Quake

[Kintamayama 44,354]

Unbelievable pictures coming in. Can anyone there keep us updated? dd anyone shake really badly? I hope you're all OK.

[Jan 0]

Unbelievable pictures coming in. Can anyone there keep us updated? dd anyone shake really badly? I hope you're all OK.

Can I second the request, the pictures on the BBC are horrifying. I'm praying that everyone here is ok and for the families and friends of the people who are killed or missing.

[Otokonoyama 2,735]

Probably be a while before those closest will be able to reply. Land lines and cell phones down in Tokyo. Fiber optic Internet connections seem ok for some. Rolling blackouts reported. The last I heard 3.2 million residents of Kanto did not have electricity.

Edited March 11, 2011 by Otokonoyama

[Kofuji 0]

KotoViki (ILoveTochnoshin, Viki Cody) and Nishinoshima (John Gunning) are both reporting they are OK on Facebook.

[Otokonoyama 2,735]

MB also reporting he's ok on Facebook. Any news of other SF members in Kanto or Tohoku?

[ilovesumo 12]

Lora Sharnoff is also ok, same with Cas Todd, but I don't know about Doreen Simmons yet. Anybody?

(I am still in Germany if somebody might have thought I've already left for Japan, few more days.)

[sekihiryu 51]

Isnt Amanogawa from Tohoku way?

Utter devastation up their in Sendai, Miyagi, Iwate.

http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2011/03...n-japan/100022/

[Kotoseiya Yuichi 3]

Yes, she lives in Hachinohe Hirosaki. Aomori Prefecture, but not on the coast like Hachinohe.

Edited March 11, 2011 by Kotoseiya Yuichi

[Peterao 3]

My office waved its hands in the air, and shook them like it just didn't care. Took me over 12 hours to get home. Just now seeing some of this stuff on video. My God...

[ilovesumo 12]

Doreen just mailed - is ok and back home in Tokyo. :) glad.

[Manekineko 200]

The news said it was the biggest quake to hit Japan in 140 years, which confused me until I realised it meant "in 140 years since earthquake magnitudes are measured". Whole magnitude stronger than the Great Kanto Earthquake... it probably is the biggest quake in history of Japan.

[Asojima 2,870]

This was an 8.9 quake in the ocean off Japan that was felt in Japan. That is a big difference from an 8.9 quake IN japan. The shock was very heavy on the islands, but it was not 8.9 heavy. The tsunami is what caused the major damage.

[Fujisan 530]

My thoughts are with all those affected by the quake.....

[Amanogawa 79]

Thank you for your kind thoughts.

It happened while I was working and I thought the whole building ( very old one ) was going to crush. Really scary moment. But later, when the power was back after 26 hours and I got to see TV where all this devastation was shown, I realized what I went through was nothing. It was a freezing snowy day here and I had no heat, no water, or no light, but I was able to sleep cozily in my own bed at least. My family are safe, fortunately. My friend living only 5 km away from Hachinohe Bay is okay too, though the pretty house he still pays a loan for has been damaged. Some of my sister's in-laws in Kesen'numa are missing.

There have already been over 50 countries offering various forms of supports for our disaster. The first rescue team arrived from Korea, I just learned. I'd like to thank most sincerely and humbly for all the warm supports and concerns for us.

[Otokonoyama 2,735]

How To Help

[sekihiryu 51]

also

http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/03/11/five-w...ctims-in-japan/

[Orion 431]

This was an 8.9 quake in the ocean off Japan that was felt in Japan. That is a big difference from an 8.9 quake IN japan. The shock was very heavy on the islands, but it was not 8.9 heavy. The tsunami is what caused the major damage.

The quake, the epicenter of which was not far off the coast of Japan, was heavy enough in several places in the north to cause liquefaction. Then, as streets were sliding along on ground that was no longer solid earth, the tsunami rushed in from the opposite direction. It's now been upgraded to a 9.0, BTW. Whole communities have still not yet been found, and an eventual death toll of six figures is a distinct possibility.

Meanwhile in "relatively fortunate" Tokyo, this morning's garbage collection was massive. My upstairs neighbor, a young wife with a son in pre-school, was baling up around a dozen plastic bags of spilt or spoilt food, clothes and of all things, futons. (Her fridge doors had sprung open and liquids had escaped.)

When I moved into my present apartment some years ago, I got a professional in to install clamps on all my tall furniture to brace it aginst the ceiling. Unfortunately in a quake of this magnitude all bets are off. Obviously the ceiling and floor moved in opposite directions and five cabinets and bookshelves out of eight sprang free and fell forward spilling their contents on the floor. After working all day Saturday and half of Sunday I now have a usable kitchen, computer corner, and sofa/bed, and two empty cabinets set up again. But there are small tremors every few minutes at times, and another quake of 6.0 or 7.0 is forecast as "likely" in 2 or 3 days, so I (and all my neighbors) could easily be back to square 1. And even without further setbacks I estimate it will take me two to three weeks to get everything back in place.

Apart from the nuclear danger from two damaged nuclear power stations, there is a more immediate shortage of electric power. No JR trains were running in or around Tokyo this morning, and in my neck of the woods, no subways either. An early return home is indicated, since power cuts are announced for different areas (to share the burden) and this includes lights, cooking and fridge. It's even dangerous to walk along the street because there are so many bicycles!

Orion

Edited March 14, 2011 by Orion

[Kintamayama 44,354]

Tokyo Governor makes clever observation.

US Military takes extreme temporary measures.

Edited March 15, 2011 by Kintamayama