Fierce Planet

Tragedy in Japan Continues

by Victoria M. Johnson

Earthquake, tsunamis, fires, aftershocks, and now a looming nuclear power plant disaster. Japan has been hammered in the last 24 hours. As the death toll rises and reports of over 700 hundred missing and thousands injured continues, we can only imagine what the survivors are experiencing.

National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) map on 11 March 2011 shows the predicted travel times of the tsunami.

The USGS reports that since the 8.9 earthquake hit Japan, at least 124 quakes magnitude 5 or higher have rattled the area. But it could be worse in the disaster-struck country. According to the New York Times, “from seawalls that line stretches of Japan’s coastline, to skyscrapers that sway to absorb earthquakes, to building codes that are among the world’s most rigorous, no country may be better prepared to withstand earthquakes than Japan.”

However, the quake has forced the closure of five nuclear power plants in Japan. Kyodo News reported at 2:00pm that radiation 1,000 times higher than normal is being detected at the Fukushima nuclear plant. MSNBC.com interviewed, Edwin Lyman, a senior scientist with the Union of Concerned Scientists. “It’s just as bad as it sounds,” he said. But Steve Kerekes, spokesman for the U.S.-based Nuclear Energy Institute, said that while the situation was serious, a meltdown remains unlikely.

The Day the World Ended

If you’re at all like me, you enjoy watching disaster films. Asteroid collisions, volcanic eruptions, mega earthquakes, are all events I love to see (fictionalized—not the real thing). Today the Syfy Channel has a disaster film marathon. With movies like NYC Tornado Terror, Category 6: Day of Destruction, Megafault, and Volcano: Nature Unleashed, scientists and regular citizens scramble to prevent the ultimate disaster that will end the world. In these films earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, or extreme weather systems threaten the world as we know it.

Earthquake Fault

I examined what it is I love so much about these kinds of movies and here’s what I discovered. There are people out there who dedicate their lives to studying our planet—disaster films give them the recognition they deserve—as it is often their expertise that saves mankind. The threat of disaster or dealing with the aftermath of the disaster brings people together, giving a sense of hope for the future, that facing the worst the planet has in store for us, we will survive. I also like that sense of survival that comes out in these films, people have to use their wits to stay alive, they have to step up and be brave and do whatever it takes to live. Another thing I enjoy is the often thought-provoking question that many of these films ask. What about you? Share your thoughts on this topic.