March 2011 Tohoku Earthquake

[bill937ca]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/video/japan-launches-military-rescue/article1939829/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=feedburner&utm_content=My+Yahoo&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheGlobeAndMail-Front+%28The+Globe+and+Mail+-+Latest+News%29

 

Video showing a train on its side after the tsunami at Shinchi.  Its scary how much that train looks like a toy.  All the passengers apparently escaped before the tsunami hit.

[bill937ca]

 

Akihabara during the earthquake. In Tokyo the earthquake was 5.5 or about half of the epicenter.

[scott]

ESRI has put up an online GIS for the earthquake, with info, picture, & video links:

 

http://www.esri.com/services/disaster-response/japan-earthquake-tsunami-2011-map/index.html

[cteno4]

We just got word that Kodama-san, the executive director of JRM's sister club in Iwatetsu, and his family are ok. everything shaken and lost power and water for 24hrs, but back now. no internet but some texting via cell phone.

 

they still have not heard from many members and especially worried about several members who live in Miyako which was wiped out by the tsunami.

 

cheers

 

jeff

[spacecadet]

As for the nuclear power plant, who knows what the severity really is at this point, but overall I think it's a good choice to maybe not tell the whole truth and cause any more panic than necessary.

 

The people who live near the plant have a right to know what's going on beyond "you have to leave even though everything's perfectly fine".  And the people right outside of the exclusion zone, which is really just an arbitrarily defined line, have a right to know too.

 

Anyway they've had two partial meltdowns at this point (one of which is still progressing), so it's pretty severe.

[Morian Miner]

Found out today a friend of mine over in Tokyo on business and was supposed to fly out today.  He's still stranded over there.  Will be interesting to talk to him when he gets back.

 

When in college in mid-90s, worked for a professor who's expertise was tsunami research. If anything can come out of this earthquake and the Indonesian one from a few years back, its that people are a little more conscious of what a tsunami can do.  At that time, I would talk to people about this and would get nothing back put blank stares.

 

On a lighter note about this - found out the day before the quake my first purchase of Japanese railroad equipment - a Kiha 110, was shipped out on March 8.  Not knowing all the details of how SAL works, I wonder if my package made it off the island before the quake or is lost somewhere in all that chaos, and when I'll see it.  Just know I'll definitely have to be patient. 

[westfalen]

Video on Australian TV today of the damage on the ground, as bad as our floods and the Christchurch earthquake were they are nothing compared to this.

[bikkuri bahn]

The people who live near the plant have a right to know what's going on beyond "you have to leave even though everything's perfectly fine".  And the people right outside of the exclusion zone, which is really just an arbitrarily defined line, have a right to know too.

 

FWIW, the television networks are giving extensive coverage to the nuclear situation, roughly 50% of air time compared to the damage caused by the tsunamis.  Experts on nuclear power as well as medical experts on radiation have been panelists, with detailed diagrams of the reactor as well as possible explanations of what happened.  Also weather reports in the area, specifically the direction of wind in 3 hour segments.  Whether residents in the area affected can watch the reports is another matter.

[Tenorikuma]

Japanese Coast Guard rescued a 63-year-old man who had been swept away by the tsunami and was found drifting 15 km offshore.

 

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20110313/t10014642861000.html

 

I was quite relieved when I checked the news this morning and read that they'd gotten the Fukushima situation under control (more or less) and were pumping seawater into unit 1. It's going to take ten hours to fill and about ten days to fully cool down the core. (!)

[Fat Al]

I just got a hold of my friend's mother, he survived the tsunami at Sendai Airport, and he was evacuated to Tokyo yesterday. Now it seems he's flying relief supplies into Fukushima from Haneda.

[Guest JRF-1935]

We just got word that Kodama-san, the executive director of JRM's sister club in Iwatetsu, and his family are ok. everything shaken and lost power and water for 24hrs, but back now. no internet but some texting via cell phone.

 

they still have not heard from many members and especially worried about several members who live in Miyako which was wiped out by the tsunami.

 

cheers

 

jeff

Jeff

  Glad to hear that.  Finally got word from our friend Hiroshi-San who corresponds with East Penn members and he is OK.  Says that many towns were completely wiped out by the Tsunami and no signs of survivors, only scrap.  Main concern right now is the possibility of melt down in 2 of the nuclear complexes.  Seems the situation is much worse than we know.  He asks for our prayers.

Rich C

[bikkuri bahn]

I just got a hold of my friend's mother, he survived the tsunami at Sendai Airport, and he was evacuated to Tokyo yesterday. Now it seems he's flying relief supplies into Fukushima from Haneda.

 

That's very good to know Al, every time I saw an aerial shot of the airport from a helo, I thought about your friend.  Regarding airports, apparently runway clearing/cleaning equipment is being sent from Haneda AP to Sendai, with a view to getting Sendai AP operational again.  Also, Yamagata AP, at the request of Prefectural officials, is being run 24 hours a day to (it usually closes down in the evening) so as to accomodate relief flights.

[Fat Al]

Actually, it seems I got the wrong information. I just got a call from him directly, he's in Fukushima Airport right now, and he's quite traumatized. There are still well over a thousand people stuck in the airport, with no food and water. He drew lots, and managed to escape from Sendai Kuko by car, with the tsunami warnings still going. Apparently he's seen a lot of dead bodies along the way, as people were evacuated from the terminal during the earthquake, and many of them were washed away by the tsunami while they were in the evacuation area. The people who stayed inside the terminal survived.

