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OT: Japanese Earthquake and Tsunami


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I'm pretty sure koofi lives north of Tokyo, so when you read this koof, after internet access is restored, just let us know everything's alright
:)



I was in kyoto which is SOUTH of tokyo.. I am back in San Francisco now though, but all my friends in japan are fine.

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Short of an extremely high seawall surrounding the country, I don't know how one can prepare for a 7-10 meter wall of water. :|

 

 

In the UK they started building in the flood plain, utter stupidity, but they did it. We have seen years of peoples homes flooded. Some made homeless... This just from normal rain fall.

 

Tsunamis another story, the options are limited or impractical... You either live by the sea in a risk area or you don't. If the believe the hype ''Three scientists say that half of La Palma will fall into the sea and cause a tsunami that will wipe out much of the population of the eastern seaboard of the USA''... this item says no:

 

http://www.lapalma-tsunami.com/

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Short of an extremely high seawall surrounding the country, I don't know how one can prepare for a 7-10 meter wall of water. :|

They have lots of seawalls, but you still have to let the rivers out. I wonder how many Thames type barriers it would take to stop them all up? And would they be fast enough?

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Hello everyone,

Yes, I'm in Nagano-city and did feel the earthquake when it hit a few days ago. Fortunately, Nagano was spared from any devastation, but from today gas and water shortages are starting to increase. We have yet to experience any power consumption limits but they could be on the way if the planned blackouts don't work in other areas. It's terrible what's happened to the Northeastern part of Japan. Hopefully the Fukushima Nuclear Issue will be ok.

Thanks for the mention!

Jim

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There are a lot of elderly people in Japan, not to mention in the devastated areas after the Tsunami. Many just couldn't escape. There are numerous reports that many of the elderly painfully had to be left on the second floor of their homes. Can you imagine having to make that decision! In addition, the city office where the people's records were stored had been completely wiped out according to the Japan news. This is adding to the confusion of finding and identifying people. Everyone's records were still intact after the Kobe earthquake which I experienced back in 1995. Also, a CNN reporter today said he was amazed at how many elderly people were in the area. That's what a lot of people say about Japan. Unfortunately, and it's quite sad, many it appears just couldn't escape fast enough during this disaster.

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Japan has made many things I've benefited from over my life: cars, stereos, tvs, video games and systems, synths, walkmans, headphones... the list is endless.

 

I, too, even being old and creaky and nothing but tired all the time, wish I could drop everything and go over and spend the rest of my life helping to rebuild.

 

I wish the country well, and I hope for the best for them.

 

After the tragedies so many families will experience from this... I hope Japan, and the world, can see fit to provide complete, guaranteed, comfortable retirement for an entire generation that's struggled to rebuild from countless previous tragedies.

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Bernard you are absolutely sure.

And I guess we are very closer to a tragedy because the nuclear plants.

I remember Chernobyl, the notices was that "all is under control" for a time after the explosion.

This is the bad side.

The problem I think is some (fake) notices make people lose atention to important things due to lack of credits, even if are about a very real danger.

Truth can be very efective. I would put a big caption in that map: "Immediate Great Risk Area".

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Reactor 1 outer building gone

Reactor 3 outer building gone

Reactor 2 probable meltdown through reactor container

Reactor 4 Fire near spent fuel has been put out

 

A spent fuel fire is worse than a meltdown and I see they are now mentioning the roofs where blown off a number of these spent fuel buildings from above but thankfully no mention of actual trouble yet. Spent fuel sits in water but would over heat if water levels dropped

 

http://live.reuters.com/Event/Japan_earthquake2

 

:facepalm:

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When I look at the devastation I picture California after the Big One hits which could be anytime because it seems earthquakes are in season around the globe lately.

 

 

The Big One in California will not be like this at all. First of all, there will not be a tsunami in any large California quake; the tectonic system is different than the one in Japan and cannot produce seafloor uplift and water displacement that would cause a tsunami. The shaking will not be anywhere as long or as severe as Friday's quake - Japan's quake was a 9.0, whereas the biggest quake that can be generated in CA is an 8.0. The shaking in Japan lasted nearly three minutes; whereas CA quakes last more or less 30 seconds. Second, Japan is much more densely populated and densely built than California is, you will not see destruction on the same scale. What you will see in California is a paralysis in infrastructure as many freeways will be damaged, making travel into and within quake-damaged regions difficult, especially in regard to aid and rescue vehicles. Also, liquefaction and fires will be the biggest threats. So basically, when The Big One hits, it's definitely NOT going to be like what you're seeing in Japan, but you're still going to be affected by it.

