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Stars and Stripes reporters across Japan and the world are sending disaster dispatches as they gather new facts, updated in real time. All times are local Tokyo time. Japan is 13 hours ahead of the East Coast. So for example, 8 a.m. EDT is 9 p.m. in Japan.

For extended coverage, see the Earthquake Disaster in Japan page.

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Tsunami and radiation might sink Japanese fishermen11:44 p.m. Saturday, Tokyo time

The tsunami that slammed Japan two weeks ago wiped out homes, businesses and a fishing industry that was the lifeblood for thousands of victims on the northeast coast, Reuters reports.

The tsunami erased aquatic farms just offshore along with low-lying seaside areas that are home to fleets fishing along the coast, while a nuclear plant in Fukushima leaking radiation has raised concerns about marine life in the region over the longer term.

"Fishermen lost their gear, ships and just about everything. About half will probably get out of the business," said Yuko Sasaki, a fishmonger in the tsunami-hit city of Kamaishi.

-- Sandra Jontz

Tsunami threat could catch Northwest off guard11:07 p.m. Saturday, Tokyo time

When the big one hits the Pacific Northwest, the best place to escape the wall of water moving at jetliner speed from 50 miles off the coast may be a City Hall on stilts, The Associated Press reports from Cannon Beach, Oregon.

Not to overdramatize, but the AP reports that once the ground finishes two to four minutes of lurching and shaking, residents and tourists in Cannon Beach would flock to the refuge on concrete columns 14 feet above the waves racing beneath.

They would ... if the refuge gets built. There's nothing like it from Northern California to British Columbia and, so far, no money for anything like it.

It's an example of how underprepared the West Coast is for an earthquake and tsunami on the scale of what happened in Japan, AP writes.

Scientists say it's inevitable that an offshore seismic menace called the Cascadia Subduction Zone will one day unleash a megaquake. The last time it happened was 300 years ago when a magnitude-9 shaker spawned enormous ocean waves that slammed into the West Coast and damaged Japanese fishing villages.

-- Sandra Jontz

Doctors Without Borders supports psychologists Working in disasters' aftermath in Japan 9:53 p.m. Saturday, Tokyo time

Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières, is supporting a team of six psychologists who will treat survivors of the devastating earthquake and tsunami that hit northeast Japan on March 11.

For the past two weeks, a 12-person team has been treating patients with chronic diseases in one of the areas worst affected by the disasters. A psychologist was also sent in earlier this week to evaluate mental health needs, according to the organization's website.

“Many people now are in a phase of acute stress disorder, which is a totally natural response to this level of trauma,” Ritsuko Nishimae, a clinical psychologist working with the team in Minami Sanriku, said in a posted release. “If they are not able to get proper support psychologically, there is an increased possibility that they could develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD),” the psychologist said.

-- Sandra Jontz

Tsunami-hit rice farmers face challenges in Japan 9:40 p.m. Saturday, Tokyo time

The rice paddies on the outskirts of this tsunami-hit city are ankle-deep in a black, salty sludge. Crumpled cars and uprooted trees lie scattered across them, The Associated Press reports

His house destroyed, rice farmer Shinichi Shibasaki lives on a square of blue tarp on the top floor of a farming cooperative office with others like him. He has one set of soiled clothes. But all he can think about is getting back to work.

"If we start washing the soil out now, we can start growing our rice seedlings at the end of April at a different location, and plant them here a month later," the 59-year-old farmer told the AP.

In the name of preserving tradition, Japan's mostly small-scale rice farmers are heavily protected from cheaper foreign competition. The emperor plants and harvests symbolic stalks every year, and some city dwellers rent small plots to grow rice on the edge of town. The country's mythology is filled with references to rice, and the written character for "rice field" forms part of many surnames.

-- Sandra Jontz

Company apologizes, says radiation exposure could have been prevented 9:14 p.m. Saturday, Tokyo time

A power company apologized Saturday, CNN reports, saying the exposure of three workers at the Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant to highly radioactive water might have been avoided with better communication.

The Thursday incident has spurred questions about the source of the radioactive contamination in water, its potential to taint seawater nearby, and the prospect it might be evidence of a leak in at least one of the facility's six reactor cores.

