Ed. note: the Swiss federal government’s entire public web site is down at noon Wednesday, so we are unable to provide links
BERN, SWITZERLAND – Switzerland’s Federal Council (cabinet) Wednesday morning approved a package of reforms for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) covering the world body’s governance and quotas. The package was approved by the IMF in December 2010 but is being implemented piecemeal as countries vote. The reforms were designed to give a stronger voice to developing economies and to redress imbalances that reflect an older world economic picture.
Switzerland’s contribution quota initially rose to 1.59 percent from 1.45 percent, but post-reform it will be CHF1.21, and Switzerland drops from the 19th largest contributor to 19th, after Korea and Australia. Its contribution from the Swiss National Bank will, however, increase significantly, from CHF3.6 billion to CHF7.3b, with the reforms doubling the ordinary contributions of countries.
The increase in contributions is the first major one since 1998, says Bern in a statement issued Wednesday, and is designed to more correctly align contributions with economies and financial flows.
Switzerland’s share of IMF votes also falls, from 1.40 percent to 1.57 in March after an initial set of reforms was implemented, and now down to 1.17. The US remains by far the largest contributor, with the largest vote, followed by Japan, Grmany, France and the UK.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Credit rating agency Moody’s has joined Standard & Poor’s in downgrading Japan’s sovereign debt, citing a lack of long-term financial stability and uncertainty about its ability to repay heavy borrowing. The move Wednesday 24 August appears to have caused little reaction among Japanese investors, who were expecting the move. There was also little reaction to the Japanese government’s move, like Switzerland’s measures in recent days, to ease the pressure on companies suffering from the high yen by providing credit lines. The yen was trading slightly higher after the announcement, reports Reuters Africa.
Links to other sites: Channel News Asia, Financial Times, Reuters
Source: US space agency Nasa (click on imag to view larger)
ZURICH, SWITZERLAND – The unusually high number of very severe weather events in the United States in April and May of this year will cost Zurich Re at least $295 million, for both Zurich North America and Farmers Re, the company says in a 20 June statement.
This initial estimate, net of reinsurance and pre-tax, will be recorded in its half-year results, which appear 15 August. It notes of the weather events that the “severity and frequency [were] well above past industry experience”.
Tornadoes are more common in the US than in any other country, with about 1,200 a year on average, according to Wikipedia.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Figures issued Thursday 19 May by the Japanese government show that after struggling in the post-earthquake weeks, the country’s economy has now slipped officially into recession, often defined by economists as two quarters running of falling GDP. Real GDP (gross domestic product) was down 0.9 percent for the first quarter, or 3.7 percent at an annualized rate, the cabinet office announced, with factory output slowing significantly.
AP reports that the quarterly figures include only 20 days that followed the earthquake in March. But it points out that with 24,000 people dead or missing, and the world’s most costly natural disaster estimated to have cost $300 billion in damages, the impact of the earthquake on the economy was massive.
The Financial Times notes that “the decline follows a contraction in the final quarter of last year and will probably strengthen calls for greater government spending on relief and reconstruction, despite widespread worries about the impact of the extra borrowing required on an already highly indebted state.”
Japan has established a 20km no-go zone around the Fukushima nuclear plant and has announced that it will impose penalties to anyone breaking the rule.
According to government sources, the fines of up to US$1,200 are necessary to protect the health and safety of the area’s roughly 70,000 residents.
Up to 60 families have returned to the area and were found living in their homes in spite of official warnings.
Reactor cooling systems at the Fukushima nuclear plant were damaged during the Tsunami that hit the country over a month ago, and have since been hit by a series of explosions which have leaked radiation into the air, ground and sea.
This Al Jazeera news report tells the story of former residents going in the no-go zone, trying to recuperate what was left behind
Link to: The Japan Times
If you are new to the region and you also have a keen affection for Japanese manga or Japanese visual arts (or if your kids do) this is a festival for you.
Four days of cosplay and of artists like: Kazuo Maekawa, Stephen Silver (of Disney’s Kim Possible fame) and Benjamin (Xiaopan) among others, will be guest stars this year.
Read GenevaLunch’s previous profile of the festival clicking here (including a photo album of the great costumes).
Location: Lausanne, Vaud
Link out: http://www.polymanga.com/
Start date: 23 Apr 2011
End date: 25 Apr 2011
The Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) over the weekend of 16 and 17 April sent robots into Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant to assess radiation and temperature levels at a safe distance from the hazardous conditions.
