Japan Earthquake and Tsunami (March 11, 2011)

[RRW]

CNN Intl. is reporting that 4 people on the west coast have been swept out to sea, and there is one confirmed death.

[solomon]

It's really chilly in the North, from Nagano to Hokkaido on the Japan Sea Coast, there is snow falling.

[RRW]

[stefan231]

Tsunami: Crescent City harbor destroyed; 4 people swept into sea, 1 feared dead

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lano...-into-sea.html

[Guernsey]

This is just unbelivable! It just one ofd those thigns that brings you back to reality, I like to think I am invincible but I am not.

[Vexx]

The nuke plant *is* overheating (cooling water supply was cut off) .... but the Air Force is flying them some nuclear coolant. "Slightly radioactive vapor" ... I'd like to see some hard numbers but I doubt its much different exposure than living at high altitude.

We have two people confirmed swept out by a tsunami surge in Oregon... but it appears they were rescued. Crescent City, California has had dozens of ships and boats destroyed. Meanwhile, the death and damage in Japan is looking worse and worse with entire villages gone, etc.

This is one site with some of the better collection of pictures of what it is like in Japan right now:
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/201...its_japan.html

[Asuras]

Watch some jackass troll resurface the Pokemon earthquake meme.

[RRW]

it seem japan yakuza also helping

http://mobile.twitter.com/yakuza5910...50274192113664


Current death toll: 400

[flying ^]

not sure if i read the kanji right but on Fuji News stream @ live.nicovideo i saw a ticker that says 171 people dead and 245 people rescued/evacuated.

[Vexx]

Originally Posted by rrw

it seem japan yakuza also helping

http://mobile.twitter.com/yakuza5910...50274192113664


Current death toll: 400

They're thinking it will exceed 1000 once the counts are complete.

The Yakuza are interesting folk... in terms of their protocols, shared community, and sense of "honor". Its kind of like some formalized professional guild that happens to operate in parallel to the "legal framework".

And actually.. this anecdote tells me that Tokyo-ites are still "community-minded" down at the personal level.

[RRW]

here much better way to donate

this getting serious (skip intro about 15 second)

[Vexx]

Video from a hilltop of entire village being destroyed by the tsunami wave... grim. Imagine having grown up there, played, worked, etc. and watching that.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12717863

[solomon]

The Chuuetsu region is really getting hit with quakes, another Level 5 quake happened according to NHK General TV.

[MarieDubois]

I have a friend who is Japanese. I hope taht her family is alright. This was a huge quake but i am sure that the country will recover. tehy are a lot more better equiped to handle this situation although it is of course frightening. I just hope that the casualties will be as minimal as they can be all things considering.

[RRW]

another quake

from bbc

2043: The 6.7-magnitude earthquake which struck Niigata prefecture at 0400 on Saturday (1900 GMT on Friday) caused landslides and avalanches, police have said. The Kyodo news agency said there were no immediate reports of casualties after the tremor, which was followed by an almost equally strong one in the same area about 45 minutes later. The quakes struck in the west of the main island of Honshu, on the Sea of Japan coast.

[Rising Dragon]

I can't even begin to imagine just how bad it is over there right now. It must be like living the North Ridge earthquake over and over and over again.

[SaintessHeart]

My local time is in sync with Tokyo, so it'll be 2 hours until morning. It isn't going to be pretty.

uh, is this really the place for long-winded economics talk?

Yeah. Try doing the cost of the damage on infrastructure. You would be astounded by the numbers. Top in increasing cost of oil and food, and you might even wonder how the now-homeless Japanese are going to make through the next few months.

In practicality, words are really worthless in this kind of scenario. I wish the neighbouring nations would start offering to send rescue manpower and shut-up with the "I offer my deepest regrets - " BS, it is obvious that they are not okay and skipping the pleasantries could get more things done - it is like asking a guy who got hit by a .45 in the stomach if he is okay.

[Vexx]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

My local time is in sync with Tokyo, so it'll be 2 hours until morning. It isn't going to be pretty.



Yeah. Try doing the cost of the damage on infrastructure. You would be astounded by the numbers. Top in increasing cost of oil and food, and you might even wonder how the now-homeless Japanese are going to make through the next few months.

Exactly.. there are teams in Japan already doing this sort of post-disaster computations and gathering the resources. Its how things get done.

Its really just staggering looking at the damage from street-view walking videos. Start counting up the yen to clear a street full of boats, cars, former houses, flotsam, jetsam. Now multiply that across the northern coastline.

Start thinking about entire villages where every family was wiped out or partially so. The cost of their re-adjustment both emotionally and financially.

That hilltop video of the small village being destroyed on the BBC site kind of personalized it for me but it doesn't make the huge task ahead for Japan go away.

[MaiNoKen]

As a "nudge" (or reminder) to people that doesn't remember:

If you have friends or co-workers in Japan, make sure you send them an email to ask them if they are all right.

[Nemu]

This is truly terrible. I'll be praying for the people in Japan.