8.9 Magnitude quake hits offshore Japan

[Itse]

Originally Posted by transplant99

People are looking for information on this whole thing, these kind of comments do nothing whatsoever to add to the overall level of the discussion. Brutal.

There is plenty of very good information available, linked from this thread alone.

Mostly I see people who clearly choose to ignore the information available and hang on to any paranoid tidbit that will confirm their irrational views, regardless of the information from obviously more reliable sources.

That is the opposite of looking for information. I'm sorry but people like that deserve to be gently bashed on the head.

Stupid is as stupid does.

[TheCommodoreAfro]

Originally Posted by fanman

Some more facts on the current situation.

http://altjapan.typepad.com/my_weblo...ould-i-go.html

Matt is a friend of mine, and has been doing a yeoman's job as a volunteer translator/blogger/tweeter in making sure the right information is getting out. Following him and others like him has been much more informative than following CNN. As I mentioned, they're almost embarrassing in terms of how they have been presenting the news. The bloggers are winning this one, mainly cos' the bloggers live in and understand Japan much better than the news organizations who have been plopped down in Tokyo over the past couple of days.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by fanman

More like not even close to Chernobyl level. I'm not going to try to discredit the French overseeing agency as I'm not a nuclear expert myself. However I'm more inclined to believe someone like, Sir. John Beddington, Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK Government, who is actually in Japan right now and as such probably has a much better handle on the specific details and information of the situation. He and his colleagues findings are stated in an above post on this page, and are being echoed by scientists and experts in Japan. The word catastrophe might be applicable to the plant grounds itself and some of the evacuated radius, but not elsewhere.

You're right, it isn't anywhere near Chernobyl at this point. Chernobyl was a whole order of magnitude higher.

The problem is that if things go wrong, it can escalate from a "3 Mile Island" to a "Chernobyl" very quickly. How dire the situation is can't be tangibly measured until everything is under control.

That is not to say that some of the media isn't fear mongering, but until this thing is 100% under control, the sky is the limit on how bad things could get.

[TheCommodoreAfro]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

You're right, it isn't anywhere near Chernobyl at this point. Chernobyl was a whole order of magnitude higher.

The problem is that if things go wrong, it can escalate from a "3 Mile Island" to a "Chernobyl" very quickly. How dire the situation is can't be tangibly measured until everything is under control.

That is not to say that some of the media isn't fear mongering, but until this thing is 100% under control, the sky is the limit on how bad things could get.

And in other news, Ishimaki Town just readjusted their number of missing to 10,000. How bad could things get? They're already catastrophic.
(Link is only available in Japanese right now)

[Pinner]

Originally Posted by transplant99

Im not so sure that's the case any longer.

Something is going on in that plant that we aren't being made aware of. I even understand why they wouldnt make it public at this point, but that does not mean something isnt going dreadfully wrong.

When 4 of the 6 reactors have leaked radiation according to the Japanese PM and they pull the last of the workers out...the math is looking rather simple.

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

You're right, it isn't anywhere near Chernobyl at this point. Chernobyl was a whole order of magnitude higher.

The problem is that if things go wrong, it can escalate from a "3 Mile Island" to a "Chernobyl" very quickly. How dire the situation is can't be tangibly measured until everything is under control.

That is not to say that some of the media isn't fear mongering, but until this thing is 100% under control, the sky is the limit on how bad things could get.

Many of us have asked for the tin foil hat crew to stop the fear mongering.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by Pinner

Many of us have asked for the tin foil hat crew to stop the fear mongering.

Tin foil fat crew? It's not conspiracy theorism or fear mongering. The nature of the situation there is one that is very tedious and could still escalate. Even the most positive news sources would indicate that things could get worse in a hurry. They could also improve... does that make you feel better?

People seem to think that because a nuclear event larger than 3 Mile Island (which was a catastrophe in it's own right), was not as bad as Chernobyl, that they are out of the woods.

[Pinner]

This seems to be a level headed view of the situation, from page 28.

http://forum.calgarypuck.com/showpos...&postcount=544

[burn_this_city]

3 Mile Island is pretty overblown, sure there was a release of s small amount of radiation. But it pales in comparison to the radiation that was in the atmosphere when the big boys were doing their high altitude tests in the 50's and 60's. No one was exposed to dangerous amounts of radiation, the highest exposure was the equivilant of 1/3 your annual exposure.

I think the point everyone is trying to make is, the nuclear concern should be secondary to the actual humanitarian crisis going on in Japan. Instead the coverage has focused on the power plants, and not on the thousands of people missing.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by Pinner

This seems to be a level headed view of the situation, from page 28.

http://forum.calgarypuck.com/showpos...&postcount=544

I never compared it to Chernobyl... in fact, I stated that Chernobyl was a whole order of magnitude higher. I'm just stating the obvious that until things are 100% stable, they could move in that direction (even if never getting right to that point). Even Discovery, which is pretty optimistic as far as news source go, has said that although unlikely, the pontential for the situation to go "Chernobyl" is still there. Just because after a few days the situation is just slightly worse than the 3 Mile Island disaster, doesn't mean future progression will follow a linear curve.

I'm actually pretty optimistic that they will get is figured out, but it's not fear mongering to simply state what the worse case scenerio is. Doing otherwise would be burrying your head in the sand.

