the scientists released their report after a five-year study commissioned by the government. they analyzed the underground geology of the area based on data from about 300 seismographs. the results show the epicenter at the point where the philippine sea plate descends beneath the japanese continental plate is about ten kilometers shallower than expected. typically the shallower the epicenter, the greater the jolt on the surface. the government previously estimated the maximum intensity of a quake at 6 plus. a full rank lower than the new study predicts. the group plans to further analyze its work and publish a final report by the end of march. seismologists often look to the past to try to give projections about the future. many of them have been studying the march 11th earthquake. our researchers in kyoto now says it triggered about 80 separate tremors. one of them was as far as 1,300 kilometers from the original epicenter. masatoshi miyazawa is an associate professor at kyoto's disaster and research institute. he analyzed data recorded by hundreds of seismographs across japan immediately following the earthquake. the results showed about 80 separate jolts occurred within about 15 minutes of the original quake. the red here indicates the areas that were shaken. we can also get an idea of the size of these tremors. many of them were small with a magnitude of around 2. seismographs also measured a quake with a magnitude of 4.7, which is considered relatively strong. the earthquake that was 1,300 kilometers from the epicenter of the march 11th tremor was observed in kagoshima prefecture in southwestern japan. a giant earthquake off sumatra island in 2004 is also known to have triggered smaller quakes. researchers say the ones that happened on march 11th were unprecedented in scale and number. people are getting ready for the first anniversary of the disaster that changed life across the country. we're bringing you a series of stories called "lessons of march 11th, one year on." the magnitude 9 earthquake triggered a tsunami and nuclear crisis. more than 15,000 people died. about 3,300 others are still missing. we have coverage all week from the hardest-hit prefectures in the northeast, iwate, miyagi and fukushima. survivors like from those from many other places are staying in temporary housing. but many of them are having trouble getting around. now some transportation services have stepped in to help. nhk world's yukio aotani explains. >> reporter: there were homes, schools, hospitals and businesses, all the elements of a community were right here, linking residents to one another. since last march, though, the people have been dispersed with limited opportunity to stay in touch. before the disaster, 160,000 people lived in ishinomaki, but many of them lost their homes in the tsunami. altogether, 60% of the dwellings were damaged. almost a year later, many of them still face the inconvenience of temporary housing. 130 complexes are scattered around the city. some lie far from basic services like shops and schools. people without cars find these places hard to walk to. old people can become isolated. some even die without anyone knowing. >> translator: my legs are weak, so i take a taxi to the supermarket. >> reporter: moniko hino lives in a temporary home far from the city center. for 40 years, she's cooked ramen noodles in a shop attached to her home but the tsunami swept the building away. this is all that's left of her business. she now lives with her 90-year-old mother. hino's younger sister who used to take care of the mother, perished in the disaster. hino also lost her car. now she's stuck in a small temporary home. >> translator: after i prepare meals for my mother, i have nothing to fill my time. i can't even get to places i want to go to. >> reporter: but not for long. a mini bus zips along the city's streets. it's called the omni bus because it shuttles passengers all around the city. it takes them to places where public transportation hobbled by the disaster doesn't go. so people can use the omni bus to get to shops, schools, and hospitals. on this day, it heads to a supermarket known for its wide selection of food. shoppers can stock up on fresh vegetables and meat. living far away is no longer an obstacle. the omni bus has no set route or schedule. volunteers ask residents where they need to go and when. then they draw up an itinerary. a support group operates the service. it was this woman who got the omni bus going. even though she runs an ad agency in tokyo, she now spends most of her time here. she's motivated by the plight of survivors she met while volunteering after the disaster. >> translator: people had so many different needs. often we could help but many needs couldn't be met easily, like transporting people here and there. >> reporter: now kashima wants to create job opportunities to give people more motivation to use the bus. hino was one of the people she helped. on this day, hino buses to a food court scheduled to open at city hall. with kashima's help, she'll soon start cooking noodles there. it will be