A 4.1 magnitude earthquake hit Southern California at 8:17 PST on Wednesday, June 13, shaking the new Cars Land attraction opening at Disneyland. The earthquake originated just outside of Yorba Linda, California but shook almost all of Los Angeles and Orange counties. Four aftershocks were reported, two of which were recorded by the US Geological Survey as being at 2.4 magnitude. There were no reports of injuries or damage from the counties’ police departments.

According to Fox News, people reported that they felt the quick, sharp jolt of the earthquake up to seventy-five miles south in Encinitas and fifty miles east in Redlands.

The US Geological Survey has also released that several other earthquakes have occurred around the world within the same twenty-four hour period. On June 14, the earthquakes that ranked higher than a 4.0 magnitude included Taiwan with a 5.2 magnitude, South of the Fiji Islands at 5.4 magnitude, the coast of Northern Sumatra with 4.7, the Turkey-Syria-Iraq border region at 5.3, and Seram, Indonesia with a 4.8 magnitude.

According to the National Geographic, an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.7 or greater has a 99.7 percent chance of hitting California by the year 2037. The US Geological Survey took three years to complete the report that has the prediction. Around three hundred fault lines run through California because it is one of the sites where the Pacific and North American tectonic plates meet.

The earthquake originated only eight miles northeast of Anaheim, California, home to Disneyland. Wednesday night, thousands were gathered at Disney’s California Adventure for the opening of Cars Land, the most recent $1.1 billion addition to the park. The new addition is built on the old Timon Parking Lot and includes a racing ride called Radiator Springs Racers and Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree that is similar to the Mad Tea Party ride.

The opening of Cars Land was occurring when the earthquake struck and Disney fans sent out several tweets about the incident. @Finding Mickey wrote, “earthquake just happened in so cal, felt at #carsland preview.”. The hashtag #JustGotScarier was used by many of the fans since Disney has been using #JustGotHappier to advertise the Cars Land opening.  Disney also tweeted (same as above) via @Mouseinfo, “Earthquake! I guess mother nature wanted to get into #carsland too.”

Image Courtesy of  Joe Seer / Shutterstock.com

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A deadly earthquake hit northern Italy on Tuesday, May 29,  just nine days after the 6.0-magnitude earthquake killed seven and left thousands of residents living in tents, cars and shelters.

The 5.8 magnitude earthquake that shook up the Emilia Romagna region Tuesday morning killed 17 and injured 200 others. The quake and dozens of aftershocks that went on throughout the night caused the amount of homeless residents to rise from 6,000 to 14,000. Churches, historic buildings and homes were affected by the earthquake, while most modern structured buildings were not damaged.

Several factory deaths added to the death toll. This brings rise to the question: why couldn’t the factories withstand the earthquake as most modern buildings in the area were able to? Investigators are set to examine how the factories were built and why they couldn’t stand up against an earthquake of Tuesday morning’s magnitude. ‘They should have remained standing, as they were modern buildings,’ Vito Zincani, Modena’s chief prosecutor, told CNN.

Rescue workers called off the search after pulling the last of the 17 bodies from the rubble that was left of the Haematronic factory in the town of Medolla, the same factory where three others were found dead from the quake on Tuesday.

At a meeting held Wednesday, May 30, Italian ministers have decided on several measures including declaring a state of emergency, and determining that June 4 will be a day of mourning. To try to reboot the economy, the government is suspending taxes in the areas affected and lowering interest rates on loans from now through the end of September. According to the press release declaring the state of emergency from the government, the cost of reconstruction will also be partly funded by a fuel cost increase. The fuel cost will be increased immediately by 0.02 EUR per liter.

“Reconstruction will begin quickly and will be done well,” said Vasco Errani, the head of the Emilia Romagna region.

After the first quake, Culture Minister Lorenzo Ornaghi said it was too early to give a full assessment of the damage, but a list of sites affected in the Emilia Romagna region is being drawn up. The cultural cost was “considerable.” But soon after the second one on Tuesday, insurers say the two quakes are totaling an estimated cost between 100 million and 700 million EUR to cover the damages.

