Japan Earthquake and Tsunami (March 11, 2011)

[RRW]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

Anyone has news from Chiyoda?



Condolences are worth nothing if they do not help these people to move on - that is called fake empathy. There has to be something to encourage the people to look forward to tomorrow rather than get stuck at the moment brooding - what we can find, we give. What we can't, we create.

I got a friend in Marunouchi missing for the past 9 hours, and his parents are unable to get anything from the embassy. And he hasn't tweeted, emailed, sms-ed or called any of us friends or even his parents. His mother called me twice already looking for news, and his phone, skype and MSN are unreachable.

most recent one is

In Tokyo's Chiyoda ward, about 10 people were injured when part of the roof of a hall collapsed,

about Marunouchi, i am hoping you friend is in shetler

[RRW]

Spoiler for lk:

[Dhomochevsky]

Wow, that fireball must be several 100s of metres high. Is that the burning oil refinery?

[sa547]

Originally Posted by rrw

that doesnt make sense

By that message, it means that the Japanese should get up, stand up and fight to fix their country; don't ever give up, don't be afraid, accept any help in any kind; remember the fallen and the lost, take care of the injured, feed the hungry, welcome strangers in homes, and keep hope burning.

They're not alone as the eyes are on them, and I'm thinking of some way to help in any kind.

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by rrw

about Marunouchi, i am hoping you friend is in shetler

I try not to worry, but his mom's calling me twice pretty much made me so. I don't want to attend another funeral of a friend, already did once back when I was 14.

His mom had called all his friends, but none of us are able to reach him. Even as of now we are discussing on MSN what is going to happen. The only thing I know to do is to stay calm and don't make any self-fulfilling prophecies - one thing which I know I am rather good at.

Enough of this personal ranting anyway, here is some news :

Oil moved below $100 as Japan quake looms

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Crude futures on Friday dropped to below $100 for the first time since March 1, extending recent losses, as the highest recorded earth quake in Japan’s history diverted attention from political strife in the Middle East.

J.P. Morgan analysts said the Japan earth quake and its aftershocks will affect the economy of Japan and the world at large. Read more about the Japanese quake.

An earthquake measuring 8.9 on the Richter struck Tokyo Bay, Japan Friday killing and injuring hundreds. The quake touched off tsunami warnings as far away as Hawaii and the U.S. pacific coast.

”There will be an impact on power consumption,” J.P. Morgan analysts noted. “Oil could see increased demand for power use, and outages have been reported at several refineries.”

So far, the quake has not caused an increase in oil prices.

Crude oil for April delivery fell 63 cents to $102.07 a barrel in electronic trading on Globex.

Separately, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries recorded its highest February output since 2008, despite the loss of production from Libya.

OPEC estimated February production at 30.2 million barrels a day, the highest since December 2008.

In New York Thursday, April crude futures sank 1.6%, posting their third straight losing session.

The oil market braced for a so-called “day of rage” in Saudi Arabia Friday, where activists have urged protests against the kingdom’s rulers, but few reports of violence were reported..

These protests will come as a wave of political unrest has swept across the Middle East and North Africa in recent weeks, toppling the leaders of Tunisia and Egypt and causing a violent conflict in Libya.

And wow, right after I posted about insurance this comes out :

Reinsurance stocks slump after Japan quake

Guess investors are getting scared and pulling their money out of reinsurances now. The more payouts insurance companies do, the less their IPOs are worth. But there is ONE important and sensible point :

Spokesmen for Swiss Re and Munich Re said it was too early to estimate any potential losses from the earthquake

Originally Posted by sa547

They're not alone as the eyes are on them, and I'm thinking of some way to help in any kind.

There is one. Go on the forex and start shorting USDJPY, or any other currency pair that has the iteration xxx/JPY. This will increase the value of the JPY even further and allow give value to their money, allowing them to better finance disaster relief.

Set stop loss at 82.37 for USD/JPY to prevent losses. Whatever you have earned, wait for a donation drive and dump that cheque of earnings into the tin.

[haegar]

Some german news report Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station Block 1 (~300k from tokyo?) being great cause of concern: currently main electricity for coolant system down, backup generator for coolant system down, coolant running on battery for only a few more hours - they say a meltdown is theoretically still possible despite the reactor already having been shutdown since it takes a long time to cool down. They also say jap gov has already dispatched some ABC countermeasures special unit and the area has been evaced in a 3k radius and people in a 10k radius have been advised to stay indoors ....

Here's Companies press statement and IAEA staement, anybody has reliable news on this? While it's on german TV I could not find any english feeds as specific...


latest status by tepco: http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/11031107-e.html

IAEA news http://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/2011/tsunamiupdate.html

I just hope they get it under control, things are bad nuff as is :/

[coroloro]

My God... one of the most tremendous earthquakes of all times hits Japan, and people are worrying about whether or not anime releases will continue properly? Wow. Lots of people have died, lives are being destroyed... and we're worried about entertainment being interrupted?

I love the people over in Japan for blessing us with the wonderful gift that is anime- and now, in this time where they have been devestated, I think we should seek to return our thanks for that gift and do all we can to help. Stop, pray for them, and when an opportunity to offer help comes- be it donating time or money- take it. Skip a few anime DVDs you would normally buy and, instead, invest it in helping the people that brought the anime to you. Most importantly, for right now- send thoughts and prayers of support.

