9.0 Earthquake and Resulting Tsunami hits Northern Japan

bmwracer · Post by **bmwracer** » Mar 11th, '11, 08:04

http://www.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/

Hope there are no injuries or casualties.

Tsunami warnings have been issued for many Pacific locations including Russia, Taiwan, Hawaii, Mexico, Peru, Chile, etc.

The Chaos · Post by **The Chaos** » Mar 11th, '11, 08:38

I Just read it in the news and I pray for Japanese people and hope everyone is safe

btw..Junsu from DBSK is in Japan pray from him too

poonk · Post by **poonk** » Mar 11th, '11, 08:52

I just happened to see mention of it about a hour ago on the HobbyLink Japan site of all places (they said their staff is okay but their office & warehouse is "a mess" so they're suspending business for a few days) so I turned on CNN and, my god. That tsunami footage just takes my breath away. It's heartbreaking to know that there are people in those vehicles fleeing the water and some of them are not going to be able to outrun it. Just awful.

jancsika · Post by **jancsika** » Mar 11th, '11, 09:03

i'm unable to watch the news because my tears are falling whenever i see the pictures :-(

God save them.

Ethlenn · Post by **Ethlenn** » Mar 11th, '11, 09:07

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/ ... SS20110311
Sadly, there are first casualties.
And to all - don't panic, it was just northern Japan, so if you have friends/relatives someplace else, they are safe.

XrayMind · Post by **XrayMind** » Mar 11th, '11, 09:16

Watching live coverage from NHK World broadcast on my local station, 18.2 in South California area. Also 28.1 will have HD broadcast of NHK World Newsline in it's regular broadcast schedule.

More update web cover available from http://www.japantoday.com/
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/

But seems all of the Japanese news websites are really slow, guess everyone hitting them.

Don't know if the earthquakes or the tsunamis is doing more damage.

furransu · Post by **furransu** » Mar 11th, '11, 09:25

damn this is really bad.. im guessing all TV programs will be cancelled and focus on the tsunami/earthquake for the next few days or so..?

XrayMind · Post by **XrayMind** » Mar 11th, '11, 09:34

Looks like they have just issue tsunami warning for southern California, so I assume the west coast of the US. The warning has already been issued for Hawaii.

Liubeibei · Post by **Liubeibei** » Mar 11th, '11, 09:53

Hope the people of the places already hit are all right, and those of you living in the regions with the warning issued, take good care and stay alerted.

Myxale · Post by **Myxale** » Mar 11th, '11, 13:22

When, I made coffee and switched on the news channel this morning, I didn't expect something this apocalyptic!

I hope our Japanese friends and their families are all right.

ttexta · Post by **ttexta** » Mar 11th, '11, 13:46

lets hope the casualties dont rise :\

Post by **Keiko1981** » Mar 11th, '11, 14:01

I really hope people are okay. It's really terrible.

Gir · Post by **Gir** » Mar 11th, '11, 14:23

When I first saw the news it sounded like the earthquake was at Tokyo, so I was expecting something very bad. I just recently watched "Tokyo Magnitude 8" so when I heard a 8.9 earthquake had hit that image came to mind.

The tsunami was bad but I guess you could say that it was lucky that it was centered offshore and not under a densely populated area. Hopefully the casualty number will not get a lot worse, but there still is the unaccounted for train, the boat with 100 people on it, and a lot of debris to go through. Hopefully not too much more damage will come from the powerful aftershocks that are predicted to come.

The loss of life and injuries are defiantly the worst of this, but also the loss and damage of property and infrastructure are going to really hurt and make it tough for people affected for awhile now. I just hope the best for them in their recovery from this.

gz2009 · Post by **gz2009** » Mar 11th, '11, 14:26

Already hundreds officially dead - mostly because of the tsunami. There have been over 100 seismic events in the period since the major quake which covered this area:

NOTE: The earthquake numbers in the image relate to local intensity of the earthquake, and NOT to its absolute magnitude.

My wife's family is in Iwate, and there is very little news coming out of there that we can hear. The embassy is saying that it will be a while before there is any hope of news. All we know is that every 9 minutes or so there is an aftershock, and that quite a few of them have been stronger than the one that hit Christchurch in New Zealand.

