TOKYO—On any normal Saturday afternoon, the mall would be packed with shoppers. But this Saturday, barely 24 hours after the massive earthquake that devastated Northeastern Japan, the fashion outlets are unusually quiet—only the supermarket is crowded with shoppers.
In this Tokyo suburb of Chofu, the damage was minimal, but the aftershocks are almost constant. People are scared and unsure if they will have electricity and water—so they are stocking up on whatever they can.
Shoppers are mostly buying up foods that do not require cooking—ready-made rice, instant noodles, bread, and milk.
One supermarket in the Kita-Matsudo Station of Chiba—the next prefecture east of Tokyo—posted a notice apologizing to shoppers for not having goods on the shelves as promised in their advertisements.
“We have a deep sorrow to the victims of the Great Earthquake of Eastern Japan,” the notice reads. “We are in the difficult situation of not having the supply of goods that are in our ads. We deeply apologize and appreciate your understanding.”
The phenomenon is far from isolated. In Tsukuba, Ibaraki, a city northeast of Tokyo, Australian researcher Dr. Qiwen Yao could not find anything on the shelves of the nearby supermarkets on Sunday.
At Yao’s home, the power has been out since the quake struck near the East Coast of Honshu Island at 2:46 p.m. on Friday and was not restored until early Saturday morning.
“I could not find [bottled] water to buy—not surprised,” Yao said through instant messaging. “Nevertheless I bought some junk food that would [keep me going] for a few days.”
Yao is more concerned about lack of water than food, yet even the City Council officers do not know when the water supply will be back on. In the meantime, Yao’s unit is receiving bottled teas distributed to his building.
The water supply went out after the earthquake damaged the municipal water pipes.
“Most of the areas in Tsukuba City are out of water,” said Yao. “So the municipal office set up a few spots for drinking water. People need to go to those spots at certain times to get water.”
Even though Yao still has electricity, the government is calling on residents to save their power, and Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TOPCO) is starting rotating outages—the company’s first time to do so—on Monday, as five power plants have been shut down due to the earthquake.
Japan consumes 41 million kilowatts of electric power per day, yet the current supply can only sustain about 30 million kilowatts.
On Saturday afternoon, a blast occurred at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station’s No. 1 plant. Fears of a partial meltdown in the power complex’s No. 3 are growing after TOPCO said radiation levels around the plant have risen above the safety limit and the cooling system has failed.
TOPCO has been injecting seawater and boric acid, which absorb neutrons, into No. 1 and No. 3’s pressure vessels.
The station’s No. 2 plant’s pressure vessel now also has a higher-than-usual pressure and a temperature of 212 degrees Fahrenheit (100 degrees Celsius) instead of the normal 86 degrees Fahrenheit (30 degrees Celsius). Seawater and boric acid are on standby.
“We are taking all measures to restore power, however, we expect extremely challenging situation in power supply for a while,” TOPCO announced on its website.
By Sunday evening, more than 3,000 people have been reported dead or unaccounted for. A senior police officer in Miyagi, a prefecture located near the epicenter, said the death toll there would “certainly be more than 10,000,” according to the New York Times. In Minamisanriku, one Miyagi town, as many as 10,000 people are missing, according to The Japan Times.
Over the two days, 300,000 have been evacuated in 6 prefectures, including 180,000 from areas near the Fukushima No. 1 plant, The Japan Times reported.
Prime Minister Naoto Kan ordered the number of Self-Defense Forces personnel in quake-devastated areas to be 100,000, one of the largest deployments ever.
At Japan’s request, the island nation has received offers of assistance from 69 countries, including the United States, Canada, and South Korea; and five international organizations, including UNICEF and World Food Program.
On Saturday, Kan had a 10-minute telephone conversation with U.S. President Barack Obama.
A summary from the Japanese government stated that Obama expressed his “deep sympathy” and “mourning and grief for the victims and persons who suffered damage from Tohoku District.” He said that the United States is prepared to provide “all possible assistance” to Japan. Kan, who set up an emergency disaster headquarters right after the earthquake, updated Obama on the current situation and thanked him for his “willingness to cooperate at an early stage.”
Even though the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) maintains the earthquake was magnitude 8.9, the Japanese Meteorological Agency upgraded the quake’s magnitude from 8.8 to 9.0, which doubles its power. The earthquake triggered a 33-foot-high tsunami that swept cars, buildings, and boats miles inland.
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The March 11 earthquake, Japan’s biggest quake on record and the world’s fifth-strongest quake since 1900, occurred as a result of thrust faulting between the Pacific and North American plates.
Located in an area where several continental and oceanic plates meet, Japan is one of the world’s most seismically active areas.
Well aware of its geographical vulnerability, Japan is also the world’s best earthquake-prepared country with the strongest building standards in the world for withstanding earthquakes. Its early warning system gives the Japanese a precious few seconds to take cover.
