Tohoku Earthquake, Tsunami and Nuclear Disaster!!!

[AML]

Just got a magnitude 6 in shizuoka

[Yokohammer]

I'm back ... just in time for a 6+ in Shizuoka!
WTF is going on?

[FG Lurker]

Just got a magnitude 6 in shizuoka

Actually that is a 6+ on the Japanese scale, not sure what the magnitude is yet. Felt it here in Osaka though....

Edit: Looks like it is 6+ and M6.0...

[Iraira]

Just got a magnitude 6 in shizuoka

I think the gods of the tectonic plates that are Japan are pissed at each other.

[Samurai_Jerk]

I'm back ... just in time for a 6+ in Shizuoka!
WTF is going on?

Good to hear from you! Let us know WTF has been going on.


M6.0. Fuck, the stress is killing me ...

[AML]

So is this gonna keep going for as long as a month?

Can it get worse than this? (quake wise)

Stress is bad enough with the nuke problems.

Dont think i can take too much more of this....

[Iraira]

Hammer time. Welcome back.
Shizuoka's shaking and Softbank is jammed again.

[bigbambooba]

Was the epicenter Fuji-san?

[FG Lurker]

I'm back ... just in time for a 6+ in Shizuoka!
WTF is going on?

Welcome back Hammer!! Damn good to see you.

[Samurai_Jerk]

Was the epicenter Fuji-san?

Fujinomiya-shi. Let's hope you know what (I don't even want to say it) doesn't happen.

[FG Lurker]

Was the epicenter Fuji-san?

According to the JMA site the coordinates were 35.3N, 138.7E which is very close to Fuji. Here are those coordinates on Google Maps.

[Edit: It's the green arrow that marks the spot on the map, not the red marker(s).]

[vitellus]

Encouraging information from experts talk by conference call at British embassy in Tokyo

http://www.facebook.com/notes/paul-atkinson/japan-nuclear-update-british-embassy/10150111611771235

[Doctor Stop]

Accident rating upgraded to 6 on INES Scale

It's only been rated INES 6 by a French surrender monkey (not you Coligny!) and a bunch of overzealous Wikipedia contributors who keep having their contributions reverted.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics/nation/fukushima-blast-worse-than-three-mile-island/articleshow/7707812.cms

[Mike Oxlong]

Here's hoping Hammer's getting hammered! If anyone deserves it...

Great to hear from the man himself!

[Mulboyne]

Encouraging information from experts talk by conference call at British embassy in Tokyo

http://www.facebook.com/notes/paul-atkinson/japan-nuclear-update-british-embassy/10150111611771235

In case you aren't on Facebook:

I have just returned from a conference call held at the British Embassy in Tokyo. The call was concerning the nuclear issue in Japan. The chief spokesman was Sir. John Beddington, Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK Government, and he was joined by a number of qualified nuclear experts based in the UK. Their assessment of the current situation in Japan is as follows:

* In case of a 'reasonable worst case scenario' (defined as total meltdown of one reactor with subsequent radioactive explosion) an exclusion zone of 30 miles (50km) would be the maximum required to avoid affecting peoples' health. Even in a worse situation (loss of two or more reactors) it is unlikely that the damage would be significantly more than that caused by the loss of a single reactor.

* The current 20km exclusion zone is appropriate for the levels of radiation/risk currently experienced, and if the pouring of sea water can be maintained to cool the reactors, the likelihood of a major incident should be avoided. A further large quake with tsunami could lead to the suspension of the current cooling operations, leading to the above scenario.

* The bottom line is that these experts do not see there being a possibility of a health problem for residents in Tokyo. The radiation levels would need to be hundreds of times higher than current to cause the possibility for health issues, and that, in their opinion, is not going to happen (they were talking minimum levels affecting pregnant women and children - for normal adults the levels would need to be much higher still).

* The experts do not consider the wind direction to be material. They say Tokyo is too far away to be materially affected.

* If the pouring of water can be maintained the situation should be much improved after ten days, as the reactors' cores cool down.

* Information being provided by Japanese authorities is being independently monitored by a number of organizations and is deemed to be accurate, as far as measures of radioactivity levels are concerned.

* This is a very different situation from Chernobyl, where the reactor went into meltdown and the encasement, which exploded, was left to burn for weeks without any control. Even with Chernobyl, an exclusion zone of 30 miles would have been adequate to protect human health. The problem was that most people became sick from eating contaminated food, crops, milk and water in the region for years afterward, as no attempt was made to measure radioactivity levels in the food supply at that time or warn people of the dangers. The secrecy over the Chernobyl explosion is in contrast to the very public coverage of the Fukushima crisis.

* The Head of the British School asked if the school should remain closed. The answer was there is no need to close the school due to fears of radiation. There may well be other reasons - structural damage or possible new quakes - but the radiation fear is not supported by scientific measures, even for children.

* Regarding Iodine supplementation, the experts said this was only necessary for those who had inhaled quantities of radiation (those in the exclusion zone or workers on the site) or through consumption of contaminated food/water supplies. Long term consumption of iodine is, in any case, not healthy.

