Japan just hit by magnitude 8.9 earthquake

mrGTB said:
There hasn't been any 'reactor blast', the reactors remain intact.
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I never said there had been, I said there are fears one could happen as mentioned on the BBC News site.
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Actually you posted, "there are also fears of a second reactor blast happening", which implies there had already been a 'reactor blast', there HAS NOT BEEN ONE!

OK, not totally your fault - you quoted a sloppy BBC headline without taking into consideration the second paragraph of the article, which clearly states "the facility could withstand the impact and the nuclear reactor itself would not be damaged". Believe me if there was a 'reactor blast', the reactor WOULD BE damaged.

Not trying to have a go at you, but I am getting tried of sloppy media reporting and people re-posting stupid headlines and total nonsense as facts across the internet and I am just trying, in my own little way, to correct things.

There is a risk of a second explosion at the quake-hit Fukushima power station, Japanese officials have said.
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That indicates there has been a first one.
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Yes, there has been an explosion, in a SERVICE BUILDING, it has NOT been a 'reactor blast'!

See post 166 to understand the different between the reactor and the service building above it. :)
 
Elizabeth said:
Here is a link I just got from someone living in Japan. I have permission to pass it along: http://morgsatlarge.wordpress.com/2011/03/13/why-i-am-not-worried-about-japans-nuclear-reactors/

It is a LONG read but very accurate. My husband did say that it makes perfect sense.
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Just started reading this excellent link, this is the important fact...

This third containment is then surrounded by the reactor building. The reactor building is an outer shell that is supposed to keep the weather out, but nothing in. (this is the part that was damaged in the explosion, but more to that later).
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EDIT - Good reading - that was 20 minutes well spent, that fits in with everything I've been told by people I know that have/still do work in nuclear plants in the UK and the other research I've done over the years into this subject.
 
Elizabeth said:
Here is a link I just got from someone living in Japan. I have permission to pass it along: http://morgsatlarge.wordpress.com/2011/03/13/why-i-am-not-worried-about-japans-nuclear-reactors/

It is a LONG read but very accurate. My husband did say that it makes perfect sense.
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I found that post to be overly optimistic and filled with assumptions.

They also got the details on the magnitudes of earthquakes wrong. The Richter scale is no longer used, it's the Moment magnitude scale. In either case, relative magnitude between Mw 9 and Mw 10 isn't simply 10x. It's ~32x. See the equation below. The 3/2 in the exponential is the key.

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I personally found http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=fukushima-core to be a much more realistic assessment due to the number of unknowns involved.
 
Update 11:11 AM / Monday --- Went to work today as it felt like the only normal thing to do. Company's official policy is if you come to work, go home early. If it's too difficult to get to the office, stay home. (I can walk to work from where my place is...)

In my own opinion, I'm not terribly worried about the Fukushima incidents right now, I've read everything that's available both locally and internationally and feel that they will keep things contained. I also feel that the international (yes, I'm looking at you America) media are sensationalizing things that don't need to be. I've heard that the French and Swedish embassies have told their people to move to Osaka. (I've heard this twice today, but officially unconfirmed...) -- I do have a place to go further south in Japan if I really needed or wanted to go.

Other than worrying about Fukushima -- Power rationing started today with rolling blackouts. Food, transportation and other utilities have been stable, but slow in some cases.
My office building has shut-off most overhead lighting and ordered that we keep the shades up to let natural light in where possible. Trains are running on altered schedules to help conserve energy and other companies have disabled their advertising signs displayed on buildings or billboards. Personally, I disabled everything at home except the fridge to help conserve power.

One very important point: Social order is still intact, people are lining up properly for gas and other important daily supplies. People are helping other people and really coming together as a nation to emerge from these last few disastrous days.

There is still a very strong fear of another large quake that could potentially follow the one we experienced on Friday. The aftershocks from Friday, continue this morning.

Japan appreciates the support of other nations, things won't be the same here for years to come.
 
ENF said:
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In my own opinion, I'm not terribly worried about the Fukushima incidents right now, I've read everything that's available both locally and internationally and feel that they will keep things contained. I also feel that the international (yes, I'm looking at you America) media are sensationalizing things that don't need to be.

<snip>

One very important point: Social order is still intact, people are lining up properly for gas and other important daily supplies. People are helping other people and really coming together as a nation to emerge from these last few disastrous days.
There is still a very strong fear of another large quake that could potentially follow the one we experienced on Friday. The aftershocks from Friday, continue this morning.
Japan appreciates the support of other nations, things won't be the same here for years to come.
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You are very much correct in that the American media has a tendency to over-dramatize almost everything. Yet I would rather they over-dramatize, than under-dramatize, if you know what I mean.

Thank you very much for the daily updates. You and your country are in my thoughts and prayers.
 
ENF said:
One very important point: Social order is still intact, people are lining up properly for gas and other important daily supplies. People are helping other people and really coming together as a nation to emerge from these last few disastrous days.
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In my opinion, that is perhaps the most important thing that matters and is an indicator of whether a nation struck by a catastrophe, ANY nation, are willing to throw their heads down and push against all odds or wait for foreign aid and help.

I just hope that we have seen the worst of the disaster already, and the quake to come isn't as destructing.
 
Peggy said:
You are very much correct in that the American media has a tendency to over-dramatize almost everything. Yet I would rather they over-dramatize, than under-dramatize, if you know what I mean.
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I would rather they be ACCURATE. Not over or under dramatic. But they use words designed to scare.

And the media is so focused on the nuclear power plant, they aren't even reporting on the volcano that is a real hazard to many in the south part of Japan.
 
Just read that NHK announced over 10.000 people in Miyagi are dead (based on statement of a local police chief). Hundreds of dead bodies were found floated to the cost. It's just so depressing and sad right now :(. Japan was always a frontier when it came to people’s aid; regardless which country or situation. I hope every country does it utmost best to help the people of Japan.
 
Elizabeth said:
I would rather they be ACCURATE. Not over or under dramatic. But they use words designed to scare.
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I've mainly been following the situation on the BBC, and occasionally on Sky News, and I've got to say I've been impressed with how accurate the reporting seems to have been with loads of independent experts appearing over the last few days and all repeating the same thing:

- basically the containment is under control, and although it's a far from an ideal situation and it will be a few days yet before it can be confirmed that the danger that something major is going to happen has passed, it looks like the worst is over. Even if something more major happened it would never be anything like another Chernobyl.

Despite this, there still seems to be a large minority (both in the pub & on the internet) that think it's the end of the world, very odd.
 
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