Compose a newspaper article summarizing the important events that took place pre

Question

Compose a newspaper article summarizing the important events that took place preceding and following of the Fukushima disaster. What happened? Cover the who, what, where, when, and why. Describe the course of events from the earthquake to the tsunami to the damages at the nuclear facility.

The newspaper article should be written to a public audience, so it should be accessible and written in plain English (challenge yourself to avoid scientific jargon).

The article should be 200-300 words long.

Images, figures, and other visuals are encouraged.

Explanation / Answer

On the 11th of March, 2011, Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Okuma, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan run by the operator Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) experienced one of the most significant nuclear incidents since the Chernobyl disaster, that literally 'shook' the Earth. On Friday 11, at 14:46 JST (05:46 UTC) an earthquake of magnitude 9.0–9.1 (Mw) undersea megathrust earthquake off the coast of Japan with the epicentre approximately 70 kilometres (43 mi) east of the Oshika Peninsula of Thoku and the hypocenter at an underwater depth of approximately 29 km. This earthquake occurred at the subduction zone where the Pacific plate goes under the plate beneath northern Honshu. The earthquake triggered a 13-to-15-meter high tsunami that flooded the basements of the power plant's turbine buildings and disabled the emergency diesel generators. In Reactors 1, 2, and 3, overheating caused a reaction between the water and the zircaloy, creating hydrogen gas and an explosion on Unit 1 happened on 12th March that blew off the upper part of the building. In the next 3 days, similar explosions occurred in reactor 3 and 4. As of 16 March 2011, TEPCO estimated that 70% of the fuel in Unit 1 had melted and 33% in Unit 2, and that Unit 3's core was also damaged. Following the core meltdown radioactive material was released from the containment vessels to reduce gas pressure along with the discharge of coolant into the sea. The Fukushima coast has some of the world's strongest currents and these transported the contaminated waters far into the Pacific Ocean, thus causing great dispersion of the radioactive elements. On 5 July 2012, the Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission (NAIIC) found that the causes of the accident had been foreseeable and that the plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) accepted the charges.

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