Fukushima guilty of world's worst sea contamination

A new report shows the Fukushima disaster is responsible for the world's worst nuclear sea contamination.

During the peak of Chernobyl, the Black Sea was registering 1,000 becquerels per cubic meter of water - at Fukushima's peak, it was 100,000 becquerels.

Scientists first believed the ocean would dilute it, but Al Jazeera has learned that dangerous concentrations of radioactive caesium remain.

After the accident, radioactive substances spewed out by the quake-stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant have likely spread to western Japan and Hokkaido, according to a team of Japanese, U.S. and European scientists.Their findings were published in the Nov. 14 online edition of the Proceedings of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences.

Japan’s science ministry said radioactive contamination spread only as far west as the areas near the border between Nagano and Gunma prefectures. However, it conceded there was a possibility, albeit small, of contamination west of that line.

Monday, (December, the 5) the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) said that around 45 tonnes (45 cubic meters) of water contaminated with radioactive substances caesium and iodine had likely run into the ocean from a gutter into which water had leaked from a condensation.

According to TEPCO manager, the leaked water contained 16,000 becquerels per litre (16,0000,0000 becquerels per cubic meter) of radioactive cesium 134 and 29,000 becquerels (29,0000,0000 becquerels per cubic meter) of cesium 137, surpassing government safety limits by 267 and 322 times respectively.

Power plant workers used sand bags as an emergency way to prevent further leakage, but it could take up to three weeks to know the real amount of leaked radioactive water.

Local media reports said the contaminated water may also contain other radioactive substances such as strontium, known to cause bone cancer in humans.

The deadly Indonesian volcano erupted Wednesday

Indonesia's lethal active Merapi volcano erupted Wednesday, after spewing lava and smoke for more than a week. The volcano's first blast came a day after a major earthquake hit the country, triggering a tsunami and killing hundreds

The deadly Indonesian volcano erupted Wednesday with its biggest blast yet, shooting searing ash miles into the air as soldiers hastily evacuated villages and emergency shelters.
One scientist warned the worst may be yet to come.

Women screamed and children cried as they were loaded into trucks while rocks and debris rained from the sky. Several abandoned homes were set ablaze and the carcasses of incinerated cattle littered the scorched slopes.

Serbia: At least two killed after 5.6-magnitude quake

An earthquake struck Serbia early Wednesday, killing two people, wounding dozens and inflicting substantial damage on the city of Kraljevo where electricity and other services were cut, reports said.

The 5.6-magnitude quake hit at 1:56 am (0056 GMT) with its epicentre 10 kilometres (six miles) north of Kraljevo in the centre of the country, the Serbian seismological institute said.

B92 television reported that emergency services in Kraljevo treated dozens of wounded.

The city was badly damaged, Tanjug reported. It was plunged into darkness as power was cut while phone lines and water supply were also severed.

The Kraljevo hospital was also damaged, notably its operating theatres.

The quake was felt across the country, including the capital Belgrade about 150 kilometres north of Kraljevo.

Indonesia: Mount Merapi's eruptions and tsunami killed more than 400 people

The number of dead in the remote Mentawai islands rose to 370 Thursday, after assessment crews reached more villages and inlets that were inundated by waves following Monday's 7.7-magnitude earthquake off the coast of Indonesian Sumatra. Hope was fading that many of the 300 or more people still missing would be found alive, as relief crews continued to find corpses scattered across roads and coastal areas. Some bodies likely were swept away to sea, officials said.

Local Indonesian authorities hold a funeral for victims of Mount Merapi's first eruption even as a second is underway.

Meanwhile, on Indonesia's more heavily populated island of Java, the volatile volcano Mt. Merapi began erupting again, two days after it killed at least 33 people. There were no immediate reports of new injuries or damage from Thursday's clouds of hot ash. Many residents in the area had already been evacuated, with many now living in temporary refugee camps.

Maridjan, Mount Merapi's spiritual guardian dies in Indonesia eruption

Mas Penewu Surakso Hargo, better known as Mbah Maridjan ("Grandfather Maridjan")was the spiritual guardian[2] or "gatekeeper" of the Indonesian volcano Mount Merapi. For 33 years, Maridjan spoke to Mount Merapi, appeasing its unpredictable spirits by throwing offerings of rice, clothes and chickens into the volcano's gaping crater.

Many villagers took his word -- not that of government officials or seismologists -- as the last on when it would erupt. And the 83-year-old did appear to predict the volcano's latest eruption, which killed 33 people this week, but did not heed the warning himself.

His rigid body was found Wednesday, prostrate on the ground in the typical Islamic prayer position and caked in heavy white soot.

When he was 50, Maridjan inherited the position of "key holder" of the mountain from his father, receiving the official appointment from the sultan of Yogyakarta.

He was believed by many to have the ability to speak directly to the mountain and led ceremonies every year to hold back its lava flows by throwing rice, clothes and chickens into its dome.

Many villagers saw him as a hero, believing him over government officials and seismologists when it came to determining Merapi's danger levels. But he was a constant source of frustration for those tasked with overseeing evacuations.

Indonesia: Volcanic eruption claims 25 lives

Rescuers scoured the slopes of Indonesia's most volatile volcano Wednesday after it was rocked by an eruption that spewed clouds of searing ash, killing at least 25 villagers including an old man known as the mountain's spiritual gatekeeper.

The blast eased pressure that had been building up behind a lava dome perched on the volcano's crater, but experts said the worst may not be over. The lava dome could unleash deadly gases and debris if it collapses.

