The strongest earthquake ever recorded in Japan occurred last
Friday at 2:46 p.m. local time. The earthquake and resulting
tsunami were so powerful the island shoreline was moved 8 feet
(and the speed of the Earth's rotation was increased by 1.6
microseconds!). Following the massive 8.9 magnitude earthquake
was a tsunami that unleashed further devastation. In the ensuing
hours, additional damage reports coming from Japan reveals how
devastating this quake really was. Two nuclear facilities with a
total of five reactors suffered severe damages. One facility
that contains three reactors is an older General Electric design
commonly found in the US as well. As of today, there have been
two explosions. An explosion shattered the building housing the
nuclear reactor on Saturday. Although government officials are
claiming that the metal containment vessel surrounding the
reactor is still intact, clearly the situation is getting worse,
not better. Rods have been exposed twice, resulting in a partial
meltdown. At this