Huge 8.9 quake hits Japan

[rickfc]

keep the political debate crap out of this thread please... This is horrible enough.

+1

Si.

[Zekester]

Agree it should stay out, and apologies for my part 

[Qantaga]

So very sad.

[Zekester]

Now they're saying radiation levels are increasing at one of the nuclear plants

I'd go over there in a second to help if I could afford it 

[Bullwinkle]

Now they're saying radiation levels are increasing at one of the nuclear plants

I'd go over there in a second to help if I could afford it 

You could start by changing your avatar. 

They had to evacuate thousands of people near the plant, and are venting, but claim it should not be harmful to anyone.  I guess it's at 1.5 times above normal.

[CeeKay]

I heard the radiation was 1000 times normal in the control room.

Plus a dam broke, and there are 4 trains missing.

[morlac]

More videos...


Giant whirpool:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TB1yRdB4cWA&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuul5ibflj0&feature=related

Dancing skyscrapers:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhJzdtzl6KY&feature=youtu.be


Just crazy.  Mother Nature is awe inspiring and powerful.  Makes me feel so small.

[CeeKay]

now they're saying three nuclear reactors are in trouble:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42025882/ns/world_news-asia-pacific/?GT1=43001

[leo8877]

now they're saying three nuclear reactors are in trouble:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42025882/ns/world_news-asia-pacific/?GT1=43001

Man the hits just keep on coming.

[CeeKay]

damn, just heard in a video interview the jolt was big enough to move the big island 8 feet to the east.

[ATB]

This is so awful.  

If it melts down would it be more like 3 mile island or chernobyl?  If the latter, alll of japan becomes uninhabitable, yes?  However, I'm hoping that their standards are much higher than the soviets..

Code:

[Isgrimnur]

There's a quote I favor from the Zombie Survival Guide which talks about using an oil rig as a fortress that I think is apropos to the current disaster:

The ocean can be a source of life, but also a merciless killer. ... This is, unfortunately, a problem that can not be remedied by humanity.  Nothing in this or any other book can save you from nature when she decides to remove this hunk of steel from her ocean.

Here's hoping they get those reactors under control.  I really don't want to see what happens if they don't.

[Isgrimnur]

Explosion at Daiichi. Statements are that there's still not been a release, but they're evacuating 45,000 people.

[metallicorphan]

703 people now confirmed dead,and 784 people still missing

[ericb]

Explosion at Daiichi. Statements are that there's still not been a release, but they're evacuating 45,000 people.

They are actually claiming the building "collapsed" due to earthquake stress...when anyone watching the video can see the damn pressure wave blowing out the building.  I think the roof landed about 5 miles away.

[metallicorphan]

now i am reading that there are fears for over 10,000 people missing

Sky News

Around 10,000 people are feared dead after the Japanese port of Minamisanriku was virtually obliterated - as the estimated death toll from the country's quake and tsunami nears the 1,700 mark.

[Sparhawk]

Is there any way to send help via monetary means? I haven't seen anything yet.

[CeeKay]

Is there any way to send help via monetary means? I haven't seen anything yet.

there's the Red Cross:

Those who want to help can go to www.redcross.org and donate to Japan Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami. People can also text REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation to help those affected by the earthquake in Japan and tsunami throughout the Pacific.

then there is this, the Givewell blog.

[Darkstar One]

How about sending help to people in THIS country who need it, so many of them, before we send help to Japan...

I'm sorry, but we've done more for them in the last 36 hours then we did for New Orleans in WEEKS.

Especially in these times when money is so short...help our own FIRST.

[Ænima]

How about sending help to people in THIS country who need it, so many of them, before we send help to Japan...

I'm sorry, but we've done more for them in the last 36 hours then we did for New Orleans in WEEKS.

Especially in these times when money is so short...help our own FIRST.

Maybe you can start up another thread getting people to send money to the Confederacy. This thread is about Japan.

[Ironrod]

The consequences of a reactor core meltdown -- which might already be underway -- will rival those of the tsunami. Not in physical destruction, but in human health and environmental consequences. The latest news (sketchy as it is) is not encouraging at all.

[ATB]

I'm having troublrt sorting the segmented and varying reports.  Are there TWO meltdowns going on?

[theohall]

I'm having troublrt sorting the segmented and varying reports.  Are there TWO meltdowns going on?

Yes.  Two reactors at the same plant.

[Autistic Angel]

The most urgent problems are at Dai-ichi 1, the reactor where the explosion occurred yesterday, and where a meltdown appears to be underway.  Iodine-131 and cesium-137, two intensely radioactive byproducts of nuclear fission, have been detected in the area outside the power plant.  There are also growing problems at Dai-ichi 3, another reactor at the same facility.  They're attempting to flood both cores with seawater mixed with boric acid to cool them down and slow the fission rate.

There are also problems now developing at three reactors at the Daini power plant.  They're preparing to relieve pressure in all three cores with a controlled venting of the radioactive air inside after evacuating everyone within a six-mile radius.

-Autistic Angel

[Destructor]

As CNN is saying:

A major explosion of a reactor at the Daiichi plant is "almost inconcievable," he said. "I think that worst-case outcome is unbelievably unlikely in this case."

