8.9 Magnitude quake hits offshore Japan

[Fobby]

Originally Posted by burn_this_city

They look cool, but only a few of them actually tell time, from what I can see.

They actually all tell time, but not in a conventional way. It's kinda geeky, but they have some that are in binary, and some that requires a bit of an addition...

[FlameOn]

Originally Posted by burn_this_city

They look cool, but only a few of them actually tell time, from what I can see.

I have one of these watches and I can say it does not tell time conveniently. Digits are placed in what seems like random places and you have to add them up to get the time.

But it does look really cool.

[freedogger]

Originally Posted by TheCommodoreAfro

All this #### has been debunked (see my earlier post). Please stop posting this stuff as it increases the stress and amount of stuff people in the affected area have to deal with.

Debunked my ass. The truth of what is really happening there is only starting to come out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kgwd_9HyME



http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/26/wo...6japan.html?hp

[Morozee]

Originally Posted by giver99

Debunked my ass. The truth of what is really happening there is only starting to come out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kgwd_9HyME



http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/26/wo...6japan.html?hp

That is truly disturbing. Amazing how much they are downplaying the severeness of the situation. Great video though, very clear and to the point.

[kirant]

Originally Posted by giver99

Debunked my ass. The truth of what is really happening there is only starting to come out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kgwd_9HyME

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/26/wo...6japan.html?hp

At the same time though, a lot of sensationalism is going the other way because it involves the words "Nuclear reactor" and "explosion". Remember, there was some media calling it a Chernobyl after the building housing the core complexes exploded (and calling it a nuclear meltdown despite the fact that there was no runaway reaction yet!)...and is also the same media that went nuts over the fact that the Japanese spinach supply was in danger (when, really, it's a precaution for children who have little defence against radioactivity. It is notable that it would take 70 pounds of spinach to take in as much radiation as a single X-Ray).

The current situation isn't that problematic. All generators are online and I believe most of them are getting fresh water as needed (with only one incident of having to vent steam). I think there is only the possibility that one of the cores is actually damaged and that as of right now, it is suspected that no core reactor has been breached (the news articles seem to confirm this http://af.reuters.com/article/energy...72O0PK20110325 ).

[Jedi Ninja]

^ Most or all of the reactors are still receiving salt water injections. This cannot go on permanently as it has the potential to cause salt build-up inside the reactor, the fuel rods could become caked with salt deposits, which would make it much more difficult to keep them cool. But they are hoping to start getting fresh water into the reactors today, and reactor 1 may be receiving fresh water now, which is good news. But there seems to be as much bad news as good news lately and there is still the possibility for this situation to go sideways... it's not going to go Chernobyl bad, but it could go bad enough in its own way.

[Canada 02]

sensors originally intended to track nuclear weapons testing are being used to detect the emissions from Fukushima

sorry, it's in German?, but ...

http://www.zamg.ac.at/aktuell/index....-03-23GMT10:57

http://www.npr.org/2011/03/25/134833...apan-radiation

[kirant]

Originally Posted by Jedi Ninja

^ Most or all of the reactors are still receiving salt water injections. This cannot go on permanently as it has the potential to cause salt build-up inside the reactor, the fuel rods could become caked with salt deposits, which would make it much more difficult to keep them cool. But they are hoping to start getting fresh water into the reactors today, and reactor 1 may be receiving fresh water now, which is good news. But there seems to be as much bad news as good news lately and there is still the possibility for this situation to go sideways... it's not going to go Chernobyl bad, but it could go bad enough in its own way.

I meant fresh water as in "getting more" (as oppose to old water).

[RedJester]

According to the BBC, the workers at Fukushima have been evacuated. Rad. levels are soaring; 10 million times the normal level. (Normal being operating level.)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12872707

Radioactivity in water at reactor 2 at the quake-damaged Fukushima nuclear plant has reached 10 million times the usual level, company officials say.

Workers trying to cool the reactor core to avoid a meltdown have been evacuated.

