Huge 8.9 quake hits Japan

[CeeKay]

Richter Magnitude (approx)	Approximate TNT for Seismic Energy Yield	Joule equivalent	Example
6.70	168 kilotons	708 TJ	Northridge earthquake (California, USA), 1994 ($20B in damages)
7.00	474 kilotons	2.00 PJ	Java earthquake (Indonesia), 2009 Haiti earthquake, 2010
8.35	50 megatons	210 PJ	Tsar Bomba - Largest thermonuclear weapon ever tested
8.70	168 megatons	708 PJ	Eruption of Krakatoa (Indonesia), 1883
9.00	474 megatons	2.00 EJ	Lisbon earthquake (Portugal), All Saints Day, 1755

   

This is why my post went to 9.0 (that .1 is significant)

Maybe this is a stupid question, but how do you measure the magnitude of a quake from the 1700s?

time travel, duh.

[Harkonis]

pop quiz hotshot:  you're in a car and about to be hit by a tsunami.  what do you do?

you record it on video of course.

I'm not sure what else you could do in that case.  That wave came out of nowhere.

I'm wondering what kind of verhicle he was driving-  the camera is looks like it was mounted on something.

gps mount for a cell phone/gps unit would account for that as well. 

[wonderpug]

Richter Magnitude (approx)	Approximate TNT for Seismic Energy Yield	Joule equivalent	Example
6.70	168 kilotons	708 TJ	Northridge earthquake (California, USA), 1994 ($20B in damages)
7.00	474 kilotons	2.00 PJ	Java earthquake (Indonesia), 2009 Haiti earthquake, 2010
8.35	50 megatons	210 PJ	Tsar Bomba - Largest thermonuclear weapon ever tested
8.70	168 megatons	708 PJ	Eruption of Krakatoa (Indonesia), 1883
9.00	474 megatons	2.00 EJ	Lisbon earthquake (Portugal), All Saints Day, 1755

   

This is why my post went to 9.0 (that .1 is significant)

Maybe this is a stupid question, but how do you measure the magnitude of a quake from the 1700s?

You sparked my curiosity.  Apparently the leader at the time sent questionnaires all over the country asking very specific questions about how the earthquake was felt.  It was one of the first studies of its kind and the great amount of data on the quake allowed modern scientists to estimate the magnitude with a high degree of confidence.

I was just guessing they looked at geological evidence of the quakes effects, but the real story is much more interesting.

[Bullwinkle]

pop quiz hotshot:  you're in a car and about to be hit by a tsunami.  what do you do?

you record it on video of course.

I hereby nominate him for a Darwin Award. Did he survive?

I'm guessing he did, otherwise the video probably would have been lost.

Also, the newscaster saying, "Incredibly, he survived" may have been a clue, too.

I feel like I saw that same moment from another, way-higher-up angle.

[Bullwinkle]

Helicopter view has an impressive shot of the waves approaching, though it's hard to get a sense of scale, but when he cuts to the wave hitting the town at about 1:25, it's fairly stunning.

[CeeKay]

trace amounts of radiation showing up in California?:

[1:39 p.m. ET Friday, 2:39 a.m. Saturday in Tokyo] Monitors in Sacramento, California, have detected a small amount of radioactive material from the earthquake-struck nuclear power plant in Japan, an official with the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization said. The exact amounts were not available, but were far less than what would be considered harmful to human health, the official said.

great, more fuel for the crackpots and nutjobs.  I already had some guy today tell me that were were under a radioactive cloud right now and prepare for civil unrest 

[hepcat]

trace amounts of radiation showing up in California?:

[1:39 p.m. ET Friday, 2:39 a.m. Saturday in Tokyo] Monitors in Sacramento, California, have detected a small amount of radioactive material from the earthquake-struck nuclear power plant in Japan, an official with the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization said. The exact amounts were not available, but were far less than what would be considered harmful to human health, the official said.

great, more fuel for the crackpots and nutjobs.  I already had some guy today tell me that were were under a radioactive cloud right now and prepare for civil unrest  

i saw that and thought the same thing.  unfortunately, the headlines I'm seeing make no mention of the fact that it's harmless.  talk about irresponsible reporting.

