As you have arrived at our blog , it’s more than likely you are moving around, into or out of Auckland. If you need to go straight to business then please click through to our main page
If not then please have a look through our blog, we hope you will find some useful moving information or at least some light entertainment that will help your next move go smooth.
6.7 magnitude hits in the straight between the Islands of Negros and Cebu, the quake initially sparked fears of a Tsunami. Although the proceeding waves where larger than normal a devastating wave did not eventuate (but there have been reports of tsunami related minor damage to coastal properties). This was the observation of a ferry passenger who was on the inter Island ferry shortly after the quake hit;
“…We are exactly half way between Negros and Cebu, we are just floating here, the waves are very big…”
Era Marie Diaz (via text )
Source: http://thephilippines.co.nz/blog-roll/phillipines-earthquake
Read more about the quake at The Philippines .co.nz
The Philippines
Thinking about taking a holiday? Well don’t go past the Philippines, with kiwi guides and the second language being English you are going to have an awesome time.
The Philippines has over seven thousand Island of pure tropical paradise, cheap food, cheap accommodation and something going on all the time.
You can check out anytime you like but you will never want to leave!
Due to the lack of credible information from the mainstream media movers Auckland has tracked down a reliable source of information and will be providing it here for you to download on a daily basis.
Probable exposure to radiation
There is currently around 1,900 tons of spent fuel at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear power plant the majority of which is depleted uranium at normal levels 1% of this would be plutonium.
There are six reactors on site that have sixty four fuel rods each, these rods are in various states of depletion For information see here: Inspection march 2010 additional tonage has been calculated using a rough equation (hence the approximate values)
Potential modes of release: At this point even the best minds in the industry are speculating as to what is going to happen at the plant, an incident of this particular nature has never occurred before. There have been many safety studies carried out but no one can know exactly how events are going to unfold as there are a number of variables involved.
Dispersal by sea via saltwater cooling. At this point and time the Japanese are spraying tons of sea water into the reactor buildings and their cooling ponds in an attempt to suppress the heat. It appears to be working. The down side to this is that the radioactive particles are being carried away into the ocean as runoff. In this writers opinion the amounts at this point in time are insignificant in comparison to the volume of the pacific ocean. In fact it is better of in the ocean than on the land where it could blow about in the dust.
Dumping of radio active waste into the ocean is an activity that was officially carried out by nuclear capable countries between the years of 1946 and 1988. Some conservation groups claim that dumping continued much longer and that the nature of the chemicals where far more hazardous than reported by the dumping nations , prohibition of dumping high level waste was not ratified until late 1972. More on this HERE
The official IAEA status report of dumped materials is here: IEAE Status report on ocean dumping
Reactor core meltdown: A meltdown occurs when the fissionable or ‘live fuel’ doesn’t recieve enough cooling and physically melts! So long as containment structures are intact and cooling can be delivered the molten metal won’t breach the reactor core and radiation would normally be at a minimum. At least one reactor in this case has been breached and the containment structure is compromised, radiation is leaching into the immediate environment.
Molten core material (fissionable metal or ‘live fuel ‘ ) breaching the outer containment structure; if the material cannot be cooled it could melt through the concrete floor of the plant and contaminate the water table. This is unlikely but still remains a possibility, this is one of the reasons why the Japanese have not simply poured sand and concrete over the damaged reactors so far. They must cool the molten core material until it achieves a solid state, before entombing the reactors.
Fire from spent fuel rods: Bellows of radioactive smoke into the atmosphere, If the material in the rods is not kept cool it will heat up to a crazy mad temperature and become molten. During this process the metal encasing of the rods rapidly undergoes oxidization which releases hydrogen gas. Hydrogen + ignition= boom, big radioactive fire.
There are over 11,000 rods onsite
Worse case scenario: There are sixty four semi spend (‘live’) fuel rods from reactor four in a cooling pond, the structure of reactor four is severely damaged and cooling of the rods is in a critical phase. The worst case scenario would be if fission was to begin in the semi spent fuel rods. Fission is a sub critical nuclear chain reaction, meaning that it is not the same type of (critical) chain reaction that happens in a nuclear explosive device. There is no danger of Nuclear explosion, this doesn’t make the situation any less dangerous though.