The discussion was surprisingly frank and to the point. The conclusion of the experts is that the damage caused by the earthquake and tsunami, as well as the subsequent aftershocks, was much more of an issue than the fear of radiation sickness from the nuclear plants.

Let's hope the experts are right!

[Coligny]

It's only been rated INES 6 by a French surrender monkey (not you Coligny!) and a bunch of overzealous Wikipedia contributors who keep having their contributions reverted.

They closed the ambassy at the first turd hitting the fan... what could I say...

Hamaoka powerplant (chubu shizuoka) still good and online after she got a shindo 6.

[Mike Oxlong]

Now is a good time to buy a bottle of iodine pills if you can find them?

Japan Subculture Research Center posted saying that some can be found...

[Yokohammer]

Good to hear from you! Let us know WTF has been going on.

Lots of shaking.

The big-un on the 11th was the first time I have experienced not being able to walk or even stay standing in an earthquake. Scary shit. Somehow the house managed to retain it's intended proportions though. Power just came back on after 4-1/2 days. No water yet ... [SIZE="1"]which means I probably don't smell very good[/SIZE].

We have been very, very lucky.

I'm about 4 kilometers from the coast. Only a kilometer or two from where I am they're still raking up bodies. Bodies left in cars, hanging in trees, all over the damn place. The waves just swept the coastal area clean. Horrifying. The water's edge came to within about 500 meters of the house, but was pretty much dissipated by then and not doing much damage other than making stuff wet.

The guy who lives across the street from me works at Sendai airport, which is just a 20 minute drive from where I am. He was trapped in the airport building for a few days and only managed to get home yesterday. At least he got home.

It's a mess that's being made even worse by all the nuclear power plant problems. I can resign myself to being inconvenienced by a natural disaster, but the man-made bit is a different matter.

The aftershocks have been driving us mad. They're getting less frequent now, but for the first couple of days it was one every few minutes. Some of them are pretty large quakes in themselves.

And now a significant shaker is Shizuoka.

I'm praying it stops soon (and I'm not even religious).

[Samurai_Jerk]

Only a kilometer or two from where I am they're still raking up bodies. Bodies left in cars, hanging in trees, all over the damn place. The waves just swept the coastal area clean. Horrifying.

You haven't actually seen any of that kind of horror first hand have you? That can't be good for the psyche.

Glad to hear you and yours are OK.

[BigInJapan]

Fujinomiya-shi. Let's hope you know what (I don't even want to say it) doesn't happen.

From a CNN blog (meteorologist):

The previous record was an 8.6 magnitude earthquake that struck near the Chubu region near southwestern Honshu on October 28, 1707, that may have killed 5,000 people, said CNN meteorologist Sean Morris.

That quake generated a 33-foot (10-meter) tsunami, and some scientists believe the quake may have triggered the eruption of Mount Fuji 49 days later, Morris said.

Good to see that Hammer is OK, and that Coligny survived the Shizuoka Shaker. It was around M4 here in Yokohama, a diluted version of last Friday's monster.

[gomichild]

Glad to hear you are ok Yokohammer.

[Greji]

Lots of shaking.

Glad to see ya back Hammer even if ya have to stay down wind!

[Doctor Stop]

They closed the ambassy at the first turd hitting the fan...

I hope they can get good bagettes in Vichy Minami Azabu or wherever they've retreated to. I wouldn't be surprised if the ambassador is caught collaborating with the partially melted down reactor cores.

[Coligny]

I hope they can get good bagettes in Vichy Minami Azabu or wherever they've retreated to. I wouldn't be surprised if the ambassador is caught collaborating with the partially melted down reactor cores.

Yeah, last time somebody saw him he was asking passerby how to say "Herr Officer, I believe my neighbourg is a Jew" in japanese language...

[Yokohammer]

You haven't actually seen any of that kind of horror first hand have you? That can't be good for the psyche.

No. The areas that are that badly affected are off limits. That info comes from people who lived there and escaped, and other neighbors who are in the local "shobo-dan" who are charged with going out there to search for survivors. The shobo-dan can't do anything about the bodies themselves. Neither can the self-defense guys, from what I hear. The police have to be on the scene before a body can be moved. These guys come back from their search and rescue excursions almost in tears and with some truly horrifying stories.

Some of our relatives lived down closer to the ocean, and their house was hit by the tsunami. Five of the six family members who were home at the time escaped by scrambling to the top of a large rock in the garden (the wave was about 2 meters at that point), only to watch the ojii-san get swept away. Too sad.

[dimwit]

The Shizuoka quakes are definitely Mt.Fuji, but whether it is just passing gas or doing something more significant is not easy to tell.

[Osakadave]

Good to see you back indeed.

[Yokohammer]

Glad to see ya back Hammer even if ya have to stay down wind!

Downwind with all this fallout floating about?

Not a chance.

[Ketou]

Glad to hear everything's ok there Hammer...
Time to start a daily Konbu intake...

[Yokohammer]

Glad to hear everything's ok there Hammer...
Time to start a daily Konbu intake...

Man, I had a konbu steak with a konbu salad and konbu fries for dinner. Finished up with wakame ice-cream and a cup of konbu-cha.

And then I went back for a second KELPING!

[SIZE="1"](I'm kidding, of course, but the spirit's there).[/SIZE]