8.9-magnitude quake off northeast coast of Japan

[DanielJones]

Earthquakes are constantly occurring around the ring of fire and around the world for that matter. There are some pretty big ones in uninhabited areas that don't cause the damage like they do near populated areas so they don't get the coverage. Combine large populated areas with the era of instant information and we have occurrences of quakes and damage of proportions that are not part of written history. Yes this is the largest quake recorded in Japans written history, the last one of this magnitude occurred about 300 years back and 35 days after that event Mt. Fuji erupted. Earthquakes are the norm for this planet and Japan has its fair share of them regularly, just not of this magnitude. Pressure builds up with the movements of the plates and eventually you have a sudden release, nothing more. I really doubt that a brown dwarf star had any relation to what is happening. It is just the regular occurrence of plate tectonics at work.

Cheers!

Dan

[DanielJones]

http://www.natsnq.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/mr_miyagi.jpg

Vast devastation, search for survivors after Japan quake
More than 1,000 feared dead in northeast — most from the tsunami that followed record 8.9 temblor

Key details:
Some residents rescued after spending night atop building
Emergencies at nuclear reactors as cooling fails
200 to 300 bodies found in one coastal city after tsunami
At least 90 fires in northeast Japan
More than 100 aftershocks
TOKYO — A day after the strongest earthquake ever recorded in Japan struck the northeast coast, unleashing a 23-foot tsunami that swept hundreds to their deaths and washed away buildings, rescuers fanned out Saturday to search for survivors and victims.
The death toll from Friday's massive magnitude 8.9 quake stood at more than 200, but an untold number of bodies were believed to be lying in the rubble and debris...

Cheers!

Dan

[Super Ordinary Guy]

Nevermind

[davidg]

I would like to call for a little re-think on the whole "2012" "apocalypse" "Revelation" thing.. There are ALWAYS, and have ALWAYS been terrible things that occur.. if not on a small scale then on a large one.
http://www.ask.com/wiki/Tornado_records
THAT occurred in 1925 and I'm sure there were those who saw the END coming then.. Granted, depending on your time scale it may have been just a moment ago, still, its good to retain a little perspective on things.

and now about this one..
http://www.farmersalmanac.com/weather/2 ... -outbreak/
Can you imagine 148 tornadoes in a single day???

or this?
http://virus.stanford.edu/uda/

All of them are tremendous and all of them spawned feelings that the end was nigh.. but was it? It is written, "ye know neither the day NOR THE HOUR ". I think there may be a short spike in Church attendance, .. but then it depends on whether the institutional Churches can encourage, maintain, and inspire those attending through fear. If they can, they will show that silver lining a tragedy can have, and if not.. then not..

Sorry to get all pompous but I've heard too many people going off on the whole, "end is near" diatribe.. and I think its an excuse to panic.

[Eric Renderking Fisk]

I've been awake since 3AM and couldn't sleep because of the pain in my back and these images that are burned into my brain when this notion popped into my head; how many of our fellow retrocentrics are there? In the past couple of months a lot of Indyfans and fedora wearing fiends from Japan have been befriending me and we've had a great exchange back and forth about who makes the best this, who makes the best that, and what are the best movies since "Raiders.."

These are the same people who asked me if I was OK since my accident and kept in constant contact

Regardless; I’m really worried about all of my retrocentric friends, all of my fedora-wearing fiends like you who are in the middle of the worst disaster we’ve seen in a long time. I feel helpless not being able to do anything to help.

One of our Facebook friends posted this elsewhere...

Hey guys...(And girls!)
Yeah, internet is off and on, and electricity might go out in Tokyo from evening on I've heard..I'm shutting down all non-essential stuff and keeping the PC on only..Although internet isn't 100%.. Water is back on now, and it seems mostly okay? Last night was hectic though.. I was caught at school with a load of kids who couldn't get in touch with parents, and teachers who couldn't help...Scary stuff..The building was shook so bad the lights were hitting the roof... Crazy to see.. My house is okay, a few things toppled but I have nothing too tall so mostly decent still... Still aftershocks hitting us, and earlier there was another quake reported just north in Niigata prefecture...

Tonight will be more tense than last night I think..All the build up this time doesn't help...And they think the chances of a larger quake hitting the Kanto plain are high now..As well as the Nuclear plant malfunctions to worry about...Talk about stressful...