Puppet Princess · Post by **Puppet Princess** » Mar 11th, '11, 14:30

Sun wont be up for a few hours still so there isn't much detail if their was anything damaged, but the news says the tsunami only hit Kauai and Oahu in Hawaii and it was about a 6 foot wave. Flooded Waikiki beach, but didn't make it as far as the hotels. Since it's already down to 6 feet the waves should be pretty small by the time it gets to the west coast.

Silly UH canceled classes on all campuses on a day I have no class... unfortunately that doesn't get me out of work, so... gotta go.

bmwracer · Post by **bmwracer** » Mar 11th, '11, 14:41

XrayMind wrote:Watching live coverage from NHK World broadcast on my local station, 18.2 in South California area. Also 28.1 will have HD broadcast of NHK World Newsline in it's regular broadcast schedule.

More update web cover available from http://www.japantoday.com/
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/

But seems all of the Japanese news websites are really slow, guess everyone hitting them.

Don't know if the earthquakes or the tsunamis is doing more damage.

Yeah, I've been watching the 18.2 broadcast as well and I'm not too far from the beach in Torrance... Wonder what size waves will hit the beach communities...

Condolences to all those families of the injured or killed.

ziliey · Post by **ziliey** » Mar 11th, '11, 14:43

I've been following the crisis since I woke up...
My heart goes out to all of the people in Japan!!
Ganbatte!!!
My prayers are with you!!!

gz2009 · Post by **gz2009** » Mar 11th, '11, 14:46

Puppet Princess wrote:Sun wont be up for a few hours still so there isn't much detail if their was anything damaged, but the news says the tsunami only hit Kauai and Oahu in Hawaii and it was about a 6 foot wave. Flooded Waikiki beach, but didn't make it as far as the hotels. Since it's already down to 6 feet the waves should be pretty small by the time it gets to the west coast.

Silly UH canceled classes on all campuses on a day I have no class... unfortunately that doesn't get me out of work, so... gotta go.

The Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii was just telling the BBC that the US West Coast could have waves that are bigger than in Hawaii; up to 3 meters in some places (because of the shape of the coastline), though 1 - 2 meters is more likely.

furransu · Post by **furransu** » Mar 11th, '11, 15:05

BBC: "1443: Back to Japan now: The official Kyodo news agency is reporting that about 88,000 people are missing."

Puppet Princess · Post by **Puppet Princess** » Mar 11th, '11, 15:15

The secondary waves keep getting bigger and the ricochet effect in the islands is going to keep them going. The Kahului harbor is getting minor damage with the largest waves so far.

maruy · Post by **maruy** » Mar 11th, '11, 15:16

People from Oranda wish everyone to be well and safe in Japan!

Ethlenn · Post by **Ethlenn** » Mar 11th, '11, 15:23

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110311/ap_ ... earthquake

The most recent news.

bmwracer · Post by **bmwracer** » Mar 11th, '11, 15:24

Ustream live NHK news feed:

EDIT: Live earthquake map: http://quakes.globalincidentmap.com/

esmer86 · Post by **esmer86** » Mar 11th, '11, 15:46

There has been a more than usuall amount of earthquakes coming around this time right? wasnt there one not to long ago that wasnt as strong as this one?.

I hope everyone stays safe and thanks for everyone keeping up to date with the info. Im working right now but all the TVs here are on CNN so I keep getting updated from there. Again Take Care.

feedmeister · Post by **feedmeister** » Mar 11th, '11, 15:48

I'm in Tokyo right now. The quake hit at 2:46 this afternoon. It's now a little after midnight and finally my cell phone is working again. Every channel still has nothing but quake news and one of the biggest problems is the trains. They are all stopped so people can't get home. I just got a call from work saying it's canceled tomorrow and the people who worked today are all spending the night there (except for the guy who bikes to work). I can't imagine how bad it was further north but here in Tokyo my TV, microwave and everything in the cupboards wound up on the floor.

