Japan Quake Map and Radiation Fears

This map, http://www.japanquakemap.com, offers one of the best the best ways to look at the recent earthquake history in Japan, up until the present time. It is best to click on the box to request 'sticky dots' because then the patterns of quake location and depth become clear.

The map was first developed in Christchurch late last year, by a geologist working with graphical information systems (GIS) to provide clear public information about the earthquakes in New Zealand, and he was able to immediately apply the system to the disaster in Japan.

Now we also need a radiation map that shows not only where radiation is distributed, but how well the radiation is being measured.

How many monitoring stations are there, where are they located, what materials are being tested, and how often are readings taken? We need to see a range of tests on air, soil, water, plants, and animals to really know what is going on.

Is this information already available somewhere?

To often it seems we are asked to accept information without being told how the information is being obtained, so there is no way to judge the reliability of the conclusions about food safety and human safety.

This may be mainly a problem of poor science-communication skills in government, in companies, in popular media - and also in the research community generally.

Perhaps we also need to create maps of radiation fear, based on standard polling techniques, to see how people develop their fear of actual or imagined or rumored dangers. The results would be of economic significance, and might be similar to the business confidence index in some ways.