On a slightly lighter note...The jacket keeps you waaaaarm! And the hat helps to stop more heat loss...And the shoulder bag is PERFECT for essentials..So..I'm not lost yet!

Ben

Just as I was writing this I just found out that one of the buildings housing a reactor just exploded!

Explosion at Fukushima nuclear plant...

[News Hound]

Radiation leaks from Japan's quake-hit nuclear plant

"Explosion at Japan nuke plant, disaster toll rises," By ERIC TALMADGE and YURI KAGEYAMA Associated Press | Mar 12, 10:36 AM EST

"Japan quake: Toll may cross 10,000 in Miyagi alone," IANS | Mar 13, 2011, 03.20pm IST

[DanielJones]

Sounds like it was the building that was destroyed and not the reactor. At leas that was a good note to that. I'm sure the Japanese are resourceful enough to get things working again to cool their reactors in short order. Like Eric said, we feel bad for these people & I can full imagine what a disaster like this is like for the people involved. Some may remember an earthquake that occurred just off the coast of San Simeon, Calif. back in 2003, it was about a 6.6. A few major structures fell, one killing two people in Paso Robles. But, even on a small like that it is still trauma to the community. We rebuilt and things are back to normal for the most part. The only thing that lasted a long time was the fissure for the hot springs in the middle of town that they though they capped was still open and flowing up until last year. So you had this big hole in the ground and the smell of sulfer right next to City Hall. So, in a small way I know what the Japanese are feeling right now and know that any small attempt at help is greatly appreciated.

Cheers!

Dan

[DanielJones]

I guess I may have spoken too soon.

Core of quake-damaged reactor partially melts
Seawater being poured into reactor to cool it; evacuation perimeter extended to 12 miles

The core of a nuclear reactor damaged by Friday’s massive earthquake has partially melted, Japan’s nuclear safety agency said Saturday, and the company that runs the plant is pouring seawater into the reactor in an attempt to cool it and prevent it from going critical.
An explosion at the same facility, TEPCO's Fukushima No. 1 plant, destroyed the exterior walls of the building, but officials said the blast did not breach the steel housing enveloping the reactor...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42044156/ns/world_news-asia-pacific/?GT1=43001

Cheers.

Dan

[News Hound]

"Meltdown Caused Nuke Plant Explosion: Safety Body," Sunday, March 13, 2011

TOKYO (Nikkei)--The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) said Saturday afternoon the explosion at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant could only have been caused by a meltdown of the reactor core.

The same day, Tokyo Electric Power Co. (9501), which runs the plant, began to flood the damaged reactor with seawater to cool it down, resorting to measures that could rust the reactor and force the utility to scrap it.

Cesium and iodine, by-products of nuclear fission, were detected around the plant, which would make the explosion the worst accident in the roughly 50-year history of Japanese nuclear power generation.

An explosion was heard near the plant's No. 1 reactor about 3:30 p.m. and plumes of white smoke went up 10 minutes later. The ceiling of the building housing the reactor collapsed, according to information obtained by Fukushima prefectural authorities.

At a news conference Saturday night, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano discounted the possibility of a significant leak of radioactive material from the accident. "The walls of the building containing the reactor were destroyed, meaning that the metal container encasing the reactor did not explode," Edano said.

The amount of radiation detected inside the plant after 4:00 p.m. slightly exceeded the dose people can safely receive in a year, according to information obtained by the Fukushima prefectural government.

The No. 1 reactor shut down automatically soon after a massive earthquake hit the area Friday, but its emergency core cooling system failed to cool the reactor's core sufficiently.

NISA is affiliated with the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

(The Nikkei March 13 edition)

[Eric Renderking Fisk]

From IG -

First tekors gets shot in Egypt and now fithchamber is trying to avoid radioactive clouds. Guys! Enough with the attempts at screen accuracy!

You don't even want to know about my misadventure about sliding down a hill in a life-raft. It's not pretty and the back-brace is only "Screen Accurate" if we were going for the "Terminator" look.

I've been following the news a lot during the past couple of days and I can't help but wonder how our Japanese friends are doing and how they're now comparing this disaster to Chernobyl. I can make jokes about how I wish I had enough lead lined fridges to go around, but I'm deeply concerned and frustrated. How come my parents weren't rich enough to give me my own airline so I can get our people out of them? Why did my Grandfather have to spend the trust fund on campers, Pal-Mals and Whiskey?

