Starship Asterisk*

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=49630 wrote:

Click to view full size image 1 or image 2

<<NASA’s Terra satellite’s first view of northeastern Japan in the wake of a devastating earthquake and tsunami reveal extensive flooding along the coast. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) acquired the top image of the Sendai region on March 12, 2011, at 10:30 a.m. The lower image, taken by Terra MODIS on February 26, 2011, is provided as a point of reference.

Water is black or dark blue in these images. It is difficult to see the coastline in the March 12 image, but a thin green line outlines the shore. This green line is higher-elevation land that is above water, presumably preventing the flood of water from returning to the sea. The flood indicator on the lower image illustrates how far inland the flood extends.

Both images were made with infrared and visible light, a combination that increases the contrast between muddy water and land. Plant-covered land is green, while snow-covered land is pale blue. Clouds are white and pale blue. The paved surfaces in the city of Sendai colors it brown.

MODIS detected a fire burning near the shore north of Sendai. The fire is marked with a red box. It is also surrounded by floods.

The photo-like true-color image acquired a few hours later shows plumes of sediment washed into the ocean along the coast and a dark plume of smoke near Sendai. Both images are from the MODIS Rapid Response System, which provides twice-daily images of Japan.>>

article wrote:Some 3,000 people within two miles (three kilometers) of the plant were urged to leave their homes, but the evacuation zone was more than tripled to 6.2 miles (10 kilometers) after authorities detected eight times the normal radiation levels outside the facility and 1,000 times normal inside Unit 1's control room.

BMAONE23 wrote:...I believe the explosion at power reactor 1 was due to steam pressure and not a nuclear type explosion; however, the steam was radioactive and, according to one report, was at a level 1000 times normal...

CBSNews.com wrote:Earth's day length shortened by Japan earthquake
Scientists say impact of massive quake has forced Earth to rotate faster

. . .

The initial data suggests Friday's earthquake moved Japan's main island about 8 feet, according to Kenneth Hudnut of the U.S. Geological Survey. The earthquake also shifted Earth's figure axis by about 6 1/2 inches (17 centimeters), Gross added.

owlice wrote:

CBSNews.com wrote:Earth's day length shortened by Japan earthquake
Scientists say impact of massive quake has forced Earth to rotate faster

. . .

The initial data suggests Friday's earthquake moved Japan's main island about 8 feet, according to Kenneth Hudnut of the U.S. Geological Survey. The earthquake also shifted Earth's figure axis by about 6 1/2 inches (17 centimeters), Gross added.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/03/ ... ml?tag=pop