[Razgon]

You people really have some crackpots over there

sent from tapatalk in a bunker 800 meters below ground inside a radiation suit

[rickfc]

The 180 Nuclear Ninjas

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Article/201103115954904

[naednek]

trace amounts of radiation showing up in California?:

[1:39 p.m. ET Friday, 2:39 a.m. Saturday in Tokyo] Monitors in Sacramento, California, have detected a small amount of radioactive material from the earthquake-struck nuclear power plant in Japan, an official with the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization said. The exact amounts were not available, but were far less than what would be considered harmful to human health, the official said.

great, more fuel for the crackpots and nutjobs.  I already had some guy today tell me that were were under a radioactive cloud right now and prepare for civil unrest 

No, that's the leftover bullshit from Arnold Schwarzenegger.

[Teggy]

The 180 Nuclear Ninjas

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Article/201103115954904

Wow, that is just brutal. Those men are as brave as they come.

[hepcat]

heartbreaking.   

[rickfc]

The 180 Nuclear Ninjas

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Article/201103115954904

Wow, that is just brutal. Those men are as brave as they come.

Yeah...I can't imagine being able to turn away from my wife and daughter, even if it meant that I could be sacrificing countless others. Hats off to those men and women.

[Bullwinkle]

The 180 Nuclear Ninjas

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Article/201103115954904

Wow, that is just brutal. Those men are as brave as they come.

Yeah...I can't being able to turn away from my wife and daughter, even if it meant that I could be sacrificing countless others. Hats off to those men and women.

That.  I keep thinking of Spock in Wrath of Kahn, but that doesn't do them justice.  Even so, live long and prosper, nuke ninjas. 

[CeeKay]

a week later and you think you've seen it all, then you see more pics:

[Caine]

a week later and you think you've seen it all, then you see more pics

snip...

[Qantaga]

Those pictures (posted by CeeKay) are almost beyond belief.
   
I find myself wondering if the people in the pictures had to take a G.O.A.T test before leaving their Vault.

[Tokek]

I don't even fathom where to begin a clean up and where to put all the debris just to begin a clean up process.

[CeeKay]

$500,000 is missing from a bank in the area. 

The March 11 tsunami washed over the Shinkin Bank, like much else in Kesennuma, and police said between the wave's power and the ensuing power outages, the vault came open.

[kronovan]

The official death toll has now surpassed 9,000 and is expected to exceed 18,000.

The overall number of bodies collected so far is 9,079, police said. Another 13,500 people are missing...
...Officials expect the death toll will eventually top 18,000, with as many as 15,000 people estimated to have died in the hard-hit Miyagi prefecture alone.

I can't see how this won't go well above 20,000 and as I feared earlier this toll is likely going to be in the tens of thousands. I can't even begin to imagine how anyone who survived in the Miyagi prefecture good fathom returning and starting over.

[Canuck]

I'm alive and well guys thanks for your concern.  As ATB says, I was safe and sound in France during the whole thing (well the drama hasn't actually ended yet).  I feel like a bit of an ass for missing it though.  Years from now people will ask me what the Big Quake of 'oh-11' was like and I'll have to sheepishly say that I was on vacation.  Anyways we returned from France yesterday and found that our apt was pretty much fine.  A few things had fallen off of shelves but nothing was broken.  Only evidence of an earthquake here in Tokyo is that stores are closing earlier and only have half of their lights on most of the day.  Also a lot of places have their escalators and stuff turned off to conserve energy and we have rolling blackouts throughout the city (continuing until winter!) Some things are being hoarded at supermarkets.  Bread, instant ramen and natto (a horribly vile food the absence of which is the only positive thing to come out of this whole disaster) are completely gone from store shelves-so is toilet paper. Talk of radiation in the water being twice the limit in Tokyo so I'm looking forward to see what kind of super powers I wake up with tomorrow morning!

