A few lines for Japan
I think that the overwhelming amount of information that all of us have available these days sometimes makes us skip over situations what should have us holding our breath. I'm not saying we are not aware of international news, only we give then just a glimpse of attention and move to other issues. Take, for example, victims in suicidal terrorist attacks in Irak. In the end, we get used to them and they become numbers. Today we are waiting for the earthquake 8 Richter replica that hit Japan a few days ago and hoping for the best, because we are not sure Japan can take it anymore. I'm compiling data and videos today.
Even though Japan is probably the most organized country I've ever been to, we can see it in numbers. The Japan earthquake was a 9 Richter one: the Richter scale is a base-10 logarithmic one, meaning that each point is 10 times higher than the previous one in terms of shaking amplitude.Earthquakes between 9-10 devastate several thousand miles across. A 10.0+ has never been recorded and would probably provoke planetwide devastation. This quake is the sixth largest of all time and the worst to hit Japan.
Fortunately, Japan is well prepared against earthquakes and buildings hold quite well. They do that by swinging with the waves rather than trying to resist them. During the last one, they moved like bamboo in a storm.
The worst was yet to come, though. Ships, trains, buildings and cars were swept away as monster 33ft waves smashed into the port city of Sendai. A boat carrying 80 dock workers was swept away in the 500mph tidal wave while a cruise ship with 100 passengers is also thought to be missing. Officials have lost contact with four trains which are feared to have been engulfed by the tsunami along the coastline. They include two of the famous bullet trains, one of them with 400 passengers. Bridges were swept away and a packed hotel in the city collapsed. While these waves were far from the highest tsunami ever (1720 feet tall in Lituya Bay, Alaska), they penetrated far into the land (up to 5km) and reached as high as 7.3 meters spots.
And, if this was not enough, Japan depends on nuclear power, and Fukushima is close to meltdown. There have been explosions in the nuclear plant and most people think it is a goner. Reactor 1 has no refrigeration and there has already been some partial fusion. Reactors 2, 5 and 6 are also on catastrophic temperature levels. The International Atomic Agency said radioactive material is leaking 'directly' into the air from the stricken plant at a rate of 400 millisieverts per hour. Anyone exposed to over 100 millisieverts a year risks cancer. Population in a 30 km area haa been evacuated. Authorities advise not to go out of home these days.
People are referring to Chernobyl in comparison, at it was equivalent to 10 Hiroshima detonations. A single one wiped out the city in 1945 (over 100000 dead).
As direct results, Japan has shifted 13 feet to the east (4 meters). At the moment, there are already 3373 dead and 7588 missing persons (in the 11S terrorist attack there were 2973 dead and 24 missing persons). There are continuous power shortages on the country and people are massively storing food and fuel. Noone is really sure about the radiation propagation, even though the government states it is safe at the moment. Anyway, radiation in Tokyo is 10 times higher than usual. Nikkei index has sunk and there have been several government rescues to refloat it. There are still 2 tsunami alerts and 14 replica alerts on.
This was a report status from a few days ago:
Status summary:
(1) Tokyo is OK. Transportation is disrupted but recovering.
(2) Entire coastal zone of Fukushima, Miyagi, Iwate, and a part of Ibaraki are basically eliminated. Coastal zone means about 2-3 Km within the original shoreline.
Some places damage extend 10km inward. Tsunami was about 10m high. Geography seems to have changed. In many places, coastal zone ground subsided and underwater.
Center of Sendai seems OK, although there are a few fire and damages. Most serious damages are cities in coastal zone.
All infrastructure is down. No transportation, no electricity, no water.
(3) Self-defense forces are all mobilized. US Navy battle group is heading to the region. this includes USS Ronald Reagan, also US Marine Corp's amphibious assault vehicle, etc. USAID will be deployed as well.
(4) Radiation leakage in FUKUSHIMA #1 power plants. and cooling system is also lost now for Fukushima #2. Leakage is at low level. Self-defense ground force (ARMY) special unit for nuclear incidents arrived on-site to take measures. The most recent report indicate Core Melt Down starting in #1 plant.
(5) A new earthquake in Nagano-Niigata area in early morning hours. Almost a same scale as CHUUETSU earth quake. land slide and damages has been confirmed.
(6) There will be power shortage in Tokyo later today. Electric supply is 10-20% short of demands now as many power plants are down now and will not recover anytime soon.
There will be Rolling Blackout throughout east Japan including Tokyo.
(7) Death toll will raise up as situation unfolds. some cities are simply gone. those numbers are not counted yet.
(8) Despite these, things are in order in affected regions. People helping each other and supply of food and water have already started. While people are worried and shocked, there is no report of riot, chaos, or any unrest. We do not expect unrest or any disorder to take place.
(9) the fault line extending over 600Km have collapsed. M8.9 that is 5th largest in the recorded history of mankind. Plates moved about 4m horizontally and 70cm vertically by GPs based estimate. because of this, there are a series of earth quake in Nagano-niigata area to compensate for plate pressure change. At this moment, most of aftershock is taking place Niigata-nagano area, rather than the original epicenter.
regards,
****
Anyone who wants to help can probably find how to channel their support at their local bank or through reliable institutions. Finally, here is a request from a japanese girl living abroad that you might find easy to grant.