“Our unmanned vehicles will provide reliable, effective, first responder technology to help protect the brave men and women who are working to save lives and restore critical services,” said JD Crouch, president of QinetiQ North America Technology Solutions Group. The company has provided Japan with the Robotic Appliqué Kits, and Talon and Dragon Runner robots.
Japan raised the severity level of the disaster to that comparable to Chernobyl’s at its peak after radiation levels in the sea near reactor 2 rose to 6,500 times the legal limit Friday, up from 1,100 times a day earlier. Tepco says it aims to reduce radiation leaks in three months and to cool the reactors within nine months, the BBC reports.
The first radiation measurements showed a “harsh environment but not one that will be impossible for humans to work in” reports Association Press (AP). But the workers will only be able to stay inside the nuclear plant’s reactor buildings for short intervals, says Hidehiko Nishiyama, a nuclear safety agency official.
QinetiQ’s portable robots are used for security, defence and rescue, and to clear explosive devices. The Kits allow Bobcat vehicle attachments to be used remotely, and provide cameras, microphones and radio systems that can be operated from more than one and a half kilometers away.
Links to other sites: AP, BBC, Daily Mirror, QinetiQ North America, The Scotsman
Demonstration of the Dragon Runner, QinetiQ NA on YouTube:
The Japanese nuclear safety agency Tuesday 12 April raised the crisis level at the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant from 5 to the maximum of 7. NHK World reports the agency as saying that “large volumes of radioactive substances that could affect human health and the environment are being released in a wide area.” Crisis level 7 is equivalent to that of Chernobyl after its nuclear accident but the Japanese agency says the amount of radiation being released is one-tenth that of Chernobyl.
Fukushima has been hit by several new earthquakes, including a 6.3 one Tuesday, and the uncertainty over its future has had an impact on the Tokyo stock market. Shares fell by more than 2 percent after the latest earthquake, and the day ended with the main index down 1.69 percent on the news about the nuclear plant’s crisis level.
Links to other sites: Bloomberg, Xinhua
Successful attempts on April 6 were made to stop the leak of radioactive iodine from the number 2 reactor in Fukushima, Japan, but fears about other possible leaks remain. Since the 11 March earthquake and tsunami that triggered the damage to the Fukushima nuclear reactors, dangerously high levels of radioactivity in the nearby sea-water have been causing alarm. Radioactivity levels in the water were recently found to be 7.5 million times above the legal limit, according to CNN.
Tokyo Electric have been depositing 400,000 gallons of potentially highly radioactive water into the ocean per day, triggering anger from neighbouring South Korea. The Spanish Malaspina Expedition, which involves 400 scientists in 2 ships circumnavigating the world to assess the health of the world’s oceans, is taking a detour on its 7-month trip in order to investigate the ocean around Fukushima.
Links to other sites: Xinhuanet, CNN, The Telegraph, LA Times, Vancouver Sun
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Five natural disasters in the Asia-Pacific region in the first three months of 2011 are likely to cost Zurich Financial Services Group $500 million, the company said in a statement Thursday 31 March.
The figure represents an amount net of reinsurance and before tax. They are estimates only, the company cautions: “The full loss assessment, and therefore the ultimate cost, will take time to complete due to the extreme nature of the losses and the limited access to the damaged areas particularly in Japan but also in New Zealand.”
The five events are: the Brisbane floods, the Victoria storms and cyclone Yasi in Australia in January and February, the Christchurch earthquake in New Zealand in late February and the recent earthquake and Tsunami in Japan. The losses will be recorded in the first quarter results 2011,to be released 5 May 2011.
Japan is reviewing the possibility of completely covering the three damaged nuclear reactors at the Daiichi plant. It would be the first time anyone has tried to take such a measure. “Seawater near the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear facility’s No.1 reactor contained radioactive iodine at 3,355 times the legal limit and a spokesperson for Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said extraordinary measures must now be taken,” reports Xinhua.
Japanese TV station NHK says reporters were told Wednesday morning that while airborne radiation levels continue to decline, the seawater contamination “was the highest measured in waters off the plant. The level of radioactive iodine-131 found 330 meters south of a water outlet of the plant was 3,355 times regulated standards at 1:55 PM on Tuesday.” The station notes that the outlet is used to drain water from reactors numbers 1 to 4.
“‘The (radiation) figures are rising further,’” said the agency’s deputy director-general, Hidehiko Nishiyama. “‘We need to find out as quickly as possible the cause and stop them from rising any higher.’”