The government has hopes that everyone will see the state of emergency for national funding at this time and is looking to be sure the Italian economy in the affected area returns to normal as soon as possible.

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In meeting with members of the UN Security Council, Haiti’s Minister of the Interior, Thierry Mayard-Paul, reiterated the top concerns of his office which are focused on implementing President Martelly’s vision for decentralization as a key to job creation throughout Haiti.

Outlining the steps the Martelly administration is taking to build a strong platform for constitutional rights and democratic governance in Haiti, the Minister stressed that his highest priority is to ensure the safe and stable climate required for foreign investments that will drive job creation.  “In order to carry out the vision of the President to create jobs through sustainable economic development and to empower local communities throughout Haiti via decentralization, we must consolidate democratic governance,” he said.

With safety and national security a top concern, the Minister pointed out that over the course of the last year, Haiti has meticulously studied the issue of the prolonged stay of MINUSTAH in the country.  Viewing the subject within the context of safety, election results, and other factors, he said the 2011 elections provided an exceedingly large mandate for the Martelly administration for the next five years, a reference to Martelly’s commanding 2 to 1 victory over his opponent.

“As a result, we are convinced that Haiti must assume the tasks of public safety and national security.  This is a long-term task that in our view begins and ends with civilian control over any security force to ensure ongoing disaster preparedness and to heighten the effectiveness of disaster mitigation efforts.”

To that end, President Martelly has established a Commission to study, in detail, the rehabilitation of Haiti’s armed forces in detail.  This Commission will provide recommendations once it has compiled its findings.

Mayard-Paul stated that the members of the Commission are not only conducting their own assessment regarding reinstatement of the armed forces, but are also consulting recognized international experts.  “We have also been speaking with heads of state and other elected officials and policy makers about this issue,” he said.

To that end, the Minister of the Interior has been visiting other Latin American and Caribbean countries to review Best Practices for Public and National Safety that have worked in the region.  “When the Commission presents its final report, we believe we will have a long-term roadmap that will enable us to achieve democratic sovereignty,” he remarked.

Other topics discussed with the visiting UN team included resolving border issues and accelerating the process of reconstruction.  The Minister expressed his appreciation for the UN peacekeeping force saying, “I’d like to thank the MINUSTAH, on behalf of the Haitian people and our government in particular, for their many years of collaboration with Haiti.”

Image Courtesy of  arindambanerjee / Shutterstock.com

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As cold winter weather brings misery for the survivors of Turkey’s October and November earthquakes, Islamic Relief USA— a relief and development organization based in the D.C. metro area— is supporting 615 children between the ages of 6 and 16 in Van province.

The 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck near the city of Van, killing 601 people and injuring 4,152.  According to the Disasters and Emergency Situations Directorate of Turkey, at least 11,232 buildings were damaged, and 6,017 were found to be uninhabitable.  An aftershock measuring 5.6 rocked the city of Van on November 9, 2011, and caused the collapse of more than 25 buildings, including apartments, two hotels, and a children’s hospital.

This project is providing the 615 children and their families with winter clothing, food, and hygiene kits. Children will receive daily food baskets for 40 days containing milk, fruit juice, sandwiches, sweet tahini bars, and seasonal fruits.  Islamic Relief also is providing hygiene kits containing two months worth of needs for 398 households, including hand soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes, shampoo, detergent for clothes, and dishwashing, shavers, diapers, and other items.

Islamic Relief USA, based in Alexandria, Virginia, is a nonprofit humanitarian organization with eight consecutive 4-star ratings from Charity Navigator. Its mission is to alleviate suffering, hunger, illiteracy, and disease regardless of color, race, gender, or creed, and to provide aid in a compassionate and dignified manner.

Islamic Relief USA aims to provide rapid relief in the event of human and natural disasters and to establish sustainable local development projects, allowing communities to better help themselves.  In 2010, Islamic Relief USA programs benefited more than 3.4 million people in 34 countries, including the United States.