the first time in a year that she's back in action. she can hardly wait for her new shop to open in march. >> translator: thanks to everyone's help, i got my dream and energy back. i could not have done this on my own. >> translator: communication depends on people getting around. then business starts to flow. as people communicate with each other, the energy builds and the area is revitalized. >> reporter: the omni bus gradually connects people and shattered communities, taking back what the disaster took away. yuko aotoni, nhk world, ishinomaki. an earthquake that jolted a nation, a tsunami that swallowed a coastline, a nuclear plant that spiraled out of control. japan marks the first anniversary of the march 11th disaster. what lessons have been learned? find out on our special program "lessons of march 11th one year on" sunday 2:00 p.m. japan time only on nhk world. envoys from the united states and north korea have yet to degree on much accept extending talks to finalize details on the u.s. food aid program for the north. after more than six hours of talks in beijing, u.s. special envoy robert king told reporters they will continue their talks on thursday. >> we have discussed a number of the issues. we have made progress. we still have issues to resolve. >> during the talks, they demanded the north to accept western officials to monitor the food shipments. the measure will ensure that aid reaches the most needy people and is not diverted to the military. the two nations agreed last month that the u.s. will provide north korea with 240,000 tons of nutritional supplements. in exchange, the north will suspend its uranium enrichment and missile launches and allow international nuclear inspects near the country. mitt romney will likely walk away the big winner from the u.s. republican party super tuesday contests. the former massachusetts governor won six of the ten states up for grabs on the single biggest day for the republican presidential nomination. former pennsylvania senator rick santorum secured three. but romney narrowly won ohio which is considered important in his fight to lock up the gop nomination. people in ten states voted for the gop candidate they wanted to face off against barack obama in this november's presidential election. one fifth of the delegates to the republican convention this august were on the line. abc says romney is certain it win six states, alaska, ohio, virginia, vermont, massachusetts and idaho. ohio is politically divided and considered to be a key battleground in november's election. >> i'm not going to let you down. i'm going to get this nomination. >> abc says the ultra conservative santorum is certain to win three states, tennessee, oklahoma and north dakota. former speaker of the u.s. house of representatives newt gingrich is a social conservative. he's projected to win in georgia, his home state. mitt romney is considered to be a moderate. he's been the front-runner since the initial stages of the battle. his wins on super tuesday means he'll likely continue to lead the latest to secure the nomination, but experts point out the narrow victory in ohio will cast a shadow over the contest ahead of the party convention. romney picked up six states, but it was not the emphatic victory he needed to end the contest. observers say if the republican race drags on, it may hurt the party's chances in the presidential election in november. nhk world has some analysis on the results of the vote. >> today's winner was expected to emerge as the overall victor in the republican race. but it appears front-runner mitt romney failed to ensure his nomination. in ohio, he made full use of his wealth and ran a massive amount of tv ads attacking santorum. but he only came in neck and neck with santorum and barely won. the win was not decisive enough to show his strength. it was a strategy of the republicans to draw the public's attention to the nomination and gain votes in the presidential election. but the length of the race is not doing the party any favors. they ran massive amounts of tv ads attacking each other, so much that the campaign has been dubbed the ugliest and dirtiest ever. people's trust in the party is now said to be wavering. >> every candidate has negative ads on. i have no clue. >> i think it would be better if all of our candidates talked about the more positive things and the things that they're going to do to make a difference. >> reporter: even worse for the republicans, support for president obama is rising amid an improving job market. experts said if the current situation continues, it will only benefit the president. gop strategists hope the republican candidates can lead the country in the right direction and when tin the vote trust, not launch attacks against each other in the party. whether this can help will ultimately decide the result of the presidential election. nhk world, washington. the prime ministers of japan and thailand have agreed to cooperate closely on disaster management and post disaster reconstruction. this is in response to last year's earthquake related calamities