8.9 magnitude earthquake in japan

[Titanic]

Mike@Sky:
Japan's Meteorological Agency has recorded maximum tsunami heights in excess of 23ft (7.3m) at some coastal points in the far north of the country.

 

[DTES]

Tsunami hitting Kamaishi

 

[GNF on Tour]

New Zealand downgraded wave alert, which means I can go to bed now.

NZ, Japan - who is next?

 

[brighton_girl87]

BBC News - Huge whirlpool created after Japan quake

 

[Barrel of Fun]

It really is compelling viewing. Again, very much in awe of the power and destruction of a natural disaster.

44 reported dead so far. A mere tip of the iceberg. Bad times.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

Japan is one of the most earthquake-proofed countries on the planet too. Insofar as you can be earthquake proof.

 

[BLOCK F]

My boy is currently in Japan doing voluntary work in a Tokyo orphanage.Had a worrying few hours but have just heard from the charity that he is safe and well.Phew!

 

[Guy Fawkes]

f***!!! they are saying a nuclear reactor is warming up and the cant cool it down!!!!

Jeez - apparently there's a problem pumping water into the coolers in the nuclear reactor.

BBC: "Japan has declared a state of emergency because of the failure of the cooling system at one nuclear plant, according to the Associated Press. Officials say there has been no leak of radiation."

f***.

They are reporting that this has been caused by a power failure to the coolant pumping systems, despite there supposedly being several fail-safes in place to prevent this

 

[DTES]

Japan is one of the most earthquake-proofed countries on the planet too. Insofar as you can be earthquake proof.

Earthquake-proofing is one thing - but you can't be tsunami proof...

 

[Pat McCrotch]

There are something like 20,000-30,000 islands that make up pacific micronesia. This tsunami business does not make good reading for the majority of them. BBC news reporting specifically that Tuvalu could be wiped off the map

 

[Lady Whistledown]

Earthquake-proofing is one thing - but you can't be tsunami proof...

This is true. I was just thinking that Tokyo appears to have escaped relatively unscathed in terms of damage bearing in mind the sheer magnitude of this quake- and I know that's partly down to the distance from the epicentre and the depth of the tremors- but a lot of that must be due to the way in which their buildings are engineered. You would still expect a city to be falling apart after a 8.9 magnitude quake, but Tokyo doesn't seem too badly affected, at least not from what's been seen on TV so far.

A similar quake affecting, say, Manila, might have a more physically devastating effect.

 

[deletebeepbeepbeep]

There are something like 20,000-30,000 islands that make up pacific micronesia. This tsunami business does not make good reading for the majority of them. BBC news reporting specifically that Tuvalu could be wiped off the map

The place known for its .tv domain which it sold for too little bearing in mind it has next to no natural resources. It's scary to think what is going to happen to these places

 

[ben andrews' girlfriend]

Currently showing videos of Miyako port - just unbelieveable. Looks like something out of a movie.

 

[Gully]

A similar quake affecting, say, Manila, might have a more physically devastating effect.

Agreed, apparently many newer buildings in Japan have been built to withstand even the severest of earthquakes, though their efficiency probably doesn't happen almost anywhere else in the World. Remember the pictures from Christchurch, where apparently a third of the buildings in the city centre will need to be demolished, much of the damage was to older buildings like the cathedral.

 

[DTES]

This is true. I was just thinking .... you would still expect a city to be falling apart after a 8.9 magnitude quake, but Tokyo doesn't seem too badly affected, at least not from what's been seen on TV so far.

A similar quake affecting, say, Manila, might have a more physically devastating effect.

Yes, absolutely - they are as well-prepared as they possibly could have been for this.

 

[Guy Fawkes]

There are something like 20,000-30,000 islands that make up pacific micronesia. This tsunami business does not make good reading for the majority of them. BBC news reporting specifically that Tuvalu could be wiped off the map

Hopefully it won't be too bad going by islands already hit by the Tsunami waves like Wake Island (located about half way between Hawaii and Japan) they are reporting that the island has a maximum elevation of 20ft but the wave reached a maximum height of 6ft. However they have said that due to the depth of water in the mid Pacific the waves tend to be lower but once the Tsunami reaches shallower water the waves tend to rise up again so it could be worse when it reaches places like Micronesia. Fingers crossed everywhere else yet to be hit gets off lightly

 

[Danny-Boy]

They just had a bloke on live from Hawaii, where they expect the tsunami to hit in about four hours time or early this afternoon UK time. Someone made the point that the tsunami wave is higher than many Pacific islands, which doesn't sound good for places like the Maldives.

The Maldives are in the Indian Ocean..should be safe.

 

[Guy Fawkes]

They are reporting that this has been caused by a power failure to the coolant pumping systems, despite there supposedly being several fail-safes in place to prevent this

They are reporting this problem at 2 nuclear power plants now and another has had a fire

Apparently its the first time ever that Japan has declared a Nuclear heightened state of emergency

 

[Lady Whistledown]

They were talking about 44 confirmed deaths so far...looking at the effect of those waves and seeing HGVs and houses getting swept away, you have to think it's going to be a lot, lot higher in the end

 

[Marc]

just saw a Heli shot of the tsunami rushing over land with cars driving away up the road, that must be f***ing scary to see in your rear view mirror