Tsounami 10M in Japan ant the Pacific Ocean in general,..[ 2168 ]

Tsunami hits north-eastern Japan after massive quake

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Live coverage from BBC News

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 BBC, 11 March 2011, Last updated 0843 GMT

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A massive earthquake has hit the north-east of Japan, triggering a tsunami that has caused extensive damage.

Japanese television showed cars, ships and even buildings being swept away by a vast wall of water after the 8.9-magnitude earthquake.
The quake has sparked fires in several areas including Tokyo, and numerous casualties are feared.
It struck about 250 miles (400km) from the capital at a depth of 20 miles. There have been powerful aftershocks.
The tremor hit at 1446 local time (0546 GMT). Seismologists say it is one of the largest earthquakes to hit Japan for many years.

At the scene

Roland Buerk BBC News, Tokyo

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When the earthquake hit, buildings in Tokyo swayed. Walking was like crossing the deck of a ship at sea.
People poured down from their offices and stood in the street staring up.
A large fire seemed to have broken out in one part of the city and in another place, injured people were being brought out of a station.
The authorities immediately issued a tsunami warning.
Television pictures showed cars and boats being carried as water surged through a coastal town.
In Tokyo, public transport has been suspended, elevators are switched off in many buildings and thousands of people have gathered in squares and around train stations.

The tsunami warning was extended to the Philippines, Indonesia, Taiwan, the Pacific coast of Russia and Hawaii.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said the wave could extend as far as Chile.
Tsunami waves hit Japan's Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures, officials said.
Japan's NHK television showed a massive surge of debris-filled water sweeping away buildings, cars and ships and reaching far inland.
The earthquake also triggered a number of fires, including one at an oil refinery in Ichihara city in Chiba prefecture near Tokyo, engulfing storage tanks.
There were reports of about 20 people injured in Tokyo after the roof of a hall collapsed on to a graduation ceremony.
Residents and workers in Tokyo rushed out of apartment buildings and office blocks and gathered in parks and open spaces as aftershocks continued to hit.

Bullet train services to northern Japan were halted, rapid transit in Tokyo was suspended and some nuclear power plants automatically shut down.
Prime Minister Naoto Kan said there had been no radiation leaks.
In a televised address, he extended his sympathy to the victims of the disaster and said an emergency response headquarters had been set up.
He said the earthquake had a magnitude of 8.4 while the US Geological Survey said it measured 8.9.
The  report from CNN

• Massive 8.9 quake, tsunamis hit Japan

The report from (Mainichi) Japan

10-meter tsunami observed in area near Sendai in Miyagi Pref.

(Mainichi Japan) March 11, 2011
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TOKYO (Kyodo) -- A 10-meter tsunami was observed at Sendai port in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, in northeastern Japan, at around 3:55 p.m. after a powerful earthquake with a magnitude of 8.4 rocked the region Friday, local police said.
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A wide, muddy stream was seen moving rapidly across a residential area near Natori River in Sendai on live TV coverage by public broadcaster NHK, leveling everything in its path, while other coverage showed about 20 cars being washed away into the sea when a tsunami hit Kamaishi port.
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The Sendai airport authority in Miyagi Prefecture said the airport runways were submerged by tidal waves.
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The Japan Meteorological Agency issued a rare warning of huge tsunami for the Pacific coastal region from Hokkaido in northern Japan down to Tokushima Prefecture in western Japan, following the 2:46 p.m. quake which measured the highest intensity level of 7 on the Japanese seismic scale.
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It also advised residents in coastal areas on the Pacific coast to move to higher ground and stay away from the sea.
The agency called for the public to stay alert over the next month for aftershocks that could register a magnitude of 7 or more and trigger tsunami.
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A 7.3-meter tsunami was also observed in Soma port in Sendai and elsewhere, the agency said, adding a 4.1-meter tsunami was observed in Kamaishi port in Iwate Prefecture in northern Japan, the agency said.
The Tokyo metropolitan government said it has shut 19 of its floodgates to prepare for possible tsunami.

NASA Image of the Day, Mar 10th ..[ 2167 ]

The latest NASA "Image of the Day" image.

Welcome Home

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STS-133 mission crew members, from left, Nicole Stott, Michael Barratt, pilot Eric Boe, Commander Steve Lindsey, Alvin Drew and Steve Bowen, pose for a photograph in front of the space shuttle Discovery after landing, Wednesday, March 9, 2011, at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., completing Discovery's 39th and final flight. Since 1984, Discovery flew 39 missions, spent 365 days in space, orbited Earth 5,830 times and traveled 148,221,675 miles. 