In addition to its 4-star rating on Charity Navigator, Islamic Relief USA meets all of the Standards for Charity Accountability of the BBB Wise Giving Alliance, a national charity monitoring group affiliated with the Better Business Bureau system.   Islamic Relief USA is on the U.S. government’s Combined Federal Campaign charity list, and it is also a signatory to the code of conduct of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

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Sapporo Breweries announced on January 5 that it is webcasting a special commercial-message featuring narrations scripted by writer Haruki Murakami and footage produced by movie director Hirokazu Koreeda in a special advertising campaign to encourage the people of Japan to move forward despite difficulties caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake.

The web commercial is based on a series of four TV commercials aired during the Hakone Ekiden (long-distance college relay road race) on January 2-3, 2012, a nationally popular New Year event broadcast live across Japan. The race is a round trip between Tokyo and the resort town of Hakone.

Author Murakami, who found the intention of the campaign personally agreeable, wrote narrations for the TV commercials (*) featuring acts of running. A runner himself, Murakami agreed for the first time to take on writing commercial narrations. He intends to donate all of his writing fees to disaster-stricken areas through the Japanese Red Cross Society. Moreover, director Koreeda, who also agreed to the intention of the advertisement, planned and directed the commercials. The narrations were voiced by actress Yukie Nakama.

Koreeda also combined the four commercials into a 3-minute, 32-second special movie, made available on the company’s website from January 5, 2012. Visitors to the site can read Murakami’s narrations in their entirety. The webcast will be available until the end of January.

The company wishes that the special corporate ad would serve as encouragement for the future of the Japanese people, or as “tasuki” — a sash of cloth worn by ekiden runners — carrying the desire to revitalize Japan and to be passed on from the company to the people of Japan.

(*) Murakami personally wrote the narrations for the TV commercials based on his book “What I Talk about When Talking about Running: A Memoir” (available as a paperback book in the Bunshun Bunko series).

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After a 7.2 magnitude earthquake rocked Turkey on Sunday, people are scrambling to rescue those who may still be buried underneath the rubble of destroyed buildings. The southeastern region of Turkey was badly hit by the earthquake, where the death toll has soared to over 400.

Over 1,300 people have been injured because of this natural disaster. As time speeds forward, the amount feared dead is expected to rise. Thousands of buildings have collapsed due to the destructive power of the earthquake, burying people within layers of concrete and debris. The town of Van is one of the hardest hit areas in Turkey, along with Ercis.

The southeastern region of Turkey is heavily mountainous and is considered to be one of the poorest areas of the country. Turkey is located on a geological fault line that makes it highly susceptible to destructive earthquakes. 90 countries from around the world have stretched out their funds towards Turkey in hopes of rescuing potential survivors and providing aid.

Turkey’s government has held by its strong stance of providing for its own country and has only accepted the help from neighboring countries Azerbaijan and Iran. Turkey is continuously being pressured to agree to international aid as the devastation from the earthquake continues to take a toll on its citizens.

The government is receiving much criticism for not accepting international aid when hundreds of people are still missing. Many of the hard to reach areas are remote villages. Rescue efforts have not been able to travel to these areas because roads are impassable.

Typical villages in this area have houses made out of clay and mud, which are materials that are not made to withstand the powers of a 7.2 magnitude earthquake. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish Prime Minister, believes that the majority of the buildings in these remote villages are completely destroyed.

Turkey’s Health Ministry has set up a crisis center in Ankara, while the hardest hit areas of Turkey have had help from international relief organizations. 2,300 emergency personnel have arrived to the hardest hit areas of the region by Monday and continue searching for people in collapsed buildings.

Upcoming weather forecasts will undeniably play a role in the rescue efforts as overnight freezing temperatures are predicted, as well as snow. Hundreds of aftershocks have played a detrimental role in rescuing people, often making it hard to make successful rescues. Positive rescue efforts have been seen throughout the hard hit areas.

