8.4-9 Magnitude Quake Hits Japan!

[Hursticon]

The poor people of Northern Japan have just been hit by an 8.4-9 Magnitude Earthquake (http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/magnitude-quake-hits-north-east-japan-3m-tsunami-warning/story-e6frg6so-1226019935256)! :eek::(

There is going to be some extremely sad stories, scenes and occurrences over the next week or so. :(
My thoughts are with our Asiatic Neighbours in this truly dark time. :o

[SharkyMcShark]

Have been following this on the news. Absolutely horrible stuff.

[sanbot]

What is up with all these natural disasters? Feels like the end of the world

[kup]

What is up with all these natural disasters? Feels like the end of the world

2012 - Ask George Lucas (http://voices.washingtonpost.com/celebritology/2011/01/does_george_lucas_think_the_wo.html).

[Hursticon]

2012 - Ask George Lucas (http://voices.washingtonpost.com/celebritology/2011/01/does_george_lucas_think_the_wo.html).

LOL :p:D

------------------------------------

Unfortunately, it just sucks to be situated anywhere near the Pacific Tectonic Plate and/or any of it's neighbours. :(
This sort of thing has been happening for millions of years but now with greater and wider knowledge, plus TV Cameras and the Internet, far more people around the world are able to see what can and will occur. :o

[Autocon]

What is up with all these natural disasters? Feels like the end of the world

2012....

hope everyone is ok:(

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

Crikey thats some amazing footage we are seeing. I am supposed to be leaving for Japan on Tuesday...

Worst hit seems to be northern japan, but Apparently Disney lands' carpak got flooded from the tsunami.

Just been watching some footage of the tsunami, and you can see cras driving away from the tsunami.... One got cut off by the wave and had to turn for the nearest building. Wow.

looks like that due to the lack of warning, the tsunami caught many by surprise. I hope that people are all fine.

[i_amtrunks]

The footage is amazing, and much more thorough and varied (read: useful) than the 20 seconds of repeated stock footage we got when Brisvegas was hit with their floods.

The word tsunami does not do it justice, it was just a wall of water obliterating everything.

Japan being Japan, I'd wager that it'll only be a matter of weeks before the clean up is finished and things start turning to normal, unlike the poor folk of QLD and Christchurch.

[Skullcruncher]

Japan being Japan, I'd wager that it'll only be a matter of weeks before the clean up is finished and things start turning to normal, unlike the poor folk of QLD and Christchurch.

Fingers crossed for Japan! This is really shocking, watching on channel 9 right now, that amount of water is hard to comprehend and the fires too.

[jazzcomp]

I wonder how religious beliefs justify events like this?

[GoktimusPrime]

I got in touch with some friends near my old 'hood in Japan and they told me that they experienced some property damage including damage to their house, but nobody got hurt. Was obviously really scary though.

[Hursticon]

I got in touch with some friends near my old 'hood in Japan and they told me that they experienced some property damage including damage to their house, but nobody got hurt. Was obviously really scary though.

That's good to hear Goki. :o

Seeing some of the footage when the 1st wave made landfall, it was so sad to see these people literally running for their lives knowing full-well the inevitable - Thank Anubis for Australia's positioning on it's plate. :o

[Doubledealer]

Watching it now and can't believe my eyes...The speed at which that water's travelling, and the islands of debris on fire...Bloody hell, it's like something out of Akira :eek:

[Hursticon]

Watching it now and can't believe my eyes...The speed at which that water's travelling, and the islands of debris on fire...Bloody hell, it's like something out of Akira :eek:

Actually, that's a sadly accurate description IMO. :(

[Lord_Zed]

There saying the quake surpasses the great Kanto earthquake and the Kobe earthquake, that's seriously not good.

Following so soon after Christchurch is eerily reminiscent of the Hati Quake itself barely a year ago which was then followed by the quake of the coast of Chile a month later.

Somewhere relatively unprepared gets hit then another Tsunami prone country has a major quake 8+ of the coast, I'm no seismologist so I dunno the more complex details of how tectonic plate shifts work but its pretty creepy.

