Reading Comprehension- Disaster In Japan

NY Times online March 13, 2011

Death Toll Estimate in Japan Soars as Relief Efforts Intensify

By MARTIN FACKLER and MARK McDONALD

1.
SENDAI, Japan — Japan reeled from a rapidly unfolding disaster of epic scale on Sunday, pummeled by the death toll, destruction and homelessness caused by the earthquake and tsunami and new hazards from damaged nuclear reactors that were leaking radiation. The prime minister called it Japan’s worst crisis since World War II.
2.
Japan’s $5 trillion economy, was threatened with severe disruptions and partial paralysis as many industries shut down and the armed forces and volunteers mobilized for the far more urgent effort of finding survivors, evacuating residents near the stricken power plants and caring for the victims of the 8.9 magnitude quake that struck on Friday.
3.
The disaster has left more than 10,000 people dead, many thousands homeless and millions without water, power, heat or transportation.
4.
Worried about the severe strains on the banking and financial systems, the Bank of Japan pumped about $86 billion into the economy on Monday, and the government was discussing an emergency tax increase to help finance relief and recovery work.
5.

The death toll was certain to climb as searchers began to reach coastal villages that essentially vanished under the first muddy surge of the tsunami, which struck the nation’s northern Pacific coast near the port city of Sendai. In one town alone, the port of Minamisanriku, a senior police official said the number of dead would “certainly be more than 10,000.” That is more than half the town’s population of 17,000.

7.
Tourism was also bound to plummet, as the United States, France and other nations urged citizens to avoid traveling to Japan.

8.
Amid the despair and the worry over an unrelenting series of strong aftershocks, there was one bright moment when the Japanese Navy rescued a 60-year-old man who had been floating at sea for two days. The man clung to the roof of his tiny home in the town of after it was torn from its foundations by the first wave of the tsunami. He saw his wife slip away in the deluge, but he hung on as the house drifted away. He was discovered late Sunday morning, still on his roof, nine miles south of the town and nine miles out to sea.

9. The trade minister, Banri Kaieda, asked businesses to limit their power usage with nighttime cutbacks of lights and heating blackouts that would affect three million customers, including homes and factories. Railways cut operations at six of its commuter’s lines and two bullet trains to 20 percent of normal to conserve electricity.




Answer the following questions and post them on your blog:

WHAT mounting humanitarian, nuclear and economic emergencies is Japan facing now, in the wake of Friday’s earthquake and tsunami?
WHEN, according to Prime Minister Naoto Kan, was the last crisis of this magnitude in Japan?
HOW many troops have been ordered into relief roles in the field?

HOW are Japanese officials trying to avoid meltdowns at the nation’s nuclear reactors? (You might use this interactive graphic to help visualize the problems.)

HOW many people do officials fear might have been exposed to radiation?
WHY is the death toll “certain to climb”?
WHO is Hiromitsu Arakawa?
From WHERE around the world are teams of helpers coming?

WHERE on a map of Japan is Sendai?