http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/business/toyota-to-continue/2774778.html
2016-05-13 05:36 JST 2016 http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/business/toyota-to-continue/2774778.html Toyota to continue production at Japan plants after Kumamoto quakesToyota had stopped production lines last month for a week following the deadly earthquakes in Kumamoto. http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/business/toyota-to-conti … ↗ View original post on Facebook For a link to the original post on Facebook, open this page on a computer. Reactions: 8 · Comments: 0 ← 2016-05-13 03:58 JST 2016-05-13 13:59 JST → Around this time … 2016-05-14 09:47 JSTThe image you see below is fairly famous (I've seen it in several photo collections) but there are quite a few photos in this collection that I had not seen before. The photos and captions combine to make a nice review of the damage and the human response.-- KIrkhttp://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/04/17/national/in-pictures-after-the-kumamoto-quakes/In pictures: After the Kumamoto quakes | The Japan Times 2016-05-13 13:59 JSTThe Kyushu Electric Power Company, or Kyuden (九電), runs a hydroelectric power plant in Minami Aso (a map is at the link) shaped like a Y, with the upper two branches being concrete-lined feeder streams to a holding pond at the junction which feeds into a pipe running down the mountain face to the generation unit.According to the Kumanichi, the right branch of the feeder streams ruptured following the April 16th quake, releasing about 10 million cubic liters of water (the article notes this is equivalent to 400 25-meter swimming pools) to the top of the hill which subsequently collapsed in the landslide that severed the train line and Route 57 and also destroyed the Aso Ohhashi bridge. Flow to the right branch of the feeder streams has been halted, though the power plant is able to continue functioning solely with flow from the undamaged left branch. Authorities have not yet been able to establish a relationship between this leak and the landslide, but investigations continue. - Williamhttp://kumanichi.com/news/local/main/20160513003.xhtml九電発電所から大量の水流出 阿蘇大橋上の斜面－熊本のニュース│ くまにちコム 2016-05-14 00:35 JSTThis just in . . ."I've started a new blog and thought that the Kumamoto International page might be interested in sharing it. The blog is a collection of links to articles about which tourist attractions/restaurants/cafes/businesses are open again since the Kumamoto Earthquake. It's a bit rough and ready at the moment, but I'm working on it and hoping to add many more articles in the days to come, particularly if I can get hints from the public about other places to write about. So please take a look and if you think that this would be of interest to the followers of Kumamoto International, please feel free to share the page so more people can access the information available. Thanks, Celia."As an example of one of the interesting posts from Celia's blog I'm linking to her article about Reigando Cave which seem to have weathered the quakes very well.http://promotekyushuproject.blogspot.jp/2016/05/kumamoto-tourist-attraction-reigando.htmlPromote Kyushu Project: Kumamoto Tourist Attraction - Reigando Cave 2016-05-14 00:18 JSTToday, William introduced us to a Kumanichi article about a possible man-made cause of the landslide that took out the Aso Ohashi:https://www.facebook.com/Kumamotoi/posts/1037456022994496I saw a report on NHK today about this as well. Huge quantities of water from facilities operated by Kyushu Electric may have played a role in two landslides:http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20160513/k10010519991000.htmlThe landslide of the other side of the Aso Ohashi killed two people.None of the articles I read about this mention the possibility that one of the earlier quakes might have caused a leak that, by moistening the soil of the slope, would have made it more susceptible to a landslide when the 7.3 magnitude quake hit. The third image I'm posting shows that the Minami Aso area experienced 5 lower shaking during the quake that hit on the 14th and it's possible that that caused some leaking. Of course, this in only speculation on my part but water, steep slopes, and earthquakes are a dangerous combination so the possible influence of such a leak is something that definitely needs to be looked in to.Finally, the first two images you see are from a video news report that can be found here:http://news.tv-asahi.co.jp/news_society/articles/000074703.html-- Kirk 2016-05-13 15:57 JSTThis update on the damage to the castle also includes a video.http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201605120037.htmlKnockout blows to Kumamoto Castle by quakes fully revealed：The Asahi Shimbun 2016-05-13 05:36 JSTToyota to continue production at Japan plants after Kumamoto … (this post) 2016-05-13 03:58 JSTEast Asian Football Federation to support Kumamoto … 2016-05-12 22:47 JSTWord has it that the pond at Suizenji Park is now either half-empty or half-full (rigth photo) depending on your perspective - but either is a huge improvement on the mostly-empty situation of the last few weeks (left). Kumanichi quoted a Kumadai professor whom I won't name because he stated, basically, "Maybe it's the recent rain, or maybe it's something else. We don't have the data," which, frankly, is something any of us could have said. I'd guess that sediment is beginning to plug the gap between the upper and lower aquifers - but then again, I'm the one who assured you on 4/14 after the 6.5 quake that things were unlikely to get much worse. Grain of salt. - Williamhttp://kumanichi.com/news/local/main/20160512012.xhtml 2016-05-12 22:06 JSTIt's after 9 PM and I'm preparing for the three classes I teach on Friday -- just as I was one month ago when the first quake hit. It's been a busy month and we've exchanged lots of different kinds of information and ideas but the thing I'd most like to say now is that there hasn't been any nastiness -- absolutely none. Even before the quake the vast majority of participants in this page have always been nice, but occasionally there would be a snide comment and once in a while someone would even get pretty angry at me for some reason or other. But those folks seem to have found other forums to frequent and everyone else has been really supportive and cooperative. I started this page on my own a few years ago and then asked my friend and colleague Joe Tomei to come on to help me manage it. More recently I think you've seen posts by William, Sara, Ciaran, Daniel, Levy, Charmaine and Jackie. Thanks to everyone, editors and readers, for pulling together and making the best of a bad situation! Let's hope Mother Nature decides to chill out and not give us anything scary to write about for a while. :)-- Kirk 2016-05-12 21:34 JSTQuake damage makes rice planting in Kumamoto all but … 2016-05-12 19:33 JSTTop spinning fun eases trauma of Kumamoto quake victims：The …
