The earthquake

[Revolte]

I have to say it's pretty tragic and I hope the best for people, Santa Cruz is only a couple hours away from me and even they got hit by the waves, so far four people are dead from what I have heard.

I would like to think something like this would wake us up enough to stop fighting over spilled milk, and most of all to get our heads our of our butts, maybe live life a little rather then spending our energy trying to find ways to destroy it. It can take us out easier then we can take it out.

[JuniperWoolf]

8.9 magnitude is pretty amazing. That makes it the fifth largest earthquake ever recorded (thank you, geology class). It's pretty impressive to see so many people in such a small area withstand something so powerful, all things considered it could have been so much worse up to this point. Here's crossing our fingers for the nuclear plants.

[sithkittie]

I live in Tokyo (got stuck in another prefecture and had an adventure walking home last night), and Tokyo, at least, is good. I don't know about the nuclear plants... I'm ignoring that bit... :/ Still getting tremors, but the biggest problem here was the trains. They shut down until after 9 and then barely ran. Transportation and food, food was hard to come by. Where I am it's mostly really quiet today. I think everybody is staying inside for now. Japan is built for earthquakes though, and I'm very, very glad the buildings held up under that test. As far as I know, the biggest concern is for the people in the northern parts of the main island. Please keep them in your thoughts.

I hope the tsunamis aren't doing too much damage. I have a friend in Hawaii, but I got news she was safe at least. I'm sorry to hear about Santa Cruz.

[OrphanPip]

I have a cousin who lives in one of the prefectures around Tokyo, we haven't heard from him or his wife, but they're probably OK. My understanding is that most of the major damage was in the North.

[Lokasenna]

One of my best friends lives in Tokyo. I spent yesterday morning trying to contact him to make sure he and his wife are alright. Fortunately, they're fine, if a little shaken. They live about five minutes from that oil refinery in Ishihara that blew up, so I'll admit I was pretty worried.

However, Japan's amazing ability to deal well with earthquakes, even apocalyptic level ones like this, is really commendable.

[kiki1982]

Apart from feeling for all those people affected, I was pretty amazed at those images of people being really calm and holding onto the panels in the office and eventually going to sit under a table because that was the safest. It really struck me. If this were to happen in any other place people would be literally screaming.

What was worrying though was those images of façades slightly crumbling on the streets and that water! Can't find the words for it.

I understand that the nuclear plant has a problem with the cooling system and that they actually need to let off steam so the pressure does not build up. They did say it was slightly radioactive, but nothing that damges public health. [edit]: ok, seems that I was a bit behind on this :blush:... I hope they can solve the problem. *crosses fingers*

You do have to commend the great hands on approach (as far as I have seen on the BBC that is).

[Paulclem]

It's a terrible event. A small town has been wiped out with 10,000 estimated to have been killed.

We're expecting a Japanese exchange student next week - who is from the south - Osaka. We are wondering whether their trip will be postponed.

[faithosaurus]

It is very terrible.

We watched the news yesterday in school to see it; it's completely awful all the damage it has caused.

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

Does anyone else find it just a tad eery that all this stuff (animals mysteriously dying being the thing that comes to me mind) is happening, and now this earthquake all before 2012, the supposed end of the world?

Or, maybe Japan just did something to piss of God. I'm sure Pat Robertson will let us know.

[Delta40]

Does anyone else find it just a tad eery that all this stuff (animals mysteriously dying being the thing that comes to me mind) is happening, and now this earthquake all before 2012, the supposed end of the world?

Or, maybe Japan just did something to piss of God. I'm sure Pat Robertson will let us know.

Australians joked about it with all the recent disasters here and in NZ. The other observation is there seems to be an amazing amount of political unrest surging through countries too - but it could all be in my head!

[Helga]

it's kinda unreal watching the news. so sad, a girl I know is in Osaka and she was giving a lecture when it started but she is OK, just shaken like everybody else. Also a cousin of mine lives near the pacific and they had to be prepared for the tsunamis but it wasn't necessary when it came to the shore

[Paulclem]

Does anyone else find it just a tad eery that all this stuff (animals mysteriously dying being the thing that comes to me mind) is happening, and now this earthquake all before 2012, the supposed end of the world?