Issy · Post by **Issy** » Mar 11th, '11, 16:00

OMG, what a devastating news. my thoughts and prayers for all people facing this natural disaster. i hear that is not only Japan and is going to other countries too.
news are none stop from that area.

furransu · Post by **furransu** » Mar 11th, '11, 16:03

HD stream of TBS news
http://salmon.gundam.eu/streaman/

jerin · Post by **jerin** » Mar 11th, '11, 16:11

my prayer goes out to japan and to the country that are at risk. those of you at possible risk area please stay alert and be careful. "over isn't really over" if you understand the mechanism of tsunami and furthermore by such a prolonged quake. so be careful. stay safe.

biniBningPunkista · Post by **biniBningPunkista** » Mar 11th, '11, 16:14

i was at work when i heard what happened. everyone was out in the lounge watching the tv and news about the earthquake and tsunami was all over the place, cnn, bbc even on our local stations. there's also a level 2 alert in my country since it's only 4 hours away from japan.

this is indeed a terrible news

senbon zakura · Post by **senbon zakura** » Mar 11th, '11, 16:29

my heart and prayers goes out to those affected by this quake.

rootabega · Post by **rootabega** » Mar 11th, '11, 16:55

Another aspect to the disaster in Japan:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/wor ... le1938199/

As the article points out, Japan is heavily dependant on nuclear power. I think it could be quite a while before the lights come back on in certain areas of Japan. It will take months to safely assess and repair the damage to several different nuclear facilities.[/url]

miyabara · Post by **miyabara** » Mar 11th, '11, 17:20

I've been following the crisis since this morning.

My heart goes out to all of the people in Japan!!
Watashiwa Kamisamani Inotte Imasu.
GANBATTE!!

shiofmedea · Post by **shiofmedea** » Mar 11th, '11, 18:04

I'm known among my friends from my interest in Japan and unexpected ideas (like going on trips just becouse) so all day I'm receiving info checking if I'm not in Japan first and later sending links to news sides.
It's devastating to see places you know damaged. I was not much in north but even Tokyo looks hit hard. I hope there will be not much more new earthquakes, it's bad enough. I was going to go there in August/September, now, I don't know.

Keyaki · Post by **Keyaki** » Mar 11th, '11, 18:11

Thank you to everyone posting files and links to news. Our local international station only has about 1 hour of NHK news a day so it is great to be able to come here and find more.
My prayers are with the people of Sendai.
Here in the Bay Area we have had a number of boats torn off their moorings and capsized in the harbors, but otherwise very little damage from the small tsunami.

Orion1986 · Post by **Orion1986** » Mar 11th, '11, 18:25

We get NHK World here in Finland so we've been watching almost all day. It's really unfortunate. However, a big bravo to the Japanese who are so well-organized and calm when such things occur.
Comparing to my own country where every crisis is a chance to push the blame on others and sit by doing nothing, it's admirable of the Japanese to be so well prepared and act so responsibly.

As bad as things are, they could have been a lot worse if not for the government being so swift to take action and inform citizens and also if not for the citizens being so collected and methodical.
There's nothing that can be done or said to ease the pain of those suffering and those who lost their own, but condolences to them and hopefully time will make things better. Stay strong, people.

patosuke · Post by **patosuke** » Mar 11th, '11, 18:30

Thoughts and prayers with everyone in Japan, especially Tohoku.
The footage of the tsunami is just devastating.

Malkie · Post by **Malkie** » Mar 11th, '11, 19:02

A truly dreadful event. My sympathy and condolences are with the bereaved families and those who have been made homeless. Thank goodness for the constant training, planning and modern Japanese building construction techniques that have helped to avert an even greater catastrophe.

antspace · Post by **antspace** » Mar 11th, '11, 19:35

Coming home from work, I decided to finally look the monster in the face. It was so much worse than I imagined

I wish the people of Japan strength in fighting this disaster!

gljangel · Post by **gljangel** » Mar 11th, '11, 20:19

I couldn't believe my eyes when I turned on the TV and saw the news this morning. Whilst at work today we all watched in horror as we became more aware of the magnitude of the devastation on the news bulletins. Such a tragedy.

Whilst it was a relief to finally get word from friends in Japan that they and their families were shaken but are ok my thoughts and prayers are with the Japanese people.

