Earthquake/Tsunami Thread - FG Members Check In.

My friend from Tokyo wrote that situation there isn't that bad. There isn't much damage. Sadly northeast of Japan seems to be severely damaged, but we can see that on the news.

Currently it looks the coastal areas of Tokyo Bay are hit harder, there is some building damage but not terrible, and I don't know if public transportation and the rail system has resumed service yet. There's a question wether many of the overhead motorways have been structurally compromised and it's safe to allow cars and trucks back on.

The epicenter is a terrible disaster, theres a great link (one among many) capturing many stunning and horrible photos some as the tsunami struck. How some of these photographers captured, I can only assume from news copters, others, I have no idea.

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2011/03/massive_earthquake_hits_japan.html

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If the fucking windmills collapse, you just erect them again. Job done. The area won't be contaminated by radioactivity for decades.

I don't want to abuse this thread for a discussion about the pros and cons of nuclear power but I dare saying, that we wouldn't have the same headlines, if some traditional coal-powered power plants had been effected by the quake and the tsunami...

Agreed, this is not the appropriate forum to discuss the pros/cons of nuclear power and safety in general.

Back on topic, I hope the reactor situation in Fukushima is resolved with a minimum of collateral damage.
 
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Luckily this island is far enough from the epicenter to escape the damage. Things on the mainland look downright horrifying and they seem to be getting worse and worse all the time. I've just received word that another tsunami is headed this way in about five hours. This is bad. :( I can't even begin to imagine what it would be like to suffer the brunt of all this. I've been through a 6.9 earthquake here and that was truly terrifying even with no damage done.

Reports here suggest that the US Air Force has flown in extra coolant and the reactor is stabilising.

KaJuN to the rescue?

If I knew they were sending people out to help I'd be the first in line to jump on that plane.
 
19:47 GMT: Still no superpowers. <_<

At first I thought it was a comment about world superpowers commenting/helping, then I saw it was you and realised you probably meant the other kind of superpowers. I giggled.

News about the malfunctioning reactor are still very unsettling. The cooling sytems obviously run on battery power, because the diesel-powered emergency generators failed. Isn't it ironic, that in order to keep a malfunctioning nuclear power plant under control, you need electricity?

Any idea why the generators failed? I can imagine, but I would also think they'd have back-ups for the back-up.

I hope you get your family back together soon, hansvonaxion, and I'm glad that you and KaJuN are okay. All the best wishes to you and all other Japan residents....

Thanks guys, seems everyone is OK. The wife got home after 3am.

Do we have an official word on the strength of the quake? I've heard that it was an 8.9, downgraded to a 7.-something, that it was 7.9, 8.8.

What is the actual strength of this thing?

Some of the difference could be quoting from different sites, the epicentre was probably 8.8 (that's what they're showing on the news here) but that was offshore, the other figures are probably for the towns on the mainland cos that's more meaningful in a way.

I mean, If any nation is 'prepared' for earthquakes, it's Japan., So when an earthquake freaks them out, you know it's bad. :-(

Yeah, problem is so much of the population is centred in Tokyo and Osaka that most of the defences are here. The poor folk out in the country have to fend for themselves, it just isn't possible to tsunami-proof the entire coastline.
 
As of now the death toll is estimated at about 151. And an area 10km around the Nuclear plant has been evacuated.
 
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The cooling system failed at three reactors of the quake-hit Fukushima No. 2 nuclear power plant Saturday, the operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. said.


The company, which has already scrambled to deal with radiation leaks at its Fukushima No. 1 plant, notified the industry ministry that the failsafe system at the No. 2 plant stopped functioning as the temperature of coolant water has topped 100 C.

Really not good.
 
Failsafe fail huh?
 
Any idea why the generators failed? I can imagine, but I would also think they'd have back-ups for the back-up.

Well, informations are very sketchy but from what I gathered and as I understand it, the whole plant was flooded in the tsunami, since it is located directly at the ocean. So I suppose that parts of the whole facility have been damaged or destroyed by the flood and are still under water, which is a big obstacle for repairs and time is a critical factor here.

Also, from what I gathered, obviously the sea water was used for cooling. Only currently there is no sea water but just a muddy swamp around the power plant and the mud seems to have jammed everything.

That's what I put together from bits of information from several TV channels so far.

Here's a screenshot from Google Earth of the Fukushima nuclear power plant:
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And if you think it was double jeopardy to build a nuclear power plant in an earth quake zone directly at a coastline, which is heavily threatened by tsunamis, I'm completely with you.

On a side note: I just can't stand some of the news coverage on English and/or American TV stations. The (mostly female) presenters try so hard to be shocked and horrified, that it feels completely put-on and dishonest, like this chick here:
 
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Video of skyscrapers swaying in the quake.

 
Should we get the two threads merged?
 
Well if you think about it, it makes sense historically and economically. Japan is an overpopulated island with little natural resources and must depend largely on expensive imports to sustain their (admitedly high) energy needs, so going nuclear made sense even with the projected risks.

Hope they can get everyone evacuated from the immediate area and the weather/wind cooperates just in case anything does happen. Also hopefully these corresponding events have served to remind us to not take some of our modern "conveniences" for granted.
 
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Hope they can get everyone evacuated from the immediate area and the weather/wind cooperates just in case anything does happen. Also hopefully these corresponding events have served to remind us to not take some of our modern "conveniences" for granted.

You obviously haven't lived, when the Tchernobyl meltdown happened. If a reactor at Fukushima should blow up (however unlikely it might seem at the moment, given that it isn't a rusty old Russian reactor with idiots at the helm), it might have global repercussions. The radioactive particles will spread all over the world and not only stay in the wider vicinity. You can still measure higher contaminations in the snow layers from 1986/87 of the Arctic and Antarctica.

Until today there are regions in southeastern Germany, where mushrooms, wild berries and animals in forests still show a ten times higher contamination of caesium 137, than normal. Same goes for some regions in Britain and Scandinavia.
 
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It's really sad that stupid assholes like this abuse the right of freedom of speech, basically sh**ing all over it and post ignorant crap like this, especially during moments of major tragedy

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Of course these folks are part of an ignorant, asshole vocal minority but its sad that if some ppl genuinely believe in what they're spouting and not just trolling to get a reaction, how easily they forget all the crap that america did to japan in the war...and frankly a lot of the world afterwards in their dirty third world proxy wars.

I'd like to see those guys defend those actions commited by our 'nation that stands for freedom'.

Even if this example above is just a photochop, I've been reading numerous equally ignorant comments on tsunami related videos on youtube and some other forums where ppl are posting live from japan as well.

It's sad how the vocal minority can really embarass and disgrace the majority.
 
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Why even give them any more exposure?
 
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