 

It's pretty traumatic.

[Bernard]

This morning I watched CBS's "Sunday Morning" News show which gave extensive videos of the damage. Within seconds seeing farm fields, homes, cars, disappear in a flash. They estimate so far that the damage is about 5 billion dollars. As well as Japan has been prepared for events like this, it shows how strong Nature can be.

 

Al - I can't even image what your friend is seeing on the streets and it will be a while before they know the total loss of lives from the Earthquake.

[harukablue]

Dont forget the Aizu cam is in this area, currently not working but i did look at it about two hours after the earthquake and the station was deserted with the light off.

[disturbman]

In Tokyo the earthquake was 5.5 or about half of the epicenter.

 

Which doesn't mean so much since the scale use to measure earthquake magnitude is a base-10 logarythmic scale.

 

To use an understanble scale you might want to think about it in terms of TNT explosive force. In this case the energy deployed by a 5.5 earthquake is 2.67 kilotons whereas a 8.9 is around something like 300 000 kilotons. The atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima was recorded around 15 kilotons.

[angusmclean]

This morning I watched CBS's "Sunday Morning" News show which gave extensive videos of the damage. Within seconds seeing farm fields, homes, cars, disappear in a flash. They estimate so far that the damage is about 5 billion dollars. As well as Japan has been prepared for events like this, it shows how strong Nature can be.

 

Al - I can't even image what your friend is seeing on the streets and it will be a while before they know the total loss of lives from the Earthquake.

 

The cost of the Christchurch quake is expected to be in excess of US15 billion, and had the re-insurers around the world rather concerned;  based on that estimate, Japan's loss is going to be astronomical. Many re-insurers will be considering rather drastic actions.

 

Angus

[Fenway Park]

Absolutely frightening.  The before and after photos show the power of nature.  My thoughts and prayers are with those affected.

 

Save the Children have launched an appeal today for Japan. Although Japan is a wealthy country there will be many children affected who will need help both now and for many years to come.

 

Malcolm

[Nick_Burman]

Japanese Coast Guard rescued a 63-year-old man who had been swept away by the tsunami and was found drifting 15 km offshore.

 

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20110313/t10014642861000.html

 

I was quite relieved when I checked the news this morning and read that they'd gotten the Fukushima situation under control (more or less) and were pumping seawater into unit 1. It's going to take ten hours to fill and about ten days to fully cool down the core. (!)

 

Except that pumping sea water destroys the fissile material, which means that the reactor is prettyuseless after that. Japan will be facing power outages for some time to come...except that it's better to face a power outage than a nuclear emergency.

 

I'm sad about the death toll; I'm not particularly worried about the displaced people and material damage as the Japanese are very well prepared to cope with such situations and will extricate themselves out of it in no time at all (reconstruction is another matter altogether). Charles Small said in "Rails to the Setting Sun" that when disasters happen the Japanese say shikata ga nai (it can't be helped) and get on with putting their lives back on track. But this power plant affair is making me feel very uneasy indeed...

 

 

 

 

 

Cheers NB

[Tosaden]

It is completely horrible to see what happened in Japan. I see the pics N vids ov tv and I am shocked. I am happy that we won't have such earthquakes here in Europe.

 

I think the flood was the worst of it.

 

I hope that they find many survivors. The german technical relief service (THW) is alreday in japan. I was a member of the THW for over 20 years and I helped in some critical situations, floods too.

[bill937ca]

There is coverage of the current train related events on Quashlo's thread on Skyscraper City.

 

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?p=74088546#post74088546

 

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=74238507&postcount=2225

 

Power consumption is being curtailed which will affect the railways and the people's ability to move around. Knowing the Japanese they may just stay at work all week, cutting down the need for commuting. Tokyo Metro will run without AC.

 

Just in case anyone forgets it looks like train orders from suppliers in Tokyo could be affected for some time. HS has a notice that their office and warehouse were affected. Narita is probably still closed.

[Tecchan]

There is coverage of the current train related events on Quashlo's thread on Skyscraper City.

 

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?p=74088546#post74088546

 

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=74238507&postcount=2225

 

Power consumption is being curtailed which will affect the railways and the people's ability to move around. Knowing the Japanese they may just stay at work all week, cutting down the need for commuting. Tokyo Metro will run without AC.

 

Just in case anyone forgets it looks like train orders from suppliers in Tokyo could be affected for awhile.  HS has a notice that their office and warehouse were affected. Narita is probably still closed.

 

I order very often non train related goods at HLJ and they posted lots of pictures on their Facebook page and Twitter account. There is lots and lots of things to put back on the shelves...

[Martijn Meerts]

I couldn't care less if orders are delayed, there's much more important things to be taken care of in Japan first...

[bill937ca]

More photos of the damage.

 

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/asia-pacific/search-for-survivors-clean-up-underway-in-japan-after-double-disasters/article1940048/

[bikkuri bahn]

Relating to train service in the Tokyo area:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-14/tokyo-rail-operators-cut-services-by-up-to-80-amid-quake-power-shortages.html

 

Frankly, companies in the CBD should tell non-critical workers to take holiday for the week, stagger commute times, or institute half days.  With these rolling blackouts, you can't run a modern office.