Or, maybe Japan just did something to piss of God. I'm sure Pat Robertson will let us know.

In 1985 we had:

March 3 – An 8.0 on the Richter magnitude scale earthquake hits Santiago and Valparaíso leaving 177 dead, 2,575 hurt, 142,489 destroyed houses and about a million people houseless


# May 25 – Bangladesh is hit by a tropical cyclone and storm surge, which kills approximately 10,000 people.
# May 29 – Heysel Disaster: 38 spectators are killed in rioting on the terraces during the European Cup final between Liverpool F.C. and Juventus at Heysel Stadium in Brussels, Belgium.
# May 31 – Forty-one tornadoes hit in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and Ontario, killing 76.

August 2 – Delta Air Lines Flight 191 crashes near Dallas, Texas, killing 137 people.

August 12 – Japan Airlines Flight 123 crashes in Japan, killing 520 people (the worst single-aircraft disaster in history).
# August 22 – British Airtours Flight 28M The 737's left engine caught fire while on its take off roll, 55 people are killed while trying to evacuate the aircraft.
# August 25 – Samantha Smith, "Goodwill Ambassador" between the Soviet Union and the United States for writing a letter to Yuri Andropov about nuclear war, and eventually visiting the Soviet Union at Andropov's request, dies in the Bar Harbor Airlines Flight 1808 plane crash. She was 13.
eptember

* September 6 – Midwest Express Airlines Flight 105, a Douglas DC-9, crashes just after takeoff from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, killing 31.
* September 19 – An 8.1 Richter scale earthquake strikes Mexico City. Around 10,000 people are killed, 30,000 injured, and 95,000 left homeless.
September 28 – The 1985 Brixton race riots are sparked with the shooting of Dorothy 'Cherry' Groce by the Metropolitan Police in Brixton, an area of South London, England.

# November 23 – EgyptAir Flight 648 is hijacked by the Abu Nidal group and flown to Malta, where Egyptian commandos storm the plane; 60 are killed by gunfire and explosions.
# November 25 – “Aeroflot” Antonov AN-12 cargo airplane in route from Cuito Cuanavale to Luanda was shot down by South African Special Forces and crashed approximately 43 km of Menongue, the provincial center of the Cuando Cubango province, Angola, killing 8 crew members and 13 passengers on board.

# December 8 – South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) established.
# December 12 – Arrow Air Flight 1285, a Douglas DC-8, crashes after takeoff in Gander, Newfoundland, killing 256, 248 of whom were U.S. servicemen returning to Fort Campbell, Kentucky from overseeing a peacekeeping force in Sinai.
# December 16 – In New York City, Mafia bosses Paul Castellano and Thomas Bilotti are shot dead in front of Spark's Steak House, making hit organizer John Gotti the leader of the powerful Gambino organized crime family.
# December 24 – Right wing extremist David Lewis Rice murders civil rights attorney Charles Goldmark as well as Goldmark's wife and 2 children in Seattle. Rice suspected the family of being Jewish and Communist and claimed his dedication to the Christian Identity movement drove him to the crime.
# December 27

* Rome and Vienna airport attacks: Abu Nidal terrorists open fire in the airports of Rome and Vienna, leaving 18 dead and 120 injured.
* American naturalist Dian Fossey is found murdered in Rwanda.

On reading what you said, I remembered 1985, which seemed to have a lot of disasters, a few of which I have listed from Wikipedia.

It was also the year of Live Aid, and so the Ethiopian famine was going on in Africa and this was the year before the Chernobyl disaster too!

It's perhaps just one of those years when lots of crap happens.

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

True, Paul. I'm sure we could look at any year and point to all the disasters and make note of them. They just stand out more when the next year is the supposed apocalypse.

[Paulclem]

True, Paul. I'm sure we could look at any year and point to all the disasters and make note of them. They just stand out more when the next year is the supposed apocalypse.

Yes - it was just what you said that reminded me what an awful disaster year it was. I remember watching report after report on plane crashes over the year. It was quite horrible.

[TheFifthElement]

Last year had the largest number of natural disasters on record (http://www.climateandinsurance.org/?p=276). The problem isn't that there are natural disasters, per se, but rather that there are more people so people are forced to live in potential disaster zones. That's why you see more of it on the news. If a flood occurs in an unpopulated area, no one cares about it.

