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Tuesday, 22 March 2011

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Japan’s struggle with four elements

Nalaka Gunawardene and Vindana Ariyawansa

Earth, water, fire and air. These are the four basic elements of matter as seen in ancient Greek, Hindu and other traditions. In recent days Japan has been experiencing multiple disasters involving all these elements.

It started with a 9.0 magnitude megathrust earthquake off the coast of Japan that occurred at 2.46 pm Japan time on March 11, 2011. Its epicentre was 130 kilometres off the east coast of the Oshika Peninsula of Tohoku, near Sendai. The earthquake triggered highly destructive tsunami waves of up to 10 metres (33 ft) that struck nearby coastal areas minutes after the quake, and in some cases travelled up to 10km (6 miles) inland.

The earthquake and tsunami waves killed over 5,000 people, caused massive property damage and started fires in some affected locations. Most worrying was the damage caused to the Fukushima II nuclear power plant where reactors damaged by the quake and tsunami led to an accidental leak of radioactivity.

Japan has a long history of living and coping with disasters, but the magnitude and confluence of multiple disasters has plunged the country into the worst crisis since the Second World War. Today, we open with a few questions related to this news.

1. Tsunami is once again in the news. It refers to a series of travelling waves in water (usually in the ocean) produced by the displacement of the sea floor associated with submarine earthquakes, volcanic eruptions or landslides. Tsunamis are sometimes referred to as tidal waves, but this term is no longer favoured by the scientific community, because tsunamis have nothing to do with tides. What is the literal meaning of the Japanese word tsunami?

2. Tsunamis have been reported since ancient times. They have been documented extensively, especially in Japan and in the Mediterranean sea countries. The oldest recorded tsunami occurred off the coast of Syria in 2,000 BC or more than 4,000 years ago. Based on historical data, more than half (about 59 percent) of the world’s recorded tsunamis have occurred in the Pacific Ocean.

In contrast, only four percent of tsunamis have been recorded in the Indian Ocean, and 12 percent in the Atlantic Ocean. Which body of water has historically recorded the second largest number of tsunamis, about 25 percent?

3. The world’s tsunami warning systems are coordinated by the United Nations Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) through the International Tsunami Information Centre (ITIC). Such warning systems are now operational in the Pacific Ocean (since 1968), Indian Ocean (since 2005), Northeastern Atlantic and Mediterranean sea (since 2005), and Caribbean sea region (since 2006). Under which UN agency’s umbrella do the IOC and ITIC work?

4. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre (PTWC) is well known for its quick and reliable alerts and warnings about tsunamis. It was established in 1948 by the US government (under a different name), responsible for issuing warnings to Hawaii, to US interests in the Pacific other than the west coast and Alaska.

In 1968, it joined hands with the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) to offer tsunami warnings to all countries located throughout the Pacific Ocean. In the aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, PTWC has taken on additional areas of responsibility including the Indian Ocean. Where is the PTWC located?

5. The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station in Japan is not the first one to be affected by an earthquake and tsunami. During the 2004 December Indian Ocean tsunami, an Indian nuclear power facility known as Madras Atomic Power Station (MAPS) was damaged by the 2004 tsunami. However, it was successfully shut down without incident, and restarted operations a week later. On which coastal location in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu is MAPS located?

6. Following the March 11 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disasters in Japan, the country’s national broadcaster, NHK, was at the forefront in covering the multiple scenes of disaster. NHK has been operating radio broadcasts since 1925 and television broadcasts since 1950, and is a leading broadcaster in the world. It is a publicly owned corporation funded by viewers’ payments of a television license fee. What do the English initials NHK stand for?

7. Earth Hour 2011 will take place on March 26, 2011. It is a worldwide event held on the last Saturday of March every year, where households and businesses are asked and encouraged to turn off their non-essential electric lights and other electrical appliances for one hour to raise awareness towards the need to take action on climate change.

The Earth Hour is observed from 8.30 pm to 9.30 pm local time on that day. The event was originally conceived in 2007 by Australia’s Sydney Morning Herald newspaper together with which conservation group?

8. This year marks 100 years since Delhi was designated as the official capital city of India by the British rulers at the time. Which British monarch, who was also the emperor of India, visited the city and declared it as the capital of British-ruled India on December 12, 1911?

9. Which eastern Indian city, located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, was the capital of the British rulers of India from 1772 until 1911, when the capital was shifted to Delhi?

10. A leading Hollywood director has been working on a real action movie based on cartoon character Tintin and his friends. The movie, based on three Tintin stories - is based on three of the stories: The Crab with the Golden Claws, The Secret of the Unicorn and Red Rackham’s Treasure – is currently in post-production and due for a December 2011 release. Who is directing the film, titled The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn? (Clue: Before he died in 1983, Tintin’s creator Hergé had said this person was the only one who could ever do Tintin justice in the cinema.)

11. In the forthcoming Hollywood movie The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn, the famous boy reporter’s character is played by an English actor in his mid 20s. He is perhaps best known for playing the title character in the film Billy Elliot (2000), for which he won the 2001 BAFTA Award for Best Actor. Who is he?

12. This athlete was chosen as the Sports Personality of the 20th Century in 1999 by the BBC, and as the ‘Sportsman of the Century’ by Sports Illustrated magazine. He was also nicknamed “Louisville Lip - The Greatest” and was said to “float like a butterfly and sting like a bee”. Who is this outspoken athlete, who once threw his Olympic gold medal into the Ohio River because of an act of racism? (He was born in Kentucky, US, and was originally named after a liberal statesman but later changed it.)

13. The first President of the International Olympic Committee was a Greek businessman and writer named Demetrios Vikelas, who was succeeded by Frenchman Pierre de Coubertin who held that office from 1896 to 1916 and again from 1919 to 1925. Who is the current President of the IOC, the eighth person to hold that office?

14. The Golden Raspberry Awards, also known as the ‘Razzies’, are annually given to what is deemed as the worst performances in Hollywood movies. This mock award scheme was founded by American copywriter and publicist John J B Wilson in 1981 and takes place in Los Angeles the day before the official Academy (Oscar) Awards ceremony.

Who is the only US actress to have won the Razzie for ‘worst actress’ and the Oscar for best actress in the same year (2009), going from worst to best in just two days? Clue: she won the Razzie for her performance in “All about Steve” and Oscar for “The Blind Side”.

15. International World Water Day is held annually on 22 March to focus global attention on the importance of freshwater and to advocate for sustainable management of freshwater. This UN-designated day is usually observed around a related theme. The theme for 2011 is ‘Water for cities: responding to the urban challenge’, which looks at the challenges of urban water management. In which African city will the main international observance of 2011 World Water Day be held?

Answers will be published next week