National Geographic covers the Japanese tsunami

by Kraig Becker on

It is hard to believe that it has only been a week since the earthquake and tsunami hit Japan, devastating a number of areas in that country. Over that time period, the world has watched as the Japanese people have struggled to get back on their feet, while dealing with the threat of an equally dangerous disaster in the form of a nuclear meltdown. Earlier this week, National Geographic posted several updates on the situation in Japan, helping to bring a bit of clarity to what has happened there.

Nat Geo’s coverage of the Japanese tsunami and its aftermath began last week with early news and images from the scene. That was followed up with ongoing coverage of the struggles to prevent nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant. But as we all know, amazing photographs have always been the signature of National Geographic, and perhaps their most compelling coverage came in the form of an online gallery featuring 20 heart wrenching images that show the aftermath of this natural disaster.

In the wake of this catastrophe, there have been a number of charitable and relief organizations that have gone into action in Japan. Nat Geo has also put together a list of such organizations that they recommend, with information on how we can contribute to their efforts. To find out more about those relief agencies, and how you can donate directly from your mobile phone, click here.

With the amount of destruction and ruin that these disasters have brought on, it could be years before Japan completely returns to normal. Lets hope that further problems will be avoided in the days ahead, and that the country can get on with the business of rebuilding itself.

[Photo credit: Asahi Shimbun, Reuters]

How airplanes deal with radiation clouds (and why shouldn’t be worried)

by Grant Martin on

The nuclear crisis in Japan has a lot of travelers worried, with fears of radiation wafting into heavily populated areas, across the Pacific and up into the atmosphere plaguing the news wire every day.

Nuclear events of this magnitude bring a lot of variables — the type of reactor, fuel source and wind patterns can all play a role in the spread of radiation — and there are still a lot of unknowns when predicting how widely it will

Airplanes, in particular, are a particular concern because they can travel through potentially affected radiation clouds and expose their passengers to higher levels of in turn. But to what effect? The aluminum skins on most aircraft provide nearly an increased degree of protection against ambient air (not as good as lead), but radiation can still eventually seep through, and one also must consider the glass and acryllic in the windows.

There’s also the issue of circulated air throughout the cabin. This air comes from air processed through the engines, and if any radiation particles are present then it can potentially be filtered into the cabin.

In short, there are a variety of ways that a radiation cloud can potentially impact an airliner — and that’s why airlines fly around them. At present, a no-fly zone is in effect above any problematic reactors in Japan, and as the radiation cloud moves that zone will be adjusted in kind. As a result, any passenger traveling through the earthquake and tsunami ravaged country has little to fear about collecting radiation from their aircraft.

Being exposed to radiation from other passengers and their belongings, on the other hand, nobody can guarantee. Two passengers inbound from Japan into the United States were recently flagged with high radiation levels, and there are now concerns about whether or not that could have spread to other passengers and baggage.

Either way, if you have deep concerns about radiation it’s probably best to steer clear of the area. Just don’t expect your airline to cause any extended radiation exposure.

[Photo: Flickr/Joelk75]

Sprint, AT&T, Verizon and others offer free phone calls to Japan

by Scott Carmichael on

These phone companies are currently offering free calls from the United States to Japan to help get in touch with friends and family:

As many phone circuits are pretty heavily congested in Japan, try and keep calls as short as possible, or use online tools like Facebook or Twitter instead.

Know of any other phone companies offering free calls? Leave a comment below!

[Photo: AP Photo/David Guttenfelder]

Earthquake strands thousands at Tokyo Disneyland & DisneySea

by Joel Bullock on

Thousands of guests were stranded in Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea after the massive earthquake that rocked the island nation on Friday. Park employees have been giving out humanitarian aid including blankets, heaters, plastic raincoats, food, and water. While Disney has reported only a few minor injuries and minimal property damage, other reports state that the earthquake has liquefied the parking lot. Authorities suspect that shaking from the earthquake caused water from the coastline to mix with the soil. The Disney parks were built on a landfill making the parks susceptible to flooding.

According to Disney, Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea will remained closed to allow for a thorough inspection of the attractions and facilities. Inside the Magic has pictures from social media sites of the stranded guests and damage to the park. Below is a video of park guests experiencing the earthquake while they were waiting for a parade.

Travel disruptions from Japan earthquake and tsunami continue

by Chris Owen on

After the record earthquake and devastating tsunami delivered a near knock-out punch to Japan yesterday, the damage is still being assessed. The death toll is rising, fears of a nuclear disaster worsen, travel alerts have been issued and hundreds of flights have been canceled as tens of thousands of travelers have been left stranded.

In Japan, both Narita (NRT) and Haneda airports (HND) which handle international and domestic flights for Tokyo were closed Friday, leaving 14,000 passengers stranded. Sendai airport (SDJ), 300 kilomerters to the north was virtually destroyed by the tsunami. Both Haneda and Narita have reopened but it is expected that flight schedules will be affected into early next week as Japanese travelers from around the world struggle to get back home.Elsewhere, the effect of Japan’s airport failures combined with a huge increase in demand for flights into Japan have had a cascading effect on travel around the globe. Airports from Canada to London saw delayed flights as the U.S. issued a travel alert urging U.S. citizens “to avoid tourism and non-essential travel to Japan at this time.”

In Japan, it is considered poor form to take a vacation when your family or your employer needs you. Beyond the strong, immediate need Japanese travelers out of the country have to get back home, future travel plans could affect tourism world-wide for quite some time.

The U.S Department of State noted in its alert shortly after the event that “Strong aftershocks are likely for weeks following a strong earthquake such as this one.” Indeed, at least 20 aftershocks ranging from 5 to 6.8 magnitude have hit Japan, a day after the 8.9 magnitude caused mass destruction.

Getting up to speed on the problem at Japan’s nuclear power plants, Friday’s events caused concern that reactors left without normal cooling capability are on a countdown to meltdown. Hour by hour, battery backup that replaced diesel generators used in the nuclear core cooling process weaken. In a race against time, at some point radioactivity will be released if the problem is not corrected.

“The events that occurred at these plants, which is the loss of both offsite power and onsite power, is one of the rarest events to happen in a nuclear power plant, and all indications are that the Japanese do not have the situation under control,” Edwin Lyman, a nuclear expert told The Telegraph today.


It was a one, two, knock-out punch as the quake and tsunami took out the Daiichi reactor’s off-site power source and then tsunami waves disabled the backup source of power.

Beyond the melt-down concern, about a 1 million homes were reported without power.


Video and photos of the disaster both during and after the earthquake and hurricane provide little hope that travel disruptions from Japan’s earthquake and tsunami will go away any time soon.