My thoughts are with the Japanese right now. Watching those pictures of the tsunami was terrifying. The death toll is going to be much greater than the current conservative estimates. Whole towns have been wiped out. How do you recover from that?

[YesNo]

True, Paul. I'm sure we could look at any year and point to all the disasters and make note of them. They just stand out more when the next year is the supposed apocalypse.

My wife was listening to CNN in the US and heard that some people think the apocalypse has been moved up to May 21, 2011, so you won't have as long to wait: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntNRYoLIqjE&feature=related

I've marked May 22nd on my calendar to check back and see if I'm still around. It is always nice to have a theory with a falsifiable statement.

The videos we've seen of the tsunami in northern Japan were amazing. I really didn't think stuff like that happened except in the movies. We thought at first there was a meltdown when the shell of the nuclear power plant exploded. Luckily that didn't happen. I understand that the aftershocks are still going on.

[Delta40]

A friend of mine father fought in WWII and suffered terribly at the hands of the Japanese. Similar to the Holocaust, his children were subject to their fathers PTSD symptoms and the horrors of his experience relived through gross family dysfunction. In loving protection of her father's memory, she dislikes all Japanese people and while she knows it is wrong, her heart speaks a conflicting truth. - that she has no feelings or trust for the plight of the Japanese people. Do other folk know much about this sort of 'dead' response to disaster in light of by gone histories?

[Olga4real]

A friend of mine father fought in WWII and suffered terribly at the hands of the Japanese. Similar to the Holocaust, his children were subject to their fathers PTSD symptoms and the horrors of his experience relived through gross family dysfunction. In loving protection of her father's memory, she dislikes all Japanese people and while she knows it is wrong, her heart speaks a conflicting truth. - that she has no feelings or trust for the plight of the Japanese people. Do other folk know much about this sort of 'dead' response to disaster in light of by gone histories?

Delta, I had to re-read your post for a couple of times to get what you're saying. When I hear 'WWII' and 'Japan' only Hiroshima and Nagasaki come to my mind.
My father fought in WWII as well but I don't dislike Germans.
In my opinion your friend needs to understand that most of those people who died in Japan last Friday were born after the war and are not responsible for what happened almost 80 years ago. Plus this catastrophe is going to impact the world's ecological and economical situation badly.
I was shocked by the news and videos of this terrible disaster. I pray for Japanese people to survive.

[Lokasenna]

A friend of mine father fought in WWII and suffered terribly at the hands of the Japanese. Similar to the Holocaust, his children were subject to their fathers PTSD symptoms and the horrors of his experience relived through gross family dysfunction. In loving protection of her father's memory, she dislikes all Japanese people and while she knows it is wrong, her heart speaks a conflicting truth. - that she has no feelings or trust for the plight of the Japanese people. Do other folk know much about this sort of 'dead' response to disaster in light of by gone histories?

While the Japanese did awful things in WWII, so did pretty much everyone else. But, it's in the past - Japan is now a civilized, peaceful, democratic, friendly nation. What's past is past, and it seems a shame to let an echo from history disturb our relations.

As for this particular disaster, the quality of human suffering is so raw that we should all be moved by it, regardless of national loyalties. On the radio this morning, they were interviewing an elderly Japanese woman (if not alive during the war, then certainly shortly after) who, amid the carnage and destruction of her village, was grimly searching for the means to give her husband and two sons a proper funeral as soon as possible. Her grief was quiet, dignified, and utterly moving - and though I am as far removed from being an elderly Japanese lady as it is possible to be, I felt such sympathy for her and her plight.

No country, or people, deserve this.

[kiki1982]

Just an aside about WWII:

If you think the Germans were bad in their concentration camps, think again... The Japanese... there are just no words for it. And you were lucky as a non-Chinese. Chinese were, to them, let's say worse than the Jews to Hitler. Not worth even to kill in an orderly manner. Or so I gather. The torture they subjected their prisoners to was horrendous.

Still, I cannot understand how a person can possibly become cold to human suffering in itself because of something that happened to someone else. The people that perished there and are still looking for missing relatives are also people, despite what their slightly mad fellow countrymen may have done to someone 60 years ago. I mean, 60 years ago! Is it not time to call it quits?