At the Daiichi nuclear plant, workers have been scrambling to cool off fuel rods at both reactors after the massive earthquake and tsunami disabled their cooling systems. Japanese authorities have said there is a "possibility" that a meltdown has occurred in the reactors. A meltdown is a catastrophic failure of the reactor core, with a potential for widespread radiation release.

But Japanese officials stressed that there were no indications of dangerously high radiation levels in the atmosphere around the two reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in northeastern Japan. They said they were unable to confirm whether a meltdown had occurred because they cannot get close enough to the reactors' cores.

Also:

The use of seawater shows that authorities are giving up future use of the Daiichi plant and are focusing solely on protecting people and the environment, experts said.

"If they are (using seawater), it's because they have no other choice," said James Walsh, a research associate at the security studies program at MIT. "The last thing you want to do is pump seawater and boron into a reactor." The salt and boron will corrode the reactor, he said.

"Essentially, they are saving the white flag and saying, 'This plant is done,' " Walsh said. "This is a last-ditch mechanism to try to prevent overheating and to prevent a partial or full meltdown."

So in short, they're outright pulling the plug on the reactor for good to make sure it doesn't go critical.

[Ironrod]

From Destructor's link: "He added that the word "meltdown" can mean a lot of different things, depending on its severity."

That's what I've learned in the past 24 hours. It is not automatically a major catastrophe if it can be contained. So far, so good.

[kronovan]

I couldn't bring myself to watching any of it on Friday as I had to attend a family members memorial service, but yesterday I watched a number of the videos and was completely shocked. My sincerest sympathies go out for the people of Japan affected by it, and as someone else said if I could afford to go there and help I would. I'm in complete awe of the magnitude of the quake:

Officials said the initial quake was the most powerful one to hit the region in 1,200 years. The USGS says the force of the quake was so strong that Honshu — Japan's biggest island — was moved 2.5 metres to the east.

The quake was 8,000 times more powerful than the one that struck Christchurch, New Zealand, in February.

My God, if it moved the island 8 feet, how is any waterfront anywhere on Honshu stable and safe? I know the Japanese have been building for eventual earthquakes for some time, but could they have possible accounted for something on this scale - I'm thinking no? I can't even begin to fathom the construction effort and costs that will be required.

I agree about the above reports on the nuclear reactors - from what little I've read and been told about nuclear power generation, dumping salt water in as coolant constitutes a write-off. Unless of course the Japanese have techniques that others don't.

[metallicorphan]

check this link out,it has before and after shots ...roll your mouse over the pics

http://www.abc.net.au/news/events/japan-quake-2011/beforeafter.htm

[CeeKay]

the tsunami was high enough to get that car on top of a 3 story building.

[metallicorphan]

when i first saw that picture CK i thought it was a high rise car park,and my first thought was,well at least the car is still standing

[kronovan]

Just wondering if anyone here has heard from Canuck? IIRC he lives in the Tokyo area. Other than him, I can't remember if there's any other GT'ers that live on the island of Honshu. Unfortunately there's no email address, or other messaging info, listed for his account. Canuck, if you're OK and can somehow get to the Internet, let us know how you're doing. As well, If anyone has heard from Canuck or knows how to get in contact with him, please post it here.

[CeeKay]

Just wondering if anyone here has heard from Canuck? IIRC he lives in the Tokyo area. Other than him, I can't remember if there's any other GT'ers that live on the island of Honshu. Unfortunately there's no email, or other messaging addressees, listed for his account. Canuck, if you're OK and can somehow get to the Internet, let us know how you're doing. As well, If anyone has heard from Canuck or knows how to get in contact with him, please post it here.

Canuck is safe in France...

[kronovan]

Just wondering if anyone here has heard from Canuck? IIRC he lives in the Tokyo area. Other than him, I can't remember if there's any other GT'ers that live on the island of Honshu. Unfortunately there's no email, or other messaging addressees, listed for his account. Canuck, if you're OK and can somehow get to the Internet, let us know how you're doing. As well, If anyone has heard from Canuck or knows how to get in contact with him, please post it here.

Canuck is safe in France...

Awesome, good to know. I'd missed that early posting.

[Sparhawk]

How about sending help to people in THIS country who need it, so many of them, before we send help to Japan...

I'm sorry, but we've done more for them in the last 36 hours then we did for New Orleans in WEEKS.

Especially in these times when money is so short...help our own FIRST.

"...help our own FIRST."   
 
From what exactly?

Blacks? Indians? Asians? Mexicans? Those dirty Jews?   

Wow man, this might be the wrong forum for you... 

[rshetts2]

How about sending help to people in THIS country who need it, so many of them, before we send help to Japan...

I'm sorry, but we've done more for them in the last 36 hours then we did for New Orleans in WEEKS.

Especially in these times when money is so short...help our own FIRST.

If you are going to post crap like this at least try to provide some semblance of credibility by providing fact instead of a severely biased opinion.   The Federal government in fact spent billions on the recovery from Hurricane Katrina.  Heres a fact for you 1.6 billion of that money went towards fraudulent claims.  Yes, we spent more on fraudulent claims than we have sent to Japan.
 

[wonderpug]

holy fucking shit ground level view of the water plowing over a neighborhood. 

[Zekester]

Are they also saying now that a volcano in the northern region is erupting?

[CeeKay]

Are they also saying now that a volcano in the northern region is erupting?

I heard south.

[Zekester]

Oh ok.

[heloder]

Just yesterday I was wondering about whether or not Mount Fuji was still active.