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Thursday, October 28, 2010

Photo: Shaky Start for New Quake Alert System in Japan


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A woman salvages belongings from her home after a major earthquake struck Kobe, Japan, on January 17, 1995. The temblor sparked dozens of fires and killed more than 6,400 people.

A new early-alert system launched in 2007 was designed to give people in Japan up to two minutes' warning of an approaching quake. But recent failures in the system have critics worried that the public will begin to distrust and eventually ignore the system's warnings.

Photograph by Eric Draper/AP Photo