The world will never be able to deal with WWII seriously, if it does not get past the killing and the why. Frankly, that is not the issue.

Putting your energy to deal with the situation in clearing it up is a much worthier approach than to sit and cry. Crying brings you nothing, doing something brings you at least a life. Cynically, we would be able to say, 'Look at the Japanese'.

I truly admire that approach.

[kiki1982]

As for this particular disaster, the quality of human suffering is so raw that we should all be moved by it, regardless of national loyalties. On the radio this morning, they were interviewing an elderly Japanese woman (if not alive during the war, then certainly shortly after) who, amid the carnage and destruction of her village, was grimly searching for the means to give her husband and two sons a proper funeral as soon as possible. Her grief was quiet, dignified, and utterly moving - and though I am as far removed from being an elderly Japanese lady as it is possible to be, I felt such sympathy for her and her plight.

Now that brought a tear to my eye, and that is a very rare occurrence.

[Olga4real]

I've read this article on my yahoo, titled: Japan begins to dig for dead amid nuclear crisis. Just imagine that millions of people spent 3rd night without food, water, electricity and heating, when it's cold outside. 1000 bodies were found across the coastline. Number of casualties is expected to approach 10 thousands! Authorities are receiving only 10% of supplies they need, they don't have enough body bags and coffins. I am sure that all countries from all over the world are helping Japan, but nobody can bring back those 10 thousand lives back.

[jajdude]

December 12 – Arrow Air Flight 1285, a Douglas DC-8, crashes after takeoff in Gander, Newfoundland, killing 256, 248 of whom were U.S. servicemen returning to Fort Campbell, Kentucky from overseeing a peacekeeping force in Sinai.


I recall that well. I was 16 then - in grade 11. I skipped school that morning and at around 8 am it was on the "Canada AM" news show. What a shocker. It was national news for a while and certainly a big deal in Gander, where I'm from. The next big thing to happen there was 9/11 when a load of planes were diverted there, which nearly doubled the number of people in the small town and nearby communities.

[jajdude]

While the Japanese did awful things in WWII, so did pretty much everyone else. But, it's in the past - Japan is now a civilized, peaceful, democratic, friendly nation. What's past is past, and it seems a shame to let an echo from history disturb our relations.

...

No country, or people, deserve this.

I know Koreans and Chinese, to mention two (lived in both), are still bitter about the past and what Japan did. They seemingly will never get over it. I wouldn't be surprised really if some people were cheering. Believe it or not, some Koreans were cheering after 9/11. I have no idea why.

[sithkittie]

All of those old prejudices are really coming back to surface again, which is sad and utterly pointless (and stupid) in my opinion. Some of my Japanese friends here have started to get paranoid about Chinese spies in the government causing the delayed responses. There's been people afraid that North Korea or China is going to take this opportunity to "get revenge" on Japan. Those of my friends who were against the US bases here are suddenly very happy with them. As if dealing with a natural disaster that's killed so many and pushed even the undamaged places to near panic isn't enough, we have to add politics and old prejudices into the mix. It's really frustrating to think about.

[Emil Miller]

Yes, the Japanese were cruel in their persecution of the Chinese in Manchuria and their prosecution of WW11. What cannot be denied is the courage with which they fought their enemies. The US had to pay a terrible price in casualties in regaining control of the Pacific Ocean and could only get control of Japan by using nuclear weapons. The current earthquake will be faced with the same stoicism and courage that are as much a hallmark of the Japanese as is their past cruelty.

[ClaesGefvenberg]

As for this particular disaster, the quality of human suffering is so raw that we should all be moved by it, regardless of national loyalties. On the radio this morning, they were interviewing an elderly Japanese woman (if not alive during the war, then certainly shortly after) who, amid the carnage and destruction of her village, was grimly searching for the means to give her husband and two sons a proper funeral as soon as possible. Her grief was quiet, dignified, and utterly moving - and though I am as far removed from being an elderly Japanese lady as it is possible to be, I felt such sympathy for her and her plight.

No country, or people, deserve this.Well said, and I can only agree. Japan has been dealt a crushing blow and will need both time and support to recover. For the time being most of us can offer no more than out sympathy, but there is that at least.

