Japan's industrial output fell a record 15.3% in March from the previous month, while household spending tumbled the government announced Thursday, direct result of the earthquake impact and ongoing nuclear crisis.
Toyota executives in Brazil and Argentina announced they are cutting production at two assembly plants for three days because they don’t have enough parts from Japan due to the recent earthquake and tsunami.
Japan's cabinet approved almost US$50 billion of spending for post-earthquake rebuilding, the country's biggest public works effort in six decades. The emergency budget of 4 trillion Yen, which is likely be followed by more reconstruction spending packages, is still dwarfed by the overall cost of damages caused by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, estimated at US$300 billion.
New studies undertaken by Universidad Católica and Universidad de Chile have identified the five most active fault lines in Chile in the hopes of protecting people from future earthquake damage.
The March 9 earthquake and tsunami destroyed most of Japan’s profitable salmon industry, but Japan’s loss may be Chile’s gain. <br />
The catastrophe directly hit the main fishing areas in the provinces of Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, Fukushima, Ibaraki and Chiaba, destroying 20% of the salmon industry and completely shutting down fishing ports.
Radioactivity levels are soaring in seawater near the crippled Fukushima Daiichi plant, Japan's nuclear safety agency said, two weeks after the nuclear power plant was hit by a massive earthquake and tsunami.
Japan estimated the cost of the damage from its devastating earthquake and tsunami could top 300 billion US dollars (close to 6% of GDP). The first official estimate since the March 11 disaster covers damage to roads, homes, factories and infrastructure.
Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) will have to compensate farmers for losses caused by the nuclear radiation leaking from its power plants, Japan has said.
Japan's devastating earthquake and tsunami will depress growth briefly before reconstruction kicks off and gives the beleaguered economy a boost, the World Bank said in a report.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has warned that fuel prices could increase and the global aviation industry will face a setback while Japan recovers from the earthquake.