To me, it's a little shocking that only a short while ago, Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 came out... and now, it happens. Literally the same magnitude area as well. It's almost eerie. Perhaps now is a time for those who haven't seen that anime to watch it, and be reminded why we should have them in our hearts. ANd others, like me, who have, to re-watch it.

-Patrick

[MeoTwister5]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

I try not to worry, but his mom's calling me twice pretty much made me so. I don't want to attend another funeral of a friend, already did once back when I was 14.

His mom had called all his friends, but none of us are able to reach him. Even as of now we are discussing on MSN what is going to happen. The only thing I know to do is to stay calm and don't make any self-fulfilling prophecies - one thing which I know I am rather good at.

Enough of this personal ranting anyway, here is some news :

Oil moved below $100 as Japan quake looms



And wow, right after I posted about insurance this comes out :

Reinsurance stocks slump after Japan quake

Guess investors are getting scared and pulling their money out of reinsurances now. The more payouts insurance companies do, the less their IPOs are worth. But there is ONE important and sensible point :

And by pulling out they're also putting the insurance companies in a bad place when insurance claims come along. Insurance claims people will need to rebuild their lives.

Greedy fucking bastards. Sometimes I still think that insurance is one way of giving people your money and the right to tell you whether you have the right to it or not.

[GuidoHunter_Toki]

This was quite a shocking thing to wake up to. Just turned on the news this morning and saw the horrifying images. My condolences to all those affected by this disaster.

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by MeoTwister5

And by pulling out they're also putting the insurance companies in a bad place when insurance claims come along.

Greedy fucking idiots.

Fixed. They aren't bastards because a number of bastards are smart. And idiots aren't.

With prices downtrending it might be a good time to wait for a bottom then go long. Not only you earn a profit, the money that they get from you buying their shares goes to financing those claims.

Hopefully though. Just hope that the damn FOs don't decide to use your money to make investments.

[MeoTwister5]

Tsunami warning alert over here got lifted but still on watch. Let's just hope we don't get hawt tectonic plate-on-plate action over here.

[Alchemist007]

To think we're so modernized (I guess we are in weapons), but nature always comes to kick our ass. If Japan is going to super leap into the future, instead of things like giant mobile suits or something crazy like that, I think the investment should go toward some sort of tsunami protection. Buildings are as protected as they'll get with modern construction methods (tall buildings).

I personally don't care for anime/manga releases in this situation, but since it was mentioned, if we were to actually start purchasing a lot more, would it in some way translate back to help them in any way (economically or otherwise)? Though I suppose a more direct relief effort may be coming like with Haiti.

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by Alchemist007

To think we're so modernized (I guess we are in weapons), but nature always comes to kick our ass. If Japan is going to super leap into the future, instead of things like giant mobile suits or something crazy like that, I think the investment should go toward some sort of tsunami protection. Buildings are as protected as they'll get with modern construction methods (tall buildings).

One method is seawalling, but that is going to kill tourism and holidaying at the beaches and coastline. Besides, Japan has a fishing industry, so seawalling is an economic suicide.

They can't really do much to the coastline due to the fishing and marine industry.

[Langus]

88, 000 People Missing

[Alchemist007]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

One method is seawalling, but that is going to kill tourism and holidaying at the beaches and coastline. Besides, Japan has a fishing industry, so seawalling is an economic suicide.

They can't really do much to the coastline due to the fishing and marine industry.

Couldn't that be made deployable as opposed to a solid permanent construction?

I'm probably talking possible future engineering feats...if it's not possible now.

[Langus]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

Condolences are worth nothing if they do not help these people to move on - that isn't real empathy. There has to be something to encourage the people to look forward to tomorrow rather than get stuck at the moment brooding - what we can find, we give. What we can't, we create.

Speaking as someone who is living here, condolences ARE appreciated. Knowing that the thoughts and prayers of people from all over the world are united in support of Japan in this tragic moment are worth quite a lot right now.

I think given what people have been through today, they're willing to take prayers, hopes, wishes, blog posts, donations, or anything else the people of the world are willing to send Japan's way.

[Dhomochevsky]

Couldn't that be made deployable as opposed to a solid permanent construction?

It would have to be massive, or a Tsunami will easily undeploy it.

News ticker says, the unit that was dispatched to the Fukushima reactor is only there to evacuate the population. So is anything being done about the situation inside the reactor? Is the operating crew still there?

[Student no.0]

Just saw this on the news a while, now I'm really worried about a few people I knew over there. Hopefully they're okay ):

This made me just as sad as when I heard about that massacre in Libya too.

[haegar]

I again have not found corresponding english feed yet - but as of 20mins ago german news agency reports that jap news "Jiji" is reporting that a truck with "neccesary equipment" has arrived at Fukushima and repairs to coolant system have now begun, aka the danger seems to be averted. At least one good thing in all this tragedy ...

german link
http://www.n-tv.de/panorama/Entwarnu...le2810866.html

[Alchemist007]

Originally Posted by Dhomochevsky

It would have to be massive, or a Tsunami will easily undeploy it.

Strange, earlier when I was typing a post here I also capitalized tsunami. Seems fitting.