[Dan02]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

Even Discovery, which is pretty optimistic as far as news source go, has said that although unlikely, the pontential for the situation to go "Chernobyl" is still there.

I have no idea what Discovery said, but no it can't go Chernobyl, read the rest of the thread and follow the links to find out why.

[Pinner]

The dead and missing, and likely 10's of thousands (or more) refugees have largely been ignored by the media thus far. Japan needs help, not more drama.

If the media would focus on the humanitarian need rather than the immanent nuclear holocaust, the victims would be much further ahead.

[TheCommodoreAfro]

Onnagawa, one of the harbor towns in Miyagi prefecture right on the coast was reportedly hit by a 15m high tsunami. Had a friend who lived there back in the 90's and visited the town during spring break in 1995 - quiet little fishing village (with a nuclear reactor) but now I fear nothing is left. Given how close they were to the epicentre I doubt there was any time to react to it.
(JP)
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/2011...726011000.html

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by Dan02

I have no idea what Discovery said, but no it can't go Chernobyl, read the rest of the thread and follow the links to find out why.

http://news.discovery.com/earth/nucl...yl-110314.html

On Monday, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said it had dispatched two boiling-water reactor experts to Japan as part of a team of U.S. experts. The commission also said it expects no levels of harmful radiation to reach the United States from Japan's damaged nuclear power plants.
The situation in Chernobyl quickly spiraled into disaster because the reactors didn't shut down, leading to explosions that ripped apart the reactor and spread radioactive contaminants throughout the Ukraine, Russia and Europe.

"Chernobyl was as severe as you can get," Williams said. "This is, in my mind, a very local situation. But until we're able to get to the point of a stable equilibrium, there is always the risk that things could spiral out of control and we end up with the bad situation that we had at Chernobyl. I would say that at this point that's not only unlikely, it's highly unlikely."

The team of experts they consulted say it is highly unlikey, but the potential is there. That is probably the most positive statement I have read regarding the situation.

[burn_this_city]

I challenge everyone on here to make a donation to the Red Cross. The donations to date are only $25M for all the non-profits. Seems like the general public is having disaster fatigue when it comes to donating.

[freedogger]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

Tin foil fat crew? It's not conspiracy theorism or fear mongering. The nature of the situation there is one that is very tedious and could still escalate. Even the most positive news sources would indicate that things could get worse in a hurry. They could also improve... does that make you feel better?

People seem to think that because a nuclear event larger than 3 Mile Island (which was a catastrophe in it's own right), was not as bad as Chernobyl, that they are out of the woods.

The fact that so many of their nuclear facilities are permanently offline, about to be mothballed, is reason enough to be concerned. You dont just go out and replace those in a few months time.

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by Pinner

The dead and missing, and likely 10's of thousands (or more) refugees have largely been ignored by the media thus far. Japan needs help, not more drama.

If the media would focus on the humanitarian need rather than the immanent nuclear holocaust, the victims would be much further ahead.

You mean CNN?

I've watched more NHK and they always have donation information on the screen. People in Japan have donated alot to their own agencies.

Originally Posted by burn_this_city

I challenge everyone on here to make a donation to the Red Cross. The donations to date are only $25M for all the non-profits. Seems like the general public is having disaster fatigue when it comes to donating.

Yeah people are donated-out and it's Japan.. people assume it's rich enough, not a poor place like Haiti that needs money.

[Itse]

...aand even if it did go Chernobyl (which is quite simply not possible, nor was it possible at any point actually), it wouldn't still be as bad as the rest of the damage the tsunami did, because Chernobyl is way overblown as a disaster.

Which is the really frustrating part here. Well, one of them.

Radiation fallouts are not nearly as dangerous as people imagine them to be. Living in any major city is more dangerous to your health. More people die (or more exactly: die sooner than they otherwise would have, statistically speaking) because of air pollution in the US alone every year than is ever going to die due to Chernobyl.

[kirant]

Originally Posted by burn_this_city

I challenge everyone on here to make a donation to the Red Cross. The donations to date are only $25M for all the non-profits. Seems like the general public is having disaster fatigue when it comes to donating.

Already done.

[corporatejay]

Originally Posted by burn_this_city

I challenge everyone on here to make a donation to the Red Cross. The donations to date are only $25M for all the non-profits. Seems like the general public is having disaster fatigue when it comes to donating.

I think the perception (rightly or wrongly) is that japan has the means to pull this out themselves whereas Indonesia/Haiti do not.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by Itse

...aand even if it did go Chernobyl (which is quite simply not possible, nor was it possible at any point actually), it wouldn't still be as bad as the rest of the damage the tsunami did, because Chernobyl is way overblown as a disaster.

Which is the really frustrating part here.

While I get what your saying, and the damage the Tsunami did is enormous from a monetary cost and a cost of lives and help.

I do not agree that Chernobyl was overblown as a disaster.

A 30 Sq KM radiated exclusion zone, up to an estimated 50,000 deaths among the rescue workers and others due to long effects (WHO).

Animals are being wiped out in the area and there are documented cases of severe health problems among those that were evacuated during the emergency.

Make no mistake, Chernobyl was the momma bear of technology accidents.