The president of Tokyo Electric Power company, which owns the plant, has been hospitalized with stress and fatigue, Japanese media report, and CNN carries an article about the “austere” living conditions at the plant.
Links to other sites: ABC Australia, Aljazeera, CNN, NHK, Xinhua
Anti-doping agency appeals Spanish court ruling on cyclist Contador
Rowing to Lausanne, home to many of the world's sports federations
Update 30 March Lauanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Lausanne’s role as an international centre for sports organizations has been highlighted in recent days with a number of decisions taken in the city at the “other” end of Lake Geneva.
The city has been much in the sports world news in recent months as doping decisions in several sports, notably cycling, have gone to Cas (Court for Arbitration in Sport). Last week the Union Cycliste Iternationale said it will contest a decision made by the Spanish cycling union to clear Alberto Contador of doping in 2010.
Contador won the Tour de France four days after testing positive, but he argued that it was due to eating contaminated meat, reports Bloomberg.
Sports Illustrated reports 30 March that Wada, the World Anti-Doping Agency based in Lausanne, has also appealed to Cas to overturn the Spanish ruling, and that Cas aims to hear the appeals and make a decision before the next Tour de France cycling race in July.
Other Lausanne decisions include:
- SportAwards has announced the shortlist for its various Spirit of Sports awards that commend athletes and sports organizations for commitment and humanitarian spirit, to those who have made an exceptional and lasting contribution “to using sport as a tool for positive social change”; the awards are handed out 8 April (Sports Features)
- The international equestrian federation, FEI, was scheduled to have a vote on reorganizing what many consider its too heavy structure at an extraordinary general meeting 15 May, but country federations have said they need more time to study the proposals and the meeting will now be used only to discuss changes; a move to reduce the 19-person bureau with a smaller board failed in 2009 (Horse and Hound)
- The IOC’s (International Olympic Committee) Swiss director general Urs Lacotte is retiring 31 March for health reasons; he has been responsible for the IOC’s administrative side (USA Today)
- China’s “impressive tally” of 12 medals at the Fina/Midea Diving World Series 2011 sealed their dominance of the sport, with European countries together winning 8 medals, at Beijing’s Water Cube (Swimming World Magazine)
- Also in swimming, Lubos Krizko, 31-year-old Slovakian who twice won at the Olympics, has been banned by Fina for two years after he failed a doping test, for taking tamoxifin, a drug used to treat breast cancer but sometimes used to hide the side effects of steroids (AP)
- The International Figure-skating Union announced 24 March that it is moving the world championships from Japan to Moscow and rescheduling them for 24 April following the earthquake in Japan (Bloomberg).
The Simpsons filtered in Europe
Japan’s northeastern corner had another earthquake just before 07:30 Monday morning, and the 6.5 quake triggered a tsunami warning, but first reports are of only mild damage. Meanwhile, the problems of containing radioactivity at the Fukushima nuclear power plant continue.
Germany‘s Pro-7 TV channel has joined German-speaking Switzerland in removing TV episodes of The Simpsons programme that have to do with Homer Simpson’s employer, the local nuclear power plant. Ed. note: French-speaking Switzerland’s TSR does not carry The Simpsons.
Links to other sites: CNN, status of Fukushima’s six reactors 28 March, Reuters fact box on earthquake’s impact on carmakers
©2011 Chappatte, distributed by Globe Cartoon. More cartoons on Chappatte’s web site. Geneva-based Patrick Chappatte works for the International Herald Tribune, for Geneva newspaper Le Temps, and for NZZ am Sonntag. All cartoons reproduced with permission.
Japan’s trade with and financial aid for Africa are likely to fall, in the wake of the massive earthquake in early March, a new report from Standard Bank in South Africa says. It notes that bilateral trade between Africa and Japan in 2010 totalled $24 billion, up 30 percent from 2009.
South Africa is most likely to be hit by a drop in trade, but Nigeria could also be affected. Sudan and Tanzania may see aid cutbacks as the Japanese economy struggles to get back on track.
Links to other sites: allAfrica, Standard Bank full report
Jump for Japan in Geneva, photo, Mr Kio: www.flickr.com/photos/igievil/
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - La Chaîne du Bonheur, a Swiss organization that collects funds for several non-profit aid agencies, has collected CHF5.13 million for Japan in one week, it said Thursday 24 March. The money is distributed to four members of the “chain”: ADRA, the Salvation Army, Caritas and the Swiss Red Cross, all of which work with local partners.