My deepest condolences for those who have lost loved ones and deepest hopes that those who are separated from their loved ones are safely reunited.

roronoa · Post by **roronoa** » Mar 11th, '11, 21:54

Acccording to some geological analysis on TV, Japan has received the most severe impact of the quake and the tsunami. Even when it extends, it'll be less damaging. I hope every one in the area of influcnce will be safe. But a feeling of gloominess was inevitable to strike my heart for al the lost people and casualties in Japan, the peaceful and beautiful land. Words fall short of describing this tragic event. My all prayers to Japaneseand their persistent and hardy spirits.
I hope I can stretch a hand of assistance in some way.

Ethlenn · Post by **Ethlenn** » Mar 11th, '11, 22:54

http://www.reuters.com/

According to some news another quake hit central Japan, but around 6.5 on Richter scale.

BOGCHI · Post by **BOGCHI** » Mar 11th, '11, 22:59

what a tragic occurrence

my heart and prayers goes to the people affected by this calamity.

LanceSalmo · Post by **LanceSalmo** » Mar 11th, '11, 23:13

Its a sad day for the people in Japan. My heart goes out to the family's who has lost loved ones in the after math of this. Iam praying for them all...

bmwracer · Post by **bmwracer** » Mar 11th, '11, 23:22

Japan is still getting quakes over 4.5 in the past hour: http://quakes.globalincidentmap.com/

Blueice2512 · Post by **Blueice2512** » Mar 12th, '11, 03:37

Well, I'm more worried about the nuclear power plant. It can bring great impact to the Japan and environment as there is a possibilities for the power plant to explode.

Even a small radiation can kill a lots of people. >.<

klch · Post by **klch** » Mar 12th, '11, 04:24

live coverage:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12720489
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/japanhelp ... lang=ja_JP

MielCanela · Post by **MielCanela** » Mar 12th, '11, 05:38

My prayers go out to the people of Japan dealing with the aftermath of this earthquake.

Orion1986 · Post by **Orion1986** » Mar 12th, '11, 09:41

Some useful links for live coverage and updates:

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nhk-gtv

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12307698

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/live/asia/li ... date-10551

http://live.reuters.com/uk/Event/Japan_earthquake2

The radiation issue is a real concern now. Honestly, nuclear power plants should either be 100% full-proof or then not used.
I know the demand for power is big, but using something so unstable and dangerous is not the way to go. Hope people are safe.

Ethlenn · Post by **Ethlenn** » Mar 12th, '11, 09:47

As long as the core is not overheated and the moderating bars are working inside, I think there is no need for fear.

Orion1986 · Post by **Orion1986** » Mar 12th, '11, 09:53

Well, a leak is a leak. It's not a meltdown, but it's bad enough. But yes, it could be a lot worse.

jancsika · Post by **jancsika** » Mar 12th, '11, 10:41

http://www.ustwrap.info/show/yokosonews

watch this guy, he's the best.

Post by **Keiko1981** » Mar 12th, '11, 11:00

jancsika wrote:http://www.ustwrap.info/show/yokosonews
watch this guy, he's the best.

Thank you for the link.

Myxale · Post by **Myxale** » Mar 12th, '11, 12:56

I really hope they get the NPP under control. The las thing that Japan needs is core going critical.

Here's to you Nippon, hoping the best!

Polyg0n · Post by **Polyg0n** » Mar 12th, '11, 21:23

I'm really glad that I was able to contact all my friends from there and they're all okay. Still, some people are not as lucky as I am and I wish strenght to all of you in your battle against this crisis!!

rootabega · Post by **rootabega** » Mar 12th, '11, 22:16

Here is the up-to-date blog from Al Jazeera (starting early morning Sunday):

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/live/africa/ ... 3-liveblog

This is where you go for the real scoop, not a bunch of regugitated platitudes about how "everything is going to be just fine with those earthquake/tsunami proof NPPs".

How stupid does the govt. of Japan - and 90% of the mainstream media - think we are?

quandary · Post by **quandary** » Mar 12th, '11, 23:22

[quote=

How stupid does the govt. of Japan - and 90% of the mainstream media - think we are?

