Taking responsability: A lesson to learn from the recent Japanese earthquake

On July 16, 2007, a powerful earthquake rocked Japan ...

Graphic locating a nuclear power plant in Kashiwazaki, where a fire broke out after a powerful quake shook the region. A powerful earthquake rocked Japan, killing seven people and injuring more than 750 more as it caused a radiation leak at one of the world's biggest nuclear plants. (AFP/Graphic)

... causing severe damages ...

A man walks past damaged houses in Kashiwazaki. A powerful earthquake struck Japan on Monday, killing eight people, injuring hundreds and causing radioactive water to leak from a nuclear plant that also caught fire. (AFP/Kazuhiro Nogi)

... and fire broke out at a nuclear power plant ...

A Japan Coast Guard handout photo shows black smoke rising from a facility of Tokyo Electric Power's nuclear plant at Kashiwazaki city, north of Tokyo. A powerful earthquake rocked Japan, killing seven people and injuring more than 750 more as it caused a radiation leak at one of the world's biggest nuclear plants. (AFP/HO)

... Tsunehisa Katsumata, President of the Tokyo Electric Power Co. which operates the nuclear power plant, bows in apology to Hiroshi Aida, Mayor of Kashiwazaki, for "all the worry and trouble we have caused" at the nuclear power plant ... in spite of the fact that the fire was caused by an earthquake, a natural phenomenon.

Tokyo Electric Power Co. President Tsunehisa Katsumata (2nd R) bows in apology to Kashiwazaki Mayor Hiroshi Aida (L) at the city office in Kashiwazaki, Niigata Prefecture, July 18, 2007. Officials at the world's biggest nuclear power plant said on Tuesday there had been more minor radiation leaks after an earthquake in Japan that killed nine people and forced thousands from their homes. (KYODO/Reuters)