8.9 Magnitude quake hits offshore Japan

[T@T]

Crazy.

[fanman]

Sorry, not sure how to embed.

http://bcove.me/2d4pmgn8

This one is a crazy home video of a tsunami hitting Kamaishi city in Iwate prefecture. It's on the TV right now, and sorry the vid is in Japanese.
http://www.news24.jp/articles/2011/03/12/07178020.html#
The video is top left, has a blue bar with a play icon.

[FlameOn]

Originally Posted by T@T

Crazy.

No matter how many times I see it I'm still amazed that there can be a flaming wall of water. Lots of household combustibles I see.

[Huntingwhale]

Lots of gas line explosions.

[freedogger]

Best summary of what they are up against at the Fukushima reactors is right here at zerohedge:
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/nuc...tdown-scenario

The latest jetstream map shows that about 30 hours afer a meltdown, we should start to see some of the fallout from it. http://squall.sfsu.edu/gif/jetstream_pac_init_00.gif

Here is a good analysis of how this could affect North America:
http://www.ki4u.com/illwind.htm

If any of their plants melt down, I will be purchasing about 2 months of milk and freezing it for my kids.

Crap, just heard their was an explosion reported at one of the plants. Not good. Probably buying a lot of mil tomorrow now for sure.



And in other news, Godzilla was just spotted 5 miles offshore...

[Torture]

I can't decide if those are toy cars and airplanes or real ones...

[TylerSVT]

Originally Posted by giver99

Here is a good analysis of how this could affect North America:
http://www.ki4u.com/illwind.htm

If any of their plants melt down, I will be purchasing about 2 months of milk and freezing it for my kids.

Crap, just heard their was an explosion reported at one of the plants. Not good. Probably buying a lot of mil tomorrow now for sure.

Worry much?

[Acey]

Report is only of a "few injuries" due to the explosion. Pretty sure one of the reactors didn't go sky high, or anything. Then again, I believe an initial report by the Soviets out of Chernobyl was of a "minor nuclear accident". Hey Fukushima, I request that you hold off on destroying the world until I get to at least see a live Flames game. Thanks.

[CaptainCrunch]

Explosion confirmed 45000 people ordered evacuated

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...explosion.html

[Yasa]

Originally Posted by Nage Waza

Have a look at the New Madrid seismic zone, this thing packs a punch and could (is going to) literally rip a hole into the United States.

I was in St. Louis in 2009 when Illinois had a 5.2 earthquake. It shook the house despite being pretty far away. I can't imagine what an 8.9 feels like. Then to have to worry about a tsunami right after.

[freedogger]

Originally Posted by TylerSVT

Worry much?

Worry is all about the "not knowing" part. If you read just a little bit from decent sources, you can prepare or be confident that there is nothing to prepare for. And after a few more minutes of looking into it, I am now at a spot where I think there is not any need to do anything at all. If things change and I'm wrong, I'll just wake up tomorrow and go buy some milk.

These reactors were built with huge containment vessels that will be able to contain most of the radiation when some of them probably go into full melt down. Not much radiation will make it out into the atmosphere and the jetstream. Chernobyl didn't really have a containment vessel and as a result was a whole different thing.

Apparently, explosions can happen when meltdowns occur, but not nuclear explosions, just the equipment at the plant disintegrating from all the heat.

[Acey]

Not to mention the core exploded.

[pylon]

Originally Posted by TylerSVT

Worry much?

You under estimate the potency of radio active material. A full on meltdown of a nuclear reactor, could have global implications if the conditions were right.

Every man woman and child on the planet, has a little piece of Chernobyl reactor 4 in them. Watch any documentary on the subject, and take a look at what the people within a 30 km range of the meltdown are going through 20 years later. Even people in Sweden were found to have radioactive particles on their bodies over 1000 miles away.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_disaster_effects

[Frequitude]

Originally Posted by pylon

You under estimate the potency of radio active material. A full on meltdown of a nuclear reactor, could have global implications if the conditions were right.

Every man woman and child on the planet, has a little piece of Chernobyl reactor 4 in them. Watch any documentary on the subject, and take a look at what the people within a 30 km range of the meltdown are going through 20 years later. Even people in Sweden were found to have radioactive particles on their bodies over 1000 miles away.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_disaster_effects

Hell, alarms going off at a plant in Sweden is how everyone figured out just how bad Chernobyl was.

[HotHotHeat]

This Earthquake moved the coast of Japan 8 feet.

...8 feet.

[pylon]

Originally Posted by HotHotHeat

This Earthquake moved the coast of Japan 8 feet.

...8 feet.

Not to mention shifting the earth on its axis 10 - 12 centimeters.

[Roast Beef]

Originally Posted by pylon

Not to mention shifting the earth on its axis 10 - 12 centimeters.

Plus the length of a day was shortened by 1.6 microseconds.

[Caged Great]

For more context on why the meltdown can be extremely dangerous

http://documentaryheaven.com/the-battle-of-chernobyl/

[TheCommodoreAfro]

They've extended one of the reactor's evacuation zones to 20KM. This is probably the most upsetting part of the whole thing. People are exhausted from the news, and the parade of horrible #### on TV is creating this wave of panic in the populace.
I finally made it back to Yokohama after spending the night being rocked to sleep by aftershocks at a friend's place in Tokyo, and on my way home picked up food, beer, and other things - all seemed back to a sense of normalcy.
Then the news of the nuclear reactor, and the before/after and assessment of damage sunk in. Empty store shelves - folks hoarding even here.

Ultimately, the whole problem here isn't about infrastructure, about fixing things that are broken. Towns wiped out, nuclear reactors failing, and tonnes of folks stranded across a huge area. In most cases there's nothing left to fix as it's totally gone. Will be interesting to see how the country reacts to this - this is Japan's "where were you when" moment and hopefully in the coming months positive stuff comes out of this.

[fanman]

To all those reading this board who live in the area of Chiba, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, Ibaraki prefectures or close to. My wife's friend just sent her a text message. Her friends father works for the oil company in Chiba who's refinery on Tokyo Bay has had a major fire from the earthquake. She said there have been dangerous chemicals released from the blaze and they also worry about radiation leaking from the Fukushima power plant. They are strongly suggesting you limit the amount of time spent outdoors. Don't go out more than you have to, don't hang your laundry outside to dry etc. Also she stressed that the next time it rains there is a good chance it could be toxic. DO NOT go out when it's raining, especially the first rain after the fact. Apparently this warning has only been issued in Chiba so far, and it may not be released elsewhere to avoid mass panic. However this message seemed very urgent, so just giving you a heads up if you live in the area. We were told by her to take this very seriously, probably for at least the next month, and we live in Kanagawa. Please be careful and be safe everyone.