in japan and floods in thailand. yoshihiko noda and yingluck shinawatra held a joint news conference after meeting in tokyo, referring to the floods that caused extensive damage to japanese firms in thailand. yingluck said her government will work to prevent a recurrence. >> translator: the thai government promises to japanese companies and government that we will take full-scale measures to prevent recurrence. we will take short and long-term flat control measures. >> translator: japan and thailand are strategic partners, sharing basic values. as a key southeast asian country, the development and stability of thailand is crucial to japan's national interests. >> the two leaders issued a joint statement declaring a stronger strategic partnership. and increase in mutual assistance in times of disaster and resulting reconstruction. japan's emperor returned to hospital on wednesday morning to have fluid removed from his chest. emperor akihito was treated at the imperial household hospital. he had the procedure under local anesthetic. the 78-year-old was released from the university of tokyo hospital on sunday after heart bypass surgery 15 days earlier. doctors say a buildup of a fluid is not unusual after such surgery. the imperial household agency says the emperor had not been eating as well as expected and he was experiencing a shortness of breath while walking. doctors took an x-ray on tuesday and found a slight buildup of fluid in his chest. china has expressed concern about japan formerly joining the talks on a free trade deal. the united states is leading the negotiations for the trans-pacific partnership. >> translator: china is paying attention as to whether japan joins the negotiations for the tpp. japan's moves should not affect free trade talks in east asia. >> china appears to be showing the cautious stance as it thinks the u.s. may increase its influence across the east asian economy through the free trade deal. chen was asked whether china intends to join the tpp discussions in the future. he declined to comment on china's comment -- commitment. chan said his country is examining details of the talks and related conditions and whether they suit china's needs. in order to form a free trade framework in east asia, they have been promoting multilateral talks with asean, japan and south korea. environmental pollution in china has become serious as the country's economy has grown rapidly. a large international exhibition for environmental protection products is now under way in shanghai. about 750 firms from over 30 countries and territories, including japan, are taking part in an event that opened on wednesday. a chinese government official said in the opening ceremony that china's environment industry has been growing at 15% to 20% a year and will continue to expand. the chinese government designated environmental protection is a key industry which it supports. it expects investments to be about $450 billion over five years. about 20 japanese companies are displaying their products. they include machines for disposing of waste water and sludge that could shed waste from demolished buildings. >> translator: we want to sell unique environmental technologies, which chinese plants don't have yet. >> companies in germany, south korea, and other countries also aim to make inroads into the chinese market. google in japan says it will launch an online service that provides lifeline information when a major disaster occurs in the country. the internet search engine giant announced it will get information from businesses on damaged inflicted on lifelines at the time of a major disaster. it will show the information on separate maps of google's website in japanese. tokyo gas shows areas where gas supply is halted. automaker honda shows roads on which traffic is available. google plans to enhance the website information by tying up also with other utilities. these include power generation firms and water supply bureaus. floods wreaked havoc across many southeast asian countries last year. vietnam was no exception. with that in mind, a traditional japanese technique for managing rivers is ting attention. it dates back more than 500 years. baskets filled with stones are used to strengthen river banks and prevent flooding. after a few local modifications, the method was introduced in central vietnam and as nhk world reports, it has some unforeseen benefits. >> reporter: introducing gabians to vietnam was the brain wave of a visiting japanese developmental official. he was inspired by vietnam's ubiquitous bamboo baskets. bamboo is in ready supply in vietnam. that makes it ideal for making gabians. instead of steel one normally uses these days in japan. >> translator: bamboo is very good for preventing floods. i'm very happy i can play a useful part. >> reporter: central vietnam often suffers from flooding. one disaster in 1999 killed 800 people and caused damage worth hundreds of millions of dollars. this village with 200 people suffers floods almost every year. >> translator: this is a mark left by a flood in 2009. the one above that was