I keep checking this thread to see if any of our friends from that region have checked in and my heart sinks when they haven't. Keep your chins up, your fedoras on... and be safe!

[DanielJones]

Death toll surges in Japan quake aftermath
Thousands of bodies found in Miyagi Prefecture on Monday

SENDAI, Japan — The death toll from Friday's massive earthquake and tsunami surged Monday when some 2,000 bodies were found on two shores in Miyagi Prefecture, the Kyodo News Agency reported.
About 1,000 bodies were found coming onshore on the Ojika Penninsula, and other 1,000 were spotted in the town of Minamisanriku, where the local government had been unable to locate about 10,000 people, or over half the population, Kyodo said.
Japan struggled Monday to prevent a nuclear catastrophe and to deliver food and water to hundreds of thousands of people, three days after a massive earthquake and tsunami crippled the nation with what the prime minister described as its worst crisis since World War II....

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42058349/ns/world_news-asiapacific/?gt1=43001

It just gets sadder and sadder as the days go by.

Cheers.

Dan

[Eric Renderking Fisk]

I read that and I imagine what it would be like for my wife to come home from work and find 10 out of 17 people dead in our town, then I picture my sons and I dead and half buried in the mud and imagine how she would react to that. THEN and only then can I imagine what those people are going through.

Thinking of it in those terms it's hard not to relate.

[DanielJones]

I think that the news images give us a small idea of what it is like, but until one experiences it, we can never know the full range of emotions and emotional shut down that may follow. I can't even start to wrap my brain around what I would go through if something happened to my wife and kid. I think my wife would have a complete melt down herself if something happened to us like that.

Japan 'overwhelmed by the scale of damage'
1,000 bodies are found scattered across coastline; body bags, coffins in short supply

AJO, Japan — A tide of 1,000 bodies washed up along the coastline on Monday, crematoriums were overwhelmed and rescuers used chain saws to search for bodies, as Japan faced a mounting humanitarian, nuclear and economic crisis following the massive earthquake and tsunami that likely killed thousands.
Millions of people were facing a fourth night without water, food or heating in near-freezing temperatures along the devastated northeast coast. Meanwhile, a third reactor at a nuclear power plant lost its cooling capacity, raising fears of a meltdown, while the Japanese stock market plunged over the likelihood of huge losses by Japanese industries including big names such as Toyota and Honda...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42066622?gt1=43001

Before and After shot:

The ground was just scoured and denuded of any structure and foliage. The one area where there was a forrest is now bare soil. Trees just ripped out of the soil. Where buildings used to be, you don't even see their foundations, you're lucky to see a the ghostly outline of roads.

Cheers.

Dan

[DanielJones]

More before and after: To see the interactive slide show of these images check out the link I posted above and scroll down to the images below the article. It gives you a side by side shot, then if you touch on the images it give you a full before and after like I've shown here. Or you can slide the little tab at the bottom of the slide show.
The airport that was shown with the water debris flowing in.


Some land is still under water.


This one the water only went so far. Can you imagine being a farmer in this area? Your neighbor was destroyed but your fields and home were spared.


Just too crazy.

Cheers.

Dan

[DanielJones]

And, ironically enough for my 2012th post, a few more aerial shots fro Japan.

It's amazing to me that the bridges are still standing in this shot.


Again a small forest gone. The farm fields now under water. It'll take quite some time now to make them viable to farm once the water evaporates, with so much salt left in it's wake.

Meltdown threat rises at Japanese nuclear plant

SOMA, Japan – Water levels dropped precipitously Monday inside a stricken Japanese nuclear reactor, twice leaving the uranium fuel rods completely exposed and raising the threat of a meltdown, hours after a hydrogen explosion tore through the building housing a different reactor.
Water levels were restored after the first decrease but the rods remained exposed late Monday night after the second episode, increasing the risk of the spread of radiation and the potential for an eventual meltdown.
The cascading troubles in the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant compounded the immense challenges faced by the Tokyo government, already struggling to send relief to hundreds of thousands of people along the country's quake- and tsunami-ravaged coast where at least 10,000 people are believed to have died...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110314/ap_on_bi_ge/as_japan_earthquake_nuclear_crisis

Cheers.

Dan