It also prompted further criticism of the Tokyo Electric Power Co., which runs the plant, and how well it's safeguarding the nearly 500 individuals working to prevent more emission of potentially cancerous radioactive materials about two weeks after a 9.0-magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami rocked the facility.

For more on the story and a video report, click here

-- Sandra Jontz

A really good summary of Dai-ichi thus far8:11 Saturday, Tokyo time

Reuters offers this summary of everything that's happened to the Fuskushima nuclear plant thus far. It brings you up to speed on what's happened so far.

Read more by clicking here

-- Patrick Dickson

Radiation in seawater off nuclear plant spikes to 1,250 times normal 7:09 p.m. Saturday, Tokyo time

CNN is reporting that the levels of radioactive iodine in seawater just offshore of the embattled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant spiked to more than 1,250 times higher than normal, the news agency quoted Japan's nuclear and industrial safety agency.

Samples taken Friday from a monitoring station 330 meters off the coast were significantly higher than results from the previous morning, when the level was 104 times above normal, CNN reported

The measurements also showed high levels of cesium and were taken outside the discharge canal for the plant's Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4 reactors.

-- Sandra Jontz

'We could always count on him' 6:36 p.m. Saturday, Tokyo time

From Travis Tritten, one of our guys in Sendai:

"Yoshiko Kikuchi, 35, stood outside the Miyagi gymnasium Thursday holding a slip of paper labeled with the number 42. She travels regularly to the sports complex stadium, which was converted to hold about 100 bodies of those recovered in nearby coastal towns, in hopes of finding her younger brother Manabu Abe, 31.

"Abe was swept away by a massive tsunami while driving in the town of Tagajo, she said. 'He was really tall and we could always count on him.'

"During each visit to the morgue, she and others are given a number and told to wait."

After dozens and dozens of stories, some can still go right through you.

For stories and photo, click here:

-- Patrick Dickson

No increased radiation levels at Yokota6:03 p.m. Saturday Tokyo time

Posted to Yokota Air Base Facebook page:

Air monitoring results indicate NO increased radiation levels at Yokota. Readings remain at normal everyday levels. Today’s (Saturday's) levels average 20 µR This is equivalent to everyday levels at Omaha, Nebraska.

-- Matt Orr

Updated Yokosuka school bus information5:29 p.m. Saturday Tokyo time

Posted to Commander Fleet Activities Yokosuka Facebook page:

Effective Monday morning (28 March 2011) we shall be using five instead 10 school buses for picking up and dropping off the Sullivans', Yokosuka middle school's and Kinnick high school's students who live at CFAY Ikego's housing area.

This temporary change is being made because fewer students are now riding the school buses because of the voluntary evacuation to CONUS and to conserve fuel. Additional school buses shall be added in the future asstudents begin returning to the Yokosuka schools from their voluntary evacuation.

All five of Ikego's existing school bus stops shall continued to be serviced before school and again when the students are being returned home from their schools. Students are expected to continue using the same Ikego housing bus stops they are currently using and to be at them by 6:25 a.m. ready for immediate bus boarding.

All students living at Ikego's housing area wanting to ride the school buses to and from their schools must have and display a current school year bus pass prior to each school bus boarding.

- One school bus will pick up all assigned 4th thru 12th grade students from the Asuka Tower bus stop at 6:30 a.m. and then proceed to Kinnick high school (arrival there at 7:05 a.m., then proceed to the Yokosuka middle school (arrival there at 7:10 a.m.) and then go to the Sullivans school (arrival there at 7:15 a.m.). Depending on traffic conditions, this school bus will be returning the combined three schools' students to the Ikego's Asuka bus stop about 3:15 p.m.

- One school bus shall pick up all assigned 4th thru 12th grade students from the playground bus stop at 6:30 a.m. and then proceed to Kinnick high school (arrival there at 7:05 a.m.), then proceed to the Yokosuka middle school (arrival there at 7:10 a.m.) and then go to the Sullivans school (arrival there at 7:15 a.m.). Depending on traffic conditions, this school bus will be returning the combined three schools' students to the Ikego's playground bus stop about 3:15 p.m.

- One school bus shall pick up all assigned 4th thru 12th grade students from the Shisagi bus stop at 6:30 a.m. and then proceed to Kinnick high school (arrival there at 7:05 a.m.), then proceed to the Yokosuka middle school (arrival there at 7:10 a.m.) and then go to the Sullivans school (arrival there at 7:15 a.m.). Depending on traffic conditions, this school bus will be returning the combined three schools' students to the Ikego's Shisagi bus stop about 3:15 p.m.