 

Image Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

Πέμπτη, 10 Μάρτιος 2011 7:00:00 πμ

France declares that is against Kantafi ..[ 2166 ]

France recognises Libyan rebels

 

Rebels have been engaged in fierce fighting with government troops trying to regain the initiative

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BBC., 10 March 2011 Last updated at 12:59 GMT

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France has become the first country to recognise the Libyan rebel leadership, the National Libyan Council (NLC), as the country's legitimate government.

It comes as Nato is set to discuss military options in the Libyan conflict including a possible no-fly zone.
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There is growing concern about the bombing of rebel-held areas by the forces of Col Muammar Gaddafi.
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A BBC team detained and beaten up in Libya witnessed widespread mistreatment by the security forces.
In recent days, pro-Gaddafi forces have tried to regain ground in the rebel-held east, and have bombarded rebel forces in the town of Zawiya, 50km (30 miles) west of Tripoli.
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Continued shelling The president of the International Red Cross said on Thursday there was a marked increase in civilian casualties in what he called a "civil war".
The office of French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Paris regarded the NLC as Libya's "legitimate representative".

Mustafa Gheriani, a spokesman for the rebels in their eastern stronghold of Benghazi, said the French move was "breaking the ice", adding that he expected other EU members to follow suit.

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However Italy and Spain have said they will not take a similar step until European Union members have reached a common position on the issue.
EU foreign ministers will also hold talks in Brussels, ahead of a European Council summit on Friday.
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France's announcement came amid fresh fighting on the ground between Col Gaddafi's forces and the rebels.
On Thursday, government troops launched fresh attacks on the rebel-held eastern oil port of Ras Lanuf.
Government planes also bombed Brega, another oil town further east, indicating that pro-Gaddafi forces are making further advances into rebel-held territory, Reuters news agency reported.
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There has also been fierce fighting in Zawiya in recent days. On Wednesday, state TV said the army had retaken the town, which had been in rebel hands .
Mock executions Late on Wednesday, three members of a BBC Arabic television team gave graphic accounts of how they were arrested and beaten by government forces outside Zawiya earlier this week.

• Libya conflict in maps
• Is a no-fly zone possible?
• EU agrees new Libya sanctions

They were subjected to mock executions and held for 26 hours in bloodstained cells, where they heard people screaming in adjacent rooms.

Feras Killani - a member of the BBC team who is of Palestinian descent - appears to have been singled out for repeated beatings.
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The conflict in Libya has raged since mid-February when opponents to Col Gaddafi's 41-year rule seized many towns and cities in eastern Libya, following successful popular uprisings in neighbouring Tunisia and Egypt.
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BBC diplomatic correspondent Jonathan Marcus says fears that the military balance may be shifting in Col Gaddafi's favour have prompted calls for urgent international action.
Thursday's Nato meeting in Brussels is expected to focus on military options, including a possible no-fly zone aimed at stopping government planes bombing rebel-held towns.
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On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told the CBS TV network: "We believe it's important that this not be an American or a Nato or a European effort. It needs to be an international one."
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Our correspondent says there are differing levels of enthusiasm among members for such a mission and that no decisions are likely to be taken - although contingency planning may be intensified.
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Nato Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has said the alliance is "not looking to intervene in Libya, but we have asked our military to conduct the necessary planning for all eventualities".

East Timor ups ante in LNG dispute..[ 2165 ]

East Timor ups ante in LNG dispute, as floating processing plan is deadlocked

• EXCLUSIVE: Peter Alford, Jakarta correspondent
• From: The Australian
• March 10, 2011 12:00AM

East Timor ups ante in LNG dispute Source: The Australian

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EAST Timor is threatening to cancel its historic treaty with Australia covering the Greater Sunrise liquefied natural gas development unless the Woodside Petroleum-led venture agrees to local processing. 
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Woodside's $14 billion Sunrise development proposal is already deadlocked by East Timor's rejection of its floating LNG processing plant, but chief petroleum negotiator Francisco da Costa Monteiro has raised the stakes.

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He told The Australian East Timor would seriously consider terminating the treaty at the first opportunity, February 2013, if the dispute remained unresolved.

Mr Monteiro said the Dili government would take into account "all consequences" of ensuring Sunrise gas was piped to East Timor, "even be it a breaking-up of the treaty".

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"Any treaty must ensure the two sides are happy, but at the moment Timor Leste is not happy and I speak not just as a commissioner but for all Timor Leste citizens," said Mr Monteiro, who represents his government on the Sunrise Commission, the joint Australia-Timor regulatory body.

Start of sidebar. 

The Treaty on Certain Maritime Arrangements in the Timor Sea runs 50 years from February 2007, but either country can terminate in February 2013 if there is still no development approval.

