[Sam_Wheat]

I don't know if there are any members on this forum who reside in Japan, or who have family and/or friends who have been affected by the recent tragic events in Japan, if there are I just wanted to let you know that my family and I have you in prayer. God bless

 

[shannensmall]

Just waking up..I had no idea this was going on. Holy sh*t!

My prayers and thoughts are with the Japanese people.

 

[indigosmoke]

Yes, it is truly horrible. It is astounding to see the damage caused in a country that is about as well prepared for earthquakes as is possible. When you consider the damage the Northridge quake did at 6.7 mag, at 8.9 this was a massive quake. And I guess there is not much you can do to prepare for the tsunami, except evacuate if there is time. I fear the death toll is going to climb to some pretty bad numbers when all is said and done (reports of an entire passanger train missing, etc), even if the Tsunami didn't wipe out some of the less developed islands in the Pacific. If it did, the loss of life could be extreme.

 

[DirtyBlackSocks]

3 friends are confirmed dead, too close to the coast line. I think the tsunami will be where we see the majority of the deaths and major injuries as Japan has the most advanced earthquake technology in the world - to the point of warning people how much time they have before the shaking will begin in their area.

Soldier friends stationed over there say that the news are reporting the death toll will likely be in the thousands thanks to the tsunami.

 

[indigosmoke]

So sad to hear that Jason. My wife and I have a friend in Tokyo she went to grad school with that we haven't been able to reach. We realize that she was probably safe in Tokyo, but of course don't know where she might have been, her friends and family, etc. It will be interesting to see how their structures, infrastructure, etc held up to the quake...8.9 is just so strong. Hopefully, all the nuke plants will hold as appears to be the case now. I'm sure our troops in the area will do all they can to help. Pretty amazing when you think that 65 years ago we were enemies locked in a deadly struggle.

EDIT: They just announced that at one plant they are having trouble lowering the pressure so they are going to have to release at least some radioactive vapor to lower the pressure. They are saying that it won't be very dangerous, though. Fingers crossed.

 

[titlowda]

Have quite a few friends over there that I have not been able to contract. So far only one answered.

 

[DirtyBlackSocks]

So sad to hear that Jason. My wife and I have a friend in Tokyo she went to grad school with that we haven't been able to reach. We realize that she was probably safe in Tokyo, but of course don't know where she might have been, her friends and family, etc. It will be interesting to see how their structures, infrastructure, etc held up to the quake...8.9 is just so strong. Hopefully, all the nuke plants will hold as appears to be the case now. I'm sure our troops in the area will do all they can to help. Pretty amazing when you think that 65 years ago we were enemies locked in a deadly struggle.

EDIT: They just announced that at one plant they are having trouble lowering the pressure so they are going to have to release at least some radioactive vapor to lower the pressure. They are saying that it won't be very dangerous, though. Fingers crossed.

Releasing radioactive material is always dangerous - that's the press trying to downplay public panic since it's already set in. That particular plant has not been successfully cooled down since the fires started so who knows how they plan to actually keep it cooled.

 

[indigosmoke]

Releasing radioactive material is always dangerous - that's the press trying to downplay public panic since it's already set in. That particular plant has not been successfully cooled down since the fires started so who knows how they plan to actually keep it cooled.

Just hope they can cool it down and they don't have a Chernobyl in the making. I imagine they are about as technologically advanced as is possible, but you never know.

 

[DirtyBlackSocks]

Just hope they can cool it down and they don't have a Chernobyl in the making. I imagine they are about as technologically advanced as is possible, but you never know.

I'd venture to say anyone coming within 2 miles of that plant is going to have to wear a suit for the duration of the plants existence as a result.

 

[indigosmoke]

I'd venture to say anyone coming within 2 miles of that plant is going to have to wear a suit for the duration of the plants existence as a result.

Just heard that they just had a 6.6 mag in central/western Japan, buildings in Tokyo shaking, etc. Can't imagine these aftershooks help anything at the nuke plants either.

 

[DirtyBlackSocks]

Just heard that they just had a 6.6 mag in central/western Japan, buildings in Tokyo shaking, etc. Can't imagine these aftershooks help anything at the nuke plants either.

I think the problem in the nuke plant has more to do with previous damage done by the quakes and the fires.

Japan is really well built for earthquakes, I don't worry about structural damage - you might get the odd casualty due to some one getting hit on the head by falling debris - but being such a volcanic region they're very well prepared.

It's the tsunami's you cannot prepare for, period. There's no way around a force of water like that, and I think people had about 30 seconds after the initial quake to get as far away from the coast as possible.