- One school bus shall pick up all assigned 4th thru 12th grade students from the Sasagayato bus stop at 06:30 and then proceed to Kinnick high school (arrival there at 7:05 a.m.), then proceed to the Yokosuka middle school (arrival there at 7:10 a.m.) and then go to the Sullivans school (arrival there at 7:15 a.m.). Depending on traffic conditions, this school bus will be returning the combined three schools' students to the Ikego's Sasagayato bus stop about 3:15 p.m.

- One school bus shall pick up all assigned 4th thru 12th grade students from the Imatsumi bus stop at 06:30 and then proceed to Kinnick high school (arrival there at 7:05 a.m.), then proceed to the Yokosuka middle school (arrival there at 7:10 a.m.) and then go to the Sullivans school (arrival there at 7:15 a.m.). Depending on traffic conditions, this school bus will be returning the combined three schools' students to the Ikego's Imatsumi stop about 3:15 p.m.

A memorandum from my office to inform parents of this temporary school bus change for the Ikego housing area shall be distributed via their children who ride the Ikego housing area's school buses Monday.

-- Matt Orr

Eagle 810 update from 374th AW Commander Col. Feather 5:24 p.m. Saturday Tokyo time

Posted to DODEA Pacific Facebook page:

‎Sunday interview with 374th Airlift Wing Commander, Col. Otto Feather. Length: ‎6:18

Link: http://tinyurl.com/6dsw2ya

-- Matt Orr

Some useful info about radiation 5:16 p.m. Saturday Tokyo time

Ellen McManis, a nuclear operator at the Reed Research Reactor in Portland, Oregon, has developed this succinct and helpful guide about radiation. There are links within this page to her sources, and other bits of information. It's written for the layman, and may answer some of your questions:

http://people.reed.edu/~emcmanis/radiation.html-- Patrick Dickson

Misawa - updated slides postedif(typeof(dstb)!= "undefined"){ dstb();} 4:17 p.m. Saturday Tokyo time

Misawa is updating its Facebook slideshow, Stars and Stripes' Matt Orr tells us. But when you go into the slides, there's nothing to tell you what's new. How about it, Misawa? Can you mark the changes so people don't have to plow through all the slides again and again?

Posted to NAF Atsugi Facebook page:

Updated slides posted as of Saturday, 3p.m. in the photos section.

Link: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/AFNMisawa

-- Patrick Dickson

Atsugi announces last voluntary departure flight1:01 p.m. Saturday, Tokyo time

Posted to NAF Atsugi Facebook page:‎ATTENTION – The last voluntary departure flight from NAF Atsugi bound for Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEATAC) will depart Monday Mar. 28. Please contact your command representative if you still want to depart. The show time will be 12 p.m. at Cinema 77 on Mar. 28th.

- Matt Orr

Potassium Iodide distribution sites to be consolidated12:22 p.m. Saturday, Tokyo time

Posted to Commander Fleet Activities Yokosuka Facebook page:

Starting Saturday, March 26 at noon, Potassium Iodide distribution sites will be consolidated to CFAY Purdy Gym, Branch Health Annex Yokohama and Branch Health Clinic Atsugi. All sites will remain open 24 hours a day.Distribution remains a precautionary measure.Do NOT take Potassium Iodide unless you are told to do so by military officials.The distribution site consolidation was prompted by a declining public request for Potassium Iodide.

- Matt Orr

Additional flight to depart Yokota on Tuesday11:44 a.m. Saturday, Tokyo time

Posted to Commander Fleet Activities Yokosuka Facebook page:

For those still interested in voluntary departure, an additional flight will be available out of Yokota 07:45, Tuesday March 29.

All eligible persons wishing to sign up for the flight please call 243-1719 or 243-1704. We are still researching how many pets this flight can accept.

- Matt Orr

DODEA arrival center information10:31 Saturday, Tokyo time

Posted to Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA)Facebook page:

If we missed anyone at the arrival centers from those first fights that arrived from Japan, we are sorry. Please call our Crisis line if you need any help (In the United States, the toll-free number is 888-441-158. Visit our website for more information as well at www.dodea.edu

- Matt Orr

Kinnick High School open for business10:29 a.m. Saturday, Tokyo time

Posted to Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA)Facebook page:

DoDEA’s Kinnick HS is open for business and taking care of families who are remaining in Japan.

