8.9 earthquake in japan

[Scaru]

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapc...pt=T1&iref=BN1

[Rick]

Sirens woke residents in the middle of the night in Hawaii, where the governor ordered the evacuation of coastal areas and warned residents to take the threat seriously. People waited in long lines stocking up on gas, bottled water, canned food and generators, and officials told residents to stock up on water and fill their cars with gas.

The first waves to hit Hawaii could reach 6 feet high and were expected to hit about 3 a.m. local time (9 a.m. EST.)


http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/...yssey=nav|head

[roar-k]

Such a horrific event. I was looking at some of the pictures and the devastation is pretty horrible. Could you imagine seeing ships in the middle of downtown?

[BENESSE]

Southern AK might be affected, just heard on Fox.

[Justin Case]

Here are some awesome photos http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...100651#photo=1

[Sourdough]

http://www.businessinsider.com/fukus...r-plant-2011-3

[Trabitha]

They JUST got hit with a 6.6 in Central Japan. Man...they are getting slammed...

[crashdive123]

There have been over 50 after shocks greater than 5.0.

I was up at about 4:30 to head out and watched what I could. During the course of the morning some supposed "experts" were on talking about the radio. Most were urging caution and to be prepared, but they ran the range from hysterical to why worry. One was saying the the west coast of the US was going to see the worst natural disaster in history. He went on and on about the devastation that would ensue. Another said - no big deal - if you surf you should head to the beach. I think the first was from somebody that watched too many Hollywood movies and the second was headed out to refill his medical marijuana prescription. I wonder what the second "dude" would say to the four that were swept out to sea from a California beach or those in California that lost or had damage to their homes?

[Trabitha]

It's just so darn irresponsible. They've been getting large off shore quakes all week...that they didn't expect a big one...or at least put a warning out there...is so confusing to me.
I was looking at the earthquake map the other day just watching all the off shore quakes pop up. I remember looking at my husband and saying, "wow...it almost looks like that whole darn plate is ready to go." I certainly hope that doesn't happen...

[Sourdough]

http://www.stripes.com/news/at-misaw...eople-1.137385

[crashdive123]

The problems at the one nuke plant that has cooling problems is getting worse. They've evacuated a 10 km buffer and are talking about releasing pressure (which would release radioactivity into the atmosphere). I really hope the get coolant flow back, and soon.

[TomChemEngineer]

This quake/ tsunami is a sharp reminder of why we Prep, and why we live in places that are reinforced, above flood lines, keep our affairs in order and learn new skills constantly, store water and food, keep our Medical Kits and gas/ diesel tanks full, and prepare the ubiquitous BugOut Bags with multiple plans and multiple routes to a "safe" location in case all of this is not enough. Our "hobby" is a deadly serious one that we sometimes shroud in the guise of "camping" and "hunting" and "hiking", but the idea is all the same.

[Rick]

Amen, brother. You just never know.

[Rick]

I just watched a Purdue University professor that studied plate tectonics in Japan. He said the quake was 500 times more powerful than the one that hit Haiti. Sort of speaks volumes for building codes.

[crashdive123]

Some of the latest videos being shown are compelling. You can watch entire towns being removed from the face of the earth in a matter of seconds.

[panch0]

OMG that is horrible stuff. My thought are with the Japanese folks.

[LowKey]

The force of that water was amazing. Nothing could stop it.

[Pal334]

http://www.businessweek.com/news/201...4-injured.html


Excerpts from the article;
Blast Destroys Walls of Japan Reactor Building, 4 Injured

"March 12 (Bloomberg) -- An explosion near a nuclear power station north of Tokyo destroyed the walls of a reactor building and injured four people. Japanese officials said the reactor may melt down following yesterday’s record earthquake."


"The government earlier today widened the evacuation zone around the reactor to 10 kilometers from 3 kilometers, affecting thousands of people. The evacuation zone will be maintained at 10 kilometers from Dai-Ni plant and will be extended to 20 kilometers from Dai-Ichi plant, said Toshihiro Murakamia, spokesman for the Fukushima prefecture government."

[crashdive123]

Here's a video of the explosion.

[TomChemEngineer]

Nature always wins in the long run, and whenever she decides. We can't stop water, wind, earth, fire, freezes... all the forces that have shaped our planet for 4.5 billion years... we can only hope to redirect them for short periods of time.