Certainly the TV footage is very sad, even more so after Christchurch eathquake and the Queensland floods proved how nasty water based disaster can be.:(

Sendai is on my list of places I would like to visit in Japan one day too.

[mknell]

Crikey thats some amazing footage we are seeing. I am supposed to be leaving for Japan on Tuesday...

Worst hit seems to be northern japan, but Apparently Disney lands' carpak got flooded from the tsunami.

Just been watching some footage of the tsunami, and you can see cras driving away from the tsunami.... One got cut off by the wave and had to turn for the nearest building. Wow.

looks like that due to the lack of warning, the tsunami caught many by surprise. I hope that people are all fine.

Wow you were meant to be leaving Tuesday? I was meant to be on a flight there last night but we moved our trip to April, otherwise we would currently be stranded in Guam.

Its so terrible all is happening & hopefully the people there are ok

[GoktimusPrime]

There saying the quake surpasses the great Kanto earthquake and the Kobe earthquake, that's seriously not good.

Apparently yesterday's quake was 6.6 in magnitude with over 60 aftershocks, one of them being 7.1. The Great Kanto Quake was 7.9 and that one claimed 140,000 lives. The 1995 Kobe quake killed 6400 people.

Current casualty figures is around 200-300 with an estimate of 1000.

I'm gonna try to give Tiger Convoy a call... he shouldn't be near the effected area, but considering that the quake was felt all the way in Beijing I think it'd be worth making sure he's okay.

[5FDP]

Watching it now and can't believe my eyes...The speed at which that water's travelling, and the islands of debris on fire...Bloody hell, it's like something out of Akira :eek:

Yeah, the water was travelling at approx. 600 km's per hour when it hit the shoreline. The quake itself was 1000 times stronger than the one in NZ. I can't even begin to imagine what it would have been like to live through that.

My thoughts are with our friends in Japan.

[GoktimusPrime]

Damnit... can't find Tiger Convoy's phone number... I tried calling DFAT but they only look after Australian citizens and told me to call the Japanese Consulate... and they had me on hold for ages. Understandably there must be a flood of people calling in, so I'll keep looking for Tiger Convoy's number later or try calling the Consulate again later.

For anyone else who attended Tiger Convoy's farewell dinner in Sydney (Lord_Zed, you were there right?) see if you can find those cards he gave us with his contact details. Without it all I have to go on is his name, DOB and the prefecture he lives in. :(

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

I wonder how religious beliefs justify events like this?
Shinto (native japanese beliefs) say that earthquakes are brought about by a huge fish under the land of joan waving its tail. As for the moral side of punishment, I suspect that some will say they deserved it, without then backing it up...:rolleyes:

Wow you were meant to be leaving Tuesday? I was meant to be on a flight there last night but we moved our trip to April, otherwise we would currently be stranded in Guam.

Its so terrible all is happening & hopefully the people there are ok

Last night hey? well I hear they closed Narita down and Qantas cancelled a couple of flights. I am supposed to be away on the 14th (this tuesday) until mid-april. For a bit of hanami and catch up. I suspect a fair bit of catch up now. Luckily my in-laws and freinds are all fine and no damage. I guess my Transformers waiting for me at their house are safe as well :D

[kup]

Damnit... can't find Tiger Convoy's phone number... I tried calling DFAT but they only look after Australian citizens and told me to call the Japanese Consulate... and they had me on hold for ages. Understandably there must be a flood of people calling in, so I'll keep looking for Tiger Convoy's number later or try calling the Consulate again later.

For anyone else who attended Tiger Convoy's farewell dinner in Sydney (Lord_Zed, you were there right?) see if you can find those cards he gave us with his contact details. Without it all I have to go on is his name, DOB and the prefecture he lives in. :(

Doesn't Dirge have his details?

[kurdt_the_goat]

Thankfully my wife's parents aren't in the vicinity of these disasters. A couple of her friends though are stuck without food in Eastern Japan inc Tokyo.
There's still so many aftershocks going on... 2.5k people dead, 10k people missing. Anyone looking to donate relief funds should head to Global Giving (http://www.globalgiving.org/)

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

Oh God no...it's looking like there's a second nuclear reactor going into meltdown...:(

[Sam]

I wonder how religious beliefs justify events like this?