On Tuesday, an infant girl at just two weeks old was rescued with her mother and grandmother within their destroyed home. Their family was taken to a hospital in Ercis, near the town of Van, where much of the earthquake’s impact was felt. There are many organizations that are helping with the earthquake crisis and a numerous amount of ways people can donate to this unfortunate disaster.

The Turkish Red Crescent has set up tents for those who have become homeless after the earthquake, along with providing food and water for thousands. Donations are being accepted by the Disaster Relief Emergency Fund. Donations can be made on the website of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Society.

From the United States, people can donate $10 by calling (941) 907-6036 or text “SHELTER” to 20222.

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Rescue efforts are well underway in the Himalayan state of Sikkim, the epicenter of an earthquake that shook parts of Tibet, Nepal and Bangladesh on Sunday, September 17. The quake, measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale, has taken the lives of 118 people and injured many more.

Helicopters are being used to deliver food as well as relief material to affected areas within Sikkim. At least 5,000 people are being sheltered in government camps. The Teesta Hydro Electro Project employees feared dead have mostly been counted for and 400 tourists stranded in the remote North have been rescued.

“Rescue workers have now reached most of the villages that had been inaccessible since the quake on Sunday, “ said government spokesman K.S. Topgay. Power in quake epicenter Mangan (district capital of North Sikkim) has been restored, but roads beyond that have been badly affected making it difficult to reach the interior.

Medical teams are being flown in with food and medical supplies, but nine villages still remain completely cut off. Sikkim falls within Zone IV, a high damage risk zone, of the seismological map of the Indian subcontinent.

State finance minister Badal Choudhury said, “Central government should set up at least one station in each of the capitals of all the eight northeastern states with an adequate number of NDRF (National Disaster Response Force) personnel.” Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram also visited the quake-hit areas on Thursday to review the situation.

He said that the prime motive was to provide relief to the 5,000 – 6,000 survivors in camps, and to restore connectivity and water supply. The overall death toll has risen to 118, including 75 in the Himalayan state, while West Bengal has reported 15 deaths, nine in Bihar, 11 in Nepal, seven in Tibet and one in Bhutan.

Tibetan Spiritual leader, H.H. The Dalai Lama has donated 500,000 rupees to affected areas. “I was saddened to learn about the loss of life and damage to property that the recent earthquake has caused across isolated Himalayan regions, particularly in Sikkim.

I offer my sympathy and condolences to all those families, who have been directly affected by what I understand is one of the worst earthquakes in recent memory,” His Holiness said in his letter dated September 20, 2011. Hundreds of homes have been destroyed and repairs to the area will cost an estimated $22 billion.

Sikkim is the least populous area in India. Many tourists are drawn to the area for it’s Buddhist monasteries and adventure activities. Sikkim experienced a 3.8 tremor around 10:15 pm Thursday night. East Sikkim district collector D Anandan said, “People came out on the roads and were afraid to go back inside their homes.”

Unfortunately, monsoon weather continues to interfere with rescue efforts to the mountainous region.

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On 12th January, 2010 Haiti experienced a new drama. An earthquake seven points of moment magnitude shocked the country leaving after it a trail of devastation and worst of all a stealth battle of ruthless numbers.

At the beginning of 2011, one year after the disaster, the Haitian government increased the initial death toll from 220.000 over 300.000 while the international community set a number lower than 100.000. They did it unexpectedly, without any previous comment and not defining the parameters and methodology used for the estimation.

Maybe they thought two hundred were not enough to boost international aid, and a bigger new headline of misery would have helped them to raise more funds. The math is obvious for Haitian rulers: higher victims mean more pity and shame which tends to increase international aid flowing into the country.

According to Inter-American Development Bank the earthquake caused damage estimated near 14 billion dollar, more than the country GDP, and somehow they need to put pressure on international donors both to increase the amount pledged, 5.3 billion dollars, and to speed the deliver into the country up.

It is believe that Haitian government had added into earthquake victims, among other, the subsequent 200.000 cholera infected and 4.000 dead. A rate that is still growing as of March 2011 rises to 300.000 with 5.000 deaths reported by WHO.The first cholera case appear months after the earthquake, it was reported on 14 October 2010 in the department of Artibonite, the country largest department located in the north-west side of the island, from where the disease quickly spread through Artibonite Rive affecting other departments.