Some experts believe that if the rods where to fall over and become dry then fission will occur, If fission does occur in these live rods then the situation would be extremely grave, They would essentially be dealing with a ‘meltdown’ outside of a reactor core, and its secondary containment structure. The intense heat caused by the fission would produce the worst kind of radiation. It would produce intensely poisonous vapors that could potentially spread for hundreds of kilometers.
Vaporized radioactive materials are the most dangerous form, they are easily inhaled and the particles are so fine that staying indoors wont help much. It pays to keep in mind that metal particles are naturally heavier than air and they will come down to earth at the first possible chance but vapor has the potential to rise higher than larger denser particles and the distribution would encompass a much wider area.
It would seem that a lot of Aucklanders are concerned about the potential of a radiation cloud from Japan’s nuclear reactor accidents moving down here to the south pacific. So we have decided to investigate the potential for a cloud of nuclear radiation reaching our shores. The sources used in this post are as authoritative as we could find and we have attempted to refrain from speculation as much as is humanly possible.
Although I feel it fair to warn you that any form of forecast or prediction has a component of likely hood and is never completely accurate as a result. The first and foremost factor that is involved in concerning levels of radiation reaching New Zealand is of course, wind factor.
If the particles are to have any chance of traveling long distances they would have to reach the troposphere (the highest point that air can rise to), this is where the strong and fast air currents are. You will have heard of them as jet streams. The prevailing jet streams over Japan head straight to the U.S.A.
The prevailing jetstream over Japan
The earth has four main jetstream’s, the northern polar, the northern subtropic and their southern counterparts polar and subtropic.
Winds at the top of the troposphere are generally poleward and westerly in direction, this means that New Zealand is unlikely to be affected by a Japanese radiation cloud. Japan is above the equator and pollution will be higher in the northern hemisphere.
This is not to say that there will be no chance of radiation reaching New Zealand, there is always a chance of very small amounts making it down through the pacific on trade winds, however this chance is extremely minute.
In order for radiation to get into the jetstream in significant amounts there would have to be an significant large scale upward release of radioactive particles i.e. a powerful explosion, as was the case in Chernoble when the reactor exploded while in full power generation mode. The Chernobyl reactor top blew straight off and a secondary explosion blew vaporized core materials kilometers into the air. The affected reactors in Japan have been shut down and are no longer generating power, this dramatically decreases the risk of a serious explosion spewing vaporized radioactive materials to a great height.
If your American and you are reading this post, don’t panic! the nuclear bombs that where detonated in world war two would have had more chance of affecting the States. These are ground level releases and the amounts that will eventually reach the States will be fairly small scale.
It looks, very sadly like any potential fallout is going to be mainly a Japanese tragedy.
At the time of updating this post it has been reported that the 800 workers who have been attempting to maintain the cooling of the spent fuel rods at the damaged power plant where withdrawn due to excessive levels of radiation. If the water boils off the fuel rods will become exposed and start to radiate waste into the atmosphere, this will be a huge tragedy, the state of the two damaged reactors themselves have been reported as having suffered partial meltdowns. It looks bad!
Kessennuma man found after eight days in sub zero conditions! Unreal
19-03-11
Man pulled from rubble after eight days in sub zero conditions
Like some macabre story of biblical proportions unfolding before our eyes we had just learned of an earthquake registering 8.9 on the Ricther scale. The quake has generated tsunamis of up to 10 meters.
More reliable evidence has come in to confirm that some of the tsunamis generated of the coast of Japan hit the island at a height of 10 meters in some areas.
What can Auckland learn from these terrible events?
It’s obvious to me that in this area the wave generation in the following video is nowhere near the 10 meter mark. I would guess this surge may be producing around 2 to 3 meters on the basis of the height of a house being around 4 to 5 meters high. Its quite evident that this wave is not swamping the house’s but rather pushing them off their foundations by shear force.
This area is obviously a very low lying isthmus.
In some of the coastal towns of Japan They have been preparing Tsunami defense systems for years. I’m sure that much will be learned from these various defense systems in the weeks to come. Tsunami is a serious and real side effect of earthquakes. In this blog writers humble opinion taking measures to protect low lying coastal areas is a wise expenditure of finances, given that these sorts of things are becoming a regular event and show no signs of letting up.