/Claes

[OrphanPip]

Japan's economy was already on a downward trajectory, arguably since the early 90s, this earthquake is just going to make it worse, on top of the human toll.

They're in a tough position, the country is even farther in debt than most of the welfare states of Europe. Which is mind boggling given that even high schools are privatized over there, but then again apparently Japanese people barely pay any income tax. Zimbabwe is the only country on Earth with a higher per capita debt...

[sithkittie]

but then again apparently Japanese people barely pay any income tax.

Income tax here is pretty reasonable, but residence tax and all of the other things the government takes money for (sales and insurance to name two major ones) add up to be a lot. Where that money goes is another matter.

And high schools are privatized here partly because the national government controls the public education system, also partly because it's past the age of compulsory education. Actually, after working in private schools here, I've come to the understanding that the education system here is very different than anything I grew up with or learned about in studying Japan.

But yeah, this is really going to hit the economy badly. With the power outages now, a lot of businesses are only half functioning, and stores are closing either all day or really early. A lot of my friends aren't getting paid because they can't get to work, and none of us are anywhere near the damaged areas.

[Delta40]

Sorry Scher. PTSD has been shown to be generational. I don't think saying the past is the past is going to make a difference to something which is embedded within a family. That aside, my heart goes out to the Japanese people affected by the disaster.

[Scheherazade]

~

I would like to remind everyone that this thread is about Japan being struct by a natural disaster.

Political comments will be removed without any further warning.

~

[JuniperWoolf]

Yeah, no kidding.

ANYWAY... what sucks about the radiation is that it's so difficult to measure and quantify. You can measure radiation in spots, but it's like if you put a drop of ink in a bowl of water. The irradiated air is going to spread through the normal air in the same way that the ink is going to spread, except it's invisible. So, no one will be able to get an accurate idea of the damage caused by this earthquake for decades (especially now, when there are bigger things happening to worry about).

But hey, at least pokemon are still everywhere:

http://i426.photobucket.com/albums/pp349/cellar_door17/190153_208721832477689_198279420188597_874462_2927 457_n.jpg

*edit* Oh yeah, if you'd like to donate some money to a relief fund, I'd go through ShelterBox, just because they purchase their supplies through Japanese companies (so you're helping in the short term by providing immediate needs to help people, and you're also helping the Japanese economy in the long run): http://shelterbox.org/

[Virgil]

My deepest sympathies to the people of Japan. I'm confident of an eventual recovery. I've always been impressed with the internal fortitude of the Japanese people. I'm sure it will serve you well here.

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

You know it's a pretty serious disaster when good ol' Rush Limbaugh makes fun of it.

[Lokasenna]

Things seem to be going from bad to worse in terms of the nuclear power plant. They're now just dumping seawater on it in the hope that will keep it cool enough to prevent a meltdown...

[kiki1982]

Last night (for us at least) they were repairing an electricity cable so that the cooling system could work.

I read on a commentry somewhere that it was not the earthquake that damaged the cooling system, but the tidal wave. And why? Because the cooling system or emergency colling system possibly, was powered by diesel generators in a cellar and the tidal wave... you guessed it... flooded the cellar, so the diesel generators did not work any more... You do have to be very clever to design something like that. :rolleyes:

Anyway, the situation will possibly get better when that cable is in place.

And right now sea water is about the only right resource to use...

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong though.

[billl]

The idea that Japan couldn't transport portable diesel generators anywhere on their Islands in less than 24 hours makes me wonder what in the heck is really going on. What kind of power does it take to run those electrical pumps?

[kiki1982]

I don't know about that. The BBC journalist was saying the other day that onl a few miles from where he was, the road was just full of debry... If the army does 3 days in pantsered vehicles to get to an affected village, then surely they can't just drive water, generators, you name it, down the road? Looking at the map, it doesn't seem ike an easy job.

Elecricity is also fantastic, but if the cables are broken, as they were apparently, then you are nowhere.

[OrphanPip]

The Toyota and Honda assembly plants in Ontario have begun laying off workers because there are no more auto-parts being imported from Japan. Apparently most of the factories were in the effected areas. The realities of a globalized economy.

[billl]

I still don't get how multiple helicopters can transport tons of water to be dumped on the plants, but can't get some out-door concert or hospital emergency generators out there. They keep talking about extending some power cable to the site, but I just never imagined the pumps would need to be so enormous or whatever.

