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When the horrific Japanese earthquake hit in March 2011, everybody and anybody with a camera of any sort captured every possible image they could. The result is an incredible, ever-growing ensemble of pictures and videos that tell a story that no person could ever have conjured or conceived of.

People all over the world watched television in absolute horror as the news about the earthquake was broadcast on Friday March 11, 2011. Every television and radio channel had some sort of coverage of what is now know to be one of the largest and most devastating quakes in recorded history; the worst ever in Japan.

Television and both online and printed media shared (and continue to share) hundreds of thousands of earthquake pictures that showed the terrifying reality of the ongoing Japanese catastrophe. Within an hour enormous waves could be seen sweeping away cars, boats, buildings, people, animals… Millions of people stayed glued to their television sets and computers, watching tsunami pictures in horror.

Even though the capital, Tokyo was not even vaguely as hard hit as towns and villages in the northwest, people were evacuated from buildings. Others were trapped in high rise buildings where a lack of electricity prevented them from using elevators. The latter, some of whom were interviewed on television, were totally unaware of the devastation that was mounting in their country. They had no way of seeing the vivid earthquake pictures or tsunami pictures the rest of the world was watching.

Pictures are, of course, the most powerful images we have for both education and posterity. The ultimate irony in the aftermath of this natural disaster is that people – both survivors and rescuers – are now searching for photographs that, for some, will be the only tangible memory of loved ones who have died.

Sadly, and ironically, the pictures that have emerged from this horrible natural catastrophe not only record what we want to keep in our minds. They record a terrible history.

But there are those who don’t want to see any tsunami or earthquake pictures. Japanese AFP reporter Miwa Suzuki wrote a heart-rending article about how her 67-year-old mother, Takako Suzuki was searching every day for her (Miwa’s) sister. At the time the tsunami hit, the woman was thought to be at home in Ishinomaki, a fishing village that was virtually annihilated.

She quoted her own mother:

“I don’t read newspapers. I don’t listen to the radio. They are talking about horrible things. Why do I have to know more when I’ve seen enough myself?”

The latest information about the 2011 Japan earthquake is dismal.

According to earthquake information released by the Japanese Government and other officials, the overheating reactors in the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant have not been stabilized in spite of ongoing emergency action. People are beginning to think it is doubtful whether they can be stabilized at all, even though the United States and Germany have now committed to send in robots in an endeavor to repair damage.

Iodine contaminating the ground water around the plant is more than 10-million times the legal limit. Radiation measured in water that has settled in an underground tunnel close to the Japanese nuclear reactor is 10,000 times the “normal” and acceptable level. Radioactive water is also reportedly leaking slowly into the sea. This fact has been confirmed by the Japanese prime minister Naoto Kan who has been regularly updating citizens about the March 2011 earthquake in Japan that has ravaged the north of the country.

Now not only is the search for bodies being hampered by this terrifying, unseen radiation, but traces are being found in a variety of foodstuffs including milk and vegetables. It has also been reported in earthquake information press releases that radioactive caesium has been found in beef.

On April 1 Naoto Kan committed to what he called a “long-term battle” to stabilize the plant. Additional earthquake information he released that same day included:

• The Government would decide on the extent of additional budget required for earthquake relief by the end of April.
• It was imperative for officials to discuss and reassess its nuclear energy policies. These, he said, should be based on the ongoing Fukushima disaster that was caused by the most powerful Japan earthquake in 2011, and worsened by the ensuing tsunami and frequent aftershocks.
• Tepco (the Japanese power company) should not be taken over by the government, in spite of earlier hints that it would be.

Meanwhile a subcontractor who worked in the badly damaged nuclear plant has described how the machines and cranes in the plant shook violently during the earthquake that hit Japan mid-March. After checking that all his employees were safe, he says he sent them home and got into his vehicle and drove out of the area as quickly as possible.

The man, who has not been named, said he had a television in his car and turned it on to get any earthquake information that was available. He saw the tsunami warning but was not prepared for the kind of devastation that followed. Even though they all knew the nuclear plant, which was commissioned way back in 1970, was old, he said he was shocked at the degree of damage the massive magnitude 9.0 earthquake had caused.

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Electricians attempt to connect power to buildings that remain standing in Minami Sanriku.

As the Japanese government attempts disaster recovery in that part of the country devastated by recent catastrophes, the continued threat of radiation and fuel shortages are hindering their efforts.

