Image Gallery | Energy & Sustainability

Satellite images show tsunami-ravaged Japan coast

Enlarge Image courtesy of RapidEye AG, DLR, Google Earth, and ZKI MORE IMAGES

When devastation extends as far as the human eye can see, digital eyes in the sky can provide essential information for emergency response efforts. These satellite images show the town of Soma (red dot) and surrounding area on Japan's northeastern coast as they appeared on September 5, 2010, [left] before the March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami, and on the day after.

On the heels of the earthquake, tsunami heights of 7.3 meters were reported in Soma. A day later floodwaters stretched several kilometers inland. Soma is a port village of 38,000 people located about 150 kilometers southwest of the magnitude 9.0 quake's epicenter and 40 kilometers north of the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. As of March 20, more than 100 residents of Soma have been confirmed dead.

These satellite images were provided by the International Charter—Space and Major Disasters, a 20-member multinational agreement among space agencies and other organizations that operate satellites to contribute data to aid the management of large-scale natural disasters and technological accidents. The organization is on 24-hour alert and can be activated by a phone call from any of the member agencies and other authorized organizations. The Charter was activated on March 11 on request of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency; the images here were shared by the German Aerospace Center.

Since its founding in 2000 the International Charter has provided satellite images of 289 disasters, including the recent earthquakes in Pakistan and Haiti as well as the 2010 massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.


—Nina Bai

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  1. 1. MikeRogerOSullivan 03:49 AM 3/24/11

    This is a very useful service that is provided by the International Charter.

    Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this
  2. 2. scottryan1 06:07 AM 3/24/11

    I think that magnetic fields that get zapped with EMP, will after being charged, act as a force field.

    Should build a half a million gauss magnetic field, then use that EMP making devise & hit the field with EMP.

    After you do that & the field is being hit with EMP, you should hit that magnetic field with other stuff like atoms.

    The EMP hitting that shield will make it a shield AGAINST OTHER ATOMS & RADIATION. It electrifies it.

    So for earth magnetic field to work, it has to be hit
    by EMP.

    So yes it always is hit with EMP, by very small does. Only massive amounts blast the field will show you the night sky’s in the pole.

    So you could say earths magnetic field is always being hit by EMP non stop 24/7. When a massive amounts comes along, it shows / lights up the sky big time.

    If its only a very small amount, it turns the earth magnetic field into a shield for say.

    So you could make a magnetic field on earth, but its not getting hit by any EMP, so it will be a different shield & will do nothing.
    But the shield getting hit by a micro amount of EMP will change it into earth magnetic field.

    In space particles & EMP are always hitting earth magnetic field, & that’s why it protects us from massive danger’s radiation.

    You could say but what about the earths magnetic field when it faces away from the sun??

    Well EMP & all the suns particals move away particals & every thing.

    So the sun sends out a force / solar wind, that it in its self is stoping a back draft of particles & so on entering
    the earth from behind.

    Think of it like this.

    If I have a smoke & blow the smoke at a beer cap. It will blow everything around it. It will not enter from behind.

    So the earth spins around, every time it turns & hit micro particles & radiation, it stop & charges the earth magnetic field, that stopes the really bad stuff getting in.

    If you make a magnetic field on earth & fling radiation at it, it will smile & keep on coming.
    If you hit the magnetic field with a micro amount of EMP, it will charge it & it will half reflect the particles / radiation. That or absurd them / push them on around the field.


    I would make a half a million gauss magnetic field, then would hit it with a micro amount or EMP & or particles. I would see
    what that does, then would put a x-ray scanner next to the field & turn it on, & see what happens.

    See if it stops the radiation getting past the field now.

    See if it makes the field stronger & more resistant to radiation or & so on.


    So in the end, I say the earth magnetic field only works because EMP is hitting it & or particle are non stop.

    The EMP electrify’s it, that makes it stop all particles & radiation getting in.

    If the field did not get hit by even 00000000.1% of EMP, it would not work & we would be dead.

    that’s the force field we need to beat radiation in space. Well anh heat shield.

    Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this
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