Cholera is an infection of the intestine caused by a bacterium that causes diarrhea and vomiting which in severe cases can lead to death by dehydration due to an untreated patient may produce 10 liters of diarrheal fluid a day. The last cholera epidemic in Latin America started Peru in 1991, during the 7^th pandemic and after reach other countries but not Haiti, a country with none recorded cases previous 2010.

The earthquake caused massive population movements inside the country as in Cité l’Eternel, a neighborhood in Port-Au-Prince, home for tens of thousands of families who live crammed together in tiny shacks with no running water or proper sewage facilities. The mounds of garbage and the open sewers full of human waste are breeding grounds for cholera, typically transmitted by either contaminated food or water.

After a rapid spread the worst part took place between mid November and January, usually with more than 10.000 cases per week throughout the country, uncontrollable sometimes like the first week of the year when 14.000 cases just in Port-Au-Prince were reported.

While all this misery happens in Haiti, in the neighboring Dominican Republic were just 200 reported cases during the whole year, confirmed along the borderline, a gap which can be explained by their citizens’ wealth.  The GDP per capita is eight time higher in Dominican Republic than in Haiti, where just 96 dollars per year an person can be spent in health care.

Thus creating a risk profile for cholera within a population where 60 percent suffer from prevalence of undernourishment, 40 percent has no access to improved drinking water and just 20 percent has access to improved sanitation before the earthquake. The World Health Organization states also that cholera is one of the key indicators for social development.

While the disease no longer poses a threat to countries with minimum standards of hygiene, it remains a challenge to countries where access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation cannot be guaranteed. Almost every developing country faces cholera outbreaks or the threat of a cholera epidemic. As it can be imagined Africa nations head the rank.

With this outlook after the earthquake just NGOs were able to contain the epidemic, but it should be emphasized that dying by cholera is not easy with a minimum sanitation care. Around 75 percent  people infected do not become ill, but when illness does occur, 80 to 90 percent of episodes are of mild or moderate severity which can be treated with a simple treatment of oral hydration solutions, mere sugar and salt mix to be ingested costing about 10 cents the sachet.

For severe dehydration cases intravenous rehydration is necessary with mortality rate lower than 1 percent but untreated it raises over 50 percent. Moreover currently in the market two preventive vaccines are available; Dukoral and Sanchol, both with a protection close to 8o percent for the first two years and a cost between 1.50 to 5 dollars a dose.

Still, the cruel reality is that there is no money for everything and priorities have to be done. That is why some experts argue that a vaccination campaign would be neither feasible nor cost-effective, and advocating putting forth other measures. According to UNICEF NGOs have been deploying several initiatives to prevent, contain and reduce the epidemic.

In partnership with the Ministry of Health they are working to raise awareness about cholera through radio, television and text messages targeting at least 80 per cent of the population.

Through neighborhoods they have been putting up posters to help teach people how to protect themselves and giving information about the disease in schools, health centers, market and even door to door, with an aim to ensure that households have at least one person who knows how to prevent cholera and what to do in case symptoms occur.

Furthermore they install public water points where water tankers provide free and pure potable water where water purification tablets and soap are free handing out too. Without this facilities cholera spreading would have been unstoppable because in water kiosk 5 gallons of drinkable water cost up to one dollar when most of the population is surviving with less than a dollar per day, so is unaffordable for almost everybody.

A complete sanitation and potable water system for 1000 people during a year costs 18.000 dollars or more, so many times is too expensive as well. That is why they seek for other sustainable alternatives like wells, another effective and cheap way to allow easy access to safe water. After the well is constructed the NGOs put in charge a different committee for each site to makes sure it keeps running effectively.

Owing to the lack of resources NGOs try to do their best in a very difficult situation. Now that media focus has been diverted to the nuclear crisis Japan and Somalia famine the donatives have been critically reduced and foreign aid tends to displace to hot points. Under these circumstances nobody can be sock by the macabre game played by Haitian government.

