Japan just hit by magnitude 8.9 earthquake

Brogan said:
One of the most shocking things I saw was footage of debris on top of 25-30 metre high buildings.

No wonder whole towns were razed to the ground.
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Yup... its horrifying to imagine been in the situation realy... all these houses built of wood to survive the worst earthqaukes... and they did... but when a 3 meter high wall of water comes slamming through they are thrown aside and washed away with no effort. A catch 22 situation.
 
I love how America always shows Michio Kaku everytime they need a scientific opionion. haha. While the guy is a top class physcist he is also famous for being completly anti nuclear for everything. So his judgement on this show is tainted in my opinion. Word here is that the rods are unstable - so pouring concrete on them would crack the casing and allow more radiative particles to be released than in the current situation - maybe he needs to brush up on his Japanese more.

To me, Kaku is a media whore, who makes a lot of money out of these appearances - oh and the fact they mentioned his new book makes me think that is the real reason he is on tv. Free advertising.
 
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Brogan said:
One of the most shocking things I saw was footage of debris on top of 25-30 metre high buildings.

No wonder whole towns were razed to the ground.
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I would agree with that, images like these drive home just how horrific it must have been as the tsunami hit - spot the ship on top of one of the few remaining buildings in the middle:

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:(
 
It's unreal... of all the places for the ship to end up, it finishes on one top of 2 or 3 buildings left remaining... what are the odds
 
Peggy said:
I have to agree with you SLavik. ALL of their efforts should be put towards helping the survivors, imo.
Never mind the fact that there are still thousands of people missing.
Presumed dead, yes. But they could still be alive. Stranger things have happened.
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There was footage this morning on tv that an old lady and a teenager have been rescued from inside a collapsed building. Someone must have heard you Peggy.
 
leftie said:
There was footage this morning on tv that an old lady and a teenager have been rescued from inside a collapsed building. Someone must have heard you Peggy.
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Awesome news!

As a side note: The human body does some amazing things to prolong survival in situations like this. Hopefully this will keep happening as more and more people join the effort.
 
Hi All... 3/21 - 9:00pm JST Update:

I've just returned to central Tokyo as of 7:33pm JST this evening. We had some good news this weekend and some new trouble, but things are much more positive feeling as they've been making decent progress at Fukushima.

The most important point I want to reveal tonight is that the Shinkansen (bullet trains) returning to Tokyo were jam-packed with people. I got on a train at Hamamatsu, Japan (~90 minutes from Tokyo) and I could barely get me and my bag in the door. (and there were still people trying to get on) The trains were running at ~120%+ capacity and on a normal schedule. I spent the next 90 minutes pressed up against the door except for letting people off at 4 stops between Hamamatsu and Tokyo. (with more people getting on at 2 of those four stops..) I made it home safe and sound, all utilities still working. (I did receive a notice from the building maintenance people about what to do and/or expect if this area does lose power... nice of them to provide this)

Stopped by the grocery store and convenience store at my local home station, shelves have more stuff on them than when I left on Friday. Everything is still much darker in Tokyo in general, with all the extra lights turned off. Still many people out eating and shopping despite the darkness....

While in Hamamatsu, the only way to know that anything was wrong up north was to watch a TV or see people out taking donations. Gas (petrol) was running steady at 150 yen/liter. (do your own calculation) The stores were fully stocked and the places we ate out at, had full menus available. I bought a new bicycle and took a four-hour cruise around the Hamamatsu/Tenryu areas... was a nice peaceful ride, except the strong winds.

Next up: Work tomorrow and we'll start contacting our clients to see how their Tokyo operations are going and then adjust our planned work from there.

Off to go find some dinner.
 
ENF said:
Hi All... 3/21 - 9:00pm JST Update:

I've just returned to central Tokyo as of 7:33pm JST this evening. We had some good news this weekend and some new trouble, but things are much more positive feeling as they've been making decent progress at Fukushima.

The most important point I want to reveal tonight is that the Shinkansen (bullet trains) returning to Tokyo were jam-packed with people. I got on a train at Hamamatsu, Japan (~90 minutes from Tokyo) and I could barely get me and my bag in the door. (and there were still people trying to get on) The trains were running at ~120%+ capacity and on a normal schedule. I spent the next 90 minutes pressed up against the door except for letting people off at 4 stops between Hamamatsu and Tokyo. (with more people getting on at 2 of those four stops..) I made it home safe and sound, all utilities still working. (I did receive a notice from the building maintenance people about what to do and/or expect if this area does lose power... nice of them to provide this)

Stopped by the grocery store and convenience store at my local home station, shelves have more stuff on them than when I left on Friday. Everything is still much darker in Tokyo in general, with all the extra lights turned off. Still many people out eating and shopping despite the darkness....

