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Japan:Explosion at Tokyo Spa Kills 3(large reserve of natural gas beneath Tokyo)
AP ^ | 06/19/07 | Chisaki Watanabe

Posted on 06/20/2007 8:10:41 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster

Explosion at Tokyo Spa Kills 3

Tuesday June 19, 11:54 am ET

By Chisaki Watanabe, Associated Press Writer

Apparent Gas Explosion at Tokyo Women's Spa Kills 3, Injures 3 Others

TOKYO (AP) -- An explosion at a women's spa Tuesday killed three people and injured at least three others, officials said. Methane gas appeared to have seeped from the ground beneath the popular "Shiespa" hot spring and ignited, according to police. Authorities earlier said a boiler at the spa had exploded.

"I heard a sudden huge boom. When I jumped outside, I saw a plume of smoke," said Miki Yamagishi, a clerk at a nearby convenience store.

After the flames had been extinguished, fire officials swarmed the blasted shell of the building, which was destroyed except for the mangled iron frame. Debris was blown into the street and hit neighboring apartment houses, shattering windows.

Shiespa is a women's only spa in central Tokyo with a natural hot spring, an open-air bath, a sauna and salon, according to its Web site.


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: energy; explosion; hotspring; methane; naturalgas; tlr; tokyo
Click here to view the moment of explosion captured by a surveillance camera

Later in the above news clip, an expert explains that there is large natural gas reserve beneath Tokyo area. Coupled with ever-present danger of earthquake, this might make the life in Tokyo more thrilling.:-)

1 posted on 06/20/2007 8:10:47 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
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To: TigerLikesRooster; sushiman; Ronin; AmericanInTokyo; gaijin; struggle; DTogo; GATOR NAVY; Iris7; ...

Ping!


2 posted on 06/20/2007 8:11:19 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster (kim jong-il, chia head, ppogri, In Grim Reaper we trust)
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To: TigerLikesRooster

The folks at that spa got the “unhappy ending.”


3 posted on 06/20/2007 8:13:22 AM PDT by Sax
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To: TigerLikesRooster

How does a single pocket become a large reserve?


4 posted on 06/20/2007 8:18:44 AM PDT by thackney (life is fragile, handle with prayer)
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To: TigerLikesRooster
I think this guy may have something to do with it...


5 posted on 06/20/2007 8:18:44 AM PDT by JRios1968 (Faith is not believing that God can. It is knowing that God will. - Ben Stein)
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To: thackney
Does he say a single pocket? According to the news cast, the expert reportedly said there is an underground layer containing gas reserve, and gas will come out whenever spas pump up hot spring water from underground.
6 posted on 06/20/2007 8:23:28 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster (kim jong-il, chia head, ppogri, In Grim Reaper we trust)
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To: TigerLikesRooster

Is there an english version of that report?


7 posted on 06/20/2007 8:28:39 AM PDT by thackney (life is fragile, handle with prayer)
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To: TigerLikesRooster

Ahhhh, most solly! Escuzah me. Prease right a match?


8 posted on 06/20/2007 8:30:13 AM PDT by Cletus.D.Yokel
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To: thackney

Asahi shimbum has it online at asahi.com. Apparently there is a huge natural gas field that stretches under most of Tokyo. The onsen had a device that separated the natural gas from the hot water that may have malfunctioned.


9 posted on 06/20/2007 10:00:19 AM PDT by voiceinthewind
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To: TigerLikesRooster

What a way to go!


10 posted on 06/20/2007 10:01:48 AM PDT by Palladin (NO Shamnesty!!!)
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To: JRios1968

Amazing! Someone with bigger hips than Hillary!


11 posted on 06/20/2007 10:02:55 AM PDT by Palladin (NO Shamnesty!!!)
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To: thackney

http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200706200248.html


12 posted on 06/20/2007 10:03:17 AM PDT by voiceinthewind
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To: voiceinthewind

Thanks a lot, 14 trillion cubic feet is a huge field.


13 posted on 06/20/2007 10:09:54 AM PDT by thackney (life is fragile, handle with prayer)
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To: TigerLikesRooster
All them benjo ditches gotta go somewhere! Tokyo is the biggest city in the world without a sewer system.
14 posted on 06/20/2007 10:12:56 AM PDT by Snickersnee (Where are we going? And what's with this handbasket?)
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To: Snickersnee

There is a sewer system, it’s just that much of it is old, and some of the pipes have multiple use, waste water and storm water.

We have a similar problem here, aging pipes. The city seems to just play patch-up.


15 posted on 06/20/2007 10:24:51 AM PDT by voiceinthewind
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To: Snickersnee
Tokyo is the biggest city in the world without a sewer system.

Where on earth did you get that idea? When was the last time you were in Tokyo?

Tokyo has a sewer system as good as any major metropolitan area in the world.

English Homepage of the Tokyo Metropolitan Sewer System

16 posted on 06/20/2007 10:33:58 AM PDT by lOKKI (You can ignore reality until it bites you in the ass.)
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To: lOKKI

If he/she was their with the US Occupation forces in the early 1950s that might have been the case. But you are right, things have changed, and people should not be in such a time warp when it comes to Tokyo, fantastic, super modern TOKYO!!!


17 posted on 06/20/2007 5:52:28 PM PDT by AmericanInTokyo (Hi, I'm "AmericanInTokyo" And I Am A Recovering Sufferer of ***BUMPER STICKER REGRET***)
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