Headlines are more important now than ever to keep the attention over a country where still 600.000 people live in displacement camps and 40.000 new cholera cases per month. Unfortunately more people are dying by starvation in Africa and like in a Machiavellian chain this triggers off mass media interest; giving television, radio and press space.

The chain continues with international donors, as foundations or governments seeking for recognition or NGOs seeking for promotion, increasing their efforts in the hot spot and therefore reducing staff and money from other projects. Likely the organizations in Haiti will be able to steadily reduce the monthly cholera cases and deaths into a situation under control, but not capable of eradicating it.

The country is struggling right now against a new endemic disease, they can win or they can lose and resign themselves to counting dozens of deaths per month. Everything depends on international help, Haiti is totally crippled, but these days developed countries are bailing banks out with tons of dollars used to make up a financial balance instead constructing a well for potable water that actually could save lives.

Image Courtesy of  http://www.flickr.com/photos/britishredcross/

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A tsunami was expected to hit Alaska on Friday morning, with a warning in effect, but was soon cancelled. The U.S. Geological Service issued, and later cancelled the warning for the Aleutian Islands of Alaska.

According to the Associated Press, “a 6.8-magnitude earthquake in the Pacific Ocean prompted a brief tsunami warning early Friday morning for Alaska’s Aleutian Islands.”

Shortly after the quake struck Friday morning, the Alaska Tsunami Warning Center warned the public of possible dangers ahead. “A Tsunami Warning is now in effect which includes the coastal areas of Alaska from Unimak Pass, Alaska (80 miles NE of Dutch Harbor) to Amchitka Pass, Alaska (125 miles W of Adak),” the center said.

Late Friday morning, the local tsunami warning was cancelled. “No destructive tsunami has been recorded, and No tsunami danger exists along the coasts of the U.S. west coast states, Alaska, and British Columbia. Local authorities can assume all clear upon receipt of this message,” the West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center said.

The AP said the warning was cancelled after only a small wave was recorded in the community of Atka, Alaska.”In Atka, they had a little bump of a wave, but nothing of any kind of a destructive power. Just a wave,” said Jeremy Zidek, a spokesman for the Alaska Department of Homeland Security.Residents were evacuating to higher ground in Atka but then stopped at the cancellation, Zidek told the AP.

According to the United States Geological Survey, the quake caused no injuries or damage. The temblor was so quiet that most people in the city did not realize that a quake had occurred. People in this quake-prone region are more than accustomed to the ground shaking, the Los Angeles Times reported.

On Sunday, an article by the AP reflected on the weather woes the United States has recently faced. “Nature is pummelling the United States this year with extremes.” Record setting heats, droughts, deadly tornadoes, river overflows, blizzards, and a recent tropical storm that cost $35 billion in damages are the events that characterize the U.S. recent weather patterns.

“I’m hoping for a break. I’m tired of working this hard. This is ridiculous,’’ said Jeff Masters, a meteorologist who runs Weather Underground, a meteorology service that tracks strange and extreme weather.

“I’m not used to seeing all these extremes all at once in one year.’’  While the quake in Alaska Friday turned out to be minor and a tsunami never developed, it’s still another weather incident to add to the U.S.’s action packed year of weather.

gmwnz / Shutterstock.com

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The U.S. east coast has been hit by a strong earthquake this afternoon. The earth quake was centered in Charlottesville while another quake occurred in Colorado, with a preliminary magnitude of 5.3 and centered about nine miles from the city of Trinidad  at 11:46 p.m. local time. The quake reached Greeley, and all the way into Kansas and New Mexico, said Julie Dutton, a geophysicist at the National Earthquake Information Center in Golden, Colo.  There have been no reports of injuries or widespread damage.

Update at 1:57 p.m. ET: The Associated Press reports that the Pentagon is being evacuated.

An apparent earthquake rocks Washington, D.C. area.

Fox news reports that several public buildings, including the Capitol, have been evacuated.