Edit:

Aaaand, it was all for naught. Apparently a misreading by one of the workers, but it was still enough to result in evacuation.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12875327

The operators of a stricken Japanese nuclear plant have apologised for a "mistake" in reporting a radiation spike 10 million times above normal.

Tokyo Electric Power Company, which has previously been criticised by officials for its handling of the crisis at the plant, said it got the readings wrong.

Despite the mistake, the radiation spike at reactor 2 was still very high and enough to evacuate workers.

[secol]

lol wow....holy #### at the 10 million times normal

[kirant]

Originally Posted by secol

lol wow....holy #### at the 10 million times normal

Luckily it was a misreading.

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by kirant

Luckily it was a misreading.

"I must have, I must have put a decimal point in the wrong place or something. ####. I always do that."

[freedogger]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKFGavZ_rf4

[freedogger]

from Reuters this am:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/...7DP00A20110328

Radiation above 1,000 millisieverts per hour was found in surface water in trenches outside the No. 2 reactor of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, operator Tokyo Electric Power said on Monday. (Reporting by Shinichi Saoshiro)


Dr. Michio Kaku:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haBovPouOU8

To paraphrase:
Radiation at these levels may cause abandonment of the site, leading to three uncontrollable meltdowns. Large areas of Japan would likely become uninhabitable.

[Bill Bumface]

A shameless plug for my mom's project which is taking off. She's gathering a ton of quilts to send over to Japan for all the people stuck in shelters with no heat. Don't make fun of the website, I don't make them normally and had to fire this up in a rush: www.quiltsforjapan.ca

[fanman]

^That's an awesome idea you and your mother have hulkrogan. Big kudos to you guys! There are many people who need those kinds of things. The tempurature farther north has been about -1 lately, and no heat or power. I'm sure the people will love the quilts. In many shelters they can only give people one onigiri(rice ball) and one candy per day, per person. Lots of children becoming sick from excessive stress too. Still crazy up there.

My area has calmed down quite a bit. Gasoline is still a little sparse, but the food stocks in stores is almost back to normal. All the businesses here have also been trying to help conserve power, and are leaving their lights off during daylight hours. They also aren't running any displays that use power. Most of the trains are running now, but most are operating with half of their scheduled times. At least people can get to work, and move around again.

I was just helping out in my city with a collection drive to send items up north. They collected clothing, towels, blankets, kid's toys, perishable food items, etc. I was just helping them sort all the stuff into piles so it can be trucked up north. There was a huge amount of stuff to sort through, they probably need at least 2 big trucks to send it all. We'll probably have another go at it in about a week, as people are still dropping stuff off too. I'm impressed with all the people stepping up here to donate money or clothing, or volunteer their time to help out in some way. So I couldn't pass up the chance to do something!

Here's a few videos from some news stations here in Japan. Sorry I don't know how to embed, and it's in Japanese. If anyone's interested:

This first one is a view of one of the tsunamis from inside the airport:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_6iD...eature=fvwkrel

These are various news clips and home videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgkXj...eature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKyhW...feature=relmfu

2 Part video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfLEK...feature=relmfu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHJ-s...feature=relmfu

Hope everyone in Japan is doing alright now. Take care guys!

[fanman]

An interesting article, including some radiation measurements and comparisons from cities around the world.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-0...an-crisis.html

Typical amounts of radiation in Hong Kong exceed those in Tokyo even as workers struggle to contain a crippled nuclear plant in northern Japan, indicating concerns about spreading contamination may be overblown.

Natural radiation makes up about 85 percent of the global total, according to the World Nuclear Association. Manmade contributors include medicine and buildings, as well as the nuclear industry, which accounts for 1 percent of the total, the association says. Foodstuffs also contain radiation, and a 135- gram (4.8-ounce) bag of Brazil nuts has a dose of about 10 microsieverts, according to the U.K. agency.

Clearly, it's time to evacuate the planet.

[CedarMeter]

Heard they just got hit with another one..Man this is brutal.

[Mazrim]

Apparently another tsunami related to the new quake as well...hopefully not very serious.

[Jedi Ninja]

Magnitude 7.4, Tsunami Advisory issued.

http://www.jma.go.jp/en/tsunami/