The treaty resolved the problem that 80 per cent of the field was under Australian jurisdiction, although disputed by its tiny neighbour, by dividing gas and condensate royalties 50:50.

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East Timor gets a 90:10 royalty split in the Joint Petroleum Development Area, which covers 20 per cent of Sunrise.

Overturning the treaty would return Greater Sunrise to first-base negotiations and reopen the longstanding boundary dispute, frozen by the treaty until 2057.

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Woodside, which holds 33.4 per cent of the field, estimates the resource at 5.13 million cubic feet gas and 226 million barrels of condensate.

ConocoPhillips has 30 per cent, Shell 26.6 per cent and Osaka Gas 10 per cent.

The December Sunrise Commission meeting broke down when East Timor asked for suspension of consideration of Woodside's proposals while rights over the "downstream" project were clarified.

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Dili appears to be pressing Canberra -- which has refused to intervene on commercial considerations -- to take a direct role in negotiations.

East Timor wants the gas piped to Beacu on the south coast, where an LNG plant would anchor the government's ambitious southern industrialisation plan.

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Woodside argues the Timor option would cost $5bn extra, while floating LNG would maximise benefits it estimates at $US13bn ($12.9bn) to East Timor over the project's life, and $US19bn to Australia.

It argues a pipeline across the deep Timor Trench is "technically feasible" but poses "technical, operational and commercial difficulties".

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Woodside's largest objection is additional financing cost -- a suggested 6 per cent risk premium -- associated with a project in a country that has never had such development.

Secretary of State for Natural Resources Alfredo Pires said he had best industry advice there were no outstanding technical difficulties with the pipeline.

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East Timor had other serious issues with Woodside's project shaping. "But should everyone align with the Timor Leste LNG option, then we are ready to move yesterday," he said.

"We feel that one pipeline (from Bayu-Undan) has gone already to Australia and has provided a number of benefits to the people of Australia, particularly Darwin, and it is only fair that the next one does the same things for the people of Timor Leste."

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While the dispute continued, he said, East Timor would spend up to 18 months on studies establishing that Timor LNG was viable and commercial.

Mr Pires questioned the operational viability of floating LNG, developed by Shell -- which was still to launch its first FLNG project, Prelude off WA -- and an "extraordinary" reduction in the gas resource estimate from 7tcf to 5.1tcf.

Mr Pires criticised Woodside chief executive Don Voelte, who retires this year, claiming other partners told him they also were unhappy with his "arrogance".

"So we look forward to discussing Greater Sunrise with the next chief executive of Woodside . . . I think his level of frustration has just got the better of him now."

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A Woodside spokeswoman declined to comment. However, she pointed to a February 21 presentation by Mr Voelte indicating that FLNG was unanimously endorsed by the partners, met all treaty obligations and Woodside was "driving forward" to a final investment decision.

Speaking afterwards, however, Mr Voelte evinced impatience with approval problems and said Woodside had other, unspecified options.

Shuttle Discovery makes final landing..[ 2164 ]

Space shuttle Discovery lands to life in a museum

• From: AFP
• March 10, 2011 7:22AM (Australia)
  

Shuttle Discovery makes final landing

THE oldest and most travelled space shuttle, Discovery, has landed back on Earth after its final space flight and will now end its days as a museum piece to delight the crowds. 

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The shuttle cruised onto the runway at Kennedy Space Center at 1657 GMT, wrapping up a rich, 27-year career in spaceflight that has spanned more distance and endured longer than any of the remaining three US shuttles.

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"And Houston, Discovery. For the final time, wheelstop," Commander Steve Lindsey said when the orbiter came to a halt on the runway.

Discovery's arrival back on Earth marks the beginning of the end for the three-decade old US shuttle program, which will formally close down after Endeavour and Atlantis take their final spaceflights in the coming months.

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"This legend has spent 365 days in space," NASA mission control in Houston said, noting that over the course of its 39 missions, Discovery has logged almost 241 million kilometres.

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Discovery's last trip to the International Space Station was initially scheduled to last 11 days but was extended to 13 so that astronauts could work on repairs and install a spare room.

The new permanent module they brought to the orbiting lab adds 6.5m by 4.5m of extra room for storage and experiments.

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Astronauts also carried the first humanoid robot to the International Space Station (ISS), though it spent most of its time wrapped in packing materials and will not become fully operational for some time.

Endeavour is set for its last trip into orbit beginning April 19, followed by the shuttle Atlantis on June 28, marking the last shuttle mission ever.

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After that, the sole method of transport to and from the ISS will be via Russia's Soyuz space capsules, which can carry three people at a time.

AFP