English news for Thursday, September 17, 2026

On January 1, 2024, a big earthquake hit the Noto Peninsula^*1, a part of Japan that sticks out into the sea. The earthquake had a magnitude^*2 of 7.5. In the north and west of the peninsula, the land rose by up to 5.2 meters. Now a group of researchers^*3 says this rising land changed a river very fast. They watched a "waterfall" move almost one kilometer up the river in less than one year.

The researchers come from eight universities and research centers in Japan. Tohoku University led the group. The leader is Takahashi, an assistant professor^*4 at the university's International Research Institute of Disaster Science. The group announced the results on September 16, 2026. Their paper appeared in the journal^*5 Communications Earth & Environment on September 14. Anyone can read it for free.

The group studied the Hakka River in the west of the peninsula. At the mouth of this river, the land rose by almost 4 meters. So the end of the river was suddenly much higher than the sea. The water fell down this step like a waterfall.

The researchers studied about one kilometer of the river, from the mouth going inland. They used radar^*6 images from right after the earthquake and photos taken from the air. They also flew drones^*7 over the river many times. The drones used lasers^*8 and cameras to make 3D models^*9 of the land. The researchers compared the models over time.

The results were surprising. In less than one year, the river cut its bed down by up to 2 meters. The top of the "waterfall" moved up to 770 meters up the river. Floods^*10 did most of the work. The waterfall jumped up the river during heavy rain in July 2024, and again during very heavy rain on September 20 to 22, 2024. That rain came about eight and a half months after the earthquake and caused big floods in many rivers in the area. Today the waterfall has reached a small dam^*11 built by people, and it has stopped there.

The river cut so deep that it uncovered old layers of sand and mud. These layers were left near the river mouth about 7,400 years ago, in the Jomon period. The old riverbed was left high above the new river. This makes a new river terrace^*12. The researchers say this is the first time in the world that anyone has watched a river terrace form so soon after an earthquake, and in such fine detail. It shows that terraces on the coast and terraces along a river can form at almost the same time.

The researchers also saw other changes. The river washed away the fine sand and mud first. Big stones and broken pieces of concrete^*13 stayed on the riverbed. This hard layer slowed the cutting down for a time. But the water then cut into the banks^*14 on both sides. The river became more than 60 meters wide.

More than two and a half years have passed since the earthquake. The researchers say the riverbed may keep going down, and the river may keep getting wider, for more than ten years. This could happen along about 10 kilometers of the Hakka River from its mouth. The water has already damaged the ground near the dam and near the posts that hold up bridges. Some walls along the banks have already fallen down. The researchers say the same thing is very likely happening in other rivers in the north of the Noto Peninsula.

1. *1 peninsula: A piece of land with water on three sides
2. *2 magnitude: A number that shows how strong an earthquake is
3. *3 researchers: People who study something carefully to learn new things
4. *4 assistant professor: A teacher and researcher at a university
5. *5 journal: A magazine where researchers print their work
6. *6 radar: A machine that uses radio waves to make pictures of the ground
7. *7 drones: Small flying machines with no pilot inside
8. *8 lasers: Thin lines of strong light used to measure things
9. *9 3D models: Pictures on a computer that show the shape of the land in three dimensions
10. *10 floods: Times when a lot of water covers land that is usually dry
11. *11 dam: A wall built across a river to hold back water
12. *12 terrace: A flat step of land that is higher than the land next to it
13. *13 concrete: A hard, gray building material made from sand, small stones, cement and water
14. *14 banks: The land along the sides of a river

In Japan, a day between two national holidays^*1 can become a holiday too. The Cabinet Office, an office of the Japanese government, explains this on its website.

Japan has a law^*2 about national holidays. One part of this law says: "A day between two national holidays is a holiday, if that day is not a national holiday itself." So when the day before and the day after are both national holidays, the day in the middle becomes a day off.

The Cabinet Office gives an example. In September 2015, September 21 was Respect for the Aged Day, and September 23 was Autumnal Equinox Day. Both of these are national holidays. September 22 was between them, so it became a holiday under this law.