[/quote]

I'm trying to give them the benefit of the doubt on this. They don't want to cause panic. Accurate information about the status of the plants is probably hard to come by. The exact status is probably not even known on site. With high radiation levels there are a lot of places in a plant you can't get to. Radioactive cesium has been found outside the plants and that's bad news. It means a fuel element failure at best, a meltdown at worst. Pumping boron laden water into the reactor vessels is underway. Boron absorbs neutrons preventing further fission, and water cools the reactor cores or what's left of them. In any case, a plant with failed fuel elements will not be operated again. These are BWRs or boiling water reactors and haven't been built since the 1970s because of safety concerns. The next few days will tell the tale.

iluvasiandrama · Post by **iluvasiandrama** » Mar 12th, '11, 23:32

My sincere well wishes go out to all who are in Japan!

Peggy · Post by **Peggy** » Mar 13th, '11, 00:03

This was a very strong earthquake. Building any structure for such high standard is not usually undertaken. I have lived a few miles from a nuclear reactor for over thirty years and there has never been a problem. However, if we had an 8.9 earthquake there would be a different tale to tell. I don't know how they decided how to build anything for such tremendous forces. I'm not an engineer or architect.
Nuclear power is safe and clean and has been used for many years in quite a few countries..
We can never underevaluate Nature. Nature has the last word everytime, but we can't live our lives trembling at the wind and waves, and we all want better lives no matter what. When we do what we do,we have to put up with consequences. Then we have to clean up the mess and go on.

I think Japan will get to the problem very quickly as soon as they know what needs to e done. They are people who turn their hands to the task and join together without putting blame or getting hysterical. I am full of admiration for them as I watch what has happened this time. They dealt with Kobe. It took ten years. This will take longer but I am sure they will do it. And we should all help if possible.

toyotaku · Post by **toyotaku** » Mar 13th, '11, 00:48

Peggy, what I've been hearing & reading is that it wasn't the earthquake that has done the real damage to the plant, that the structures were built to withstand powerful quakes... it was the tsunami that flooded the backup generators that started the ball rolling towards failure with power supply having to rely on batteries and it wasn't sufficient. In almost all of this, it's the tsunami that has wrought the devastation.

I hope our Japanese friends here are safe and have all their loved ones accounted for & safe. This is just so massive, hard to get my head around.

BBOvenGuy · Post by **BBOvenGuy** » Mar 13th, '11, 02:56

Partial list of Japanese media/entertainment folks who have been confirmed safe:

http://yonasu.com/list-of-celebrities-confirmed-safe/

Remember, if your favorites aren't listed, that doesn't necessarily mean they're hurt or missing or anything. It's still a chaotic situation over there. The anime fans got worried when seiyuu Yuuki Aoi didn't check in right away. It turns out she was one of the people stuck having to walk home because the public transportation is down in Tokyo.

Keyaki · Post by **Keyaki** » Mar 13th, '11, 04:42

There is now a ustream of NHK World news in English at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nhk-world-tv.

ziliey · Post by **ziliey** » Mar 13th, '11, 04:54

My internet sucks!!! cant watch the live streams!!
>_<

izumisano · Post by **izumisano** » Mar 13th, '11, 05:35

May I ask that we all refrain from watching on-line streaming of the Japanese channels if we're not in Japan?

At present the communications network is very limited within the country and bandwidth is very scarce. Many local Japanese need to rely on these streams to get rescue info, especially in the hardest hit areas. Our friends there have asked that we help by NOT taking up the capacity of those streams.

I understand we're all worried and want to know what's happening, but they need it more than us.

.

gz2009 · Post by **gz2009** » Mar 13th, '11, 11:08

Not that it is of any real importance, but the USGS have upgraded the earthquake to a 9.0 and the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, said this morning, that it was a 9.1 quake. They say that the new magnitude was adjusted based on the impact of the quake throughout the Pacific.

