Japan Earthquake and Tsunami (March 11, 2011)

[Quarkboy]

Originally Posted by WanderingKnight

Strange confusion from NHK. First they announced they were abandoning plans of using the water cannons and 5 minutes later they said the SDF started pouring the reactors with the firetrucks? What?

It was the police that are evacuating their equipment. The SDF is using some kind of special firetruck they have themselves.

I would assume that the SDF has higher tolerances for how much radiation they'll let their soldiers take than the police.

[Liddo-kun]

Originally Posted by Kagayaki

(http://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.p...st_id=17366082)

Wow, that's really nice.
Thanks for posting. Going to show it to my friends on another forum.

[WanderingKnight]

Ah, OK, thanks for the clarification. That is definitely good news then!

[Dhomochevsky]

Where are those awesome japanese robots when you need them?
Seriously, robots would come in handy in a situation like this.
There ought to be one that can hold a waterhose and move in a general direction... I think I heard of some kind of robotic firetruck being used to put out burning oil wells.

Edit:
LOOK!! They actually have one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOSh8...mbedded#at=203
Why is it not out there doing it's robot job?

[Mystique]

Originally Posted by Tri-ring

I really do not know which is right and/or wrong but the immigration office is flooded with people and says it is going to take until midnight for people who made request by 12:00 noon today.

0640: Alex Carter in Tokyo writes: "I went to the Tokyo immigration office at 8am today and didn't reach the end of the queue until 2pm. All through the day the queue kept growing and more people kept coming. Some had suitcases already packed."

Times like this when I regret not buying a re-entry permit when at the immigration last november, lol.
If those things don't expire, then I'd have already an easy 'leave and re enter' ticket in my passport.
To waste half a day on this... ;_;
(considering leaving Tokyo for 7-9 days on holiday next week just to get away from life, but plan to come back, lol)

[Solace]

Originally Posted by mulesquito

Not quite. The San Andreas is a strike-slip fault, not a subduction fault, so its most powerful quake was probably the ~8 in 1906. Since that was only about a century ago, it's not yet "overdue" for another of that magnitude. A strike-slip fault is also not a threat to generate a tsunami even if an ocean portion breaks.

OTOH, There's a subduction zone north of there (Vancouver BC to ~Portland OR). It breaks about once each 350-400 years, and the last big break was just over 300 years ago. Sometime in the next century or so, it will spawn a high-8, close to 9 point quake, and it *will* generate a tsunami when it does. Not only that, but the land around Puget Sound will subside when the jammed up crust is released and able to spread out. Many square miles will be left below sea-level, a consequence seen in some of Japan's NE coast right now.

San Andreas gets all the media attention but one of the largest recorded instances of seismic activity in the US was actually the New Madrid fault that lies along the Mississippi River right in the heart of the Midwest. When it slipped back in 1812 it caused four 7.0-8.0 quakes in three months, two of them on the same day. The damage range covered almost the entire eastern half of the country, but thankfully the US wasn't nearly as spread out and populated back then.

If something similar happened today, I shudder to think of how devastated the country would be. It's still a very active region, but the Midwest doesn't exactly have a reputation for earthquakes and it's doubtful most structures there are built to withstand anything significant.

[Kagayaki]

There are some great photos here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/compacf...7626119790243/

[Cosmic Eagle]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

Nothing. They are having elections this year, and they don't want to lose brownie points for "taking part in an issue that is of no concern to theirs".

Deploying the military (which is made largely up of NSFs) will spark backlash from their parents, but I think that the soldiers actually wanted to do something different rather than run through houses shooting target boards inside all day long.

HELL I'M ONE OF THOSE NSFs I'll gladly go right now and pack my stuff if only an order would come....

That said, I have donated part of my pay to the relief effort....I mean when I get the news that some of my friends' relations have been casualties of the Tsunami and their homes wiped out, I cannot just sit by and watch.

