PHOTO OF THE DAY: A man attaches rigging to the top of the Washington Monument on the National Mall, in Washington, on Tuesday before engineers rappelled down the sides of the monument to survey the extent of damage sustained to the monument from the Aug. 23 earthquake. (PHOTO: JACQUELYN MARTIN/AP PHOTO)
Statement from Col. Dave Lapan, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense:
Tonight, the Department of State has authorized the voluntary departure (including relocation of safe areas within Japan) for family members and dependents of U.S. government officials who wish to leave Northeast Japan. The U.S. government is also working to facilitate the departure of private American citizens from the affected areas (50 mile radius of the Fukushima reactor) and a Travel Warning containing detailed information has been issued and is available at www.travel.state.gov.
U.S. forces remain in Japan and the U.S. has full capability to fulfill our alliance commitments to defend Japan and maintain peace and security in the region. The Department of Defense will implement the Dept of State-approved voluntary departure for eligible DoD dependents. As with State Dept dependents, these measures are temporary, and dependents will return when the situation is resolved. Eligible DoD dependents will be given travel instructions by their local commands.
Direct queries on this announcement to the Dept. of State. We will update you on DoD plans in the coming days.
PHOTO OF THE DAY: Chieko Chiba walks through the rubble after going to see her destroyed home on Wednesday in Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. The 9.0 magnitude earthquake struck offshore on March 11, triggering a tsunami wave of up to 10 meters which engulfed large parts of northeastern Japan. As the death toll continues to rise, the country is also struggling to contain a potential nuclear meltdown after a number of nuclear reactors were seriously damaged from the quake. (Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)
A Japanese home is adrift in the Pacific Ocean. U.S. Navy Photo via @msnbcDayside.
Guess what’s on the federal government’s chopping block? A tsunami warning system that came in handy yesterday.
PHOTO OF THE DAY: President Obama gives a press conference at the White House on Friday. Obama urged leaders in the Middle East to seize the “great opportunity” presented by the current turmoil to conduct much-needed political and economic reforms. He also addressed the earthquake that struck Japan. (CHRIS KLEPONIS/AFP/Getty Images)
President Obama Receives Briefing on the Earthquake in Japan and the Tsunami Preparedness and Response Actions in the United States
WASHINGTON—President Obama received a briefing this morning at 9:30 a.m. in the Oval Office on the earthquake in Japan and the tsunami warnings across the Pacific from a number of senior US government officials including Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Craig Fugate via phone, and in the Oval Office with Chief of Staff Bill Daley, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security John Brennan, National Security Advisory Tom Donilan, Deputy National Security Advisor Denis McDonough, Senior Advisor David Plouffe, Deputy Chief of Staff Alyssa Mastromonaco, National Security Staff Senior Director for Resilience Richard Reed and National Security Staff Director Asian Affairs Daniel Russel.
The senior officials provided the President with an update on the evolving situation stemming from the earthquake and subsequent tsunami that struck Japan early this morning including the actions being taken to assist U.S. states and territories that could be affected by the tsunami, as the President directed earlier this morning – as well as the work being done to be prepared to assist the people of Japan.
The US government continues to monitor the situation closely throughout the Pacific region. To support potentially impacted areas in the United States, the federal government remains in close contact and coordination with state and local officials, and stands ready to support them. The government’s message to the public is simple: listen to the instructions of state and local officials. We urge everyone in the regions who could be impacted to listen to a NOAA Weather Radio and their local news to monitor for updates and directions provided by their local officials.
Click HERE for a photo of the briefing.
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Japan Earthquake Live Blogs and Live Streams
Thanks for including us!
Live Blogs:
Blogs of War Crisis Monitor (realtime feeds of Japan hashtags)
Live Streams:
Hawaii TV Live Streams via ProducerMatthew
California, Washington and Oregon TV Live Streams via ProducerMatthew
