japan eartquake of 8.9/tsunami

[Joseph27]

Hell might as well do both...

[Mr Oz]

We well know FB has a fixation with his banana. Any excuse will do Earthquake, Tsunami, Nuclear Meltdown. ...

[Fat Bob]

Important notice!

Do not send any money to the earthquake/tsunami relief fund for Japan, they're minted. I saw a bloke on TV with to boats in his driveway!

(Too soon?)

[Lili Von Shtupp]

What a neverending nightmare. Glad to hear that people's peoples OK.

This article was very thought-provoking, a bit of perspective away from the images of sadness, worry and destruction. (from CNN):

The powerful earthquake that unleashed a devastating tsunami Friday appears to have moved the main island of Japan by 8 feet (2.4 meters) and shifted the Earth on its axis.

"At this point, we know that one GPS station moved (8 feet), and we have seen a map from GSI (Geospatial Information Authority) in Japan showing the pattern of shift over a large area is consistent with about that much shift of the land mass," said Kenneth Hudnut, a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

Reports from the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology in Italy estimated the 8.9-magnitude quake shifted the planet on its axis by nearly 4 inches (10 centimeters).

The temblor, which struck Friday afternoon near the east coast of Japan, killed hundreds of people, caused the formation of 30-foot walls of water that swept across rice fields, engulfed entire towns, dragged houses onto highways, and tossed cars and boats like toys. Some waves reached six miles (10 kilometers) inland in Miyagi Prefecture on Japan's east coast.

The quake was the most powerful to hit the island nation in recorded history and the tsunami it unleashed traveled across the Pacific Ocean, triggering tsunami warnings and alerts for 50 countries and territories as far away as the western coasts of Canada, the U.S. and Chile. The quake triggered more than 160 aftershocks in the first 24 hours -- 141 measuring 5.0-magnitude or more.

The quake occurred as the Earth's crust ruptured along an area about 250 miles (400 kilometers) long by 100 miles (160 kilometers) wide, as tectonic plates slipped more than 18 meters, said Shengzao Chen, a USGS geophysicist.

Japan is located along the Pacific "ring of fire," an area of high seismic and volcanic activity stretching from New Zealand in the South Pacific up through Japan, across to Alaska and down the west coasts of North and South America. The quake was "hundreds of times larger" than the 2010 quake that ravaged Haiti, said Jim Gaherty of the LaMont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University.

The Japanese quake was of similar strength to the 2004 earthquake in Indonesia that triggered a tsunami that killed over 200,000 people in more than a dozen countries around the Indian Ocean. "The tsunami that it sent out was roughly comparable in terms of size," Gaherty said. "[The 2004 tsunami] happened to hit some regions that were not very prepared for tsunamis ... we didn't really have a very sophisticated tsunami warning system in the Indian Ocean basin at the time so the damage was significantly worse."

The Japanese quake comes just weeks after a 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck Christchurch on February 22, toppling historic buildings and killing more than 150 people. The timeframe of the two quakes have raised questions whether the two incidents are related, but experts say the distance between the two incidents makes that unlikely.

"I would think the connection is very slim," said Prof. Stephan Grilli, ocean engineering professor at the University of Rhode Island.

[nev]

North-eastern coast on the alert for a 3-metre tsunami - Japan's Jiji news agency.
Tsunami feared to reach north-eastern coast "in minutes" - Kyodo.
Evacuation order issued in the city of Hachinohe in the north-east - Kyodo
Sea level has dropped five metres off Fukushima, confirming imminent arrival of tsunami - Japanese TV.

UPDATE: An ashen-faced Japanese quake monitor is live on Japanese TV right now saying no tsunami has been detected. No data to suggest a tsunami several metres in height, the monitor adds.

[nev]

Urgent: Explosion at Reactor 3 - AFP.
"Hydrogen blast occurs at Fukushima nuke plant's No 3 reactor" - Kyodo.
There were two explosions at Reactor 3, the operator Tepco says - AFP.

[Mr Oz]

Much bigger then the first one.
Luckily most of it blew out to sea.

The Pentagon was expected to announce that the aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan, which is sailing in the Pacific, passed through a radioactive cloud from stricken nuclear reactors in Japan, causing crew members on deck to receive a month’s worth of radiation in about an hour, government officials said Sunday.
The officials added that American helicopters flying missions about 60 miles north of the damaged reactors became coated with particulate radiation that had to be washed off.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/14/world ... .html?_r=1

[Burbage]

It's buggered up Australia's resource sell-off. They'll have to flog their uranium to India now.

[Joseph27]

Isnt that just fabulous, I remember as a kid thinking why would you build nuclear reactors on a fault line but alas I was assured of the safety...

[Aliya]

OMG T2K on first reading of your post I thought that "onigiri from a 'konbini' " was Oni Girl lol and wondered what one did with one of those...

The Japanese disaster is dreadful and for us in little ol GodZone with our very own earthquake in CHCH it has really brought life into more into perspective (if possible after CHCH and Queensland)

Then there is the question - Is there a fault line running up that side of the Pacific? Will further earthquakes occur somewhere in the Pacific/Asia? It is a very scary thought.