Update at 2:18 p.m. ET: In “the East Coast you have this old hard, cold crust that does a lovely job of transmitting the waves,” says Lucy Jones, a seismologist with the U.S. Geological Survey. “This large of an earthquake …. could definitely have been felt hundreds of miles away.”

Update at 2:16 p.m. ET: Fox News reports that JFK airport has been shut down because of the quake.

Update at 2:15 p.m. ET: “It scared the heck out of me, I’m still shaking,” said Joan Morris, spokewoman for the northern district of the Virginia Department of Transportation. A few minutes after the quake, there were no reports of damage to roads or bridges in the state, Morris said.

Update at 2:13 p.m. ET: The USGS now puts the magnitude of the quake at 5.9.

Update at 2:12 p.m. ET: The quake could be felt in McLean, Va., headquarters of USA TODAY. It caused the building to sway. Some items could be heard falling from shelves. A number of employees went left the building.

Update at 2:10 p.m. ET: NBC reports that the quake was centered nine miles from Mineral, Va., which is 100 miles south of Washington, D.C.

Says Doug Kammerer, meteorologist with the NBC affiliate in Washington, calls the tremor a “very big earthquake for our area.”

Updates by USA Today

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Since Japan saw March’s devastating earthquake hit, the island nation has been focusing on securing its energy supply with a focus on electric vehicles. With the Fukushima nuclear plant knocked out and many other plants affected by what has been called the worst earthquake in 300 years, widespread blackouts became common throughout the country. In response, off-the-grid electricity sources have become increasingly favored to prevent future failures.

According to the National Police Agency of Japan, the 8.9 Richter scale earthquake and tsunami that hit the Pacific coast of Tohoku severely affected five of the country’s top companies. Toyota Motor Corp., Sony Corp., Honda Motor Co.,  Nissan Motor Co. and Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. were the top five which suffered setbacks.

Nissan, the creator of the all-electric Leaf, has taken action by developing a solar charging system which stores its power in the Leaf’s lithium-ion battery. The automaker has installed 488 solar panels so far at its Japan headquarters which will provide enough power for 1,800 Leafs for a year.

Nissan suspended its operations at six plants immediately following the earthquake. Due to damages and small fires which broke out at the Tochigi and Iwaki Plant, restorations took place lasting longer only at the Iwaki engine plant which was in the quake zone. Production restarted March 24 with almost 1,300 Infiniti models lost due to damages during the quake.

While the company’s shares lost 10.1% following the wake of the earthquake, it has regained strength in shares as well as in the development. In a joint venture with Sumitomo Corp, Nissan plans to reconstruct its electric car batteries when they are traded then resold as power storage units. Plans to implement this project are estimated to begin in 2016.

“These batteries can be useful as back-up power for homes when there’s an outage,” said Takashi Sakagami, head of the joint venture, 4R Energy Corp.

In addition to helping household energy security, a second life for old car batteries is also made possible. The batteries are high capacity and composed of various heavy, precious and rare metals which would be problematic to dispose.

Increasing technology of electric cars provides an advantage that is not only beneficial to the environment but also to Japan’s energy security. With electric vehicles, each household could potentially have its own mobile power source in the event of another disaster which disables access to mass produced power.

Big power consumers on the eastern side of the island are now required to cut power use by 15 percent and households have been directed to do the same.

Other automakers in Japan are developing their own methods of bringing energy security from the car to the home. Mitsubishi Motors is developing a portable converter which will allow electric vehicles to power household electronics. Toyota is developing batteries for direct home use to power a project known as the “Toyota Home.”

These model homes will manage power usage, tap into solar power and store excess power in the batteries for night-time use. It is estimated by Toyota’s project manager, Hiroshi Okajima, to be available by the end of 2013.

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Prior to the earthquake that rocked Japan, sending tsunamis of destruction and killing thousands of residents, something else strange was happening.  There was a dramatic increase in UFO activity.

