Grisolm1 Posted March 12, 2011 #1 Posted March 12, 2011 Arrived here Tues eve for routine 2 week trip. So I thought.... Typical quake on Wed and another smaller one on Thursday. I come here often and seldom experience a quake, never mind 2 during my stays. Friday was something else. I was working in a data center when the shaking started. Holy mother of Jesus!!!!!! I'm 200 miles from the epicenter, I can only imagine what it must have been in Sendai. Long story short Tokyo is pretty much back to normal once the train service restarted on Saturday but the northern part of the country is a shambles with horrific loss of life. I'm glued to CNN, Internet and local channels trying to figure out if the nukes melting down 170 miles north are going to be a factor. I think not, this far south, but what a horrific fate for those folks up north to have survived a quake and killer wave to now have to deal with that. What ever happens in my life from now I know I'm blessed to have to been spared that. Please give your prayers for the lives lost and more prayers for the poor souls in Northern Japan trying to get through all that is going on here.
RandyR Posted March 12, 2011 #2 Posted March 12, 2011 (edited) a friend in Japan said that they lost utilities there for a day, and there's some minor structural damage. But that the parents of a sister-in-law live in a small fishing village on the NE coast near the epicenter, and that the whole village is gone, and no word of the relatives. prayers go out for these people J update just got a report from the friend there who said there have been continuos aftershocks, and there was just a rather violent one. So its not over yet. Edited March 12, 2011 by RandyR
Condor Posted March 12, 2011 #3 Posted March 12, 2011 We've been watching it all day on FOX news. Some of the scenes of the tsunami damage are incredible....even here in NorCal... The news is quoting up to a 1000 dead. I hope that's all, but not optimistic. My Nephew is on his way again. He's a member of L.A./SAR and this is his third assignment. Haiti, Australia, and now Japan. Prayers sent......
mini-muffin Posted March 12, 2011 #4 Posted March 12, 2011 They are reporting 88,000 people missing. That's unimaginable. Margaret
MiCarl Posted March 12, 2011 #5 Posted March 12, 2011 We've been watching it all day on FOX news. Some of the scenes of the tsunami damage are incredible....even here in NorCal... The news is quoting up to a 1000 dead. I hope that's all, but not optimistic. My Nephew is on his way again. He's a member of L.A./SAR and this is his third assignment. Haiti, Australia, and now Japan. Prayers sent...... 1000 must just be one city. There are four trains flat out missing. My impression is that trains in Japan do not run empty. "At this point, we know that one GPS station moved (8 feet), and we have seen a map from GSI (Geospatial Information Authority) in Japan showing the pattern of shift over a large area is consistent with about that much shift of the land mass," said Kenneth Hudnut, a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Reports from the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology in Italy estimated the 8.9-magnitude quake shifted the planet on its axis by nearly 4 inches (10 centimeters).CNN Impossible to even comprehend how much energy must be involved in moving a piece of real estate the size of Japan 8 feet.
Grisolm1 Posted March 12, 2011 Author #6 Posted March 12, 2011 With the population density here I'd be very surprised if the final total is less than 10,000 and foresee 30-50,000. Very sad. Aftershocks may be lessening, I was able to sleep through Saturday night. Friday night the aftershocks were strong and woke me up several times. One I dreamed my wife was gently shaking me to wake me up but it was the bed shaking. I keep a 1/2 full bottle of water on my table here so I know if it's a gently rolling aftershock or just my body playing tricks. The large aftershocks are unmistakable and now just routine.
SC89Venture Posted March 12, 2011 #7 Posted March 12, 2011 What are you hearing about the nuclear plant that is having all the problems? One source says a meltdown is imminent, another source says things are getting better with no danger of a meltdown. This is the one where the cooling building exploded earlier today - although it looks really strange just before the blast you saw a white type halo thing above the building.
dray Posted March 13, 2011 #8 Posted March 13, 2011 What are you hearing about the nuclear plant that is having all the problems? One source says a meltdown is imminent, another source says things are getting better with no danger of a meltdown. This is the one where the cooling building exploded earlier today - although it looks really strange just before the blast you saw a white type halo thing above the building. prayers sent and were hoping the best for all the "halo thing" was the Blast wave from the explosion!
Grisolm1 Posted March 13, 2011 Author #10 Posted March 13, 2011 What are you hearing about the nuclear plant that is having all the problems? One source says a meltdown is imminent, another source says things are getting better with no danger of a meltdown. This is the one where the cooling building exploded earlier today - although it looks really strange just before the blast you saw a white type halo thing above the building. I don't believe any information on the nukes at this point can be believed. However bad it is, the last thing the govt here needs is a panic. Fortunately weather condiitons at this point will carry most of the bad stuff offshore. If the winds change however it's a different story. Most disheartening is there are several million folks within 50-60 mi radius that probably have no real means to get out of there since there is a lack of roads, food, water, gas.
MikeWa Posted March 13, 2011 #11 Posted March 13, 2011 All this devastation and no pictures of looters. Whats this world coming to? japan is like the rest of the world. Plenty of crime to go around but when the chips are down they all seem to pull together. Mike
az1103 Posted March 13, 2011 #12 Posted March 13, 2011 All this devastation and no pictures of looters. Whats this world coming to? japan is like the rest of the world. Plenty of crime to go around but when the chips are down they all seem to pull together. Mike Their social order is incredible.....we could learn from them.
Guest PlaneCrazy Posted March 13, 2011 #13 Posted March 13, 2011 I have some old friends of mine that I made during a tour of Japan back in '97 and one of them lives in Sendai. I was very happy to hear he is OK! The Japanese are very good at planning for the the rare tragedies. I think their biggest challenge will be the loss of farmland to the sea water. The NE coast really got hit hard. My thoughts are with them.
Mariner Fan Posted March 13, 2011 #14 Posted March 13, 2011 I've been glued to the story from the beginning. I hope they can get the nuke plants under control. Sounds ominous.
Grisolm1 Posted March 13, 2011 Author #15 Posted March 13, 2011 The culture here is very different than we are used to in the US. Good of society, country, company trumps good of the individual. You won't see any looting here unless things get much much worse, then it will be food for survival, not TV's to sell on Ebay. I could go into the downsides of this mindset but it doesn't seem appropriate now.
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