Random Thoughts....

[Spectre]

What i found telling is that one of the main angles the press seems to see in their Tsunami coverage is "what will it do to the stock market".

The press are vulture-like assholes. Then they wonder why nobody wants to talk to them.

*****
The Wall Street Journal is doing a spectacular job of blogging this live.

http://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2011/03/11/live-blog-japan-earthquake/

Repeating some of what they've posted so far:

2:20 amby Brittany Hite - Philippine officials are ordering an evacuation of coastal communities along the country?s eastern seaboard in expectation of a tsunami following a 8.9-magnitude earthquake in Japan, the Associated Press reported.

Philippine Volcanology and Seismology Institute director Renato Solidum told the AP that the first 3-foot (1-meter) high waves are expected to hit the northernmost Batanes islands by 5 p.m. local time Friday.

2:16 amby Brittany Hite - NHK reported that a ceiling collapsed at a Honda Motor plant in Tochigi, and a female worker has been confirmed dead.

2:16 amby Miho Inada - Reported damage in the Tokyo area includes the following:

Two injured at a Tokyo outlet of U.S. wholesale store Costoco due to the collapse of slope of car parking.

Four houses have caught fire in the Tokyo Adachi ward, burning down the floor area of 200 square meters.
Land liquefaction is detected in the water front area in Chiba.

25 injured?5 of them seriously injured?due to a collapse of the ceiling of the Tokyo Kudan Kaikan, where 600 people were gathering for a college graduation party

 

[nsx_23]

What i found telling is that one of the main angles the press seems to see in their Tsunami coverage is "what will it do to the stock market".

And we will see soon the "climate change" brigade out in force.

 

[vikiradTG2007]

Has the earthquake itself (not the tsunami) caused any major damage (i.e. major structural failures in buildings and the like)?

And we will see soon the "climate change" division out in force.

Only to make complete fools of themselves by exposing their cluelessness once again.

 

[Spectre]

Has the earthquake itself (not the tsunami) caused any major damage (i.e. major structural failures in buildings and the like)?

Yes. Several structures have collapsed, the reports are slowly streaming in. Central Tokyo is reportedly mostly intact, but if you look upthread, I've copied reports of some collapses and the like scattered around Japan outside of the tsunami zone.

The next DART buoy has reported in:
DART 21413 30.5N 152.1E 0659Z 0.76M / 2.5FT 32MIN

This would be the one further out towards Aus and Hawaii. There's a bunch more up towards Alaska, and one of them has reported in:
DART 21401 42.6N 152.6E 0643Z 0.67M / 2.2FT 40MIN

 

[Cryptopygia]

AlJazeera's live English feed just showed footage showing the tsunami rising up on a highway, and washing away what I think are buildings.

Jesus.

Edit: And there is a warning for northern Honshu for another potential quake...

 

[Ramseus]

Tsunamis are terrifying.

Uh, has anyone heard from our Japan-based members lately?

I should hope they're fine and that posting on FG wouldn't exactly be a priority if they're in an affected area.

 

[Spectre]

NHK/CNN is showing pictures of the tsunami sweeping inland carrying massive amounts of debris... some of which is visibly on fire - while floating on several meters of water.

 

[h-p]

Here's a video from YLE webpage showing the wave.

 

[Spectre]

Estimates are that the tsunami will be "only" about 2 meters when it comes ashore in Hawaii based on projections and the DART buoys reporting. Hawaii is now evacuating low-lying areas.

Edit: Fox and others now reporting that they're getting reports from Japanese meteorological services (who are in charge of reporting this stuff over there) that the town of Kurihara is completely destroyed.

Kurihara had a population of about 80,000.

Edit 2: If I parsed the CNN report correctly, Taiwan is ~25 minutes from getting hit. Indonesia gets hit in about 110 minutes.

 

[Dr_Grip]

And we will see soon the "climate change" brigade out in force.

You know, i don't care if it's a climate change sceptic like you or a climate change believer putting his ideological spin onto this, i find it equally tasteless and despiteful. See how not even Spectre cares about this petty ideological turf war right now? Grow the fuck up and have some -rep.

 

[ZeDestructor]

And we will see soon the "climate change" brigade out in force.

They better not be. Since tsunamis and quakes have NOTHING whatsoever to do with CC

 

[nsx_23]

You know, i don't care if it's a climate change sceptic like you or a climate change believer putting his ideological spin onto this, i find it equally tasteless and despiteful. See how not even Spectre cares about this petty ideological turf war right now? Grow the fuck up and have some -rep.

I don't think you get what I'm trying to say.

Instead of focusing on the tragedy of what happened and what can be done RIGHT NOW to help people in Japan, we'll soon start hearing politicians and journalists talking about climate change and shift the focus away from Japan and onto their own agendas. Its especially relevant in Australia since we're in the middle of a Carbon tax debate.

 

[KaJuN]

If you are a Pacific Rim member, and you're anywhere near the ocean, now might be a very good time to consider moving to higher ground.