[Kyero Fox]

Originally Posted by Claies

My impression (well, if Bakuman is to be believed) is that most mangaka have to be in the Tokyo metropolitan area to be near their publishers' offices, because they have to meet with their editors fairly often. If that is true, it's likely that very few if any of them are in the tsunami-stricken regions. The same cannot be said of their families, of course.



Walking to work? Not in America, oh no. You can't even walk to groceries in many parts of America. Not even the suburbs.

I have a feeling that Americans don't know what shortages are like. Plenty of people I know just let the water run. Most of us online have lives too comfortable to experience such things (I too am guilty of this).

yea.. some americans.. i never let water run, my lights are usually off unless im lookin for something and i definaly know how shortages are, ive been in them many of times specialy with theirs a Cat3 Hurrican trying to knock your house over.

ive seen some pretty bad stuff happen where i live thats why when i saw the news about japan i knew what they are going through and felt very bad.

[Father Hentai]

This may be offtopic now but why the hell is Germany always associated with Dirndl or Lederhosen? O_o

Spoiler for Germany = Dirndl + Edelweiss:

http://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=15340907

I like it but it's weird.

Back to topic. Is there already a number for the environmental and economic damage caused?

[Kaze]

Originally Posted by Father Hentai

This may be offtopic now but why the hell is Germany always associated with Dirndl or Lederhosen? O_o

Spoiler for Germany = Dirndl + Edelweiss:

I like it but it's weird.

Back to topic. Is there already a number for the environmental and economic damage caused?

Well, because it is typical for Germany? (Culturally I mean, not like if I ever go over there and expect every single German to actually wear Lederhosen)

Spoiler for Canada:

Good enough for me!


So these images are created specifically for the relief effort? Or just what?

[Father Hentai]

Originally Posted by Kaze

Well, because it is typical for Germany? (Culturally I mean, not like if I ever go over there and expect every single German to actually wear Lederhosen)

Spoiler for Canada:

Good enough for me!


So these images are created specifically for the relief effort? Or just what?

Uhm. No. Dirndl and Lederhosen is just worn in the South of Germany (Freestate Bavaria). In other parts of Germany it is not tradition or a cultural part.

[Mystique]

Lord help me, 2 level 4shindo quakes within 25mins.

1st epicentre = chiba
2nd = miyagi/fukushima (epicentre in sea)

If walking about, it'd have felt like a mild sway.
But when I'm ABOUT TO GO TO FREAKING SLEEP!!!
things are shaking and swaying enough to be noticable.

Swear, I've no sanity cells left at this rate x.x;;;

[Tsuyoshi]

Originally Posted by Kaze

Spoiler for Canada:

Hehe I like the leaf the girl's wearing there

Spoiler for Italia:

<3

Originally Posted by Mystique

Lord help me, 2 level 4shindo quakes within 25mins.

1st epicentre = chiba
2nd = miyagi/fukushima (epicentre in sea)

If walking about, it'd have felt like a mild sway.
But when I'm ABOUT TO GO TO FREAKING SLEEP!!!
things are shaking and swaying enough to be noticable.

Swear, I've no sanity cells left at this rate x.x;;;

Despite Jinto's answer, I still wonder why all of this happens now. Nvm radiation, the quakes are having a worse effect on the people's well-being over there by the way you mention it. No one even in Sicily (plenty of seismic activity, gotta thank Mt. Etna for that) could imagine that much going on.

[Sparvid]

http://twitter.com/TepcoDisaster

Power cable to the #Fukushima Daiichi No.1 Nuclear power plant is connected. #Japan
12 minutes ago via Twitter for iPad

---

Water shot from trucks effective in cooling fuel pool as steam rose at #Fukushima Daiichi No.1 Nuclear power plant. #Japan
34 minutes ago via Twitter for iPad

Well, that sounds good.

[TinyRedLeaf]

Originally Posted by Cosmic Eagle

HELL I'M ONE OF THOSE NSFs I'll gladly go right now and pack my stuff if only an order would come....