The money is being used to distribute drinking water, hot meals, food, kitchen utensils, covers and tents to people in shelters that have been set up in the two weeks since Japan was hit by a 9-point earthquake.
Several smaller efforts to raise money to help victims of the earthquake are being made in the area. Jam for Japan, for example, has 11 bands playing in 4 bars in Geneva Friday night 25 March to raise funds for Japan.
Lausanne musicians are holding a fundraising concert 30 March.
Mr Kio, a GenevaLunch photographer, captured “boys in Geneva doing parcours”, and calling it Jump for Japan, to raise money for Japanese earthquake victims.
Jump for Japan in Geneva, photo, Mr Kio
Jump for Japan in Geneva, photo, Mr Kio
Japan’s latest worries in the post-quake period concern the safety of drinking water and possible food contamination, with authorities in Tokyo recommending Wednesday 23 March that parents not give their children tap water to drink. Measurements taken showed the level to be above that considered safe for infants and children.
Scientists have taken up the debate over food and drink safety, comparing measured levels and health regulations on radiation. Science Now points to several factors that have an impact on the extent of the danger, such as the quantity ingested and the period of time during which a food product is consumed. Spinach has particularly high levels, it says, because the broad leaves pick up more radiation.
The Japanese government’s recommendations are a wise move, say several scientists, but there is little reason to panic. The Guardian quotes environmental physicist Jim Smith as saying that “Following the finding of up to 210 becquerels of radioactive iodine in tap water in Tokyo, the recommendation that infants are not given tap water is a sensible precaution. But it should be emphasised that the limit is set at a low level to ensure that consumption at that level is safe over a fairly long period of time.”
Swiss 6pm flight from Zurich to decide later if landing in Tokyo or Osaka
Home sweet home at Zurich airport, but not all Swiss in Japan are keen to rush home
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The Swiss government Sunday 20 March temporarily moved its embassy in Japan from Tokyo to Osaka, after reserving all available seats on Swiss airline flights 18, 19 and 20 March, for Swiss citizens.
The moves were part of a series of precautionary measures, with shifting winds adding to uncertainty about radiation in northeastern Japan.
Swiss Monday afternoon says its 18:00 flight from Zurich to Tokyo will leave as scheduled, but a decision about whether to land in Tokyo or Osaka will be made later. The flight stops in Hong Kong. The airline operates an afternoon and evening flight to Tokyo daily and one evening flight to Zurich from Tokyo. Planes returning are being checked for radiation and up to now the tests remain negative, says the airline.
“According to Swiss experts, developments surrounding the nuclear reactor infrastructure in Fukushima remain uncertain,” the government said in a statement issued Sunday.
The nuclear power plant re-established electricity over the weekend but staff were evacuated following unexplained smoke Monday. The smoke has since cleared, reports Reuters.
Efforts to cool down Japan’s nuclear reactors by dropping seawater via helicopter, starting with damaged reactor number 3, is not reducing radiation levels, first reports indicate.
Measurements taken 20 minutes after the Chinook helicopters made the drops from about 100 metres above the Fukushima Daiichi plant remained unchanged. The Japanese government says the military crews can remain in the area for up to 40 minutes before experiencing radiation, and in that time they will dump 12 more loads each.
Temperatures are rising at reactor number 4, according to government reports.
Swiss embassy among those suggesting citizens leave
The Japanese emperor, in a highly unusual television appearance Wednesday 16 March, urged his country’s people to retain hope in the face of uncertainty over nuclear problems and the post-earthquake rescue efforts. The death toll has now risen above 4,000 and a number of foreign countries, including Switzerland, are suggesting their citizens leave, while others such as Iraq, Bahrain and Angola are closing their embassies, reports NHK Japanese TV
CNN carries extraordinary footage by an American environmentalist whose team decided to film a town’s last moments before they rushed up a hill and out of the path of the tsunami, which arrived just seven minutes after the earthquake stopped.
(correction) Swiss team that provided rescue work and logistics is not yet back from Japan
Switzerland and Japan (GenevaLunch) – A team of 25 Swiss rescuers and nine canine units have officially finished their search and rescue operations but are still in Japan where they helped in the search for survivors after the most powerful earthquake in recorded history struck the country, leaving more than 3,500 dead and at least 10,000 unaccounted for.
Swiss SHA team in Japan looking for survivors (photo SHA)
The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) sent the team at the request of the Japanese government during the weekend following the earthquake and tsunami.
It is expected that the group will soon fly back to Switzerland but an official of the federal government confirmed to GenevaLunch on 18 March that it is not yet known when.