Numerous areas have been completely annihilated and are completely unrecognizable. Some towns and villages are still under water that is threatening to become a source of disease. Hundreds of thousands of people are homeless. Even though they have been provided with some type of cover, most live in miserable conditions with little food and fresh water, often without any electricity and decent sanitation. The hospitals are filling up with survivors whose health is threatened by these circumstances. Could it get worse? In short, yes!

Now there is the increasing horror of radiation from the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant. It has been reported that plutonium, which is highly toxic, is seeping into the soil outside the damaged plant. Radiation in the sea near to the plant is reputedly at least 3,000 times higher than legal limits. Radioactive materials have even been identified in vegetables grown in the area. Sadly, it seems that it actually can only get worse as television and radio stations, and websites elaborating on both earthquake information and tsunami information keep telling us.

This horrible saga all started with the devastating March 11 earthquake – the worst in Japanese history. Then came the tsunami, with waves as high as 30 feet or 10 meters, along with a series of severe aftershocks. Then the radiation caused by the plant that was damaged both by the earthquake and the tsunami loomed its evil head.

Any one of these three disasters has the capability to cause a humanitarian crisis. But all three combined have caused so much suffering and chaos it is difficult for anyone to apprehend.

In spite of this, both the rescue effort (now for bodies and personal property rather than survivors) and disaster recovery continue in earnest. At the same time, the Japanese government and international agencies continue to do everything possible to get medicines, clothing, fuel and shelter to survivors.
On March 31 the Red Cross announced that the number of people in shelters had dropped by half from 500,000 to less than 250,000. It was not clear how many of these people had been transferred to hospitals. It is also not immediately obvious where the others are now living, or if some had died as a result of the trauma they have undergone.

At the end of March it was also reported that about 1-million people were still without running water. This is, of course, one of the most serious implications for disaster recovery. If the continuation of the technological infrastructure is going to become a reality in the stricken districts, the service of running water needs to be renewed immediately. Clearly that isn’t going to happen. Even with the stricken nuclear plant, it appears that the renewal of electricity will be an easier task than providing water supply to areas that don’t currently have any.

The impact on industry has also been severe, with companies like Toyota and Honda shutting down production, if only for a limited period of time.
Unfortunately the human and financial resources required to adequately repair the quake-destroyed infrastructure is huge. Only time will tell what the full economic and human impact is going to be.

The disaster recovery program includes providing banking customers with services, even if it means working outdoors.

People are rescued in Ishinomaki City. They are amongst the lucky ones.

Three weeks after the tragic 2011 earthquake and tsunami hit the shores of Japan thousands of military personnel are searching the country’s north eastern shorelines for bodies. In a concerted effort, more than 100 American and Japanese aircraft, along with dozens of ships, all manned by experienced military personnel, are involved in the new search which is unlikely to be followed by any live rescue.

According to tsunami information released by various television stations, this is a grim but necessary task. At the same time there are growing fears that survivors will fall prey to water-borne and other forms of disease. Unfortunately, the vast quantities of mud and water in the stricken areas continue to increase the possibility of sickness and disease.

Sanitation is a primary problem in the overcrowded centers where survivors are being sheltered. In some evacuation centers all they have to boil water are open fires. While most of the homeless survivors have been provided with mattresses and blankets, it is cold and miserable. In some instances there isn’t electricity or running water. Earthquake pictures show flooded buildings with toilets and basins that are filthy. Tsunami information provided online and in all other forms of media, confirms that this is indeed commonly the case.

According to volunteers, there simply are not enough personnel to help all those who are in desperate need of care. It has been reported on international television that many of those living in temporary evacuation centers have become sick and have had to be admitted to hospitals.

By April 1, exactly three weeks after the earthquake and tsunami struck, more than 16,000 people were still unaccounted for, and a total of about 11,500 confirmed dead. It is believed that many bodies have been swept out to sea. But with the low spring tide at the beginning of the month, those searching for bodies and remains have the opportunity to scour the shoreline which has, until now, been submerged.

There is also grave concern about radiation, and as a result the current search is not going within 30 km of the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant.

All those who are still alive can do is keep watching and listening to all the tsunami information that is supplied by the authorities and international organizations.

Available tsunami information includes the names of those who lost their lives and have been buried in mass graves like this one at Higashi Matsushima.

Cars and houses with earthquake insurance will be covered. Those without earthquake insurance won't.

While the global insurance industry is facing insurance losses of tens of billions of dollars following the unprecedented catastrophic earthquake and resultant tsunami in Japan in March 2011, assessment experts do not believe these will topple the industry.