That said, I have donated part of my pay to the relief effort....I mean when I get the news that some of my friends' relations have been casualties of the Tsunami and their homes wiped out, I cannot just sit by and watch.

It's not a competition! The last thing we would want to do, as people offering help, is to overload a recipient country that is already inundated by failing infrastructure and a whole lot of other logistical problems.

Basically, at this moment, the Singapore Red Cross has already officially raised S$803,982 in donations, not including S$500,000 from the Singapore government and a further S$220,000 just donated this afternoon by a group of Chinese businessmen.

Even so, supplies that the Red Cross has prepared since early in the week are still sitting in Singapore, because Japan is not ready to receive them at this moment. You don't want to send the supplies only to have them wasting away at the airport, with no one available to deliver them.

The Red Cross is currently waiting for the green light from its counterpart in Japan and from the Japanese government. Once it does, the supplies will be flown over immediately.

The five-man team the Singapore Civil Defence Force sent? Same thing happened. They were never deployed. You need to consider the fact that some 200,000 JSDF soldiers are already out in force. The rescuers are dealing with cold conditions, damaged roads and shortage of petrol.

The last thing Japan needs right now is to also worry about the safety of international rescuers.

So, please understand the situation. It's not that the authorities here are not willing to help (donate to the Singapore Red Cross if you can), but rather that extremely strained logistics make such efforts very difficult right now.

[Tri-ring]

Originally Posted by Mystique

Lord help me, 2 level 4shindo quakes within 25mins.

1st epicentre = chiba
2nd = miyagi/fukushima (epicentre in sea)

If walking about, it'd have felt like a mild sway.
But when I'm ABOUT TO GO TO FREAKING SLEEP!!!
things are shaking and swaying enough to be noticable.

Swear, I've no sanity cells left at this rate x.x;;;

Calm down have nice dose of the hard stuff and get stoned before hitting the bed. That will keep you under. That is what I am doing right now watching NHK while listening to the Godzilla theme song.
Sanity,he left about two days ago.

[Decagon]

I read an article on Yomiuri that relief supplies were piling up at government buildings in the north since those are designated drop off zones, but there is no local transport infrastructure left to disseminate these supplies to shelters in needy areas.
Hearing this comes particularly irking as China's embassy evacuated about 3000 Chinese from cities in the disaster area in the last day or so. This says to me that they had at least the fuel and logistics to get this done. This confuses me because I would think the government would be doing a more meticulous job running supply up these roads to the neediest places if something like a bus convoy from a foreign embassy could get something through. Is there just no news for supplies that get where they are supposed to go?

[Tri-ring]

Originally Posted by Decagon

I read an article on Yomiuri that relief supplies were piling up at government buildings in the north since those are designated drop off zones, but there is no local transport infrastructure left to disseminate these supplies to shelters in needy areas.
Hearing this comes particularly irking as China's embassy evacuated about 3000 Chinese from cities in the disaster area in the last day or so. This says to me that they had at least the fuel and logistics to get this done. This confuses me because I would think the government would be doing a more meticulous job running supply up these roads to the neediest places if something like a bus convoy from a foreign embassy could get something through. Is there just no news for supplies that get where they are supposed to go?

It's the "last mile" that is killing them since the roads are covered with debris from the tsunami to the location which are most severely damaged.

[Mystique]

Originally Posted by Tri-ring

Calm down have nice dose of the hard stuff and get stoned before hitting the bed. That will keep you under. That is what I am doing right now watching NHK while listening to the Godzilla theme song.
Sanity,he left about two days ago.

I would, if i didn't have to teach about 3-4 lessons tomorrow at work to a bunch of brats when I already feel so physically weak.
Come on weekend!

And wow... tomorrow makes it 1 full week, it's certainly been a surreal one and all.

As for local news, the snow has already began killing off refugees who have died from the extreme cold (mainly elderly peeps) but still, to survive the tsunami and quake and told to leave their homes only to die in the cold is just a cruel way to go...

Life truly isn't fair, eh

Anyways, off to try to sleep...