An earlier report indicating that the group was back in Switzerland is incorrect said Jenny Piaget, spokeswoman for the Swiss foreign affairs department.
The group was divided in two: 23 rescue specialists, including one trained in protection against radiation, worked on rescue operations while four emergency assistance implementation experts helped with logistics and operations.
The first group’s mission was to search for survivors using rescue dogs and tracking devices in the affected area.
Map provided by the SDC shows where the Swiss teams are in Japan
The specialists went to Minamisanrik, 100 km north of Sendai, where they helped local authorities and coordinated rescue operations with a United Nations team.
The second group, in Tokyo worked with Japanese authorities in on-site coordination and implementing the initial steps in emergency assistance.
The Swiss government has agreed to donate CHF1 million in support to the Japanese government.
Follow NHK TV from Japan, live coverage.
A canine unit and three Swiss SHA rescuers search for survivors(photo SHA)
Death toll rises from last Friday’s quake
A 6.0 earthquake struck southern Japan Tuesday night local time, according to Japanese media reports, but the activity has not been confirmed by Japan’s national meteorology service. The earthquake hit Shizuoka Prefecture at 10:31 pm, confirmed by local reports, including one from a Canadian journalist on CTV. Video footage shows a far shorter and less dramatic quake than last Friday’s: the Richter scale is exponential, using powers of 10, with a level 8 quake 10 times stronger than a level 7, for example.
Government reports in Japan now confirm the deaths of 3,300 people from the tsunami and earthquake 11 March.
Bern vigil, ©2011 photo Herbi Ditl on flickr.com/photos/herbivore
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Vigils were organized, mainly by Greenpeace, in several Swiss cities Monday evening 14 March, to encourage people to reflect on Switzerland’s nuclear energy policy in the wake of the Japanese earthquake that has caused damage to nuclear power plants there.
The vigils were also designed to provide a means for the public to express compassion and concern for Japan’s nuclear menace, with spreading radiation a concern.
Three hundred people came at the start of the vigil in Bern.
Background: Reuters Fact Box on radiation
Tsunami, quake official death toll at about 2,000 but 3,000 declared missing, figure for dead expected to rise sharply
The third, latest blast at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan, at 06:10 local time Tuesday 15 March, accompanied by a fire, has caused radiation leaks at a level harmful to human health, Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan confirmed later in the day. People within 20 km of the plant arer being evacuated and the prime minister warned anyone within 30 km to stay indoors.
The French Embassy, according to Aljazeera and Reuters, is warning that winds could carry the radiation to Tokyo within 10 hours. A no-fly zone has been established in a 30km area around the nuclear power plant, as experts continue to try to control problems with three reactors that shut down and appear to have suffered some damage from the 8.9 earthquake that struck Japan last week.
Tokyo Electric Power company has begun planned blackouts in several areas around the city, each expected to last a few hours, to reduce the impact on expected power shortages.
Links to other sites: Aljazeera, Japan Broadcasting Corp (Eng), Reuters
©2011 Chappatte, distributed by Globe Cartoon. More cartoons on Chappatte’s web site. Geneva-based Patrick Chappatte works for the International Herald Tribune, for Geneva newspaper Le Temps, and for NZZ am Sonntag. All cartoons reproduced with permission.
The Red Cross has created a Family Links web site to connect families after the earthquake and tsunami in Japan
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross), working closely with the Japanese Red Cross, has created a Family Links web site to help people who are seeking other family members in the wake of the 11 March earthquake and tsunami north of Tokyo.
The list of those missing, created Friday, had scores of names by Saturday. The ICRC notes on the site that if you do not find the name you are looking for, be sure to return, as names are added continually.
The areas particularly affected are the prefectures of Miyagi, Fukushima, Tochigi and Ibaraki, says the ICRC.
“People in Japan and abroad can register on the website to inform their family and friends that they are safe and provide their current contact details, while those looking for people can check the list for information. They can also register the names of missing family members and friends, encouraging them to get in touch,” the Geneva-based organization says.
The service is free and open to everyone. For those who don’t have easy Internet access or who need help using the site, the ICRC suggests contacting the nearest Red Cross office.
Prime minister declared nuclear emergency late Friday
A small amount of radiation has leaked from one of two Fukushima-based nuclear plants owned by Tokyo Electric Power Company, the firm says.
People are being evacuated from an area within 2-3km of the plant, as a precaution.
The company says the coolers at the plant have not cracked and they are not melting down, IB Times reports, after Japanese news agency reports said they could be melting down.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the US Air Force has delivered coolant to Japan as part of emergency supplies.