Roger that! I've been through a few tsunami scares in my time here and they really are scares. This stuff is very serious. I know it's a cliche but watching the damage on TV is like watching a disaster movie. I just wish it actually were a movie.

 

[Dr_Grip]

I don't think you get what I'm trying to say.

Instead of focusing on the tragedy of what happened and what can be done RIGHT NOW to help people in Japan, we'll soon start hearing politicians and journalists talking about climate change and shift the focus away from Japan and onto their own agendas. Its especially relevant in Australia since we're in the middle of a Carbon tax debate.

I'm saying you are the one who brought up climate change politics here, therefore shifting the focus to your "climate change is not man-made" agenda. I'm neither saying i agree or disagree with you about climate change, i'm just saying that throwing this tangent is tasteless, no matter from which camp. You are the one who already did exacly what you now paint as a despicable scheme journalists and politicians will soon start.

NINJA EDIT:

If you could simply stop yourself bringing up this ideological bullshit at this time and in this place, we could go on with the news on this earthquake. If you must have a completely unrelated flamewar over climate change/global warming, please take it to the politics forum where it belongs.

There is a time and place for everything. It takes but a little bit of tact to respect that.

Good point. I'll refrain from pursuing this further.

 

[calvinhobbes]

I don't think you get what I'm trying to say.

If you could simply stop yourself bringing up this ideological bullshit at this time and in this place, we could go on with the news on this earthquake. If you must have a completely unrelated flamewar over climate change/global warming, please take it to the politics forum where it belongs.

There is a time and place for everything. It takes but a little bit of tact to respect that.

 

[vikiradTG2007]

They better not be. Since tsunamis and quakes have NOTHING whatsoever to do with CC

This is the point I was trying to make by replying to nsx_23's post. :/ I meant cluelessness as in "linking CC and earthquakes".

I'm not taking it any further anyway, I got drawn into it.

 

[calvinhobbes]

YouTube video:

I dread to find out how much damage this quake has actually done... I keep reading that it was the strongest ever recorded in Japan. However, the Japanese are surely better prepared for this than anybody else.

 

[Spectre]

CNN reporting initial wave arrival times as follows. Keep in mind this would be just when the effects start, not when they begin and shortly thereafter end. Aftershocks continue, some of which are reaching up into the 7s and can generate tsunamis of their own.

Taiwan in 9 minutes.
Main islands of the Philippines: 20 minutes to 1h20
Indonesia: 70 minutes to 2h10 minutes.
Hawaii: ~3h20 to ~4h

Australia is on the danger list. DON'T be on the beach tonight, Aussies.

 

[Hbriz]

The Australian Bureau of Meteorology has already said we are at very little, if any, risk of a tsunami from this despite the warnings coming out of the Japanese coverage, thankfully.

 

[nsx_23]

If you could simply stop yourself bringing up this ideological bullshit at this time and in this place, we could go on with the news on this earthquake. If you must have a completely unrelated flamewar over climate change/global warming, please take it to the politics forum where it belongs.

There is a time and place for everything. It takes but a little bit of tact to respect that.

I didn't mean to start a flamewar with my comment. Its just my thinking that after the news finishes talking about the economic impact of this disaster and how the stock market will perform someone will try and link this with CC, and I have been reading a lot about the Carbon Tax debate so my head is filled with related info right now, hence the regretful remark.

Now that I re-read it, it is indeed a tasteless comment. I'm man enough to admit to screwing up royaly, and my sincerest apologies.

CNN reporting initial wave arrival times as follows. Keep in mind this would be just when the effects start, not when they begin and shortly thereafter end. Aftershocks continue, some of which are reaching up into the 7s and can generate tsunamis of their own.

Taiwan in 9 minutes.
Main islands of the Philippines: 20 minutes to 1h20
Indonesia: 70 minutes to 2h10 minutes.
Hawaii: ~3h20 to ~4h

Australia is on the danger list. DON'T be on the beach tonight, Aussies.

Hmmm, The Australian's article says no tsunami threat for Aus atm:

THE Bureau of Meteorology says there is no tsunami threat for Australia following the deadly 8.9-magnitude earthquake that hit Japan.

The latest Bureau of Meteorology update says Australia's mainland, islands and territories are safe.

Forecaster Chris Ryan from the National Meteorological and Oceanographic Centre said there was a chance that could change if the quake's magnitude is found to be higher.

"But we're a fair while past the event now, it seems to have settled to that level," he told AAP.

The tsunami warnings closest to Australia are for the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea.

"We're relatively sheltered by those island chains," Mr Ryan said.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre based in Hawaii, however, has widened its warnings to virtually the entire Pacific coast, including Australia and Central and South America, after the massive earthquake.

The Pacific centre also has issued tsunami warnings for Japan, Russia, Marcus Island and the Northern Marianas.

A tsunami watch is active for Guam, Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia and the US state of Hawaii, where Prime Minister Julia Gillard was due to fly to on Friday.

Maybe BOM haven't updated?