Link:http://www.dodea.edu/home/Kinnick.cfm

- Matt Orr

Updated slides from Misawa10:26 a.m. Saturday, Tokyo time

Posted to AFN Misawa Facebook page in their photos section:

Link:http://www.facebook.com/dodea.edu#!/AFNMisawa

- Matt Orr

Situation in Japan: Links for information and online resources 8:56 a.m. Saturday, Tokyo time

Posted to Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA)Facebook page via MilitrayOneSource.com:

Link:https://www.militaryonesource.com/MOS/FindInformation/JapanEarthquakeandTsunami2011/DoDCivilianInformationforJapanSituation.aspx

- Matt Orr

Breach possible at troubled Japanese power plant 8:51 a.m. Saturday, Tokyo time

A possible breach at Japan's troubled nuclear plant escalated the crisis anew Friday, two full weeks after an earthquake and tsunami first compromised the facility. The development suggested radioactive contamination may be worse than first thought, with tainted groundwater the most likely consequence.

Read full story here.- The Associated Press

Displaced students are eligible to compete in Stateside sports8:46 a.m. Saturday, Tokyo time

Posted to DoDEA Facebook page via Aledo Times Record online:

Bloomington, Ill. — Illinois High School Association (IHSA) Executive Director Marty Hickman ruled today that any students displaced by the earthquake and subsequent disasters in Japan that relocate to IHSA member schools will be granted immediate eligibility to participate in IHSA sports and activities.The United State Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) recently informed IHSA member schools that it has issued a voluntary authorized departure from the Island of Honshu, Japan for United States military family members. The number of families that will relocate from Japan to the United States, or to Illinois, is unknown at this point."We don't know if we will have any high school students relocating from Japan to IHSA member schools," said IHSA Executive Director Marty Hickman. "But if we do, we want to help these students transition back to normalcy in any way that we can."

Copyright 2011 Aledo Times Record. Some rights reserved

Link to story:http://www.aledotimesrecord.com/news/x1608495041/Displaced-students-are-eligible-to-compete

- Matt Orr

Misawa updates medical information slide8:40 a.m. Saturday, Tokyo time

Posted to AFN Misawa Facebook page:

Hey Misawa, there is a new slide with info on Tricare and dental while you are away. Check it out in the photo section.Posted Saturday, 7:47 a.m.

Link to slide in photo section:http://www.facebook.com/#!/AFNMisawa?sk=photos

- Matt Orr

Japan relocation guide slides posted 8:23 a.m. Saturday, Tokyo time

Posted to Misawa Emergency Management Facebook page:

Link to slides in their photos section:http://www.facebook.com/MisawaEmergencyManagement?sk=photos

- Matt Orr

Atsugi family picnic, Sunday8:19 a.m. Saturday, Tokyo time

Posted to NAF Atsugi Facebook page:

NAF Atsugi Family Picnic on March 27th Please come join us for a Family Picnic at Ranger Gym Park, Pavilions 1A & 1B. There are many of us who have elected to stay. Let's get together and enjoy the day as one community. The day will be Sunday, March 27, at noon. Bring something to BBQ for yourselves or to share. Bring a dish and drinks to share. Everyone is invited. Bring the kids. Bring your pets. Let's meet up and have a great time!!!

- Matt Orr

Atsugi asking for potluck food donations, today8:17 a.m. Saturday, Tokyo time

Posted to NAF Atsugi Facebook page:

‎Food request for JMSDF for tomorrow March 26, Saturday There are 99 JMSDF personnel from Iwakuni who have been working around the clock to help with the relief efforts up north. Many organizations and private individuals have been working together in the past few days to support our sailors and the Marines who have been stationed here to help by preparing homemade meals. As Joe Mortimer said, "We would like to extend this opportunity to the JMSDF personnel as well since we are all one community working together. We have a great alliance! US Forces and JMSDF personnel all live and work here together in Japan and we share this home together. Same method. Potluck style. Deliver to the Red Cross and 11:30 a.m. Saturday, March 26. I will be here to receive the food. Thank you so much for your help.

- Matt Orr

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