Of Cracks And More.

╫ 2pm ╫

B was about to knock off from work at Es-Pea-Age (read that aloud to register some semblance of logic).

And there was I, between lessons and jesting about with B.

Suddenly, B scrawled the two dreaded words, "Japan. Earthquake."

At the newsdesk, B scurried to dish out media reports and I was receiving real-time information from him.

It was surreal.

A flurry of calls was made to my cousin, who resides in Tokyo / Yokohama (depending on the day / time) but each effort was met with a Japanese automated greeting. Being diverted to my cousin's voicemail ensued till evening.

╫ 6pm ╫

Finally, a crackle that resembled a ringtone pierced the silence and ever faintly, I could make out my cousin's voice. She was safe! Her area had been hit and devastation was inevitable. It was the first time that the thought of losing my closest cousin even occurred to me.

╫ 3am ╫

She is awaiting evacuation and may return to Singapore once flights are available. Rumours of a nuclear emergency are strife. A nuclear emergency has been declared in Japan. It doesn't help that conflicting reports have joined the fray. Make sense of the following, if you will -
(1) The magnitude 8.9 or 8.8 earthquake that struck northeast Japan at 2:46pm local time Friday has forced the evacuation of thousands from a three-kilometer radius of a nuclear power plant following a failure in its cooling system, leading to the threat of a fuel-rod meltdown that has yet to be fully mitigated.

(2) METI did not specifically mention which four plants those were, but a later Juji Press report said that in the Fukushima No. 1 plant's No.2 reactor, which had been shut down, water levels had dropped, "posing a threat of a radiation leak," and that the local governement had urged residents within a two-kilometer radius to evacuate immediately.

A third Juji Press report extended that evacuation radius to three kilometers, and noted that Yukio Edano, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary – a position that includes press-secretary duties – had urged the 5,862 affected residents to remain calm.

The government also instructed the 45,345 residents within a 10-kilometer radius of the plant to remain in their homes, despite the fact that no radiaton leak had yet been detected.

(3) According to Reuters, a spokesman for the World Nuclear Association – a nuclear industry trade group – told them that "We understand this situation is under control," after a battery-powered backup system was brought online and began pumping cooling water back into the affected reactor.

(4) A source familiar with battery-power backup cooling systems, however, told the NYT that such systems typically have enough juice for only about four hours of operation. Should a consistent source of power not be restored by that point, the cooling water would boil away, and a fuel-rod meltdown would likely occur.

(5) In perhaps the oddest detail in this still-developing story, the NYT also reported that "United States Air Force planes based in Japan delivered emergency coolant to the plant, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said."

[ Source : theregister.co.uk ]
Dear God, please keep Cousin safe.
We grew up in the same house. We ate, laughed, fought and played together till she married S and moved to Japan. She's one of the only two cousins I have on my maternal side. Please guide her footsteps and may she return safely to Singapore if possible. Amen.