japanese earthquake!

[Sikhoten_Tiger]

No, I'm sorry, but you can't control a natural disaster. They may experience several earth quakes a year, but those earthquakes aren't 8.9. Those earth quakes aren't one of the most severe earthquakes to hit the earth in the last 100 years. You can be as prepared as you like, but that doesn't by any means mean you have it under control. It means you can be prepared, and hopefully minimize damage, but thats not under control.

To be honest I'm appalled at the entirely non-chalant way everyone is reacting to this. And would like to point out that Vancouver Island/Vancouver is due for a serious earthquake sometime in the near future. if the Cascadia zone mentioned here does what they think it will, we'll be looking at a 9.0 quake. We know its going to happen, eventually, but that doesn't mean it'll be any less of a catastrophe or disaster.

Yes and no, they've certainly put a lot of effort into mitigating their risk in building codes and such to limit the direct damage of earthquakes, the fact that these cities weren't flattened before the Tsunami even hit is a testament to that but in no way were they prepared for the power and scale of destruction brought on by the Tsunami, as evidenced by the explosion at the nuclear plant.

I'm not a religious person but this is definitly a moment for it if you are and otherwise good luck to those working at that plant, hopefully things can be brought under control without too much sacrifice.

[kohl]

All the sites and videos I've seen there's nothing there about Japan asking or accepting help. They're keeping American/Canadian Redcross out of there buisness, not letting the American amry onto the land, and they've got those needing medical attention covered. I can't find and organization or fundraser that isn't doing anything else besides sitting on side lines waiting for them to be called upon. The whole mess just seems like too many cooks in the kitchen and is most likely just getting in the way of the Japanese procedures and data that they're trying to collect while they work this out.

What I'd like to see is a fundraiser to clean up all the debris and non degrading waste from along the shores or surrounding area but I can't find anything like that either.

If not that then perhaps an organization to get Japan and just the whole world to stop using nuclear power, filling up warehouses with poison is not cool.

ps. Japan never ceases to humor me. Searching Miyagi turns up half a dozen links for porn on the first page.

[Sikhoten_Tiger]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12721827

They have asked and even if they didn't they really do need it right now, just like the US needed help with Katrina this is sufficiently off the scale of usual disasters that they're going to be overwhelmed with the sheer number of things to be dealt with as well as the challanges of some particular problems requiring outside specialists, there were some US and UK nuclear specialists on their way to the nuclear plant from what I heard.

The whole nuclear energy thing is tricky really because in many ways it's an idea that's starting to really come of age as oil continues to present challanges and problems with price and the environment, probably made worse for Japan given their history of having their access to oil restricted. Contrarily nuclear energy provides atmospherically clean energy so long as nothing catastrophic happens, obviously something has or very close to this has happened in Japan though what will be interesting will be to see how preventable this was because if most of the usual precautions were taken it will suggest that nuclear power will have to at least get out of the Pacific rim.

[Pat The Fox]

All the sites and videos I've seen there's nothing there about Japan asking or accepting help. They're keeping American/Canadian Redcross out of there buisness, not letting the American amry onto the land, and they've got those needing medical attention covered. I can't find and organization or fundraser that isn't doing anything else besides sitting on side lines waiting for them to be called upon. The whole mess just seems like too many cooks in the kitchen and is most likely just getting in the way of the Japanese procedures and data that they're trying to collect while they work this out.

What I'd like to see is a fundraiser to clean up all the debris and non degrading waste from along the shores or surrounding area but I can't find anything like that either.

If not that then perhaps an organization to get Japan and just the whole world to stop using nuclear power, filling up warehouses with poison is not cool.

ps. Japan never ceases to humor me. Searching Miyagi turns up half a dozen links for porn on the first page.

I believe you have been misinformed.

Help has been requested through diplomatic channels and is already being sent and organized.

For example, search and rescue teams from various countries are being dispatched to aid in the hunt for trapped survivors. The US Fleet has a good chunk being recalled to mainland Japan stuffed with aid and personnel to begin the clean-up process. Also, the US is currently shipping reactor coolant VIA military aircraft to help with stabilizing some of the cores in trouble. Hopefully it gets there in time.

Also, remember it has been less than a day since the initial tragedy has struck. Half of the damage hasn't even been surveyed yet. I am sure in the coming days lots of help will be needed.

My sources are from people actually in Japan and the Japanese media. I have been following the situation very closely since I have friends who live or are stationed in Japan.

Also, American media outlets have been doing an absolutely terrible job of reporting on the situation. They have been fear mongering and even spreading lies about certain things. For example, when the first waves were washing over to Hawaii, CNN was claiming the islands were being slammed. Live webcam broadcasts showed that at worst they were getting three foot waves, hardly being slammed.

[Fargo]

Funny, I could've sworn Hiroshima was supposed to be payback for pearl harbour. But american history never was a huge interest of mine. Or history in general for that matter.

OK... That was NOT funny. >:( There's enough of that shit floating around the internet, without you adding to it.

[Zen]

Actually, EmoFox has a good counter point. The ignorant Americans who know nothing of history seem to think that Japan deserved this for Pearl Harbor, forgetting about the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings. (Not all Americans are ignorant, the ones that are seem to be very vocal) The sarcastic counter-point is to point out that they did happen, partly as retribution, and partly from military ignorance and need to show power. (I have a little bit of background in 20th century history)

The funny thing is, I believe that the US has dispatched a great deal of aid, including reactor coolant for their three power plants that are in trouble. I'm a little surprised, Japan is a forefront country for earthquake preparedness. In terms of disaster management, Japan has their poor straight and has far better planning than most other countries, especially is in BC. That means that this Earthquake / Tidal Wave one-two hit was really really bad.

