[mattyb]

Damn. The images of the wave coming inland are scary.

[Spheric Harlot]

Goddamn, yes. *Most* of my friends are accounted for and okay, so far.

[ghporter]

I am not aware of any acquaintances in Japan right now, but I'm still anxious for everyone there. The news is saying that at least 32 people have died, and there are pictures that I would have thought came from a weak sci-fi movie if they hadn't been real.

Since Hawaii has been having so much more volcanic activity lately, their earthquake isn't that surprising-it was supposedly not related to Japan's quake. But they're probably all related at one level or another, and I'll bet that more are in store for the whole Pacific Rim. My heart goes out to everyone in Japan, and everyone who is impacted by the waves and aftershocks.

[Andy8]

Christchurch 6.3 22nd Feb
Yunnan 5.4 10th March
Japan 8.9 11th March

[imitchellg5]

The photos from BBC and NYT are simply staggering. No words.

[osiris]

My extended family west of Tokyo is fine, just received emails. Thankfully so many buildings are earthquake proof, so I'm told. The Tsunami is the next big scary thing, hope an undersea ridge lessens that mother.

[Laminar]

My flight took off from Narita three hours before it hit. We'd been feeling tremors all week, at least three separate incidents. I've been inundated with calls and emails since landing, especially since me being out of contact for a 12 hour flight made people a bit nervous.

[Laminar]

Just heard from my colleagues in Tokyo, they're all okay but they're stuck at the office (currently after midnight) as the train is shut down.

[mattyb]

Wow, close call.

I dunno if its the same area filmed by different helicopters, but I'm seeing waves just wash over buildings with cars less than a mile away fleeing the scene. Scary as fcuk.

[andi*pandi]

Yes, the video is scary. Seeing cars driving along and then <wave>. :0

[osiris]

On a more positive note, Maru the cat is safe:

Breaking news from Japan: Maru the internet-famous cat is safe and sound. - Boing Boing

[ajprice]

Its a scary thing to see in photos and videos, my boss is in Japan at the moment, he emailed in this morning to say he is safe.

If anybody has got a Nissan or Infiniti on order, it may take a while to send you a good one...

Tsunami in Japan destroys fleet of cars ready for shipping &mdash; Autoblog

[subego]

Seeing all the images, it really is amazing there weren't more fatalities.

[subego]

Originally Posted by Laminar 

My flight took off from Narita three hours before it hit. We'd been feeling tremors all week, at least three separate incidents. I've been inundated with calls and emails since landing, especially since me being out of contact for a 12 hour flight made people a bit nervous.

Wow. Glad you made it out.

Out of (purely morbid) curiosity, how did the news reach the plane, and then how did that go down?

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally Posted by subego 

Seeing all the images, it really is amazing there weren't more fatalities.

We really don't know yet.

I remember that in the 90s, the Tokyo municipal government had emergency plans for the Kanto Daijishin that estimated, best-case, around 300,000 dead in Tokyo.

This wasn't Kanto, so Tokyo wasn't hardest-hit, but I suspect we won't even have a real idea of what's happened until in a few days.

Whatever turns out - we really can't know, yet.

[subego]

You're absolutely right.

I should have said "more fatalities reported so far".

[Spheric Harlot]

And of course, we're still looking at a Three-Mile-Island scenario in Fukushima.

God I hope they can keep the damn thing within non-critical temperatures.

[mattyb]

It would be a real kick in the teeth having to sort out a nuclear incident as well as the earthquakes, plus tsunami. Fukushima-Daiichi isn't looking good.

[Laminar]

Originally Posted by subego 

Wow. Glad you made it out.

Out of (purely morbid) curiosity, how did the news reach the plane, and then how did that go down?

No one knew until we landed, turned our phones on, and everyone saw the texts/emails from concerned friends/relatives. No one freaked out, just some murmuring.

[osiris]

If anyone is interested, here's a Japanese application to watch live TV from Japan.
It's free and uncensored. I suggest フジテレビ Fuji Television, or テレビ朝日 TV Asahi.
It's not in HD or anything close, but it is live.

KeyHoleTV & KeyHoleVideo�|�L�[�z�[���e���r���L�[�z�[���r�f�I�|

(the link is good, despite any character weirdness)

[Spheric Harlot]

Also here: NHK WORLD English

[subego]

Originally Posted by Laminar 

No one knew until we landed, turned our phones on, and everyone saw the texts/emails from concerned friends/relatives. No one freaked out, just some murmuring.

Yikes.

Mr. Morbid assumes the pilots knew. Makes sense they wouldn't announce it. No real point.

[brassplayersrock²]

2 hours?! If you believe in a higher power, or fate, then you better thank it now. yikes, Glad that you're okay.

[Laminar]

Originally Posted by brassplayersrock² 

2 hours?! If you believe in a higher power, or fate, then you better thank it now. yikes, Glad that you're okay.

A guy on another forum I frequent was on the runway when it happened. They got delayed six hours but they did end up being able to fly out same day.

[Dork.]

I've been trying to follow the issues at the nuclear plants. The Internet says that the one with all the problems has the same design as Three Mile Island, but without the containment dome. This could get messy.

[davidflas]

According to CNN the main island of Japan has moved 8ft as a result of the quake and the earth's axis has shifted by 4 inches!

[Dork.]

I looked up the Fukushima power plant in Wikipedia, and people seem to be keeping it up to date with current news. According to a Reuters link I found there, the concrete building around the reactor collapsed, but the reactor structure itself is still intact. They are starting to pump in seawater to cool it down. So, hopefully, it won't get quite as messy as I first thought.