[kiki1982]

Well, call me a bit too realistic but too big, too heavy for heli or maybe no place for the helicopter to land? Such pumps I would imagine need a lot more capacity, and should be a lot bigger than the average garden pump. And also... electric pumps without power? What are they going to do. The problem is probably not that they do not have the pumps, but that the pumps can't work because no electricity. That's quite straightforward.

I find this press approach to the whole thing a bit unsettling. Yesterday, we were watching ITV news. There was nothing to say, the journalist was just standing in Tokyo repeating the whole shabang (or however you write it) over and over again, about how much the Japanese press was questioning whatever was happening and how unsure the whole thing was. I even got m into a panic and that is hard to do.

I mean, here they are, no-one really knows what's going on because people are trying to deal with it, not communicate on it, the government is giving more information than ever before and so are updating continuously and then they get accused of not telling the truth. I mean, please, what do people prefer, not to know, or to know a little bit? And then there are journalists watching them every move clearly not understanding half of what is happening and why. Then writing a piece on it which say nothing and is only crammed with 'what are they not telling us? aah!'. Then they have an expert coming on TV who hasn't even seen any data, hasn't even been there who is going to tell his opinion about it, let's say, is going to get 30 seconds to try to give a balanced opinion. I mean, for God's sake, in all probability it is wrong or it will not be understood properly.Not by the journalist and not by the public. Then, please do not bother.

Then they get a scientist on there, a mere minute at most, who says, 'But Tshernobyl, who is talking of that? It is only a break down in the cooling system, Tshernobyl was a major disaster because it took place during a nuclear reaction, here it is a mere problem of cooling.' And then they go on about what the press is saying...

People are panic buying iodine tablets. Well, easy to say, 'Look, they are doing it,' but the more you tell them there is going to be a serious disaster, maybe without foundation, the more they're going to panic buy. It is as simple as that. You don't have to turn the symptoms into the cause...

And Daily Mail (or whichever it was) headlines '48 hours to avoid another Tshernobyl' are not going to help matters.

It is not to be trivialised, but it is no use speculating if you have not the faintest clue. If everyone would just calm down and ask a serious expert who is informed about the matter what the problem was, we would all be a lot better off.

Sorry for the rant, I had to get it off my chest. :)

[Emil Miller]

There has been extensive coverage of the reactor crisis on BBC world news channel but they keep running coverage of the Libyan fighting on the text level of the screen. It's Impossible to concentrate on Japan while the situation in Libya is reaching a critical point. I think there is some way of deleting the text news but I am unable to find out how it's done.

[billl]

Well, call me a bit too realistic but too big, too heavy for heli or maybe no place for the helicopter to land? Such pumps I would imagine need a lot more capacity, and should be a lot bigger than the average garden pump. And also... electric pumps without power? What are they going to do. The problem is probably not that they do not have the pumps, but that the pumps can't work because no electricity. That's quite straightforward.


Kiki, there are pumps at the plant, used to circulate the water. What they need is electricity to run them (the on site diesel back-up generators aren't working).

I'm just wondering if I'm the only person that's surprised that enough electricity can't be delivered by flying in new generating equipment (and fuel). I'd like to ask an expert about it, of course, but I'm a little uncomfortable doing that. It seemed to me like something a reporter would ask for us.

Anyhow, it's a stressful situation for a lot of people (I have a good friend over there), and I don't mean to get into fight about some misunderstandings in some posts on LitNet. You are quite right to rail against all the panic to no purpose going on.

[Janine]

Rachel Maddow on MSBNC (I watch it online) has had some great shows explaining in layman terms (plus she has a number of pyschiatists on to explain it as well) just what is going on there and it seems the spent fuel rods pose more of a threat than the core of the reactor, which is incased. These are used rods, can't be reused and are kept in a pool of cool water to keep them from eroding or blowing up altogether. In that case they would emit large amounts of radiations which they believe one reactor is already doing. As far as dumping water on them, it's very dangerous for the piolots and they can only be over the site for a short amount of time. It's like trying to hit a target with little visibility and also it's a drop in the bucket as to how much water is needed. They also tried firing hoses at the reactor but that apparently did not work. The only hope is the rehooking up of the powerline but that is a long shot, too. No one knows if the reactors are too damaged to resume functioning and pumping in the much needed water.