Kesennuma was hit hard and the whole town of Minamisanriku was completely washed away, with the inhabitants of over ten thousand missing. Could this have been avoided? In a time of geological unrest we ask the simple question, is living at or slightly above sea level on the coast just too dangerous now?
IMO I believe in all situations that this is not the case, but in some instances I think it is folly. Having an acute realization of our surroundings and the little patch of dirt we occupy can make all the difference in a tsunami situation. If we look at the lay of the land in Minamisanriku,we can see that in the after math it looks very much like an estuary. At some point in the past this entire area may very well have been a tidal estuary and when the sea surges, well we know what has happened.
Kesennuma, AP Photo/Kyodo News
Minamisanriku town AP Photo/Kyodo News
Now lets have a look at what the altitude finder can tell us about the local conditions before the quake:
If you click on the map you will observe that the town hall (second set of coordinates) was only some 3.4 meters above sea level. The closet edges of the town where only 0-1 meters above sea level. Unfortunately for the poor inhabitants this set of conditions has had a deadly effect.
Im going to reiterate my point about tsunamis that I have made in earlier posts. A tsunami is not a wave but is in fact a mass of displaced water that is seeking to find equilibrium, the ‘wave’ is a product of this displaced water when it hit’s the land. The size of the wave will be soley dependent on the amount of displaced water and the geography of that land that it comes into contact with. How far up the land it travels is dictated by the amount of sea that has been displaced and the geography.
In the case of Minamisanriku the shallow gradient of the land allowed for the water to travel inland without to much effort until it hit the surrounding hillsides.
How does Auckland compare?
The first thing that usually comes to mind when some one says ‘Tsunami Auckland’ is downtown and the reclaimed land that make up the waterfront area. While these area’s will most definitely be inundated during a surge, downtown is not amongst the high danger zones in Auckland. The gradient of the land is quite sharp and fast once you come past Fanshaw and Beach streets. The waterfront and the shallow ancient estuarine areas are most definitely unwise place’s to have constructed housing.
The real danger areas in Auckland are the peninsula housing developments and the low lying housing in shallow ancient estuaries.
In the past tsunami has never really been a consideration when it came to housing and where to build, but I think it’s now becoming too regular an occurrence to ignore, I’m sorry if you own property in a waterfront area below 10 meters above. But my pick is that your property value is going to decrease in the near future! I wouldn’t buy there even for a dollar!
Volcano has now erupted
A volcano has now erupted, I guess that’s what it was all about!
Are you ready for a disaster, could you and your family survive the big one if you were not killed straight away?
So the big one has happened and your not dead, far from it you seemed to have miraculously escaped the terrifying onslaught of nature in it’s full fury.
The immediate questions you may ask yourself as you survey the devastation and even death around you is WHAT THE? and maybe even WHY? You will continue to ask these question in disbelief as you offer what little assistance you can to those in need. But that feeling will soon wear off as the pressing reality of this new situation you find yourself in begins to bang in on your consciousness,
like a hammer on an anvil reality will surely smash it’s way in.
This is where the first and foremost item on your survival list is employed, it must be deployed immediately if you are going to have any hope of surviving a large scale natural disaster. This most important of items on your list, is your attitude:
Things could be worse!
Just ask any survival expert or military training instructor, the will to survive and even prosper in the face of adversity is borne from the attitude. A can do attitude leads to all sorts of nifty and inventive measures that can make the difference in survival.
For us here in the spoiled country we can easily make comparisons that will make life better, think of all the people around the world right now who are living in the dirt without power, phone or even supermarkets. All that and they haven’t even had a natural disaster!
Maybe you where a good planner and you had some supplies stored, maybe some water a few tins and the what not. Maybe you where counting on getting taken out in the initial disaster but it hasn’t happened. Either way there is no guarantee of anything other than your attitude in a natural disaster situation.
Houses and vehicles can be lost or you may need to evacuate so fast that it was impossible to retrieve your supplies before you left (the Queensland floods are a prime example of that). This leads me onto your second most important item on the list:
Water
Earthquake: mains supply pressure can be lost or contaminated with run off and sewage. Don’t trust it even if it’s running.
