed to the scene, with his wife holding his hand, though they were unable to revive him.

“I feel empty. I just can’t understand how this could have happened,” Yasui’s wife, Sanae, 78, said tearfully.

His son Katsuyuki, 54, echoed her thoughts.

“We had dinner together Sunday night to celebrate Father’s Day,” he said. “I can’t make sense of my feelings.”

Yasui was known to be close to the neighborhood children and was often seen riding his bicycle in the area.

“He must’ve felt invigorated by helping keep watch over children,” Katsuyuki said.

A third victim of the quake, Motochika Goto, 85, of Ibaraki, Osaka Prefecture, died after being crushed by a bookshelf in his apartment.

He had worked for a major trading company and was known by neighbors to enjoy reading foreign books and taking strolls in the area.

“When my two daughters entered university, he gave them books. He also gave us souvenirs from his hometown in the Kyushu region. He was a kind person,” said a 65-year-old neighbor who declined to be identified.

(Source: JT)

Mexico fans set off earthquake sensors celebrating seismic World Cup win

Supporters in Mexico City watching Germany game cause two ‘artificial’ quakes during their team’s surprise win

Mexicans jumping in jubilation on Sunday shook the ground hard enough to set off earthquake detectors after their team scored a surprise victory over World Cup defending champions Germany.

The Institute of Geological and Atmospheric Investigations said highly sensitive earthquake sensors registered tremors at two sites in Mexico City, seven seconds after the game’s 35th minute, when star player Hirving Lozano scored. It called the tremors an “artificial” quake.

Fans waving Mexican flags and wearing traditional “sombrero” hats, gathered at the iconic Angel of Independence monument in downtown Mexico City, to watch the match on on a giant screen in front of a towering cathedral.

As Mexico beat Germany 1-0 in Moscow, they sang the country’s unofficial soccer anthem, “Cielito Lindo,” or “Pretty Little Sky,” a popular folksong.

At the Angel of Independence monument after the match, Rodolfo Pulido, 47, led a chant of “Mexico! Mexico! Mexico!” perched on a concrete barrier that usually separates traffic on a busy thoroughfare.

“I am incredibly happy,” said Pulido, with his girlfriend and son on a Father’s Day outing. “It’s a double gift: Mexico won and I get to celebrate with my son.”

He also said he could now dream of Mexico reaching the next stage along with 15 other teams, getting a shot at reaching the quarter- and semi-finals before the final match.

“El Tri,” as the team is called, in homage to Mexico’s three-colour flag, has failed make it past the round of 16 in the last six World Cups.

Presidential front-runner Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador offered his congratulations at a campaign event in Mexico state, telling supporters, “Just like the team won today, Mexico will keep winning.”

Fans on social media celebrated goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa’s performance, circulating memes depicting him as president of Mexico.

Others riffed on US president Donald Trump’s pledge to build a border wall between the United States and Mexico, placing photos of Ochoa guarding the goal alongside the caption “Hey! We already have a wall.”

Another popular meme depicted German chancellor, Angela Merkel, holding a phone to her ear with the text: “Donald? It’s me Angela. Please build the wall.”

Mexico will face South Korea in their next game on Saturday in Rostov-on-Dov.

(Source: The Guardian)

Deadly quake hits Osaka, kills child and two men, injures hundreds

A strong earthquake in Osaka, Japan has killed at least three people, including a child, and injured more than 200.

Airports in the area were closed for several hours, train lines interrupted and factories had to halt production.

The 6.1 magnitude quake did not trigger a tsunami warning and nuclear plants in the area are operating normally.

Japan lies in a particularly earthquake-prone region and accounts for around 20% of quakes worldwide of magnitude 6.0 or more.

Monday's quake in Osaka occurred just before 08:00 local time (23:00 GMT Sunday) north of the city.

A nine-year old girl killed by a falling wall at her school was one of three confirmed fatalities.

An elderly man was also killed by a collapsing wall while another was trapped below a bookcase at home, national broadcaster NHK reported.

'I thought my time was up'
Atsushi Yokoi, a research scientist who lives in Ibaraki-shi near the epicentre of the tremor, told the BBC he was asleep when the quake struck.

"The earthquake woke me up," he said. "It felt like strong sideways shaking and lasted about five seconds, and I stayed there until it stopped."

After sending messages to his family and friends, he went to work to check the damage to his research equipment.

"Though most public transport was still paralysed, buses were working. All the experiments planned have bee cancelled and postponed until we are absolutely sure that there's no risk of an aftershock."

Regarding the earthquake at Osaka, I am safe. But things around my desk in the office got a bit messier (the iMac in the pic was still alive when I found it landed on the floor). Some of lab facilities's got damaged, people say. pic.twitter.com/GSX7cz8XiL

— Atsushi Yokoi (@ayokoi_exp) June 18, 2018

Ibaraki-shi resident Gloria Randriamihaja was also woken by the earthquake.

"It only lasted a minute but it seemed so long. My apartment was messed up, broken glasses on the floor, fridge open.

"The whole building was shaking, I was so scared, telling myself 'Gloria this is it, your time is up.' Finally the [shaking] stopped," she told the BBC.

Several people were trapped in elevators and roads were cracked with broken pipes spilling water.

Some 170,000 houses were left without power and gas supplies to more than 100,000 homes were stopped, the Japan Times reported.

The earthquake registered as 6.1 on the Japan's quake scale, a level at which it is difficult to remain standing. The US Geological Survey measured it as magnitude 5.3.

Debris on a supermarket floor showed the impact of the quake

Both the high-speed Shinkansen and local trains suspended operations during the morning commuting hours as several smaller aftershocks followed the quake.

The tremors also affected the prefectures of Kyoto, Nara, Hyogo, and Shiga.

Japan's meteorological agency warned there could be another big earthquake in the coming days.

Trains had to stop en route and be evacuated

There are also warnings that rain and landslides will continue to pose a danger for several days.

The quake also hit several key industrial areas near Osaka with companies like Panasonic and Daihatsu saying they were suspending production at their affected sites.

(Source: BBC)