tsunami – News Agency nabakhabar

Movable seawall for tsunami protection is self-powered and generates electricity

News Agency nabakhabar — Sun, 28 Jan 2024 16:55:11 +0000

A team of researchers led by Professor Hiroshi Takagi from Tokyo Institute of Technology have proposed a self-powered movable seawall system (SMS) that uses microtidal energy to generate electricity.

Japan, with over 2,780 fishing ports and 993 commercial and industrial ports, faces the challenge of safeguarding these coastal assets from tsunamis.

Researchers said that a solution lies in the form of a movable barrier system, where gates rising from the seafloor act as barriers protecting ports against tsunamis, storm surges and high waves. However, during natural disasters, power outages may disrupt the electricity needed to operate the gate.

The proposed system consists of gates placed at the port entrance designed to close during periods of port inactivity. When raised, the differences in water levels between the inside and outside of the port are used to generate electricity, which then can be stored and utilised for subsequent gate operations.

In a statement, Professor Takagi said: “To our knowledge, there is no system in the world yet that uses movable seawalls to generate electricity and then uses that electricity to operate the system itself. In this sense, SMS is a completely new concept.”

According to the researchers, despite Japan’s extensive coastline, the tidal ranges are considered too small for large-scale tidal power generation. In contrast, the SMS system harnesses microtidal amplitudes in the sea level, which ranges from 10 – 150cm during spring tides.

Self-elevating seawall gate uplifts from the underground storage space, creating a difference in seawater level before and after the gate elevation. Due to the difference in sea level, strong inflow is generated, then several small turbines (propellers) work for generating electricity – Professor Hiroshi Takagi

The system features a series of gates with a 30cm gap that aims to operate the adjacent gates without interaction and small turbines for power generation housed within the gap. Turbines, with one propeller per 50cm interval vertically, are placed in the gaps between the gates.

The researchers tested the system’s feasibility in Japanese ports, where it operated for eight hours a day, to determine if it could generate enough electricity to restore the gates under the seafloor after the tsunami alert was lifted, considering a buoyant force of floating gate.

Out of 56 assessed ports across Japan, the researchers found nine locations to be ‘highly feasible’, 14 ‘feasible’, and 33 ‘unfeasible’ due to small potential of energy generation.

However, 20 ‘feasible’ locations were identified along Japan’s western coast, facing the Nankai Trough – a subduction zone known as the source of megathrust earthquakes that occur every century or two. These seismic events have the potential to trigger tsunamis, making the proposed SMS system a promising protective measure for vulnerable ports and their hinterlands.

The team also identified specific ports, including Himeji and Fukuyama, as examples of favourable locations for generating surplus energy which can be stored for later use.

These areas, located in the Seto Inland Sea, serve as major industrial hubs with steel industries, shipbuilding, chemical plants, and various factories. Apart from protecting these critical infrastructures against tsunamis, the researchers said the system could also provide emergency power to enhance the resilience of these industries in the face of disasters.

While acknowledging challenges such as technical hurdles and restrictions by related laws and regulations, the researchers envision the SMS system as a global safeguard for ports against natural disasters, rising sea levels, and extreme weather, including coastal floods.#

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M6.5 quake triggers small tsunami in Japan’s Izu islands in Pacific

News Agency nabakhabar — Thu, 05 Oct 2023 13:32:29 +0000

Small tsunami waves arrived in parts of Japan’s Izu island chain following an earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.5 in the Pacific Ocean on Thursday morning, with no damage reported.

The Japan Meteorological Agency issued a tsunami advisory for the island chain after the quake was detected at around 11:00 a.m., predicting 1-meter waves would reach the area. Tsunami waves as high as 30 centimeters were measured at Hachijo Island at 12:17 p.m.

The agency lifted the advisory at 1:15 p.m.

An official from the Japan Meteorological Agency speaks in Tokyo about a tsunami advisory that was issued for the Izu island chain following an earthquake in the Pacific Ocean on Oct. 5, 2023. (Kyodo)

The quake struck off Torishima, an uninhabited island around 580 kilometers south of Tokyo, at a depth of 17 km.

The agency revised the initially reported magnitude of 6.6 and depth of 10 km.

The temblor did not register 1 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale of 7, according to the agency.

The agency warned that the region could be hit by further quakes as seismic activity has continued since earlier this week.

(Source: Japan Meteorological Agency)

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Tonga: The UN stands ready to provide support after volcano eruption and tsunami

News Agency nabakhabar — Sun, 16 Jan 2022 21:32:32 +0000

Secretary-General António Guterres expressed his deep concern after reports of a tsunami and ash affecting Tonga following the eruption of an undersea volcano near the Pacific nation.

The UN chief also aired his concern about the tsunami warnings that have been issued in other countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Japan and the United States.

“The United Nations offices in the Pacific are closely monitoring the situation and are on standby to provide support if requested. The Secretary-General is grateful to countries that have already offered their support”, UN spokesperson Farhan Haq said in a statement published on Saturday.

