News Japan Earthquake, Tsunami, & Nuclear Disaster

[Suzy]

Big earthquake in Japan - around 8.8. Spectacular footage on TV from a helicopter of a tsunami sweeping across fields from the ocean in slow motion, filled with debris (including people, buildings and cars).

 

[IgnoreThisBarrel]

Just heard about this half an hour ago. It's amazing how much power water actually has.

Any death toll figures yet?

 

[tl8]

This is looking quite bad. I would expect deaths, but hopefully they will be minor.

 

[IronRain]

First news I heard when I woke up.. The people are completeley suprised so I don't even wanna think about death count

 

[IgnoreThisBarrel]

From a BBC video there's at least 1 dead, probably many more, especially those who were caught in cars and trains.

 

[IronRain]

All the countries around japan have a tsunamy warning now. Even Russia and Australia

 

[Suzy]

One reported dead so far. Though, watching that footage of the tsunami, the people on the ground did not get much warning.

 

[dbeachy1]

:blink: It looked like a lot of oil mixed with the wave as well (presumably from the oil refinery). They just issued a tsunami warning for Hawaii.

 

[Bloodworth]

No warning for the west coast of the US thus far, hope it stays that way.

 

[Notebook]

News is getting worse, looks like it will affect the whole of the Pacific region.

N.

 

[IronRain]

New Zealand got a warning too..

 

[SiberianTiger]

There's a tsunami warning for Kuril islands here too, coming in 15 minutes from now.

 

[Cosmic Penguin]

:blink:Whoa, the same area just received a M7.2 earthquake two days ago, with minimal damage, but that turned out to be just the beginning...
I am afraid that there might be a large number of casualties. While the area's not as populated like Tokyo or southern Japan, it's still rather populated. The city of Sendai, located just 130 km/ 80 miles west of the epicenter, has a population of ~600000 and is the largest city around. Heard that 10 meter-high waves were reported just a few miles from there, so odds are that a large number of causalties would be from there. The coast isn't very populated, but still there are a few large fishing ports dotted along the coast, which should be heavily damaged.
Edit: Looks like that there's some damage and one fatality way down in Tokyo, 400 km south-west of the epicenter. This doesn't looks good...

 

[IronRain]

5 deaths confirmed now

---------- Post added at 09:15 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:14 AM ----------

Now 8 confirmed

 

[Bloodworth]

ok, as of 5 minutes ago the entire west coast of the US is under tsunami watch/warning including Alaska...that means me. Looks like its time to head for higher ground for a bit.

 

[Notebook]

Just heard Hawaii has ordered evacuation of coastal areas.

Edit:
BBC news is quoting the Red Cross as saying the tsunami is higher than some Pacific islands.

N.

 

[JEL]

LOS ANGELES (KTLA) -- A tsunami warning has been issued for the California coast, north of Point Conception, according to the National Weather Service.

Waves are expected to be more than 1 meter high.

Any boats in harbors will likely sustain damage.

Experts say if a tsunami takes place, it will occur sometime between 8-9AM Friday.

In Hawaii, officials say a wave could hit at 2:59AM Hawaii time (4:59AM PST).

Link: http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-no-tsunami-warning,0,139444.story

 

[N_Molson]

1 meter is not a big deal, it can be dangerous for small sailboats or motorboats only. What is very spectacular is the fact it comes from the other side of the Pacific !

The news here give a magnitude a 8.9, and 19 deaths confirmed (there probably will be many more as the searches goes one).

---------- Post added at 09:32 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:23 AM ----------

5 nuclear power plants are closed, 1 is reporting serious problems. 1 oil refinery is burning.

The anti-sismic exercices and architecture seem to have paid off. There was no panic and some people are already back to work.

 

[JEL]

1 meter is not a big deal

If you're a child playing on the beach not expecting anything to happen... it might be. Do not under-estimate these things even if they sound small. Probably nothing much will happen in the US, but still; be alert and take it seriously.

 

[N_Molson]

In Japan, a 10-meters high tsunami is wasting the shores, but again the coastal infrastructures were designed to minimize the impact of such events.

I'm very worried about the Kouriles, also...

Korea (North & South) are threatened too...