A holiday like this does not come every year. It appears only once every few years, and the years are not regular.

1. *1 national holidays: days when the whole country has a day off, decided by law
2. *2 law: a rule made by a country's government that everyone must follow

Tokyo, the capital of Japan, already has many flu^*1 patients this year. On September 17, the Tokyo government's health office announced that the number of flu patients has passed the level for an advisory^*2. The office asked people to take good care so the flu does not spread.

Some hospitals and clinics^*3 in Tokyo count their flu patients every week and report the numbers to the city. From September 7 to September 13, each of these hospitals and clinics reported 9.53 patients on average^*4. This is above the advisory level. Last year, the numbers passed this level in late October. This year, it happened more than one month earlier.

Tokyo has 31 public health centers^*5, and each one looks after one part of the city. In 14 of these 31 areas, the flu is now at the advisory level. Almost half of the people in Tokyo, 47.87 percent, live in these areas.

The flu is also spreading in schools and care homes^*6. From August 31 to September 13, there were 225 outbreaks^*7 at these places. In the same time, 107 schools and kindergartens closed for a short time because of the flu. They were 88 elementary schools, 9 junior high schools, 6 high schools and 4 kindergartens. In the same weeks last year, only 13 closed.

Doctors also tested the virus from these outbreaks. In 85.7 percent of them, the virus was a type called AH1pdm09^*8. In 14.3 percent, it was a type called AH3^*9.

The health office says the flu season has started early, and it asked people in Tokyo to be careful.

1. *1 flu: a sickness that gives you a high fever, a cough and body pain; it spreads easily from person to person
2. *2 advisory: a public warning that tells people to be careful
3. *3 clinics: small places where doctors see patients
4. *4 on average: the usual number when you add all the numbers together and share them out equally
5. *5 public health centers: government offices that work to keep the people in one area healthy
6. *6 care homes: places where old people or people who need help live and get care
7. *7 outbreaks: times when many people in one place get sick at the same time
8. *8 AH1pdm09: one type of flu virus
9. *9 AH3: another type of flu virus

Ome, a city in Tokyo, Japan, is planning a new library. It will be on the second floor of Ai Terrace, a new building in front of Ome Station. The Ome City Board of Education has announced an unusual rule for it. People will not be able to borrow the books inside the library. They can only read them there.

The city explained why. At the library that Ome has now, popular books are often borrowed for a long time. People who come to the library cannot find them on the shelves. The city wants the new library to be a place where people can always meet the books. It plans to put about 20,000 new books in the new library.

People will still be able to borrow books. Ome has more than 600,000 books in its libraries. Readers can reserve^*1 any of these books and pick them up in one or two days. The whole library will have free Wi-Fi^*2, and readers will also be able to use e-books^*3.

The library will also have study rooms and reading seats. The city is thinking about a reservation system^*4 for some of the seats. There will be a book drop^*5, so people can return books when the library is closed. A cafe with staff might not make enough money, so the city is thinking about a self-service^*6 corner or vending machines^*7 for drinks and light food. The library is right in front of the station, so it will not have its own parking lot or bicycle parking.

The name "New Ome Library" is only a name for now. The city will finish the detailed design in fiscal year^*8 2026. Building work and preparations will run from the second half of fiscal year 2027 to the first half of fiscal year 2028. The library is expected to open in the second half of fiscal year 2028.

1. *1 reserve: to ask for a book ahead of time so it is kept for you
2. *2 Wi-Fi: a way to connect to the internet without wires
3. *3 e-books: books that you read on a screen, not on paper
4. *4 reservation system: a way to ask for a seat ahead of time so it is kept for you
5. *5 book drop: a box where you can return books when the library is closed
6. *6 self-service: you take and pay for things yourself, with no staff to help you
7. *7 vending machines: machines that sell drinks or food when you put money in
8. *8 fiscal year: a 12-month period that a government uses for its plans and money. In Japan it starts in April