Precisely the problem. Two huge holes in the building. Apparently the explosions and other chaos caused them to stop monitoring the spent fuel rod tanks in #4. Now reports are that #5 and #6 pools are heating. This plant was really a dumb idea and that dumb idea was compounded by not being able to find a safe permanent storage facility for the spent fuel rods far away from any live reactors. This is the folly of man.
“This is the folly of man”
You’ve hit on precisely why the nuclear scare aspect has overshadowed actual destruction. Natural disasters make for good stories and ratings, but they lack a certain captivation. They’ll never get the press of, say, the royal wedding. Because they are acts of God. We, being people, are interested in people.
People exist within the earthquake/tsunami story, but they can provide no more than anecdotes. Someday someone could write a novel about the hours and minutes of Joe Suzuki’s earthquake day. But without a Nero or Bush II fiddling while Japan burns, it won’t make it into the evening news as anything more affecting than your average “cat in a tree” or ‘Isn’t this cancer kid brave?” story.
The reactor story, contrariwise, has drama. Men built it, and men, as opposed to techtonic plates and waves, have tragic potential.