Japan’s prime minister declared a “nuclear emergency” late Friday when a nuclear reactor failed to cool after four nuclear power plants shut down automatically, following the 11 March major earthquake. Japanese law calls for an emergency to be declared if a cooler fails to shut down.
Links to other sites: BBC, Economic Times of India, International Business Times, Hong Kong
Update 15:15 Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The International Federations of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies has given indications of how its societies in the tsunami-affected areas, mainly Japan but also Indonesia and the Philippines are responding to the emergency. The 8.8 earthquake (some reports say 8.9), it notes, struck at 14:46 local time 11 March.
“A number of severe 6.4-magnitude aftershocks have followed.
Within minutes, the quake had triggered a tsunami that hit the eastern coast of Japan with 7-metre-high waves, which pushed inland and left a trail of destruction.
So far, at least 28 people are reported to have died, with many more injured or missing. The earthquake triggered fires and caused severe damage to buildings, leaving 4.4 million households without electricity.
The Japanese Red Cross immediately began an assessment exercise from its national headquarters and at branch level, mobilizing its staff and volunteers. The National Society deployed 11 national disaster response teams to carry out assessments and provide first aid and healthcare in the affected areas. Emergency relief planning is underway.”
Region on tsunami alert
An earthquake of this size, with the potential to trigger a tsunami, can cause waves to strike coastlines within a few minutes or even hours later. After the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, early-warning and disaster preparedness programmes were stepped up in Red Cross Red Crescent National Societies and it is these early-warning measures that have been put into full operation across the region today.”
The Swiss government announced Friday afternoon that it has offered rapid assistance to the Japanese government following the large (8.9) earthquake and massive tsunami that came in its wake Friday 11 March. It is waiting for clarification of needs from Japan before sending an emergency team of experts from the Swiss Humanitarian Aid Unit (SHA).
Telephone links with Japan are under pressure from heavy use, the Swiss government confirms, and it is difficult to establish contact with Swiss citizens who have been in the regions hit by the quake and tsunami.
The SHA is also watching developments in neighbouring countries that are affected by the tsunami, particularly Indonesia and the Philippines, Bern says.
Estimates for the death toll are now in the hundreds, but with few official figures available.
Images of the tsunami that hit Japan Friday afternoon local time are daunting for the scale of the flooding and the speed with which it has swept large areas. Reporters in Japan say telephone lines are overwhelmed by people all trying to call at the same time, making it difficult to get a clear sense of what it happening. In Switzerland, TSR is providing images. (Ed. note: if you are outside Switzerland you are likely to have trouble viewing this)
The entire Pacific Bassin is under a tsunami warning except the US and Canadian continental shorelines. Hawaii has ordered a coastline evacuation and governments are now voicing fears that entire islands may have been washed over by massive waves.
The tsunami is the largest in Japan in 140 years, since records have been kept, Reuters reports.
In Geneva, the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies is organizing relief efforts with regional Asia/Pacific offices.
The Swiss Humanitarian Aid Office is holding its first meetings to assess the needs, in contact with Japanese authorities, GenevaLunch has been told, and the Military Disaster Relief team is on standby to work with the SHA if requested.
Videos that be can viewed outside Switzerland follow the images from TSR.
Flights rail service are disrupted in the area around Miyazaki, some 1,000km south of Tokyo, the largest town near Mount Shinmoedake, at the southern tip of Japan. The volcano began erupting 27 January and scientists say they have no idea how long it will go on or how fierce it will be, but Thursday 3 February it sent up a 1.5km-high plume of smoke. There have been no major injuries but as a precaution the area around the volcano has been cut off to prevent the curious from approaching it.
These eruptions are the largest in 50 years for the volcano, part of whose claim to fame is to have figured in the James Bond movie “You Only Live Twice”.
Meanwhile, troops are being deployed to the city of Uonuma, in Niigata Prefecture along the western seaboard of Japan, which is in danger of avalanches from the four-plus metres of snow that have recently fallen there.
Links to other sites: Japan Times, NPR
Official data released 31 January shows 16% rebound
Japanese manufacturing began to recover in 2010, figures released by the government 31 January show, with industrial production up 15.9 percent for the year, after a nearly 22 percent drop in 2009. Automobiles, electronics and steel manufacturing led the rebound. It was not enough to cheer up the Tokyo stock market Monday, however, where shares fell over continuing worries about instability in the Middle East, as protests in Egypt carry on.