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elsongs - I'm not sure you got your facts right.

 

The 1964 Alaska earthquake was a 9.2 megathrust, the same type as the Japan earthquake. It was between the Pacific and North American plate - and those are the two that go alongside the west cost of the entire US, not just Alaska. Megathrusts are possible in all of the West Coast, and they're typically above 8.0.

 

800px-Plates_tect2_en.svg.png

 

And this is an Alaskan ghost town that was destroyed and where trees were killed by the salt water of the tsunami. Still to this day, trees doesn't grow there, and you can see the dead trees still standing:

 

794px-Portagetoday.JPG

 

There were tsunamis in the US and Canada as the result of that Alaska earthquake... so tsunamis are possible in the US.

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elsongs - I'm not sure you got your facts right.


The 1964 Alaska earthquake was a 9.2 megathrust, the same type as the Japan earthquake. It was between the Pacific and North American plate - and those are the two that go alongside the west cost of the entire US, not just Alaska. Megathrusts are possible in all of the West Coast, and they're typically above 8.0.


800px-Plates_tect2_en.svg.png

And this is an Alaskan ghost town that was destroyed and where trees were killed by the salt water of the tsunami. Still to this day, trees doesn't grow there, and you can see the dead trees still standing:


794px-Portagetoday.JPG

There were tsunamis in the US and Canada as the result of that Alaska earthquake... so tsunamis are possible in the US.

 

No, I have my facts right, I studied some geology in school. You simply misread what I said.

 

I'd like to know where you got your "Megathrusts are possible in all of the West Coast" statement, when it's simply not true: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-tsunami-california-20110315,0,7384994.story

Megathrust quakes are generated where there are subduction zones. Subduction zones are where one plate is forced under another. There are no subduction zones off the coast of California, which is what I was specifically referring to. I am well familiar with the diagram you posted. The boundary between the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate in California is the San Andreas Fault, which is NOT a subduction zone but a strike-slip fault. The plates slide against each other, instead of forcing one plate under another. See the red arrows iover California n the diagram you posted? They are moving in different directions. Now look at the arrows near Alaska and Japan. They are pointed towards each other. I guess you didn't know what they mean.

 

Just because a plate is bounded by another, it doesn't meant the geological action is the same all throughout. The Pacific Plate is moving in a northwesterly direction. Off of Alaska and Japan, it is being forced under another plate. Along California, it is sliding with the other plate. in the Southeastern Pacific Ocean, the Pacific Plate is moving away from the other plate.

 

A lot of people misunderstand "The Ring Of Fire." It is simply a zone around the Pacific Ocean that is highly geologically active, but the mechanics of that activity differ in various places.

 

As for tsunamis, I was talking about earthquakes in California GENERATING tsunamis, which will not happen. Will we receive tsunamis? Of course, it's already been demonstrated on Friday. But they will be generated elsewhere, like off of Alaska or in the Pacific Northwest, or across the ocean.

 

Again, you totally misread what I had to say.

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The reactor 4 fire was linked to an explosion earlier that saw the roof crack. Whilst they put that fire out originally, it may have been caused by the release of hydrogen from the heating spent fuel rods. They advised earlier that the pool for keeping the spent fuel rods cool was leaking away (appears to be high in the building near the top of the reactor but otherwise exposed with just the outer top roof (and now crack).

Some experts have been praying this lot does not over heat and start to burn. News just in is there is another fire. I hope this is not the rods, this will be worse than Chernobyl if so so the experts say...

They were considering dumping water with helicopter, that would risk damage and exposure etc. They may be forced if it is the rods on fire...

:facepalm:

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The people sticking around to work on the reactors in hopes of stabilizing them are heroes.

 

Oh, and to the previous post: I sent them money and I'll probably send more soon. They are friends and really need a hand up right now. We'll worry about the other issues another time. (Note: The post I was referring to here was removed.)

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Taken from AP News article today

Cities
Est. Distance (miles)
Est. Time for radiation particles (20 mph winds est.)to Cross Pacific (days)



Anchorage
3,457 Miles
7 Days

Honolulu
3,847 Miles
8 Days

Seattle
4,792 Miles
10 Days

Los Angeles
5,477 Miles
11 Days



May God help them all, the pictures of this tragedy are heart wrenching

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