[raydude]

Also a lot of places have their escalators and stuff turned off to conserve energy and we have rolling blackouts throughout the city (continuing until winter!)

Hey Canuck,

I was wondering, are rolling blackouts occurring throughout the country or just in Tokyo? I may be going to Osaka this July but I may just cancel.

[Canuck]

As far as I know Osaka is fine.

[Turtle]

It was confirmed a yesterday that an American English student/teacher is one of the dead. No one I know, but I have a lot of friends and acquaintances who have taught or were teaching there recently. I've been thinking of them, even though I should be thinking of everyone affected by this.

[Zekester]

http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2011/03/28/sandra-bullock-gwen-stefani-donate-1-million-japan-relief/?test=faces

[Blackjack]

trace amounts of radiation showing up in California?:

[1:39 p.m. ET Friday, 2:39 a.m. Saturday in Tokyo] Monitors in Sacramento, California, have detected a small amount of radioactive material from the earthquake-struck nuclear power plant in Japan, an official with the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization said. The exact amounts were not available, but were far less than what would be considered harmful to human health, the official said.

great, more fuel for the crackpots and nutjobs.  I already had some guy today tell me that were were under a radioactive cloud right now and prepare for civil unrest  

No, that's the leftover bullshit from Arnold Schwarzenegger.

I get a weekly update from EPA for my reporter job, and reading the EPA's news release on this scares me more about the radiation we already all get in the course of a day , much less the trace matter drifting into Hawaii, California and elsewhere...

March 22, 2011
Radiation Monitors Continue to Confirm That No Radiation Levels of Concern Have Reached the United States

WASHINGTON – During a detailed analysis of four west coast RadNet air monitor filters, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) identified trace amounts of radioactive iodine, cesium, and tellurium consistent with the Japanese nuclear incident. These levels are consistent with the levels found by a Department of Energy monitor last week and are to be expected in the coming days.

EPA’s samples were captured by three monitors in California and one in Washington State on Friday, March 18 and sent to EPA scientists for detailed laboratory analysis. The data was reviewed over the weekend and the analysis was completed Monday night.  The radiation levels detected on the filters from California and Washington monitors are millions of times below levels of concern.

In addition, last night preliminary monitor results in Hawaii detected minuscule levels of an isotope that is also consistent with the Japanese nuclear incident. This detection varies from background and historical data in Hawaii. This isotope was detected at our fixed monitor in Hawaii, and it is far below any level of concern for human health.  The sampling filter from this monitor is being sent to our national radiation lab for further analysis.  

In a typical day, Americans receive doses of radiation from natural sources like rocks, bricks and the sun that are about 100,000 times higher than what we have detected coming from Japan.

For example, the levels we’re seeing coming from Japan are 100,000 times lower than what you get from taking a roundtrip international flight. [Well that makes me feel better about my business trip to Korea in June  -BJ]

EPA is in the process of conducting detailed filter analyses for fixed monitors located in Oregon.

EPA’s RadNet filter results for San Francisco, Seattle, Riverside and Anaheim, California detected minuscule quantities of iodine isotopes and other radioactive particles that pose no health concern at the detected levels. Below are the results of the detailed filter analysis. All of the radiation levels detected during the detailed filter analysis are millions of times below levels of concern.

All units are in Picocuries per meter cubed.

- Filter results for Anaheim, Calif. found:
   Cesium-137: 0.0017
   Tellurium-132: 0.012
   Iodine-132: 0.0095
   Iodine-131: 0.046

- Filter results for Riverside, Calif. found:
   Cesium-137: 0.00024
   Tellurium-132: 0.0014
   Iodine-132: 0.0015
   Iodine-131: 0.011
- Filter results for Seattle, Wash. found:
   Cesium-137: 0.00045
   Tellurium-132: 0.0034
   Iodine-132: 0.0029
   Iodine-131: 0.013

- Filter results for San Francisco, Calif. found:
   Cesium-137: 0.0013
   Tellurium-132: 0.0075
   Iodine-132: 0.0066
   Iodine-131: 0.068

EPA’s RadNet system is designed to protect the public by notifying scientists, in near real time, of elevated levels of radiation so they can determine whether protective action is required. In addition, an analysis of the filters in the monitors can identify even the smallest trace amounts of specific radioactive isotopes.

