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Stormrider wrote:If there's anything positive that can be gleaned from this, it's that it was 20 miles down. Had it been like Haiti's Earthquake we could be talking about much more damage and severe tsunami waves

Dude, the quakes are at all different depths. They've been going all day. Even the cat has started ignoring them. Tokyo is a gong show right now. All the train lines are shut down (I think KilKrazy mentioned that earlier) and everyone is standing around wondering what to do. Most people are at home watching news that is actually 'news' for a change. The air traffic has also ceased in the Tokyo area. I'm just hoping the Tsunami that hits the West coast of the US and South America doesn't do too much damage.

Khornholio wrote:

Stormrider wrote:If there's anything positive that can be gleaned from this, it's that it was 20 miles down. Had it been like Haiti's Earthquake we could be talking about much more damage and severe tsunami waves

Dude, the quakes are at all different depths. They've been going all day. Even the cat has started ignoring them. Tokyo is a gong show right now. All the train lines are shut down (I think KilKrazy mentioned that earlier) and everyone is standing around wondering what to do. Most people are at home watching news that is actually 'news' for a change. The air traffic has also ceased in the Tokyo area. I'm just hoping the Tsunami that hits the West coast of the US and South America doesn't do too much damage.

I did forget the aftershocks

Stormrider wrote:If there's anything positive that can be gleaned from this, it's that it was 20 miles down. Had it been like Haiti's Earthquake we could be talking about much more damage and severe tsunami waves

Japan, unlike Haiti, has buildings designed to withstand earthquakes. I don't know what magnitude they're built to withstand, but 8.9 is pretty darn high.

Also, don't forget that the scale here is logarithmic, so a magnitude 8 is many times worse than Haiti's magnitude 7.0. Magnitude 8.9 has more like 700 times the energy of a 7.0.

Scary stuff, and while a loss of life is never a good thing, it's good news that the death toll (from what I've seen) is still under 100.

The sight of a wave of mud, debris, a ship and three or four houses that are on fire getting pulled along by a giant wave kinda puts the fear of God/nature/equivalent into one (can't remember where I saw that clip though, think it was CNN). Let's be thankful that buildings in Japan are many times more resilient to this kind of thing than the ones in Indonesia 2004.

Thoughts go out to all of Japan and our Dakka friends there.

I wonder how long before that church goes on international television and claims that this was because Japan doesn't hate gay people enough...

That's a pretty nasty combo, quake plus tsunami. Hope the casualties at least are minimized.

biccat wrote:Scary stuff, and while a loss of life is never a good thing, it's good news that the death toll (from what I've seen) is still under 100.

I'd bet it goes higher.

It's kinda hard to process. Where I am it was a pretty big shake, but negligible damage. We took it very seriously at work, but after it stopped we kind of laughed it off a bit because no one was hurt and there was no damage. Then we turned on the TV and saw that tsunami moving across the Sendai coast. The wost part was watching the live aerial footage and seeing traffic driving unawares right into the giant wave and listening to one of my coworkers helplessly yelling at the tv for them to stop. For me and everyone I know the worst inconvenience is we had to cancel a party and I'm eating a crap convenience store dinner instead. For thousands of other people it's a nightmare that's still unfolding as we speak. It's hard to figure out what's the right way to feel about escaping someone else's disaster.

I hope Japan opens up to allow international aid groups to assist.

Modquisitor Frazzled - Lets keep the political/religion crap and stupid jokes off this thread thank you.

Oh wow...

I just saw on a streaming BBC video the tsunami actually hitting the ruins... it was just washing everything away.

Evidently 8,000 troops are being called out in one area. Unfortunately the mortality count is starting to jump. Again, blessings and condolences to those who have lost family.

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2011/03/jiji-press-200-to-300-bodies-found-on-beach-near-sendai-japan/1

Hope people pull together in this epic tragedy! Sending the good vibes to our Japanese brothers and sisters. The devestation is unbelievable! The oil refinery explosion looked like a bomb had been dropped. That fireball must've been more than a thousand feet high! Does anyone know how that whirlpool formed? I think the most hair-raising scenes were people in cars driving along with a tidal wave of detritus coming in at an angle with no where else to go! Just think if that sort of disaster happened in your country/state...

Reports that "200 to 300 bodies" washed up on the beach near Sendei.

Luckily, my friends there are ok. A little shaken(no pun intended), but ok.

Condolences to everyone else.