Volcano: above ground water supplies can become contaminated with ash and poisonous chemicals that will do your body harm. The pumping stations filtration could become glogged and eventually cease to function, run off and sewage could back up. local eruption could cause damage vital to supply lines. Do not drink the water even if you boil it.
Tsunami: submersion of water and sewage treatment plants as well as pumping stations would cause cross contamination of the supply. The water wont be safe until a total run off and flush out of the locally affected mains supplies has been carried out, it’s safe to say you will be on your own for a couple of days in affected areas.
Cyclones, floods and storms: Damage to pumping stations and supply lines are always possible and contamination is the main factor.
Here’s a list of ways to aqiure water in adverse situations
A: Your store (at least 6 litres per adult) in a plastic container keep away from any sources of light, replenish every three months or treat for storage. Use common sense, how bad do things look. Do you need to brush your teeth or wash your face? drink as little as possible for the first couple of days.
B: the average house has around 250 litres of water stored in it already, IF the pipes haven’t burst and your hot water cylinder hasn’t rocked of it’s mounts. Ensure that you DO NOT run any taps in the house. Locate the mains supply tap and shut it down. You can then set about draining the hot water cylinder and toilet cisterns.
C: Set up rain (no good for volcanic eruptions) and moisture catchment systems, here’s a few ideas. Read them commit at least one to memory and print it out, stow the instructions in your survival kit:
Any water collected in a disaster situation must always be assumed as contaminated even if it looks clean and clear. Adding a bottle of bleach or water purification drops to your survival kit is a good idea. purification drops will preserve your heating fuel, or due to circumstances boiling simply may not be an option. Coming down with a water borne illness is the last thing you’ll be needing.
Next post I’m going to have a look at the third item on the list.
Food
Remember your survival kit should be in (or made up of) a sturdy water tight container. You should store your survival kit by an external wall, preferably by a door or a window. This way if the house comes down, retrieval of some or all your items is greatly increased. You should also have water and energy foods readily available in your vehicle.
Japan undersea earthquake generates tsunami of up to 10 meters. N.Z. under tsunami alert.
The first wave to arrive to New Zealand will be in the area around North Cape at approximately 0623NZDT 12 March 2011. The first wave may arrive later and may not be the largest. Tsunami activity such as unusual currents and changes in sea-level will continue for several hours
update 11 March 2011 @0120, Largest waves expected to hit at 0800 and could be up to 3 meters in the bay of Islands. Aucklands east coast could experience up to 1 meter waves.
Threat level map has been released: Here
update: march 12 15:25, NO newsorthy reports of excessive wave generation on New Zealand shores.
update: March 12 18:24, strong tides where observed this afternoon at Tutukaka in the Bay of Islands, the current was enough to break a boat from its mooring.There have been no reports of wave generation exceeding the high tide mark in any region of the country.
Latest update: March 14 14:55 Reports came in via a local newstalk radio station of a surge which broke the high tide mark on the coromadel peninsula, the witness captured the tsunami on video. It was reported that the wave came over sand dunes that are around 1 meter high. She stated that the surge came approximately 100 meters inland and was up to the door height of the local fire appliance. It was reported to have swamped cars and water front properties.
We are attempting to get hold of the video, the witness has stated that New Zealand television stations where not interested in it and the holder was told that the file was to small for quality viewing ???
More about Japan here: Japanese tsunami
Now back to Aucklands tsunami hazards
According to the A.R.C’ s hazard probability data sheet, released who knows when! There is a 1 in 75 or a 49% chance that in fifty years we could be hit by a tsunami generating waves of between 1 and 4 metres. Obviously this is the greatest concern as they have given it the highest probability rating.
So lets have a look at the cause and effects of a tsunami hitting Auckland with a wave generation of between 1 and 4 metres. Common misconception: ‘A tsunami is a giant wave’-wrong! the ‘wave’ is merely how we observe the tsunami as it heads toward us. A tsunami is in fact a massive surge of displaced water seeking to find equilibrium. Unfortunately for anyone in it’s path the only way it can do that is by smashing into the land which will eventually stop it’s charge.
This is why a seemingly harmless 1 metre wave can in the right circumstances produce such damage, it is the mass of displaced water that is one metre above the normal level of the sea and the shear amount of sea that is behind it can push the water further up the land (up to twice it’s height) than the wave height until its momentum is lost. anything at or below the initial wave height is doomed to be inundated with the power of the sea.