 

[freestoke]

Just heard that they just had a 6.6 mag in central/western Japan, buildings in Tokyo shaking, etc. Can't imagine these aftershooks help anything at the nuke plants either.

The last I heard, the nuke cooling system is on battery. When the battery goes, we're in meltdown mode. The core heats, melts its way into the earth down to the water table, then kablooey. Chernobyl only killed about a million people. (It didn't kill them outright, just had a million or so die within 10 years from the effects of radiation poisoning.) Depending on the wind direction, that could be a really bad scene, with Tokyo not far away.

Thank entrenched special interests for pushing these uranium monstrosities instead of thorium reactors all these decades. Lots of thorium, not much uranium. Thorium is far safer, with no terrorist-friendly byproducts, doesn't melt down or blow up -- on and on it goes. The only reason we don't have safe(r) thorium reactors is because we just love to see billionaires make a few extra bucks and suck up some bonus taxpayer money while they're at it. Uranium reactors never did make any sense at all, compared to thorium. Go figure -- as long as it won't throw you into a maniacal rage. (Never heard of thorium reactors? Exactly.)

 

[TylerDurden]

I didn't hear about this until my father told me just now. Crazy. I had no idea.

I give my best to those in Japan. I always wanted to visit Japan, and hopefully I will some day.

 

[Xodar]

This is a tragedy and the folks in Japan have my best wishes.

As someone in the construction industry I think this reinforces the need for seismic planning in construction. The design standards in Japan as far as seismic expansion and reinforcing saved a lot of lives.

 

[ruralhipster]

Wow. Sad it took a tragedy of this scope to knock Charlie Sheen off the 24 hour news-cycle. Best wishes for all with friends and family in the affected region.

 

[TonyBrooklyn]

They are all in my prayers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:frown:
ray2:ray2:ray2:ray2:ray2:ray2:

 

[sounds7]

Its really difficult for me to watch this footage because it is bringing up all kinds of memories for me that I suppressed. I am quite happy to be here today me and all my family even though everything was totaled and I lost a few friends in our disaster. This disaster seems so much worse than Katrina too and on a much larger scale. I can only imagine the heartache these people will go through for years because of this. I began praying this morning as soon as I awoke and learned of it and I will send donations when my church organizes it. What a tragedy this is!

 

[Jeff10236]

This really was sad, and seems the more news comes out the worse it is. Prayers and thoughts are with the people of Japan, one of our closest allies in the world.

I fear the death toll is going to climb to some pretty bad numbers when all is said and done (reports of an entire passanger train missing

Make that 4 (four!) trains! I just hope they weren't full with commuters or travelers.

As for the nuclear plans, the latest news is mixed at best:

Explosion at Japan nuke plant, disaster toll rises - Yahoo! News

Synopsis:

One of the two endangered plants had the containment building of one of its reactors explode and the exterior walls are gone. The actual metal containment vessel (or whatever you call it) is still intact. Evacuations are now mandatory out to 12 miles (it was 6 miles prior to the explosion, and I think it was voluntary- though the article didn't address if the prior evacuation order was voluntary or mandatory). Radiation counts, which had been going up, actually went down after the explosion (though, they are 8 times normal outside the plant, and 1000 times normal in the control room).

According to several experts interviewed (including a Russian one, not sure why that is important info), it is a very different design than Chernobyl. Likely worst case scenario, even with a total meltdown, is minor with the effects likely contained within the grounds of the plant.

Two plants in total have lost their cooling ability due to damages, and "some" of Japan's 55 nuclear power units at 17 power plants are "in trouble".

They also talked generally about the damages to Japan, the death toll, and rescue efforts:
-4 missing trains
-574 official death count, but will likely be over 1300
-23ft tsunami, which in places reached 6 miles into the interior of the country
-at least 215,000 people are living in temporary shelters
-more than 1 million people are without hot water and 4 million buildings are without power
-The U.S. has pledged to help (other articles have noted that all U.S. servicemen are accounted for and have survived).

This is already a terrible tragedy, and I imagine there is a lot more bad news to come.

 

[bent-1]

This article added a magnitude to the earthquake strength I just can't grasp,

"The 8.9-magnitude tremor struck on Friday afternoon off the coast of Honshu island. It was nearly 8,000 times stronger than last month's quake in New Zealand that devastated the city of Christchurch, scientists said."

BBC News - Japan earthquake: Explosion at Fukushima nuclear plant

 

[owaindav]

This is absolutely stunning. I saw the videos and I cringe. It brings back memories of Katrina and the damage from that when we came back. Luckily, I was out of town when it happened and didn't get hit like in Mississippi but it was rough.

I get the impression this tsunami and earthquake are worse. My prayers are for those people over there right now. I can't even imagine the devistation.