I live about 300km S from the epicenter of Friday's earthquake. You could see the road rolling like waves. I went home quickly to check on my wife and apartment - everything was ok. Some friends who work in Tokyo still haven't been able to come home yet. On the positive side, Japanese people have earthquake drills from early childhood, so there was no sense of panic. I think that will come later when fresh food becomes unavailable in the supermarkets.
Glad to hear you are okay. I know everyone is hoping for the best possible outcomes over there. I`ve experienced a 7.1 before and it was unreal. I still can`t imagine what everyone there went through.
Nice to hear good news amidst the destruction. Glad you are ok. My heart and hopes are with Japan through this.
Thank you everyone for the kind words and concern. Now it looks like the Tokyo/Yokohama area will be having rotating 3 hour black outs. Most of the main JR lines have stopped today to save energy. Most ATMs are down. On the bright side there may be a baby boom early next year. edit maybe no bright side. At 11:01am it looks like #3 reactor at Fukushima exploded.
Here is a Google link shared with me that shows aerial shots of before and after pics of certain areas of where this all happened ... there are 46 photos, and the site might pop up on the last photo, so just click back to the beginning. This is absolutely amazing, and such a shame ... last I heard, there were 10,000 or more unaccounted for.
This is certainly an incredible tragedy, and it makes you think what could happen elsewhere, especially if you're someone like me who watches all the documentaries on the state of our planet. You can never wage a battle with Mother Nature ... she will win every time. My thoughts are definitely with those who are going through this right now, as well as their families and friends. Mariko on PCF said that 7 family members hadn't been heard from, so I really wish the best outcome in this instance as well. I'm glad to see that so many from around the world are engaged in relief efforts ... and it's nice to know that our community always rallies with their best wishes when things like this happen.
about those nuclear reactors i have heard that they havnt exploded but there is yust radiation leek but i may be incorect too :( those pictures ar yust creepy to watch MindStar9
I know, but it sure does bring a whole new perspective to it, and it's just an awful tragedy. I know that parts of the west coast US had a bit of backlash from the tsunami, but they aren't complaining so much as a result of what Japan has to deal with ... they consider themselves rather lucky. Even those who lived on houseboats say they can always stay with family in the interim, but those in Japan have it far, far worse unfortunately. :(
One of them had a *steam* explosion when a burst pipe poured water on the hot fuel rods. While there have been some small leaks, there has most certainly not been a nuclear explosion. While radioactive water vapor, etc is cause for some concern, nothing I've seen indicates that fissionable materials have escaped from containment. It's not as bad as it could be. CORRECTION: At least 1 reactor containment vessel has been breeched. The state of the reactor within is unknown at this time.
For those who didn't yet see it: http://www.entropiaplanets.com/foru...ion-help-out-victims-japanese-earthquake.html
Happy you and your family are OK Neuromancer. I am very lucky to live in an area of the world without any natural disasters, but I can imagine how scary it must be. What surprised me is the fact that all the Japanese people are so calm. This is probably because of the training they have from childhood like Neuromancer said, but I'm sure that in may countries there would be panic and looting. I hope that everything will be OK there and that rebuilding can start soon, but it will no doubt take many years before everything is rebuild and cleaned up. And lets hope for the sake of Japan and the rest of the World that those nuclear plants will not be damaged any more then they have been already. For anyone wanting even more info about this there is a Japanese TV station broadcasting in English on the web: NHK WORLD English