We really think we control Mother Nature but in reality we do not and never can and when she wreaks this sort of havoc it makes humankind feel so insecure and inconsequential really.

There have been so many odd things going on lately, are these things that happen fairly regularly and we, with our tiny history of 10,000 or so years of civilisation, are caught up in a regular earth crust shift or have we really in some way altered the earth and her stability??

Humankind being what it is will rebuild from the destruction. But it makes you think, what next?

[Bender]

It's buggered up Australia's resource sell-off.

Wrong again. The demand for steel for rebuilding will be huge.

[Burbage]

It's buggered up Australia's resource sell-off.

Wrong again. The demand for steel for rebuilding will be huge.

Yes, but they'll buy that from China. Whether China will pay Australia more for iron ore and coal is another issue. It would be good if they bought it from OZ. Then we might actually be able to develop an industry instead of resource stripping the country.

[Rosbif71]

Wrong again. The demand for steel for rebuilding will be huge.

Yes, but they'll buy that from China. Whether China will pay Australia more for iron ore and coal is another issue. It would be good if they bought it from OZ. Then we might actually be able to develop an industry instead of resource stripping the country.

it will push up demand for Iron Ore and Coal from Aus. Coal prices already high due to demand from China and India and the reduced output from Aus due to the floods.
A lot of the Iron Ore though will come from Brazil and India (although Indian Iron Ore exports are stagnant at the moment due to a 20pct export duty imposed to help make Mr Mittal and his friends even wealthier)

[Tas]

are you guys referencing the high quality coking coal that is exported for steel production, or combustion coal for energy?

[Tas]

btw, hope people are sparing a big thought for the operators, maintenance and engineers at that Nuclear Power Plant - they would be working their arses off, under stress, and who knows what potential impact it may have on their health longer term. You'd expect they'd be suited up and under strict OHS protocols, but no doubt they're at risk.

[slinky]

True, Tas, I'm guessing most of them are wondering just why in the hell they went into nuclear engineering about now. These people are attempting a true heroic task & I hope they can get it done all while keeping themselves safe.

I can't say I have any kind of good understanding of how nuclear power plants work, but I've watched some videos about the structure of these plants and all the safety aspects & redundancy back up, etc., etc. and it seems to me anything and everything that possibly could have gone wrong has gone wrong pretty much all at once. Really awful situation.

[Joseph27]

Guess this spells a dim future to those nickle and dime nuclear stocks that went ballistic in the past few years.

[Tas]

Actually maybe I'm unusual, but I'm strangely impressed with all the engineering outcomes that when faced with one of the largest earthquakes registered in history. That Tsunami just to hard to engineer against, but those buildings in Tokyo are fantastic, particularly in reference to a 8m shift of their land mass and the spongy design for the airports. And something not mentioned is the large number of reactors in Japan that were shut down in emergency and not in same boat - was just reading this one was designed for a quake of up to 8.4 40yrs ago, and newer ones up to 9. None that counts I guess if this one reactor goes to complete shyte.

[baloo]

Then we might actually be able to develop an industry instead of resource stripping the country.

Who is this "we" you speak of Burby ?

[Burbage]

Then we might actually be able to develop an industry instead of resource stripping the country.

Who is this "we" you speak of Burby ?

Those of us who pay taxes to a government that's more interested in resource stripping the country than in developing a manufacturing economy.

[baloo]

But I thought you were trying desperately to escape Australia. The inability to sell your property at a price you expected was preventing you from leaving.

I'm surprised you could feel any affinity to a country whose people and government you despise so vehemently.

Regardless though, claiming ownership simply because you pay taxes in a country is a bit rich. I guess it might give you some personal justification in the constant moaning, whinging, ridiculing and belittling you seem to relish in, but you're being true to your latest profession if you think it gives you any rights to ownership.

[nev]

Actually maybe I'm unusual, but I'm strangely impressed with all the engineering outcomes that when faced with one of the largest earthquakes registered in history. That Tsunami just to hard to engineer against, but those buildings in Tokyo are fantastic, particularly in reference to a 8m shift of their land mass and the spongy design for the airports. And something not mentioned is the large number of reactors in Japan that were shut down in emergency and not in same boat - was just reading this one was designed for a quake of up to 8.4 40yrs ago, and newer ones up to 9. None that counts I guess if this one reactor goes to complete shyte.

I'm impressed with the engineering, and amazed that people can panic slowly. The Japanese truly embodies grace under fire. In other countries, people would have been rioting and looting by now.

[Burbage]

But I thought you were trying desperately to escape Australia. The inability to sell your property at a price you expected was preventing you from leaving.

I'm surprised you could feel any affinity to a country whose people and government you despise so vehemently.

Regardless though, claiming ownership simply because you pay taxes in a country is a bit rich. I guess it might give you some personal justification in the constant moaning, whinging, ridiculing and belittling you seem to relish in, but you're being true to your latest profession if you think it gives you any rights to ownership.

I think you should come home, you'll slot straight back in.

[baloo]

Thankfully I don't think I ever really cared much for what you think.

[Burbage]

Thankfully I don't think I ever really cared much for what you think.

Well, for someone who doesn't care, you seem to whinge about it often enough.