Possible cause of an Auckland tsunami: most probable would be from an undersea earthquake in the plate boundry off the western coast of south America, although undersea quakes anywhere in the south pacific causing rising displacement and deep sea volcanic activity in the region also pose a threat here as well. The warning time of an impending tsunami could be between 3 mins-12 hours depending on location of cause and the magnitude of disturbance. The following picture is from a 2007 article printed in the NZ Herald following a 4.5 magnitude out in the gulf. A sizable upward movement of the earths crust on the oceans floor could produce a mass displacement of ocean causing tsunami in a matter of minutes.
2007 4.5 magnitude earthquake in the Hauraki
Effects:
1 meter tsunami, could cause minor damage to coastal low lying roads and properties, loss of life would be highly unlikely
2 meter tsunami, up to a level of 4 meters run up in coastal areas, tsunami at high tide would bring higher tidal river levels.
3 meter tsunami, loss of coastal properties and highways below4-5 meters sea level in its path. Casualties could become imminent at this level. large area’s of Auckland including downtown could be inundated with water.
4+ meter tsunami, this is by far the most damaging prospect to Auckland. All coastal properties and roads would be in danger, downtown Auckland will be submerged. Auckland will be in grave danger with large areas of east west and south being inundated and submerged as the surge finds it’s way up rivers and into the valleys between mountains. The surge could find its way up rivers and into valleys .Any area below six meters could be covered in water at some point.
The worst case scenario would be if the wave was to hit in the early hours of the morning when radio and television broadcast will be of little value in warning inhabitants. As tsunami warning systems cost around $2,500 per square kilometer, the cost involved in setting up and maintaining a warning system is financially unviable. Should a four meter plus tsunami strike in the early hours of the morning without warning, a large number of casualties will be unavoidable.
Want to find out how high above sea level your Auckland home is? This handy tool allows you to click any area of the map and obtain an altitude reading in meters or feet. You can follow rivers up from the ocean and see how far up river a tsunami might travel.
Also please check out our post on Japan and see WHY SO MANY DIED. We examine the folly of building at or slightly above sea level. Downtown Auckland city is built on reclaimed land we will use the tool to look at the washing away of a whole town in Japan, then we will have a look a Auckland and see what this could mean to us.
FIND OUT HOW TO SURVIVE THE BIG ONE
Wether you are relocating your office to the other side of Auckland, to another floor or just over the other side
of the building.
Fast track at Movers Auckland can lend a hand. With experience in moving heavy office equipment we are able to arrive on moving day and assist in the moving of your office. Moving office is not an easy task and professional movers are an essential ingredient in a successful relocation that will see your office moved with minimal downtime.
From moving heavy cabinets full of files to photo copiers, Fast track have the tools and the skills to move the office expediently and safely.
Having a truck on hand is also invaluable to business while moving around in the same building, quite often there are furniture or office items that need to be taken away or brought in.
Make your next office move a fast track move.
Return to SERVICES
With a fleet of trucks moving around Auckland everyday we are able to offer an in between pick up and delivery service.
This delivery service is unique in that it provides two men and a decent size truck. Its perfect for second hand purchases of large items that cant be shifted by any other means than a couple of strong men.
Pick up and delivery service starts from as little as $50.00+gst
Price is determined on the size and amount of furniture that requires moving, obviously a two seater couch that can be picked up and delivered while a truck is traveling in an area is going to cost less than a whole lounge suite.
Exact time frame and prices will need to be discussed with Arthur on the phone, prior to the required pick up date. For more info on this service ring Arthur or visit here: CONTACT to make an info request.
Moving those bigger items can be a real pain, they wont go through the door, up the stairs or around the corner. Sometime there is is no option left but to pull the thing apart.
Maybe your not a mechanical person or you just don’t care for tools, It doesn’t worry our movers at fast track. All our drivers are mechanically capable and carry a full set of tools.
We can disassemble anything from the beds right through to the back deck (yes we have done it before).
If you require, we will also reassemble the items at the other end of the move.
For moving unusual or rather large items it always pays to let Arthur know what you need disassembled when your booking your move.
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