This is something that I believe no one has a satisfactory answer to.

I believe instead a better course of action is to help people caught in these disasters in any way we can (e.g. donation to non-profit disaster relief organisations, or helping the people directly if possible for those at the scene, etc.).

Thankfully, I have just checked that my Japanese friends are safe.

[GoktimusPrime]

Remember that the predominant religious belief in Japan is Buddhism, and Buddhist teaching revolves around suffering (re: Four Noble Truths). The principle teachings of the Jedi religion is also fundamentally the same.

Anyway, apparently the force of Friday's quake in Japan is 30,000 times more powerful than the one in Christchurch last month. :eek:

Not surprisingly online toy stores have posted notifications of delays in delivery due to the earthquake.
http://item.rakuten.co.jp/es-toys/4907953477636/

HLJ's posted a detailed report with photos:
http://www.hlj.com/specials/sendaiearthquake?utm_medium=slide&utm_campaign=TOP_page&utm_content=earthquake-banner.png

[5FDP]

Just read that apparently the quake shifted the whole of Japan 2.4 metres :eek: and that aftershocks greater than 7.0 are expected in the next three days. It puts everything into perspective reading things like this.

[liegeprime]

wow, Japan is getting nearer Korea? Just like how NZ is getting nearer Australia. The news tonight was showing a town minamusisomething whatever , it was completely wiped out except for the hospital... terrible!:eek::eek: and Meltdown in the nuclear power plants, tsktsktsk..... the news says that if it did , the radioactive material could cause a whole lifetime of cancers to those exposed..... and last even beyond their lifetime....... :(:(

[1AZRAEL1]

Man, what a disaster this has turned out to be. My thoughts go out to those who have lost lives, and those that have lost loved ones. This is the biggest disaster, that I can remember anyway.

[GoktimusPrime]

The news tonight was showing a town minamusisomething whatever , it was completely wiped out except for the hospital... terrible!:eek::eek:
Minami Sanriku (http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/minami-sanriku-the-town-that-disappeared-in-the-japan-earthquake/story-e6freuy9-1226020730156)


and Meltdown in the nuclear power plants, tsktsktsk..... the news says that if it did , the radioactive material could cause a whole lifetime of cancers to those exposed..... and last even beyond their lifetime....... :(:(
There seems to be conflicting reports coming out as to whether or not the generators actually gone into meltdown or not. There was certainly an explosion, but not necessarily a meltdown. One of my colleagues told me that apparently the nuclear power plant in Fukushima is a very old one and built on outdated technology and was actually scheduled to be decommissioned next year! There's another nuclear power plant that was closer to the epicentre of the quake, but there was no explosion or danger of meltdown because it has newer technology and something like 6 different backup generators, whereas the old Fukushima plant only has 2 back up generators and a back up diesel engine -- all of which have failed. Thus they're now flooding the plant with sea water in a desperate attempt to cool the damn thing down (but apparently it's not working)! :o

The government's already evacuated everyone from a 20km radius of the plant and has already scanned nearby residents and given them medication just in case. Hopefully nobody's been adversely effected by any radiation, and if the plant does meltdown, then at least there won't be anybody near it (the last thing anyone wants is another Chernobyl).

We had 65 students and several teachers visit our school from Japan today, although they're from Okinawa which didn't even feel anything (although these students and staff were already in Australia when the quake happened). But nevertheless everyone was passing on their concerns to them and we observed 1 minute silence this morning. I spoke to some of our students who have family in Japan -- so far noone's been hurt. One student whose family is in Tokyo said that they went without electricity for a while, but otherwise everyone's okay. Another student said that the phone lines were all jammed calling into Japan and they had to keep calling for 6 hours before getting through. That would have been an excruciating wait.

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

Now there's a volcano erupting in the SouthWest (http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/03/14/3162909.htm)...this is just getting ridiculous.

[liegeprime]

Im still waiting for Godzilla to show up.... any moment now.... any moment now....

[Hursticon]

Im still waiting for Godzilla to show up.... any moment now.... any moment now....