It is still a miserable situation, with many thousands feared dead. We were able to speak to my wife's family in Iwate yesterday ... they were okay ... but all we can do is send our hopes and our best wishes to those who have survived, our condolences to those who have lost family and friends, and our hopes, perhaps against hope, that those who are missing are okay.

patosuke · Post by **patosuke** » Mar 13th, '11, 18:56

rootabega wrote:Here is the up-to-date blog from Al Jazeera (starting early morning Sunday):

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/live/africa/ ... 3-liveblog

This is where you go for the real scoop, not a bunch of regugitated platitudes about how "everything is going to be just fine with those earthquake/tsunami proof NPPs".

How stupid does the govt. of Japan - and 90% of the mainstream media - think we are?

It seems to me English media is blowing the nuclear thing way out of proportion compared to what is actually being said. I can't tell if they're doing this because they honestly don't understand what is being said and going on themselves, or just because it is the nature of our news.
Probably both.
At one point both MSNBC and Fox have reported on the nuclear situation while showing pictures of the burning oil refinery in Chiba. That's just devious and scare-mongering.
CNN regularly confuses issues between reactor #1 and reactor #3

This isn't to say everything is under control and hunky dory -- neither has the Japanese media been saying that. Their government has been forced to draw a lot of lines in the sand as backups to the backup systems fail.
This includes the explosion at reactor #1 due to a buildup of Hydrogen in the secondary containment, releasing radioactive air from within both reactor #1 and reactor #3 in a controlled manner to ease pressure so another explosion does not occur, and flooding reactor #1 with seawater.

Nonetheless, the levels of radioactivity being leaked are in the microsevert level -- about 100 times lower than 3mile island, which people are still arguing over whether there was any impact to populations within a 5mile distance -- a distance that was evacuated from Fukushima long beforehand.

All the talk of "meltdown" by CNN et. al. at this point is getting absurd. I think they're just blowing it out of proportion to keep people glued to find out if there's going to be a nuclear winter or something ridiculous like that.

bmwracer · Post by **bmwracer** » Mar 13th, '11, 19:02

^ Most of America is anti-nuclear energy and I think the news outlets are playing up to that fact.

Peggy · Post by **Peggy** » Mar 13th, '11, 19:33

I think that American 'news' reporters are talking heads most of the time. If they have a word they make a sentence. If they have a sentence, they have a paragraph and then...away they go with only their faces on screen and a totally exaggerated item to scare the wits out of you.
I personally have some confidence in the Japanese knowledge of their nuclear energy. There has been no total meltdown and I doubt if there will be one. There certainly is a melting of part of the rods because the water coolant level is not covering them completely. We have to wait and see what their work will produce and I hope it will be beneficial.

I see that CNN is sending their troops out to Japan to give us reports. We can get on the spot reports already but they simply have to go and stir the pot I suppose. I don't think they will be attacked in Japan. You'll be safe Anderson......

Archaenon · Post by **Archaenon** » Mar 13th, '11, 19:59

I think people need to worry less about superficial news media ( which last I noticed is crap in every country around the world, the media is an evil beast ) and what they do/think. The media atm, and that internet hoax about fallout, are so over the top, but you can never be too careful with that kind of compact energy so yes, the news is going to focus on 3 of the major 55 reactors in the country.

In terms of the PWR, I'm sure they can get it under control, Naoto Kan stated that it's registered at a 4 and Chernobyl was a 7, and I highly doubt it will get that far before they are able to bring it under control. I think the main issue is the worry of an aftershock beng over 7.0 magnitude.

Either way, I'm hoping they can find more people alive and help those find the ones they have lost. My friend is over there right now helping with the rescue operations.

quandary · Post by **quandary** » Mar 13th, '11, 22:22

[quote="
All the talk of "meltdown" by CNN et. al. at this point is getting absurd. I think they're just blowing it out of proportion to keep people glued to find out if there's going to be a nuclear winter or something ridiculous like that.[/quote]

I agree completely. CNN has a page up on their website explaining how nuclear power plants work, but it's the wrong kind of plant. They obviously don't have a clue. The usual dingbat blogs are already screaming huge government/press cover-up. Take it all with a grain of salt.

seirin · Post by **seirin** » Mar 14th, '11, 00:33

There's report of around 160 people exposed to radiation. However Japanese official said it's not a huge amount of radiation. It's equivalent to about 3 times the amount of radiation one would get from taking x-rays.

