U.S. Providing Japan with Any Assistance Needed, Obama Says

U.S. Providing Japan with Any Assistance Needed, Obama Says

By Stephen Kaufman and Charlene Porter
Staff Writer

Washington - The Obama administration has mobilized civilian and military personnel to provide assistance and humanitarian relief to Japan after a major earthquake struck March 11 near the city of Honshu.

President Obama said he spoke to Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan to express condolences and had "offered our Japanese friends whatever assistance is needed."

Speaking at the White House March 11, Obama said the United States has an aircraft carrier off the coast of Japan and another on its way there. There is also a U.S. Navy ship heading toward the Marianas Islands to assist as needed, he said.

"Any assistance that we can provide, we will be providing," the president said.

Preliminary measurements put the quake at magnitude 8.9, which is considered a "great" event, just shy of a "devastating" earthquake of magnitude 9.0. The quake triggered a tsunami that hit Japan and has caused all countries in the Pacific Rim to take precautions.

"My understanding is that the main assistance that we're going to be able to provide them is lift capacity ... [to] help in the cleanup," Obama said. "Obviously, when you have a tsunami like this, as well as an earthquake, you have ... huge disruptions." He said heavy equipment will be needed to help remove boats, homes, cars and other materials that have been washed into main thoroughfares.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is dispatching a disaster assistance response team (DART) to Japan and has mobilized the Fairfax County Urban Search and Rescue team from Virginia and the Los Angeles County Search and Rescue Team from California to participate in rescue operations. According to a March 11 USAID press release, each urban search-and-rescue team has approximately 72 personnel, as well as search-and-rescue canines and approximately 75 tons of rescue equipment.

The teams will be accompanied by USAID disaster experts who will help with assessments of the situation, the press release said.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said in a March 11 statement that the earthquake and tsunami constituted a "huge disaster," and "we will do ... anything we are asked to do to help out."

U.S. AIR FORCE HELPS STRANDED AIRLINE PASSENGERS

According to a news release from the U.S. Air Force's 374th Airlift Wing, which is based at Yokota Air Base outside Tokyo, U.S. airmen and volunteers at the base are assisting more than 500 commercial airline passengers after Narita International Airport in Tokyo was closed and flights diverted.

"Some 11 aircraft landed at the base, and more than 500 passengers were transported to the base recreation center where food, water and cots were available. Volunteers from base organizations, including the Red Cross and Boy Scouts, are helping to get the passengers settled," according to the news release.

The Defense Department's Armed Forces Press Service has reported that several vessels from the U.S. 7th Fleet ( http://www.america.gov/st/peacesec-english/2011/March/20110311113121enelrahc0.1453516.html ), with operating bases in Japan and Guam, are responding to the disaster.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said March 11 ( http://www.america.gov/st/texttrans-english/2011/March/20110311135233su0.6344372.html ) that U.S. Air Force assets have transported coolant to one of Japan's nuclear plants.

"Japan is very reliant on nuclear power, and they have very high engineering standards, but one of their plants came under a lot of stress with the earthquake and didn't have enough coolant, and so Air Force planes were able to deliver that," she said.

The International Atomic Energy Agency reported March 11 that Japanese authorities evacuated residents who live within a three-kilometer radius of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, and told people within a 10-kilometer radius to remain indoors.

President Obama said he asked Prime Minister Kan about the vulnerability of the nuclear plants and has directed U.S. Energy Secretary Stephen Chu to be in close contact with Japanese energy personnel to provide any necessary assistance and help ensure that if "there have been breaches in the safety system on these nuclear plants, that they're dealt with right away."

The president said the images he has seen of the destruction and the flooding "are simply heartbreaking." Obama also cited his "close personal friendship and connection to the Japanese people" that had partly developed from his childhood in Hawaii.

Obama said the Japanese people are resourceful, with a powerful economy and advanced technology, and he expressed confidence that Japan will successfully rebuild from the disaster.

"It has experience dealing with natural disasters. It has dealt with them before; it will deal with them again. And Japan, I'm sure, will come back stronger than ever - hopefully, with our help," the president said.

In a March 11 press teleconference, David Applegate, the senior science adviser for earthquakes and geologic hazards at the U.S. Geological Survey, said Japan is knowledgeable of and prepared for seismic events, with some of the world's best earthquake networks and building codes.

"If there's anyone in a position to ride this out, it is the Japanese," despite the devastation seen today, he said.

Applegate said earthquake epicenters are pinpointed to a specific position on the Earth's surface, but a large patch of the Earth's crust is involved in the event. "The fault rupture was somewhere along the lines of 180 miles [290 kilometers] long, as much as 50 miles [80 kilometers] across, he said. "It represents a lurching on the order of 50 feet [15 meters] of movement."

Japan has had dozens of large aftershocks ranging between magnitudes of 5.5 and 7, and will likely experience more, Applegate said. "They will continue for not just days, weeks, but months, even potentially years, and this is going to be one of the real challenges," he said.

ENDS

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