Even though Japan is probably the most organized country I've ever been to, we can see it in numbers. The Japan earthquake was a 9 Richter one: the Richter scale is a base-10 logarithmic one, meaning that each point is 10 times higher than the previous one in terms of shaking amplitude.Earthquakes between 9-10 devastate several thousand miles across. A 10.0+ has never been recorded and would probably provoke planetwide devastation. This quake is the sixth largest of all time and the worst to hit Japan.
Fortunately, Japan is well prepared against earthquakes and buildings hold quite well. They do that by swinging with the waves rather than trying to resist them. During the last one, they moved like bamboo in a storm.
The worst was yet to come, though. Ships, trains, buildings and cars were swept away as monster 33ft waves smashed into the port city of Sendai. A boat carrying 80 dock workers was swept away in the 500mph tidal wave while a cruise ship with 100 passengers is also thought to be missing. Officials have lost contact with four trains which are feared to have been engulfed by the tsunami along the coastline. They include two of the famous bullet trains, one of them with 400 passengers. Bridges were swept away and a packed hotel in the city collapsed. While these waves were far from the highest tsunami ever (1720 feet tall in Lituya Bay, Alaska), they penetrated far into the land (up to 5km) and reached as high as 7.3 meters spots.
And, if this was not enough, Japan depends on nuclear power, and Fukushima is close to meltdown. There have been explosions in the nuclear plant and most people think it is a goner. Reactor 1 has no refrigeration and there has already been some partial fusion. Reactors 2, 5 and 6 are also on catastrophic temperature levels. The International Atomic Agency said radioactive material is leaking 'directly' into the air from the stricken plant at a rate of 400 millisieverts per hour. Anyone exposed to over 100 millisieverts a year risks cancer. Population in a 30 km area haa been evacuated. Authorities advise not to go out of home these days.
People are referring to Chernobyl in comparison, at it was equivalent to 10 Hiroshima detonations. A single one wiped out the city in 1945 (over 100000 dead).
As direct results, Japan has shifted 13 feet to the east (4 meters). At the moment, there are already 3373 dead and 7588 missing persons (in the 11S terrorist attack there were 2973 dead and 24 missing persons). There are continuous power shortages on the country and people are massively storing food and fuel. Noone is really sure about the radiation propagation, even though the government states it is safe at the moment. Anyway, radiation in Tokyo is 10 times higher than usual. Nikkei index has sunk and there have been several government rescues to refloat it. There are still 2 tsunami alerts and 14 replica alerts on.
This was a report status from a few days ago:
Status summary:
(1) Tokyo is OK. Transportation is disrupted but recovering.
(2) Entire coastal zone of Fukushima, Miyagi, Iwate, and a part of Ibaraki are basically eliminated. Coastal zone means about 2-3 Km within the original shoreline.
Some places damage extend 10km inward. Tsunami was about 10m high. Geography seems to have changed. In many places, coastal zone ground subsided and underwater.
Center of Sendai seems OK, although there are a few fire and damages. Most serious damages are cities in coastal zone.
All infrastructure is down. No transportation, no electricity, no water.
(3) Self-defense forces are all mobilized. US Navy battle group is heading to the region. this includes USS Ronald Reagan, also US Marine Corp's amphibious assault vehicle, etc. USAID will be deployed as well.
(4) Radiation leakage in FUKUSHIMA #1 power plants. and cooling system is also lost now for Fukushima #2. Leakage is at low level. Self-defense ground force (ARMY) special unit for nuclear incidents arrived on-site to take measures. The most recent report indicate Core Melt Down starting in #1 plant.
(5) A new earthquake in Nagano-Niigata area in early morning hours. Almost a same scale as CHUUETSU earth quake. land slide and damages has been confirmed.
(6) There will be power shortage in Tokyo later today. Electric supply is 10-20% short of demands now as many power plants are down now and will not recover anytime soon.
There will be Rolling Blackout throughout east Japan including Tokyo.
(7) Death toll will raise up as situation unfolds. some cities are simply gone. those numbers are not counted yet.
(8) Despite these, things are in order in affected regions. People helping each other and supply of food and water have already started. While people are worried and shocked, there is no report of riot, chaos, or any unrest. We do not expect unrest or any disorder to take place.
(9) the fault line extending over 600Km have collapsed. M8.9 that is 5th largest in the recorded history of mankind. Plates moved about 4m horizontally and 70cm vertically by GPs based estimate. because of this, there are a series of earth quake in Nagano-niigata area to compensate for plate pressure change. At this moment, most of aftershock is taking place Niigata-nagano area, rather than the original epicenter.
regards,
****
Anyone who wants to help can probably find how to channel their support at their local bank or through reliable institutions. Finally, here is a request from a japanese girl living abroad that you might find easy to grant.
Posts