Admittedly, I kind of had the same thought yesterday. :o

[5FDP]

Apparently CNN made a 'monster-movie' reference which users on twitter took out of context saying that CNN joked about Godzilla and Japan's current situation. I don't think anyone would be that insensitive to the plight of the Japanese people.

[Hursticon]

Apparently CNN made a 'monster-movie' reference which users on twitter took out of context saying that CNN joked about Godzilla and Japan's current situation. I don't think anyone would be that insensitive to the plight of the Japanese people.

I agree dude :), though I wouldn't be surprised if US FOX News did though - Man they're ridiculous! :rolleyes:

[Skullcruncher]

I agree dude :), thought I wouldn't be surprised if US FOX News did though - Man they're ridiculous! :rolleyes:

So is channel 7 here, when the presenter was interviewing an expert about tsunami coming to australia, they totally forgot about poor japan and the countrys in between.

Anyone else think australia media are hyper paranoid about a tsunami?

[kup]

Australian News Media has pretty much been in the gutter for the last 10 years and gutter trash is pretty much most of what they report on.

At least you still have SBS and ABC but even those have begun to slip into senseless popularism but not as much as the network channels.

Reminds me of that 'ACTION NEWS!!' South Park episode.

[Hursticon]

So is channel 7 here, when the presenter was interviewing an expert about tsunami coming to australia, they totally forgot about poor japan and the countrys in between.

Anyone else think australia media are hyper paranoid about a tsunami?

Oh man, don't get me started on the 7 Network, I thoroughly despise that Network and it's on-screen staff! :mad:
Kerry Stokes and his behind the scene cronies put forth such a biased agenda it's sickening! :mad:


Australian News Media has pretty much been in the gutter for the last 10 years and gutter trash is pretty much most of what they report on.

At least you still have SBS and ABC but even those have begun to slip into senseless popularism but not as much as the network channels.

Reminds me of that 'ACTION NEWS!!' South Park episode.

I agree here Kup, I prefer to watch SBS or ABC for news because they're required to be the least biased as they're quote: Publicly Owned stations. ;):cool:

At least Action News' reporters were entertaining, like a Quadraplegic Midget in Liederhosen, strapped to a Donkey by the name of Creamy Goodness!!! :p:D

[Lord_Zed]

Man, what a disaster this has turned out to be. My thoughts go out to those who have lost lives, and those that have lost loved ones. This is the biggest disaster, that I can remember anyway.

It's absolutely terrible, it certainly seems to be the biggest natural disaster since the 2004 Indonesian Tsunami that hit on Boxing day, and it was one of the 10 worst ever. I sure hope this Tsunami stays of that list.

A friend in Japan said no work today in Tokyo again, there sitting tight at home for now. I sure hope things get closer to normal soon.


I wonder how religious beliefs justify events like this?

Well if your an extremist you blame it on heathens or homosexuals sadly.

[gamblor916]

HLJ footage (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0k-sAbetQk)
Crazy footage, no one there was hurt fortunately.

[GoktimusPrime]

Last night I saw on TV a Japanese woman who was desperately holding onto her four-year old daughter's hand as tsunami water flooded into their house... then the water took her daughter away. She has no idea if her little girl is dead or alive. Hearing that story just broke my heart and made me hug my own girl a little tighter last night. :( And there would be countless stories like this.

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

Its been incredible the amount of footage and news we have had coming out of this.

I know as soon as I heard about the major earthquake, after work, I had the missus on the phone to the inlaws, even though we couldn't get through for a while.

I am fascinated because the internet has been very handy in this situation. We tried several mobile numbers and couldn't get through, but we ended up emailing people's mobile email and got hold of friends, who then managed to contact my mother in law. Luckily for me everyone s sfae, but everytime I see some story from the Sendai area about that tsunami, I almost can't believe what I am seeing. So so many sad stories I think.

It's not over yet either. Rolling blackouts, my brother inlaw has blackouts at 6-10 am and pm! Food has been all bought out, petrol rationing, food rationing will probably happen soon if it hasn't already.

I feel sorry for the whole towns that have been wiped out and some of the stories that have been creeping through. I almost can't believe it.

I think myself lucky as well, I was supposed to fly out to Japan tonight. If this happened a week later I would have been in it.
NHK have really stepped up I think.

