One week later, what's next for Japan?

What a week its been for Japan. An earthquake, tsunami and scrambling to prevent a nuclear meltdown.

The death toll has killed over 6,548 and the number of the anticipated is climbing to well over 10,000. The devastation has displaced over 380,000 people into 2,000 shelters. While roads are being reopened to provide supplies, food and water to many of the displaced survivors, many are still without.

Additionally, the sub zero temperatures are not helping the situation either.

Japan's local governments in the ravaged areas says they'll be unable to provide its people with temporary housing and that it will be more efficient to relocate earthquake survivors into other areas.

So what's next for one the world's most successful countries in the wake of a major disaster?

Well, if there is one thing we've seen from the Japanese, unlike other countries, is the common denominator of banning together after disaster. Maybe it is their Buddhist religion? Or maybe it is their respect for one another? After all, when Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana in 2005, there was looting and people fighting against one another. The same scenario was seen after Haiti's earthquake.

In Japan, it is strangely not the case. What has to be the worse disaster since Hiroshima, Japan will most likely rebuild itself and continue as a prosperous country once again.

Let's hope!

Ravaged Japan facing possible nuclear meltdown

The 9.0 earthquake that ravaged through Japan on Friday and causing a tsunami has left behind in its trail nothing but death and destruction. Hundreds of thousands of people are left homeless and it is expected that the death toll alone will be more than 10,000. The damage alone projected to cost over $180 billion.

Now there has been a much larger threat.

The Fukushima Nuclear Complex north of Tokyo has experienced hydrogen explosions and falling water levels leading to the possible scenario that because of the coolents failing, the nuclear reactors could experience a meltdown.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has stated that the radiation released after the earthquake was limited and that nuclear plant workers are doing every thing in their power to prevent a meltdown from happening. Furthermore, the agency has yielded concerns that any meltdown would be similar as to what happened in Chernobyl. The agency is optimistic and says that in Japan’s nuclear situation there is a containment structure built to prevent radiation from blowing out into the atmosphere.

Nevertheless, the stakes are indeed quite high. When you consider that Japan is roughly 100 miles from coast to coast and if radiation does leak out into the atmosphere from a meltdown, this will put a decent portion of the country at risk from radiation exposure.

In short, Japan has experienced hell.