As for the reactors melting. Time will tell. CNN is just looking at the worst case scenerios. It's always best to look at all possibilities so they can be dealt with. With the explosion, some radiation has leaked out. But most are contained. The weather is on Japan's side. It's blowing the radiation into the ocean. However, if the wind changes, it's a different story. It will get blown back to Japan. Also, if rain occurs, it will turn into black rain and the Japan's soil will get contaminated. If a melt down were to occur and all the bad scenerios happen (west/southwestern wind and rain). Japan will be in serious trouble.

hp_sauce · Post by **hp_sauce** » Mar 14th, '11, 00:45

izumisano wrote:May I ask that we all refrain from watching on-line streaming of the Japanese channels if we're not in Japan?

http://www.d-addicts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=1374477

(The news streams are very nice for those of use with family in Japan)

refev · Post by **refev** » Mar 14th, '11, 00:55

Tao Libra · Post by **Tao Libra** » Mar 14th, '11, 01:57

Everyone, the people of Japan need our help. If you can afford to donate anything — any amount, no matter how little — please do so. There are many reputable charities, and they're not hard to find.

I'm a poverty-stricken college student, and even I have managed to scrape up $50 to donate (which I would probably otherwise have wasted on a carton of cigarettes). You can help too, even if it's just the price of skipping one trip to McDonald's. Even tiny donations add up.

I particularly recommend GlobalGiving.org (and that's a link to their Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief Fund donation page).

Regarding the "Nuclear Meltdown," and the ghoulish glee with which some Western (particularly American) commentators are predicting it…

I heard one particular lunatic (a left-wing politician whose name doesn't deserve any free publicity) insisting that this is proof that Nuclear Power is unsafe, and that we (the U.S.) should immediately abolish its use.

Well, consider this…

1) The earthquake also destroyed a hydro-electric dam, and the resulting flood destroyed a town. Does this mean that we should abolish the use of hydro-electric power? Clearly it's dangerous, because earthquakes can destroy dams, right?

2) One of the more apocalyptic images coming out of Sendai is of houses burning in the midst of the debris-filled flood – houses that were set ablaze by gas explosions when the tsunami ripped them right off their underground gas lines. Does this mean that we should abolish the use of natural gas? Clearly it's dangerous, because it can explode if a tsunami knocks your house off the pipes, right?

Wrong.

Both arguments are illogical — and so is claiming that Nuclear Power is inherently dangerous, as if these problems would have occurred even without the 9.0 earthquake damaging the reactors.

el_canuck · Post by **el_canuck** » Mar 14th, '11, 02:47

The Japanese are very wary of nuclear power. Remember they are the only country to have a nuke dropped on them, twice. Light water power plants are used as this is the only kind the Japanese allow. Their nuke plants are not like ours (US). At one time nuke powered American ships were barred from Japan. As for US TV, sensationalism sells, we are the land of greed.

Lludara · Post by **Lludara** » Mar 14th, '11, 02:53

I agree. CNN and other media networks are blowing it way out of context.

I work with radionuclides on a daily basis. There is a general stigma among america's population about radiation that I deal with daily.

The type of reactors these are - even with worse case scenario - the meltdown is completely contained, and they have to wait till it cools off and come in and clean it up. The a radioactive gas released has a very small half life, and is gone really quickly. Iodine is the reason Chernobyl was so bad, and not only that, there was a massive explosion releasing the radiation into the soil and air. This is NOT the case with the nuclear reactors in Japan.

People need to realize that you get radiation on a daily basis - walking outside, flying in an airplane, even from the soil, naturally. It's not to be completely feared as many people thing.

Obviously, I for one, am for Nuclear Power plants in America. Why? More jobs, less oil needed, another source of energy.

Personally, I hope it doesn't melt down even after a 9.0 magnitude Earthquake, to prove how far we've come using Nuclear power.

Asian DramaWiki Forum

9.0 Earthquake and Resulting Tsunami hits Northern Japan

9.0 Earthquake and Resulting Tsunami hits Northern Japan

Who is online