from the historic flood of 1999. everyone in our family climbed on to the roof to wait for help. >> reporter: the floods in this place used to spill over the river bank every year. the gabians are put in place just in time preventing the village's main road from being destroyed. this is how the river looked before the gabians were put in place. the solution was to build a 250 meet stone wall along the embankment and lay gabians to the water line. construction ended in 2010. the gabians created a solid riverbed, preserving the banks from erosion. even during last year's massive floods, no major damage was reported near the gabians. still there are other advantages too. bamboo provides habitats for fish. the project provided jobs for about 1,000 villagers. it also educated them about the importance of disaster partners like planning evacuation routes and carrying out emergency drills. >> translator: this project solved the flood problem. we had a flood last year, but the structure turned out to be very strong. perfect for this location. >> reporter: that success has drawn attention. in january, interested parties from home and abroad gathered to offer their assessment. the project won high marks and it got $125,000, the cost of construction was half of conventional methods. that means local authorities can approve such projects without consulting the central government. >> translator: projects like these are a good match for this region. this will be a good example for future projects in other regions. >> reporter: the government is now considering whether to install gabians across the flood prone country. so in years to come, this ancient japanese technique could find a second home along the rivers of vietnam. nhk world. mia shoji is up next with weather. hi. we had very warm consecutive days here in tokyo. looks like it's not going to be lasting. spring is really taking its time to reach us. across much of the country we will be looking at very dry and calm weather. even in hokkaido, the snowy and windy conditions will be tapering off finally on our thursday. much dry weather will be coming for us in towards the end of the week. and elsewhere in eastern continental asia, the ongoing showers here in southeastern china, that's going to be tapering off just a little bit this evening. however, another round of ongoing showers will continue in towards the weekend. the heaviest showers could be just south of shanghai. and the winds will be cranking up, too. eastern coast of china will be looking at high waves. please be aware of that. inland china will see some mountain snow as well as showers in the valleys. and indochina peninsula, wide spread scattered showers will be popping up. even isolated thunderstorms, gale, gusts, and also some large hail could be possibility here in southern thailand. taking a look at your temperatures, well, bangkok is going to be hot and hazy here at 35 degrees. hong kong will be a bit foggy in the morning hours at 19. seoul just seven degrees. and tokyo, ten degrees for the thursday high. all right. let's head over to the americas. things are going to be much messier as we progress in towards the week. we have a few system that will be just sweeping across much of the eastern portions of the united states. here in canada, also, ontario all of the way to quebec, those are going to be blowing snow and snow could be piling up a lot in the mountainous areas. and in the great lakes region we'll have an intense cold front swinging across the area. and that's going to be just colliding with the warm air surge from the gulf. thunderstorm activity will be seen in around gulf states even on wednesday. this is the set-up for wednesday. and here four corners behind that system, the snow, the cold surge is going to be bringing lots of snow spurting across the area. the gusts are very strong here accompanied with this system. so 50 to 70 kilometers per hour, wind and gusts of 100 kilometers per hour. that could trigger some dust storms and blowing dust which is very dangerous for driving conditions. also, the warm temperatures combined with those very fierce winds, fire risk is on alert, especially in new mexico and texas. southwestern new mexico extreme critical fire watch is posted up there. so here in great lakes region, wednesday, that's going to be wintry mix. it will be moving toward the canadian maritimes. help ray rain could be possible along the eastern coast. and then this is a thursday outlook for severe weather. that's the bull's eye for thunderstorm, large hail, even tornadoes cannot be ruled out. here are your temperatures. oklahoma city is going to be windy at 19 degrees. chicago, well above average. and also windy at 18. toronto, 14 degrees. that's 15 degrees above what we saw on tuesday. and staying warm and sunny in new york, at 15 degrees. enjoy the weather while you can. you've got the precipitation coming in towards you. here's the extended forecast. that's our broadcast for this hour on "newsline." we'll be back with more news in half an hour. i'm michio kijima in tokyo. thank you for watching. bye-bye.