It began about three weeks before the massive quake hit, the fifth largest ever since human kind began recording the intensity of earthquakes. A UFO fleet was spotted by witnesses while it moved over Japan’s Mount Fuji before the individual crafts spread out across the area.  The event, although easy to dismiss by skeptics, was reported in all seriousness by China’s main government news agency, Xinhua.  But, western media ignored the event.  There is video of the UFOs.  It is difficult to really see much.  There are certainly bright white objects in the day sky that appear to be floating around, unlike a plane.  But, the image never becomes very clear.  There are numerous witnesses to the event, though, that all describe similar objects in the sky.

Shortly after that sighting, there were further UFO sightings around Japan.  Footage of a single UFO was captured days later.  The mysterious object is shaped like an orb and seems to be metallic.  It appears to travel slowly, going in and out of the clouds.  Another UFO fleet was filmed just days before the massive earthquake.  The video captured of the fleet appears very similar to the earlier footage.

Some speculate that they can see UFOs even on news coverage of the earthquake and tsunami.  Two videos seen here and here purport that a UFO is flying past the cameras, although I was unable to see much.

Throughout the region covering Asiatic Russia, China and Japan, mysterious objects have been seen over the skies in the last few months at an alarming frequency. Japanese UFO researchers have suggested in the past that a wormhole exists in the vicinity of Mount Fuji and UFOs are entering Earth’s atmosphere through it.  Some researchers have suggested a possible connection between UFOs and earthquakes.

Whatever is going on, it is startling to realize that our natural disasters are becoming bigger and more extreme.   Whether it is because of climate change, alien invasions, or end times—it certainly seems to suggest something bigger is on its way.

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Recently the most powerful earthquake to hit the nation in recorded history struck Japan. It did not only end there but instead set free to a tsunami. The 8.9- magnitude earthquake struck the coast of Japan killing hundreds of people.

According to CNN, Andy Clark a witness outside Tokyo mentioned how “the earth shook with such ferocity”. He himself had started to get used to earthquakes during his 20 years in Japan. Clark terrified “thought things were coming to an end”.

The damage caused by this earthquake collapsed building and ignited fires, killing and misplacing tens of thousands of people. The approximate number of people missing has not yet been revealed. Kyodo a news agency reported how the death told would pass 1,000. Around 60,000 to 70,000 people were being evacuated.

CNN mentioned how the “quake toppled cars of bridges and into waters underneath. Waves of debris flowed like lava across farmland, pushing boars, houses and trailers in their path”. This was not it the quake also affected air travel. Kyodo the news agency in Tokyo mentioned how 13,00 people were stranded at the Narita airport and 10,000 at the Haneda airport.

But is this the end of it? Is Japan ready for a similar disaster?

The “Great Tokai Earthquake” is a predicted disaster southwest of Tokyo. Japan indicates how it has spent trillions of yen preparing for this disaster. The country has warned its citizens since 1976, about a 8.0 quake, which would be off the coast of Shizuoka prefecture, which is located about 100 miles southeast of Tokyo.

The cause of this earthquake is a build up from over 150 years. Since there has not been a major earthquake along the plates that collide off the Shizuoka’s coastline, the building up of the energy for a really long time will eventually release in an earthquake. This warning has already been mentioned to the citizens of Japan. Instead they have been handed a 14 PG guidebook by the Japanese government on the Tokai earthquake theory. Earthquakes have not been a surprise to them, but this one was. Scientists cannot particularly predict when an earthquake will occur in Japan, but they can be very certain about where it will occur.

Geophysicist Morgan Moschetti with the National Earthquake Information Center mentions how “generally we can give ideas where this will happen based on history… but… we can’t predict the times of earthquakes”. He also mentions how they can predict how every earthquake has a potential of releasing many after shocks. The one that just took place on Friday still has a potential of releasing many other after shocks.

Japan’s tendency of earthquakes is a cause of its location. Which is located in an area where several continental and oceanic plates meet. Japan-guide mentions how “if earthquakes occur below or close to the ocean, they may trigger tidal waves, tsunami”.

Is Japan prepared for another one?  Is Japan a safe island to live on?

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