As part of the federal government’s continuing effort to make our activities and science transparent and available to the public, EPA will continue to keep RadNet data available at: http://www.epa.gov/japan2011/

Japan had another 6.5 scale earthquake in the NE part yesterday, but it sounded like the impact was nothing like the previous one, and that while they instituted another tsunami watch as a precaution, they didn't expect anything like the disaster of a week ago.

I'm flying Korean Air to Seoul in June on business, and I noticed their web site mentioned they are  re-routing their flights a certain number of miles north or south of Japan as a precaution.

[hepcat]

http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2011/03/28/sandra-bullock-gwen-stefani-donate-1-million-japan-relief/?test=faces

good for them.  nice to see some stars putting their money where their mouth is.

[kathode]

I get a weekly update from EPA for my reporter job, and reading the EPA's news release on this scares me more about the radiation we already all get in the course of a day , much less the trace matter drifting into Hawaii, California and elsewhere...

On that subject, XKCD put together this really cool visualization of radiation doses that was linked by Bill Harris last week-
http://xkcd.com/radiation/

[metallicorphan]

seems the radiation is spreading

Japan on maximum alert

12 US states have detected radiation from the leaks

it was on the news this morning that Radiation has also been detected in Scotland,and i believe in the last few hours Ireland also...these are only trace amounts,but seeing as though we(the UK) are just under 6000 miles away from Japan,although i know nothing about Nuclear power,you have to ask yourself are the problems EVEN worse than they are letting on


Alert: Number of states affected by radiation is growing every day and the number now stands at 12 with more expected over the coming days

just to point out again,these places(including Scotland and Ireland)are detecting only trace amounts higher than usual

[CeeKay]

I remember seeing something about them detecting it in Norway or Sweden or Finland.  I always get those places in the UK mixed up 

[Bullwinkle]

Oh, good lord.  This is all the panic mongers need.

[Purge]

There is Norway I'mma gonna Sweden the deal - we're Finnish.

Also, I'm pretty sure you're trolling.

[Moliere]

Alert: Number of states affected by radiation is growing every day and the number now stands at 12 with more expected over the coming days

"Affected" how? It seems more likely that there is some trace amount increase being detected. More people will die in car accidents trying to get to the pharmacy to buy their potassium iodide than will be harmed by the radiation.

[Purge]

Spider Man. He'll start speaking Japanese.

The XKCD img was a fantastic perspective to show exactly how much we should NOT be panicking. I wonder how much radiation we get from tanning beds.

[Teggy]

Spider Man. He'll start speaking Japanese.

The XKCD img was a fantastic perspective to show exactly how much we should NOT be panicking. I wonder how much radiation we get from tanning beds.

Do I need to stop eating bananas?!

[Freezer-TPF-]

Your fancy granite countertops?  Radioactive.  

I'm relieved to see that Oregon's forcefield is holding, though.

[Bullwinkle]

Always knew Alabama was a radiation magnet.

[Zinfan]

Where is my Pipboy-3000?  I knew I should have bought the Amazon CE of Fallout3.. Curses!!

[The Grue]

Where is my Pipboy-3000?  I knew I should have bought the Amazon CE of Fallout3.. Curses!!

You would need a nuclear reactor to power it.  I bought it and it eats through batteries in about 4 days.

[Turtle]

I wonder, when all this is over, they'll start using this to help date various things, similar to how they use all the nuclear testing in the 60s that created and kicked up all sorts of fast decaying isotopes, to determine if things were made around that time.