Thank god they have an alert system. I can only imagine what would have happened with out that.

The video of the flooded airport is really quite disturbing. Sure, it's no flodded city or villiage, but to see that such large spaces are just drowned is putting these events in a frighting perspective.

Stay save, Japanese Dakkites.

I'm Japanese who lives next of Tokyo.
I felt that earthquake. That was insane shock. That was biggest one I felt.
I was at city public hall to setting my miniature show case for local festival.

Tokyo wasnt point of origin.
Now,all train stopped,car traffic is jammed.
I can't phone call to home,friends.
I can't go back home.(Fortunately Im now at friend house)

Point of origin was sea.
Big tsunami washed up the cities.and after that some of those cities are on big fire. and some are snowing. I can't imagine survivor in there.
And not far from there we have atomic generator. and it is smoking. hope not it melt down.
I had friend around there,
can't contact her. I hope she is ok.

anyway that real big earth quake. many people will die.
oh again,even in now,it shaking. damn. I can't sleep tonight.

Sir Motor's right, since the epicenter was out at sea it wasn't as bad as it could have been. I still wish it had never happened; the biggest I felt while living in Saitama was a 7 pointer and it was enough to scare the bejeezus out of me. I still have friends and in-laws over there and my thoughts are with them and everyone else over there, I'm sure tomorrow morning will be full of bad news but I'll hope that I'll be hearing of a miraculously light death/ injury toll.

My wife was able to finally get through to her sister who kept trying and was able to reach her parents (the phone lines are completely jammed). Roll-call complete and everyone is safe, I'm glad to say. Unfortunately, she has some distant relatives in the Sendai area; I hope they all come through ok.

My prays and thoughts are with the people of Japan. Stay safe. I stayed in Nishiwaki a few years ago. Emailed my host family to ask if they are okay. Not expecting a response (He never writes back), but hopefully they are okay.

If it wasn't out at sea there would have been no Tsunami
Is it the wave that caused most of the destruction?

Stay safe Sir Motor. Hope your friend is okay.

US has a presence there. Wouldnt surprise me to see a carrier in the area get some help in there. Also, Hawaii is getting ready to be hit.

Chibi Bodge-Battle wrote:If it wasn't out at sea there would have been no Tsunami
Is it the wave that caused most of the destruction?

Stay safe Sir Motor. Hope your friend is okay.

There would have been much more structural damage if the quake had been under a city.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1365318/Japan-earthquake-tsunami-The-moment-mother-nature-engulfed-nation.html
Photos.

it's now 1:00 am. Good thing is train around me start working.
Staff of train company is now hard working. Great thank for them.
I'm heading to home.

Earthquake can be happen as chain reaction.
so may be in few hours,around Tokyo,big one strikes again.
I hope it never happen.

Good luck motor!

Kilkrazy wrote:

Chibi Bodge-Battle wrote:If it wasn't out at sea there would have been no Tsunami
Is it the wave that caused most of the destruction?

Stay safe Sir Motor. Hope your friend is okay.

There would have been much more structural damage if the quake had been under a city.

thx

wave was real big one. it caused most massive destruction.

building in japan is relatively strong against earthquake.
But not for tsunami.

altho,if point of origin was land....even our building....this one would caused more destruction.

Good luck, Sir Moto, stay safe. 気をつけて下さい

Stay safe, and stay away from the beaches. The tsunami can happen MULTIPLE times as more waves wash ashore

My heart and prayers go out to everyone affected. Stay safe and know we are praying for you!

All sorts of reports coming in:

- 100 people in a ship that was washed away, not seen again.
- The BBC is reporting that as many as 10,000 people may be missing
- The aforementioned 3-400 bodies washed up in Sendai (sp?)
- Several fires at nuclear plants, the cooling system at one large plant has failed. No indication of any radiation leak as yet.

Seriously, chaps. This is one fethed up day for Japan. I just hope it doesn't get any worse in the coming days. The pictures are unbelievable - I've literally never seen anything like it. Some of the footage looks like CGI.

Big love to all Japanese Dakkanauts - keep your fething heads down!

It really does look like CGI, you're right. The unstoppable power of nature is just truly scary.

The gigantic whirlpool alone is enough to form the plot of a movie.

If the death toll doesn't reach the thousands then we can all be very grateful :(

Keep checking in, Motor and krazy and the rest of of you in Japan. We'll welcome the knowledge that you're still okay. We love you guys, please be careful.