While in Hamamatsu, the only way to know that anything was wrong up north was to watch a TV or see people out taking donations. Gas (petrol) was running steady at 150 yen/liter. (do your own calculation) The stores were fully stocked and the places we ate out at, had full menus available. I bought a new bicycle and took a four-hour cruise around the Hamamatsu/Tenryu areas... was a nice peaceful ride, except the strong winds.

Next up: Work tomorrow and we'll start contacting our clients to see how their Tokyo operations are going and then adjust our planned work from there.

Off to go find some dinner.
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Holy crap, $6.99 a gallon for gas.
 
ENF said:
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Sounds like you had a good vacation. Thank you for posting an update for us.

I hope you don't lose power but it was nice of the building maintenance to let you know what to do if you do.

It's interesting how the Hamamatsu area sounds almost completely untouched by what happened (I realize it isn't but it sounds that way compared to the northern part of Japan).

Liz
 
ENF said:
I've just returned to central Tokyo as of 7:33pm JST this evening. We had some good news this weekend and some new trouble, but things are much more positive feeling as they've been making decent progress at Fukushima.
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Thanks for the update and here's hoping both the 'positive feeling' & 'decent progress' continues to grow as each day passes.
 
Shaun Mason said:
Holy crap, $6.99 a gallon for gas.
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I'd say that normal average price of fuel here runs about 128-134 yen/liter, depending on where you live.

DoctorWatsOn said:
Thanks for the update and here's hoping both the 'positive feeling' & 'decent progress' continues to grow as each day passes.
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Things at work are getting back on-track, we've got a full staffing this morning. :) Pregnant women were still advised to work from home until the 31st due to possible power outages rendering the elevators here inoperable.

Elizabeth said:
Sounds like you had a good vacation. Thank you for posting an update for us.
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You're welcome. It was a nice few days to mentally reset and try to re-focus on getting back to a normal life. You never really appreciate the mundane 'normal' daily life routines until it's massively screwed up.

Weather in Tokyo today is cloudy with light rain and chilly. With a lot of the accessory lights turned off in the building, really makes me sleepy...

Outside of the major issues up north, people in Tokyo are intently watching for news about water and food contamination. I'm not overly worried myself based on the levels reported. I agree that will take a lot of time to clean everything up and ease everyone's mind, but we've got to go on and not live in a constant state of fear.
 
Just watching the news. Showed The Japanese PM announcing that there may be a leak in one of the reactors. Seems that 3 workers stepped in a puddle of water and were sent to the hospital with severe burns to their feet. That water was tested and found to be 1,000 times more radioactive than previously tested water. (Perhaps ENF can confirm this?). This prompted them to extend the evacuation area from the previous 12 miles to 20 miles now.
 
Peggy said:
Just watching the news. Showed The Japanese PM announcing that there may be a leak in one of the reactors. Seems that 3 workers stepped in a puddle of water and were sent to the hospital with severe burns to their feet. That water was tested and found to be 1,000 times more radioactive than previously tested water. (Perhaps ENF can confirm this?). This prompted them to extend the evacuation area from the previous 12 miles to 20 miles now.
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Mostly correct except the evacuation issue. The actual Japanese text indicates that that people in the secondary 'evacuation' zone have been asked to leave voluntarily due to a lack of incoming supplies. Trucking and supply companies are not delivering fresh supplies to that secondary zone and therefore it is very difficult for those in that area to get basic daily supplies. It is not an 'order' to evacuate but merely a recommendation to do so for a better quality of life.

As for the leak, the pressure inside the main container hasn't changed and therefore they don't believe that the actual containment vessel has been compromised. They are trying to determine the source of the water, whether it be from leaking pipes or from the fuel storage pools. Various amounts of water has been found in units 1, 2, 3 and 4. They are now removing the dangerous water to resume work inside.

I read the international media articles and they really twisted the words from the original Japanese release. (in regards to the evacuation recommendation)
 
ENF said:
Mostly correct except the evacuation issue. The actual Japanese text indicates that that people in the secondary 'evacuation' zone have been asked to leave voluntarily due to a lack of incoming supplies. Trucking and supply companies are not delivering fresh supplies to that secondary zone and therefore it is very difficult for those in that area to get basic daily supplies. It is not an 'order' to evacuate but merely a recommendation to do so for a better quality of life.

As for the leak, the pressure inside the main container hasn't changed and therefore they don't believe that the actual containment vessel has been compromised. They are trying to determine the source of the water, whether it be from leaking pipes or from the fuel storage pools. Various amounts of water has been found in units 1, 2, 3 and 4. They are now removing the dangerous water to resume work inside.

I read the international media articles and they really twisted the words from the original Japanese release. (in regards to the evacuation recommendation)
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Thank you for being around to clarify, or correct, what we are hearing/reading.
 
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