Thread is about the various issues surrounding Japan in the aftermath of the recent earthquake. Don't bring the shit side of the internet to the thread, and post with the realization that this thread is very important, and very real, to your fellow members.
Do not post speculative and unconfirmed news you saw on TV or anywhere else. Generally the more dramatic it sounds the less likely it's true.
On March 11 2011 20:31 Manifesto7 wrote: My brother-in-law (firefighter) is en route to Sendai from Osaka. Part of a mass migration of rescue workers from around the country I imagine. Hopefully other nations can step up as well.
You see those planes and cars there at Sendai Airport? None of them exist anymore. Maybe it was just because of the camera angle, but that city to the west was nowhere in the camera on NHK either. It was freaky.
Damn, I am so desperate right now. My girlfriend lives in Tokyo, she was working today. From the time of the EQ I wasnt able to reach her via her cell phone. I will keep trying. Fuck fuck fuck, If anything happen...T_T. I wish all the best to my love and everybody else.
On March 11 2011 20:31 Manifesto7 wrote: My brother-in-law (firefighter) is en route to Sendai from Osaka. Part of a mass migration of rescue workers from around the country I imagine. Hopefully other nations can step up as well.
When the Haiti earthquakes hit, the USAF allowed people to volunteer to help over there. I'm assuming they'd do the same for this. I just dunno if they'd allow me to go because my job is under manned.
On March 11 2011 20:16 shadymmj wrote: what a question. tsunami's a japanese word, so i'd believe that they were obviously prepared for it?
There is no preparing for a 10 meter wall of water that travels at 100 km per hour. Sorry.
Further away from the epicenter, though, the response was pretty good from what I've seen. I live up north, and as soon as the first quake ended I turned on the TV and they had predictions of tsunami height and arrival time. It hit up here about 40 minutes to an hour after the quake. Towns along the coast had their sirens going and got people evacuated, no one I know has had any damage, though some friends that live in a little town right next to the ocean are still at the evacuation area.
So yeah - they're as prepared as they can be, but for the worst of it, there's not a lot you can actually do.
On March 11 2011 20:31 Manifesto7 wrote: My brother-in-law (firefighter) is en route to Sendai from Osaka. Part of a mass migration of rescue workers from around the country I imagine. Hopefully other nations can step up as well.
You see those planes and cars there at Sendai Airport? None of them exist anymore. Maybe it was just because of the camera angle, but that city to the west was nowhere in the camera on NHK either. It was freaky.
He, and the rest of the contingent, are obviously aware of that.
On March 11 2011 20:16 shadymmj wrote: what a question. tsunami's a japanese word, so i'd believe that they were obviously prepared for it?
There is no preparing for a 10 meter wall of water that travels at 100 km per hour. Sorry.
Further away from the epicenter, though, the response was pretty good from what I've seen. I live up north, and as soon as the first quake ended I turned on the TV and they had predictions of tsunami height and arrival time. It hit up here about 40 minutes to an hour after the quake. Towns along the coast had their sirens going and got people evacuated, no one I know has had any damage, though some friends that live in a little town right next to the ocean are still at the evacuation area.
So yeah - they're as prepared as they can be, but for the worst of it, there's not a lot you can actually do.
Yeah, our community bulletin service was pretty fast to respond and update as well. It just seemed people were talking about preparation along the same lines as reinforcing buildings etc, which there is obviously no possibility of.
On March 11 2011 20:31 Manifesto7 wrote: My brother-in-law (firefighter) is en route to Sendai from Osaka. Part of a mass migration of rescue workers from around the country I imagine. Hopefully other nations can step up as well.
You see those planes and cars there at Sendai Airport? None of them exist anymore. Maybe it was just because of the camera angle, but that city to the west was nowhere in the camera on NHK either. It was freaky.
That's how the airport looked earlier today (the gray stuff is water).
i mean, prepared as best as they can to a reasonable degree, seeing as they have the strictest earthquake code? obviously mitigating a quake of this degree is very hard, but the alert was sounded just a few minutes after the quake hit, and moreover 99.9% of people know what to do in that kind of situation.
well sorry if you are offended by me btw, that was obviously not my objective. it was just....a very strange question. you get that sometimes.
Experts are now saying that it was 8000 times more powerful than the earthquake in New Zealand earlier this month. Ive not found estimates of number of dead yet, but so far there are 44 confirmed, and apparently reuters is saying a ship carrying 100 people was swept out by the wave.
My heart goes out to all those affected by this, and to all the families who have lost their loved ones. I wish I could do more than simply offer words of support though.
Mani you probably know more about local charities etc, is there one you think would benefit most from a donation?
On March 11 2011 20:11 NExt wrote: I don't know how to ask this question...
I understand Japan is really prepared when it comes to Quakes as they are so prone... but the images im seeing of this Tsunami are catastrophic. So what I want to ask is... were Tsunamis part of the worst case scenario? I don't believe (unless my mind is slipping) I've experience a tsunami affecting Japan as heavily as this in my lifetime.
Just really concerned on how well the government / nation can recover. Were Tsunami's part of the worst case scenario?
They said that most of the Japanese cost has walls to prevent the sort of damage cause by the tsunami, but it seems they just weren't effective enough.
I honestly don't think you can do much to stop a literal wall of water from just destroying everything it touches unless Japan finds out the secret to Gundanium alloy or something.
Tsunami waves are more like a wall of water than an actual wave. It's sort of misleading. The crest of the "wave" is in many cases several tens of miles long so it just swamps over everything.
It's not the water that makes a tsunami dangerous. It's the debris that it picks up that makes the tsunami a literal bulldozer. The more the tsunami moves inland, the more shit it picks up like parts of homes, cars, people, trees, and other stuff. Once it gets far enough inland, stuff just instantly dies to this wall of debris, and that stuff becomes part of the debris that killed it.
There were pics of this video that were posted, but here it is in its entirety:
As you can see, getting hit by the wave doesn't only mean getting hit by water. It also means getting shredded apart by the stuff in the wave.
The wave is quite scary looking, almost hypnotic. I've seen water behave like this on a small scale with blades of grass, so it's mind-blowing to see it behave like this on a large scale with pieces of trees, homes, and other large debris.
I was watching the news just now, and I saw a video of random cars getting washed away... Seems terrible, I hope they're alright. By the way, it seems Taiwan is getting affected by the tsunamis as well... O_O
On March 11 2011 20:35 Caphe wrote: Damn, I am so desperate right now. My girlfriend lives in Tokyo, she was working today. From the time of the EQ I wasnt able to reach her via her cell phone. I will keep trying. Fuck fuck fuck, If anything happen...T_T. I wish all the best to my love and everybody else.
Tokyo is fine, it was around 400km away from the epicentre. Apparently the mobile phone connection is off for whole Japan tho. Don't worry, your girlfriend is fine I'm sure.
EPT
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/fPokE.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4990471/japan_earthquake_road.jpg)