[liegeprime]

Admittedly, I kind of had the same thought yesterday. :o
isn;'t it just ssooooo unbelievably riduculous, no rest , no food, tsunami alerts, hundreds of times, aftershocks , geez one cant even find their house and more so their loved ones... everything but Godzilla has been thrown at them in one fell swoop :(:(
well Im not trying to be insensitive about what's happening to these poor people but Im just , I dont know in great disbelief and a little angry... like how many more calamity after calamity after calamity are they gonna have to endure, come ooon give em a break for crying out loud!!.... hence the Godzilla comment

[Hursticon]

isn;'t it just ssooooo unbelievably riduculous, no rest , no food, tsunami alerts, hundreds of times, aftershocks , geez one cant even find their house and more so their loved ones... everything but Godzilla has been thrown at them in one fell swoop :(:(
well Im not trying to be insensitive about what's happening to these poor people but Im just , I dont know in great disbelief and a little angry... like how many more calamity after calamity after calamity are they gonna have to endure, come ooon give em a break for crying out loud!!.... hence the Godzilla comment

I hear you dude, I hear you. :o
My thoughts were on a similar line - They've had just about everything thrown at them it's like the only thing left could be Godzilla. :(

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

How about an M6 'aftershock' in Shizuoka. Nearer Tokyo that one.

I for one am getting more than a bit concerned.:(

[liegeprime]

How about an M6 'aftershock' in Shizuoka. Nearer Tokyo that one.

I for one am getting more than a bit concerned.:(

geez, that's not good, and now there another fire on another reactor, freaking heck how many reactors do they got in there?? :(:( I have no idea on Nuclear reactors so when they say it's getting hotter and might meltdown ... cant' they cool it with like erm liquid nitrogen ? nothing's cooler than that I think?

[Lord_Zed]

Seismoligists were predicting a M7.0 aftershock within 3 days, I hope this M6 aftershock is the tail end of this thing. :(

[GoktimusPrime]

Tiger Convoy has confirmed that he's fine as expected since he lives in Shiiga-ken which is far far away from Sendai/Fukushima. <phew> Thank Primus. :)

[klystron]

geez, that's not good, and now there another fire on another reactor, freaking heck how many reactors do they got in there?? :(:( I have no idea on Nuclear reactors so when they say it's getting hotter and might meltdown ... cant' they cool it with like erm liquid nitrogen ? nothing's cooler than that I think?

Its the left over fissionable materials in the core of the reactors that are releasing massive amounts of heat due to radioactive decay that's causing the problems. With the damaged cooling and power systems of the plant, they can't circulate enough cooling water fast enough to reduce the heat build up. You can't drop liquid nitrogen on it because the material is housed inside the core of the reactor, which for obvious reasons, you can't get access to.

Mind you, I'm not an expert nor am I in possession of all the facts so I could be quite mistaken.

Am quite interested this now and will have to go google how radioactive decay heat is removed during a "normal" reactor shutdown.

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

Am quite interested this now and will have to go google how radioactive decay heat is removed during a "normal" reactor shutdown.

Apparently normal reactor shutdown takes a couple of weeks for cooling. I think one of them was in the process of being shutdown before the tsunami.

[Saintly]

I don't think we've seen the tail end of JP earthquakes... a 6.4M hit Sendai a couple of days ago.

Registered with UGS equivalent in JP and there are more eq activities in Northern JP.

Spoke to a good friend of mine that had geology interest, said that the tectonic plates are due for another major shift (the earth changing ones)

Really worried that I won't be able to visit that beautiful country.

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

It's officially up to a Level 7 disaster. (http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/04/12/3189175.htm):(

[Skullcruncher]

I don't think we've seen the tail end of JP earthquakes... a 6.4M hit Sendai a couple of days ago.

Registered with UGS equivalent in JP and there are more eq activities in Northern JP.

Spoke to a good friend of mine that had geology interest, said that the tectonic plates are due for another major shift (the earth changing ones)

Really worried that I won't be able to visit that beautiful country.

When are you planning to go to Japan? With all the quakes around tokyo eventually the buildings must start showing some structual damage - even with the earthquake strengthening and their 'rubber feet'.