According to the Tonga Geological Services, a massive underwater volcano erupted just before sundown on Friday with plumes reaching more than 12 miles above sea level. A cloud of ash and steam reached about 150 miles across, an event captured by satellite images that have been shared by various meteorological agencies.

Update as of 16 January 2022

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) confirmed on Sunday that a tsunami wave of 1.2 meters hit the coastline and around uku’alofa causing yet to be detailed damage to buildings and infrastructure.

Currently, communications with Tonga are a challenge as regular phone lines are down, the internet cable from Fiji to Tonga seems to have been damaged, and satellite phones are only working intermittently.

Initial information received by the Office indicates that the main island Tongatapu, with the capital Nuku’alofa, is covered with some 2 cm of ash and there is concern about water accessibility.

No injuries or deaths are currently reported but a person is allegedly missing (a member of the coast guard).

OCHA is working to establish lines of communication with Tonga’s National Emergency Management Office (NEMO) which is leading the assessment and potential response – in close cooperation with the Tonga Red Cross Society.

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The ‘tsunami’ of airline job losses has begun in Europe. US carriers could be next

News Agency nabakhabar — Sat, 02 May 2020 09:19:38 +0000

This week alone, Europe’s top airlines said they would have to shed tens of thousands of jobs as they race to slash costs because of the rapidly deteriorating medium-term outlook for aviation.

Ryanair (RYAAY), Lufthansa (DLAKY), British Airways, Scandinavian Airlines (SASDF) and Air France-KLM (AFLYY) could shed as many as 32,000 jobs among them as they shrink their businesses to account for an industry that will take years to recover from the pandemic. More are likely to follow.

Carriers are hoping that hiring freezes, part-time working and early retirement might soften the blow for their employees, but there’s little cause for optimism.

“We are currently facing the greatest challenge of our recent history,” Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr said in remarks posted on the German aviation group’s website on Friday. “We are fighting for the future of this company and the future of the roughly 130,000 employees of the Lufthansa Group,” he added.

Lufthansa Group has already placed more than 80,000 of its staff on reduced working hours and its flight schedule has “gone back in time” to levels not seen since 1955, with 3,000 of its daily flights canceled and 92% of its fleet grounded, Spohr said.”That is extremely bitter, devastating and painful.”

With practically no international travel, and no clarity on when demand will return, it is almost impossible to overstate the financial crisis facing airlines.

Aviation workers face a “tsunami of job losses,” Brian Strutton, general secretary of the British Airline Pilots’ Association said in a statement Friday. Without help from government, the industry “will be devastated,” he added.

His warning followed a one-two punch from British Airways, which said Tuesday it may have to cut more than a quarter of its workforce, and Ryanair, which announced 3,000 job cuts earlier on Friday.

“What we are facing as an airline … is that there is no ‘normal’ any longer,” British Airways CEO Alex Cruz said in a letter to staff that was released to CNN Business. “The scale of this challenge requires substantial change so we are in a competitive and resilient position… to withstand any longer term reductions in customer demand,” he added.

Global airline passenger revenues are expected to tumble by as much as 55% this year, or some $314 billion, according to the International Air Transport Association.

Several major carriers in Europe and the United States are already seeking government bailouts.

Lufthansa, which owns carriers in Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Belgium, is in “intensive talks” with the German government about financial support, Spohr said. The company has already received aid from the Swiss government and is in negotiations with governments in Austria and Belgium.

“The future of Lufthansa is currently being decided. The question is whether we can avoid bankruptcy with the support of the governments of our four home countries,” Spohr said.

Ryanair on Friday said it expects that passenger demand and pricing won’t recover until at least summer 2022. Spohr said it could take even longer, until 2023, for global demand to find its “new balance.”

US airlines will have to cut too

The warnings from European airlines do not bode well for their rivals in the United States, which are already reporting billions of dollars in losses for the first quarter. While US airlines are not allowed to implement any layoffs as a condition of their $25 billion bailout package, this ban only runs until September 30.

With the aviation sector set to be significantly smaller for several years, hefty job cuts among US carriers seem inevitable.

Already, about 100,000 employees at the four major airlines alone— American (AAL), United (UAL), Delta (DAL) and Southwest (LUV) — have agreed to take salary cuts or unpaid leave, some for as long as nine months.

“We will indeed, irrespective of where demand is, go into the fall with more team members than we have work for,” American Airlines CEO Doug Parker told investors on Thursday.

“If demand remains significantly diminished on October 1, we simply won’t be able to endure this crisis without implementing some of the more difficult and painful actions,” United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby added Friday, making reference to “involuntary furloughs.”

The crisis is also having knock-on effects on planemakers and airports. Boeing (BA) this week announced 16,000 job cuts and a $1.7 billion first-quarter loss, while Airbus (EADSF) said it is furloughing more than 6,000 workers and “bleeding cash,” as airlines cancel or delay orders for new planes.

Europe’s biggest airport, London Heathrow on Friday reported a £352 million ($441 million) loss for the first quarter of this year, compared with a profit of £102 million ($128 million) for the same period last year.

It said it expects passenger numbers to be down by around 97% in April and announced that its planned expansion, including a third runway, will be delayed by at least two years partly due to the coronavirus crisis.

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