Japan zoo releases gender of star panda

TOKYO - The baby panda, who has become an overnight celebrity in Japan, is a girl. Tokyo's Ueno Zoo said Friday the panda, born June 12, was ruled a female by examining experts. The still nameless cub has been doing well, drinking mother ShinShin's milk. ( read original story ...)

Rear admiral to investigate fatal Navy collision off Japan

A rear admiral has been named to head the U.S. Navy's investigation into a collision off Japan that took the lives of seven sailors aboard the USS Fitzgerald. The Japan-based 7th Fleet said Friday that Brian Fort would lead the probe into the crash with a ... ( read original story ...)

Japan’s earthquakes and tectonic setting

Japan has more measurable earthquakes than any other country and has over 100 active volcanoes. These both result from Japan being wedged among four major tectonic plates. The tectonics are complicated, but in this animation, IRIS attempted to look at the ... ( read original story ...)

Japan trains Filipino engineers on earthquake response

The Philippines and Japan once again are teaming up in an effort to teach earthquake emergency quick response to Filipino engineers. A total of 80 Filipino engineers will be joining the training program which is set to commence this week. The program ... ( read original story ...)

5.2-magnitude quake strikes SW Japan; no tsunanmi warning

A 5.2-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of southwestern Japan late today but there was no tsunami warning, Japanese and US authorities said. The quake was at a depth of 51 kilometres about 15 kilometres south east of the town of Saiki, at 11:27 ... ( read original story ...)

Southern Japan hit by 5.0 magnitude quake, no tsunami

TOKYO An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.0 hit southern Japan late on Tuesday but was not likely to cause a tsunami, Japan Meteorological Agency said. The 11:31 p.m. (10.31 a.m. ET) quake was centered in the Bungo strait connecting the ... ( read original story ...)

Slow earthquakes could reveal how tsunamis start

The researchers found a series of slow slip events on the plate interface seaward of recurring magnitude 8 earthquake areas east of Japan. These slow earthquakes lasted days to weeks, some triggered by other unconnected earthquakes in the area and some ... ( read original story ...)

Japan’s consumption uptick convincing no one

TOKYO -- Japan's government has upgraded its assessment of the economy for the first time in six months in light of healthy consumer spending -- though neither the cabinet, the business community nor the public seems truly confident that things are looking up. ( read original story ...)

Asia’s financial safety net is a work in progress

a port city south of Tokyo. Finance ministers and central bankers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, China, Japan and South Korea met on the sidelines of the event, but two men were conspicuously -- and tellingly -- absent: Chinese Finance ... ( read original story ...)