Japan to fill leaking nuke reactor with sea water | Energy & Oil | Reuters

Also, Wiki says that Three-Mile Island uses Pressurized Water Reactors. while the Fukushima plant uses Boiling Water Reactors. So they're not exactly the same, but both reactor designs are of the same time period. (The Fukushima plant first went online in the early 70's.)

[brassplayersrock²]

Originally Posted by davidflas 

According to CNN the main island of Japan has moved 8ft as a result of the quake and the earth's axis has shifted by 4 inches!

Did Japan move 8ft more inland, or out land?

[P]

East, so away from the Asian mainland and closer to America.

What little I remember from nuclear physics indicates that the reactor in question cannot melt down - technically. If the temperature goes too high, the reaction stops, which puts a hard limit on the internal temperature, and the equipment can be designed to withstand that temperature. The only question is how LONG the equipment can withstand it.

[ghporter]

Cooling water is also the moderator in pressurized water reactors. In theory, moderation works best with denser (cooler) water, so when the reactor and coolant are overall cooler, more neutrons are slow enough to collide with fuel nuclei and sustain the reaction, while at higher temperatures the neutrons aren't slowed as much and there are fewer collisions with fuel nuclei. However, the negative thermal coefficient of water as a moderator has only limited effect in practice-if the temperature is high enough to pressurize the water too highly (or boil off too much water in a boiling water reactor), there will still be plenty of collisions to maintain the reaction.

Reducing the reaction rate in a big way is the job of dampers and control rods, usually made of a combination of silver, cadmium and indium, which have a property that allows them to absorb neutrons fairly readily. Boron is often also used for control, in the form of adding boric acid to the coolant water. Which of course assumes that there's enough movement of coolant water to get the boron into the core.

In short, yes, it can melt down, though more likely this design will build up excessive pressure in the reactor vessel and produce a steam explosion. Which may be what happened; there are numerous reports of an explosion at that power station.

[Laminar]

Originally Posted by P 

East, so away from the Asian mainland and closer to America.

So we should see a drop in plane ticket prices, right?

[brassplayersrock²]

Originally Posted by Laminar 

So we should see a drop in plane ticket prices, right?

I bet that Sarah can see it easier now!

[brassplayersrock²]

If anyone wants to watch live Japanese TV CNN.com Live

[AKcrab]

Before and after. Amazing.
ABC News - Japan Earthquake: before and after

[Brien]

Mount Shinmoedake has apparently erupted.

[brassplayersrock²]

I read that the volcano lay dormant for a couple of weeks before the earthquake. In the same article, it was said that windows up to 4 miles away were blown out by the blast.

[subego]

And it looks like another reactor building exploded.

[andi*pandi]

I can't watch any more coverage. I just went to redcross.org instead.

[turtle777]

n/m , AKcrab already posted it.

-t

[SpaceMonkey]

To andi*pandi's point, just some links to pass on if anyone is wondering about places to donate.

The Japanese Red Cross Society's website is here:
JAPANESE RED CROSS SOCIETY｜ENGLISH

There is bank transfer information here if you want your funds to be specifically earmarked for the affected population of the earthquake and tsunami:
http://www.jrc.or.jp/english/relief/..._00002070.html

You can also donate (in Yen) via Google Checkout here:
2011 Japanese Earthquake and Tsunami

You can give in USD via the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies to the fund for Japan here:
About the donations to Japan - IFRC

The Japanese American Student Union is planning a number of fundraisers in universities on the East coast:
Home - Japan Relief Project

[subego]

http://video.l3.fbcdn.net/cfs-l3-snc...eeaecd6dc12abf

Footage from someone starting as the water rolls in to about five minutes later.

I haven't seen anything quite like it. No people are obviously injured.

[Spheric Harlot]

That's absolutely terrifying.

[turtle777]

This is the worst I have seen, taken from a helicopter.
Some of the cars seem completely oblivious to what's coming.

YouTube - Natorigawa River TSUNAMI Earthquake in Japan

-t

[Wiskedjak]

What's so terrifying for me is how relentless it is. Hollywood would show it as a massive wall of water that plows through the street in about 30 seconds. The reality just keeps on building, slowly eating away at everything in it's path.

[brassplayersrock²]

Originally Posted by turtle777 

This is the worst I have seen, taken from a helicopter.
Some of the cars seem completely oblivious to what's coming.

YouTube - Natorigawa River TSUNAMI Earthquake in Japan

-t

That's great video, but a graphic-less version would be splendid!

[subego]

Originally Posted by Wiskedjak 

What's so terrifying for me is how relentless it is. Hollywood would show it as a massive wall of water that plows through the street in about 30 seconds. The reality just keeps on building, slowly eating away at everything in it's path.

Nailed it.

[Eug]

Am I correct to think that Aichi Prefecture was not directly affected?

[-Q-]

Neat story.

Kevin Rose - blogg - Apple's Role in Japan during the Tohoku�Earthquake

Very concerning about the Japanese government not saying anything at all to their people (not that I'm necessarily surprised by that action as any indication of a meltdown would lead to a massive panic) and companies not letting staff go home.

[Athens]

I offered my home to a friends family which should get here in a few days or so. The family is 11 members I will be hosting 3 of them until the visa's expire which I believe is 6 months and he will be housing the rest. My 3 bedroom apartment and his 2 bedroom apartment are going to be really crowded for the next few months. Only his grand parents lost their home the rest live close enough to the power plants they just want out of there. They are all out of work right now because of plant closures or damage. Going to have to learn Japanese quickly as one of the ones that will be staying with me speaks no English.

[brassplayersrock²]

California student from Japan finds family alive on YouTube - CNN.com