With the country's unique position within the Ring of Fire, such natural hazards have become part and parcel of everyday life in Japan. Accordingly, the nation is considered a model for disaster preparedness: each resident is advised to carry fireproof evacuation bags with first aid, sanitation products as well as food and water. Meanwhile, buildings constructed after 1981 are required to have earthquake-resistant structures, meaning thicker beams, pillars and walls as well as shock-absorbers to reduce shaking in taller buildings. And yet, the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake came as a huge shock--literally. On March 11, 2011, the Tohoku region along Japan's eastern coast was rocked by a magnitude 9.0 earthquake for six minutes; the strongest in the country's records so far.

Recently, the regions around the Dead Sea in Jordan were flooded, causing the death of 21 children who were on a school trip, and injuring 35 more. Such disasters affect millions of people every year and cause property damage worth hundreds of billions. In 2017 alone, almost 335 natural disasters have affected more than 95.6 million people, and killed 9,697, costing around US $335 billion. But, the impact of these phenomena can be reduced if we were able to predict their occurrence. AI-powered systems can already predict the prices of stocks, which involve the analysis of numerous variables.

Researchers have revealed a radical new use of AI - to predict earthquakes. A team from Tokyo Metropolitan University have used machine-learning techniques to analyze tiny changes in geomagnetic fields. These allow the system, to predict natural disaster far earlier than current methods. A team from Tokyo Metropolitan University have used machine-learning techniques to analyze tiny changes in geomagnetic fields. These allow the system, to predict natural disaster far earlier than current methods.

Amazon has scrapped a "sexist" tool that used artificial intelligence to decide the best candidates to hire for jobs. Members of the team working on the system said it effectively taught itself that male candidates were preferable. The artificial intelligence software was created by a team at Amazon's Edinburgh office in 2014 as a way to automatically sort through CVs and select the most talented applicants. But the algorithm rapidly taught itself to favour male candidates over female ones, according to members of the team who spoke to Reuters. Amazon wage increase could result in lower pay for some employees Black Friday 2018: The best Amazon deals Will Amazon's deliver-on-demand smart homes be the future of housing? Will Amazon's deliver-on-demand smart homes be the future of housing?

These stark images showing the heart of the Fukushima nuclear disaster zone reveal the devastation inside its destroyed reactor. The scenes were captured by a camera attached to a 50ft rod and inserted into reactor 2 at the doomed Japanese power plant, on the country's north east coast. Footage shows melted nuclear fuel attached to the pillars, walls and ceiling, as well as puddles of coolant, and debris piled up 16 to 27ins thick on the ground. Analysis of the images by the International Research Institute for Nuclear Decommissioning said the spread of debris was suggestive of several holes in the reactor floor. It is seven years since the disaster was unleashed by the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. But due to the deadly dose of radiation inside Fukushima, humans have to rely on robots to explore it – and even these have been left malfunctioning and broken.