I have also been watching CNN on TV and must say it's been the best coverage so far. I give those news guys a lot of credit - they risk their necks, too to report the news as it unfolds. I think Anderson Cooper is a little skittish about the radiation degrees since he keeps asking Dr. Kupta just what the meters they wear mean and how much radiation is a threat to people.

The photos have been amazing and online on CNN you can see a panoramic view of one area of distruction. Hard to believe a town was once there - now just a pile of rubble and twisted homes and metal...so sad. I feel total sympathy for the Japanese people and I can't get over how peaceful and orderly and stalwart these people are in the face of devastation.

I have a friend in Japan but presently he is in Sri Lanka where he is hoping to move. His wife is still in Japan in 100 miles from Tokyo, but she is fine as she lives on a hill in a high rise appartment overlooking Fugi. She said the quake was something and the building swayed and books feel from shelves along with some copies of some artwork I sent my friend, her husband. I now have had my artwork in a major earthquake. Seems it survived but not the glass covering it. So much for that.

I hope the nuclear situation is soon resolved to minimise any more loss of life. Pray God the electric line works.

[kiki1982]

I'm also hoping the electric line works. Thanks for that report. :)

I was also thinking of the loss of money, though. Imagine Fukushima has to be partly written off... Normally you write such a nuclear plant off at 20-30 years? Imagine part of it is totally destroyed and needs to be dismantled? Not only the cost of dismantling, which is also considerable, but no eleectricity anymore ad they have to build a new one New investment and loss of money in one go... And they are already in such a lot of debt.

@bill:

There is a shortage of fuel, so even if they were to fly generators in (where to put them is another matter), they would still have the problem of supplying them with fuel. If the petrol stations cannot get it due to road problems, the nuclear plant cannot either.

Reporters indeed ask, but I have the impression that they ask with the express intention of, 'You are not telling us the truth, are you.' And then the person interviewed says, 'Well of course we are.' And who is going to believe that person? No-one is and that is what has happened over the past days.

Though it is sad to see that they can't even get food up there. BBC news yesterday... A woman and her mother were flooded, they managed to swim to a cupboard. Then the woman carries her 80-year-old mother on her back (!) to an emergency shelter several miles away. They get there. The first day they get a banana each, the second half a banana each and the third a bisquit to share... Then she gets her mother to a hospital and what do they find there? A lot of hungry people and doctors who get 3 scoops of rice a day... and the rest nothing. Well, the doctors are indeed the priority, but imagine having no food whatsoever! (crosses fingers that the roads may be cleared and that food may get through)

Indeed the problem with the sea water was that the helis couldn't come as close as they should to hit their target due to radiation. So they had to do it from too far above and then it's a bit like hit and miss, like Janine said.

[Olga4real]

Whenever I listen to the news about Japan tears come to my eyes. I admire the Japanese people, the prices have not risen people don't panic, they don't maraud. Russian news say that there is no danger of nuclear explosion any more. I hope it's true. Remember that Russia is geographically close to Japan.

[kiki1982]

It seems to be true, yes. They have stabilised the reactors, only cooling in reactor 2 would not be up and running yet, but temperatures in the cooling tanks are going down...

I spite of this, the plant should be written off, but it remains to be seen whether Tepco (the company who owns it) will write it off and dismantle it.

[Janine]

Well read the latest reports - those 4 or so plants are still not out of danger. Apparently they don't know yet if the pumps will even work and one is out of order; because it definitely doesn't work now that they hooked up the power. Bad news seems to be that they don't know how long that will take to get to Japan. Also this morning their time - Tues another explosion happened at the one plant releasing even more radiation. They also have pulled more vegatables from the market and some beans showed up radiative in another country from export. I don't see where any of this is great news. For now they said they are continuing the efforts of pouring sea water on the plants, especially the most damaged ones. I saw one report that said showed a chart and I believe at least 3 of the plants, maybe 4 have had partical meltdowns. I will look for the link to this article in particular and post it here. Now they are also testing seafood since seawater was detected 100 miles out dainted with higher than normal radiation.

[kiki1982]

Well, it seems two days ago it looked more positive. haven't read the news yet.