Personally, I'm hoping they can get the reactors cooled far enough and shut them down, then hopefully rebuild swiftly within a year. I am also confident that the Japanese aid programs will distribute the aid they get far better than Haiti, and will be recovering well quickly.

[Sikhoten_Tiger]

It really was the Tsunami that did the most of the punishment here, without having washed away great portions of the infrastructure and causing direct damage to the plants these nuclear facilities would probably be fine thanks to being able to draw on grid power to keep the cooling systems running. Tsunamis are, thusfar, a relatively little-known disaster that has only struck a few times in any sigifigant fashion and is evidently very hard to contain. If you compare this to the damage done in toykyo by the quake itself it's pretty stark. With regards to our own risk factors for this sort of thing, the quake we'd be quite suseptible but the Tsunami itself would have a tougher time of it thanks to the protecting presence of Vancouver Island and the layout of the various peninsulas that make up Vancouver. Richmond would be in trouble of course as would Delta but the first is obvious and the latter is relatively poorly populated. Vancouver itself enjoys a second shield in the form of the UBC peninsula as any Tsunami would have to come from the south west ( Juan de Fuca strait ), mostly what our region would have to focus on is the direct damage caused by the quake.

[Univaded_Fox]

In October 1989, I was six years old and barely one month into the first grade when the Loma Prieta Earthquake rocked San Francisco.  The next day, our teacher sat us down at the beginning of class and told us exactly what Earthquakes were.  Then she told us that we were also on a fault line.  I distinctly remember her saying, "It could happen tomorrow, or a hundred years from now, or when you're all grown up."  Those words petrified me.  I spent the next several years living in constant nightmarish fear.  And I was soon to learn that if Earthquakes didn't get me, plenty of other things could.  There were Volcanoes and Tsunamis and Tornadoes and Hurricanes and Cancer and Nuclear Weapons and kidnappers and falling tress and spoiled milk (it's a long story).  The thing is, I developed an almost macabre fascination with natural disasters.  I read all the books that I could find about them.  I drew pictures of them.  I imagined scenarios with them.   I threw them at my SimCities.  Did this help me relieve my fears about them?  Probably not, but I have since learned to live with them, to accept that they exist and that my mortality is not guaranteed to be snuffed out should they occur.

That being said, the possibility that the reactor in Japan is going to melt down has me wanting to hide under the coffee table again. 

[EmoFox]

OK... That was NOT funny. >:( There's enough of that shit floating around the internet, without you adding to it.

Well, actually, Zen mostly explained my statement, but I feel the need to defend myself regardless. I merely meant nature doesn't hold stupid grudges for human wars. The states got their petty revenge when they bombed Japan, and need to shut the hell up. It really was sarcasm. ._. Although, American history really wasn't one of my huge interests, so I thought I may have gotten the time line wrong.

[Zen]

Pearl Harbour was in December 1941, Hiroshima and Nagasaki were in August of 1945. I won't tirade about the abysmal failure of American education, but I highly doubt the average American could handle a day in the Japanese school system. I know I'd go nuts.

Either way, another 6.6 earthquake near Tokyo, but further inland (less tidal waves!), and the Fukushima nuclear plant disaster has hit level 6 of 7 on the disaster scale. It's a scary little Armageddon over there ... I truly hope it calms down soon. It's extremely scary.

[EmoFox]

*ahem*

OMG WE'RE ALL GONNA DIIIIIIEEEEEE!!!!!

Okay, I'm done. Thanks for straightening the timeline for me too, n.n;;
I'm curious now as to what a nuclear meltdown over there means for us over here. And really starting to think there might be a little more merit to those 2012 end of days myths than people are willing to admit.

[Sikhoten_Tiger]

Worst case scenario for them over there will mean nothing to us as far as direct impact from fallout or some such, read a transcript of a discussion between Vladimir Putin and one of his top advisers/whatevers on nuclear stuff and after some discussion about what exactly was going on in detail it was made clear that even a worst case scenario couldn't have any signifigant impact on Russia which is faaaar closer then us.

[kohl]

WCS - Rad Zombies. Japan will just be the start of the infection. After years of preparing for attacks from giant lizards, Japan will be unsettled by how fast this infection will actually spread.

[Pat The Fox]

Worst case scenario for them over there will mean nothing to us as far as direct impact from fallout or some such, read a transcript of a discussion between Vladimir Putin and one of his top advisers/whatevers on nuclear stuff and after some discussion about what exactly was going on in detail it was made clear that even a worst case scenario couldn't have any signifigant impact on Russia which is faaaar closer then us.

That's only in proximity. If you ae counting distance in the path of the prevailing winds, most of Russia is as far away from Japan as possible.

The main worry of any melt-down is radioactive material being ejected in to the atmosphere and then fall-out occurring in other locations.

I would need to do more research/speak to more experts before I could remotely claim what the potential outcome of a worse case scenario at this point would be.

[Sikhoten_Tiger]

My impression was that this included possabilities that the wind blow in a really weird direction, it's not exactly inconceivable that the radioactive particles and such simply get too dispersed by the time it crosses the Pacific to do something.