Why We Build Nuclear Power Stations in Earthquake Zones

State and federal officials are pushing for comprehensive checkups of the San Onofre and Diablo Canyon nuclear facilities, both located on California coast, and which have been both cited repeatedly in recent years for safety lapses. If more Fukushimas are to be avoided, we have to start by understanding the real risk of risk.

Japan Quake Changed Coastal Landscape And Not Just Above Sea-Level.

The recent monster quake that hit northeastern Japan altered the earth’s surface, loading stress onto a different segment of the fault line much closer to Tokyo. Last week’s tremor changed the coastal landscape, and not just above sea-level. It created a trench in the sea floor 240 miles long (380 kilometers long) and 120 miles wide (190 kilometers wide) as one tectonic plate dove 30 feet (nine meters) beneath another, said NASA.

Tsunami’s Effects Offer Clues About Future, California

Researchers are gathering data from the tsunami damage in Northern California to gain a more detailed understanding of how a powerful earthquake or undersea landslide could trigger a tsunami and what those waves could do. About 480,000 Californians live in areas at risk of a 5-foot or greater rise in sea level.

Shipwreck causes oil slick and threatens penguin colony on South Atlantic island

A vessel has grounded on Nightingale Island, part of the Tristan da Cunha UK overseas territory in the South Atlantic, causing an oil slick around the island which is home to nearly half the world’s population of northern rockhopper penguins. 1,500 tonnes of heavy crude oil from the MS Olivia, is leaking into the sea.