Japan's Great Disaster

Friday 11th March 2011. 05:46 UTC while most of the world slept. The moment when one of the most devastating natural disasters hit Japan, an 8.9 earthquake sending tsunami waves of up to 33ft to the coasts.

The double disaster has shaken Japan with devastating consequences that nobody could have predicted. More than 3000 square kilometres were affected by the earthquake, with some parts of Japan moving as much as 8 feet easterly, and around 400km of coastline dropping vertically by around 2 feet.

This initial disaster paved an easier way for the second blow to hit the Japanese region of Sendai: tsunami waves reaching up to 33 feet. The waves soared over the coastlines approximately an hour after the earthquake. Initially Japanese officials had predicted a 'Major tsunami' on the scale of 3 metre high waves hitting the coast around 30-40 minutes after the eathquake. Nobody expected the waves to reach 10 metres.

Japan now has been hit by as much a 6 miles of damage inland from the tsunami's rampage, and many towns have all but been wiped from the face of the Japanese landscape. At the time of writing, the most recent reports (Wall Street Journal) put the official death toll at 4,277 with 8,194 people claimed as missing.

Workers have now been evacuated from the nuclear power plants around the region, as radiation levels reach a point where they're no longer considered safe. The true extent of the radiation exposure has yet to be published although many believe this could cause a problem for America as well as Japan, dependant on the spread of radiation. The near-disaster concerning the nuclear power plants was slammed by European Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger, where he called it an "apocalypse" if Tokyo had've lost control of their reactors.

So what's now the main concern for Japan? Reparations, radiation control, or still making sure they find survivors and the bodies of the dead. Well I asked you for your opinions, and this is what you said:

@Omar (Facebook): "I imagine in the sort term they'll worry about making sure they find all the survivors, then where to shelter and feed them, then how to rebuild."

@Michaela (Facebook): "Their economy? their shares are predicted to drop by 10%? or the fact theres about to be a meltdown on their doorstep"

@Nadine (Facebook): "their primary concern is looking after the people, getting the homeless into shelters of what they have left, evacuate them to better cities that got less hit. Then worry about the nuclear plants becoming more dangerous and rebuilding."

So what do you think? Leave comments below and share your concerns and what you believe should be the next step for the Japanese government? Is there a way that international agencies can better prevent such natural disasters causing such a destructive path?

Remember, you can also contribute to The CAN through Facebook as well as Twitter (@ricky_compton).

Brunel University Elections Under Way!

It's that time of the year when the Brunel University Campus is decorated with the many neon colours of this years candidates for the Union of Brunel Students elections.

With fourteen elective positions amassing a total of twenty-nine candidates, it can be quite a daunting week for those who haven't yet shown an interest. As the campaigns get underway, campus is filled with posters, flyers and human marketing boards celebrating and capaigning for their respective candidates. So here's just a brief runthrough of what student officer positions you're electing for and how they can affect you.

President - Student Union President speaks for itself. The person elected to this position will be the forerunner of the student voice at Brunel.

VP Academic Representation - The VP of AR will be responsible for improving the academia of the university as well as finding ways to enrich student learning and improve learning facilities.

VP Student Activities - The VP of SA is the first stop for large-scale student events, many arrangements with Brunel's 'On Tour' holidays as well as the public figure for leading sports and societies, as well as getting the most out of Brunel's 'off-timetable' moments.

VP Social Welfare - The VP of SW is responsible for the student community at Brunel, running campaigns to help the welfare and safety of students, from sexual health to fitness, housing to stress.

Get into campus between Monday 21st and Wednesday 23rd to register your vote for your student officers, as well as the Standing Committee and Working Chair members.