Mount Merapi, which translates as "Fire Mountain," has erupted many times over the last 200 years, often with deadly results. In 1994, 60 people were killed, while in 1930, more than a dozen villages were incinerated, leaving up to 1,300 dead.

Still, as with other volcanoes in Indonesia, many people call its fertile slopes home. More than 11,000 live near Merapi.

Strong 6.9 earthquake shakes Mexico's Baja California peninsula

Experts from the US Geological Survey said a powerful 6.9 magnitude earthquake today struck off the coast of Mexico's Baja California peninsula. The quake struck at 11:53 am (1753 GMT) at a depth of 10 kilometers, the USGS said.

The earthquake epicenter was in the Sea of Cortez between the coast of the Mexican mainland and the southern end of the Baja peninsula, 105 kilometers south of the city of Los Mochis and 140 kilometers north-east of La Paz, Baja California, the USGS said.

There were no immediate reports of injuries. The Pacific Tsunami center said the quake had not triggered a tsunami but could cause local waves.

The same region was hit by three moderately powerful earthquakes ranging in magnitude from 5.5 to 5.8 Tuesday night and early Wednesday, but they caused no known damage.

Alberto Montoya Rodriguez, who runs the losmochis.com said it seemed to shake for more than a minute, sending him and his neighbors into the streets. "There was a lot a panic, but there was no damage beyond, just a big scare.", he added.

Hotels and public buildings in the cities of Guasave, and Los Mochis and Culiacan were evacuated, Telemundo in Los Angeles reported. Some damage was reported in Los Mochis, but its extent was unclear. Alejandra Cruz, a worker who answered the telephone at the Best Western Hotel in Los Mochis, said employees and guests were evacuated but returned to the building shortly after.

Millions of Californians preparing to stage earthquake drill

Millions in California are preparing to take part in a mass earthquake drill to simulate their response to the Big One, the long-feared major temblor expected to one day hit the US West Coast state.

At exactly 10:21 am (1701 GMT) on Thursday, October 21, 7.8 million of locals have signed up online for Thursday's drill, so they will dive to the ground, climb under desks or other cover, and hold on tight to practice the so-called "Drop, Cover, Hold On" quake response mantra. Thousands of schools, businesses and other organizations are expected to participate.

"The Great California ShakeOut" is an annual event to keep people aware of the ever-present danger of the Big One, which seismologists warn could kill hundreds, if not thousands of people.

Earthquakes are regular events in California, mostly triggered by activity along the San Andreas fault which runs through much of the western state, the most populous in the United States. Geologists estimate an earthquake capable of causing widespread destruction is 99 percent certain of hitting California within the next 30 years.

Hungary toxic sludge spill an 'ecological catastrophe' says government

Hungary declared a state of emergency in three western counties after a large reservoir filled with toxic red sludge in western Hungary ruptured, releasing approximately 700,000 cubic meters (185 million gallons) of stinking caustic mud, killing four people and injuring 120 others in what officials said was an "ecological catastrophe".

An elderly woman, a young man and a three-year-old child died in the deluge and six others were reported missing. Two of the injured were in a serious condition.

The sludge, which is waste produced during aluminium manufacture, swept cars off roads and damaged bridges and homes, forcing the evacuation of 400 residents. About 7,000 people are thought to have been directly affected by the spill.


So far, about 1m cubic metres of sludge have leaked from the reservoir. Seven towns, including Kolontal, Devecser and Somlovasarhely, have been affected near the plant in Ajka, 100 miles south-west of Budapest.

Doctors said that the injured were being closely monitored because the chemical burns caused by the sludge could take days to emerge and what could seem like superficial injuries could later cause damage to deeper tissue.

People in Kolontar, the closest village to the burst reservoir, were trying to recover their belongings but police were not letting them enter their flooded homes.


There are fears that the sludge could reach the Raba and Danube rivers and then danube ares from Serbia, Romania and Bulgaria.

Local environmentalists said the plant, which had been privatised several years ago, should have been modernised but that the company put profits first.

Robert Fidrich, of Friends of the Earth in Hungary, said: "Now we, the public, will have to pay the real bill. You can forget about cleaning up those villages … nobody will be able to live there for 10 years or more. It has affected the lives of hundreds of people."

Hurricane Alex and Gulf Oil Spill

Hurricane Alex Continues to Interrupt Cleanup

According to the shipping company that owns the clenup vessel, initial tests on a supertanker adapted to skim large quantities of oily water from the gulf’s surface were inconclusive. The supertanker A Whale was billed as the world’s largest oil skimmer. It is supposed to be able to suck up 21 million gallons of oily water a day, but stiff winds and choppy seas have made that impossible so far. Offshore oil skimming along the coasts of Mississippi, Alabama and Florida came to a stop early last week because of choppy seas stirred up by Hurricane Alex. The weather also prevented a flotilla of smaller skimmers from working.

British Petroleum’s Costs for Oil Spill Response Pass $3 Billion

For work on cleaning and capping the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and for payouts to individuals, businesses and governments, BP’s tab has climbed to just over $3 billion. The total of $3.12 billion was up from $2.65 billion a week earlier. The figure does not include a $20 billion fund for damages that BP created last month.

International assistance for Gulf massive oil spill

The State Department said in a statement Tuesday that US is accepting help from 12 countries and international organizations in dealing with the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The statement does not reveal the identities of all 12 countries and international organizations, but is cited Japan, which is providing two high-speed skimmers and fire containment boom.

More than 30 countries and international organizations have offered to help with the spill. The State Department hasn't indicated why some offers have been accepted and others have not.