It is fairly certain that Japan’s earthquake insurance losses will be among the highest ever in history, but the international global rating agency, Fitch, believes that these losses will in fact be absorbed by the industry without too much financial strain or solvency problems.

International earthquake insurance losses following the devastating natural catastrophe that began in Japan on March 11 will undoubtedly be in the tens of billions. Losses relating to the tsunami that crippled the country following the earthquake are likely to be less, but could be as high as US$10-billion on their own. These are the figures that were being quoted towards the end of March, more than two weeks after the natural catastrophe.

But the global insurance industry still isn’t sure what it will have to pay out for tsunami or earthquake insurance following the event. Furthermore, it is evident that insurance companies in all corners of the world are going to suffer. None are likely to face losses, but by all accounts they will see profits radically slashed.

According to AIR Worldwide, the highly respected US headquartered provider of catastrophe risk assessment techniques and services, the combined loss estimate from the earthquake and resulting fires could be as high as US$21-billion and would be unlikely to be any lower than US$11-billion. This is less than their initial estimates which topped US$35-billion.

According to the company’s senior vice president of research and modeling, Dr. Javanta Guin, the estimates are net of Japanese Government recoveries and include payouts from the Japan Earthquake Reinsurance Co. Ltd. Noting that the earthquake was “an unprecedented event in the history of seismology and earthquake engineering”, he said that AIR Worldwide had estimated losses due to the tsunami independently to avoid double-counting in affected areas.

According to the German headquartered Allianz, one of the world’s largest financial services providers, insured claims due to natural catastrophes have escalated from US$5-billion three or four decades ago to US$40-billion last year. This of course includes earthquake insurance but is not limited to it. The report entitledNatural Catastrophes on the rise? maintains that economic growth is the primary reason that insured natural catastrophe losses have risen so steeply. According to the report which looks at the largest natural catastrophes from 1970-2011:

• Insured claims from natural catastrophes are increasing on a dramatic scale,
• Asian economic growth (which of course includes Japanese growth) has introduced new challenges,
• Climate change impact has also introduced new challenges,
• In the past 10 years or so smaller earthquakes (like the one in Haiti in 2010) have caused more fatalities than more severe quakes (like the one in Chile, two months after that in Haiti),
• It is vital for people to be prepared and to do all they can to prevent necessary consequences.

It is believed that in 2010 natural catastrophes cost the global industry US$40-billion. In 2009 total insured losses were $US27-billion – less than the Japanese tragedy is likely to cost in earthquake insurance alone.

The claims for the February 2011 quake in Christchurch, New Zealand are currently estimated to be anything from US$6-billion to double this figure.

It is probably going to be quite a while before there is any certainty in terms of Japanese earthquake insurance figures. But a tragedy for ordinary Japanese homeowners is that only about 14% to 17% of homes in Japan are covered by specific (optional) earthquake risk.

Only a small percent of Japanese suburban homes have earthquake risk insurance.

The following timeline is a precise walk-through of the most up-to-date 2011 Japan earthquake information and facts. All the time stamps represent local Tokyo time.

Wednesday, March 16^th 2011

10:05PM: The radiation leak is still a matter of huge concern for citizens on the Japanese island nation. Advisement to stay indoors is being heeded by persons within a 25 mile radius of the Fukushima power plant.

6:20PM: The Foreign Office reports thousands of phone calls for the search for loved ones, still flooding in. Since the earthquake in Japan, an estimated 10,000 calls have been made to the office.

5:40PM: The Japanese government currently has rescue and recovery teams in excess of 100,000 who are administering aid, food and clothing to Japan earthquake survivors, searching for lost survivors and digging up bodies form the Japanese shore.

2:40PM: Reactors #1, #2 and #3 are still being pumped with seawater to alleviate pressure and, hopefully, prevent any future explosions or fires.

12:00PM: Radiation levels within the Fukushima nuclear power plant are still too high to allow workers to continue operations.

7:00AM: The second fire at reactor #4 has started within the Fukushima power plant

6:00AM: Efforts to restore electricity to the Fukushima nuclear power plant are underway in Japan. Measures include sourcing power from a cable line that is not on site to reactor #3 within the power plant.

Tuesday, March 15^th 2011

10:15PM: The visibility of flames on the Fukushima #4 reactor has been contained. The Fukushima nuclear power plant is now considered a disabled facility and is prone to immense devastation if another reactor were to explode or catch fire.

5:45PM: A second fire breaks out at nuclear reactor #4 has erupted. Disaster responders that were put into place failed to quench or contain the fire. Read the rest of this news »