Monster Quake and Tsunami in Pacific

[Tango]

The heartbreak in all of this is endless. You survive the earthquake, and manage to avoid getting swept away by the tsumami- then there is the danger of radiation due to the nuclear powerplant damage- there's no place to live, there's no food, no safe water, sanitation is destroyed- you look around at all the destruction, and meanwhile, bodies that you can't even recognize are washing up on shore. We haven't seen anything like this in our time. To read that the earth shifted it's axis and the country of Japan actually moved as the result of the upheaval is shocking. Their ability to make a living has been largely destroyed. And have we even forgotten Haaiti and Indonesia? How about Katrina here in the US. And Muammar Gaddafi is shooting and bombing people that oppose his rule? People in various countries are being sold as slaves. It really is an insane world we live in. The news is unbearable, isn't it? How much worse to live it. A lot of people are trying to pretend all of this horror isn't going on, largely because there isn't an easy "fix." But I think it's in the little things that we survive. Being kind to one another, looking out for one another, doing what you can to be ready for the miserable times, etc. It's trite but just being nice to each other is sometimes the saving grace in a society.

[KarmaContestant]

Originally Posted by Tango

It's trite but just being nice to each other is sometimes the saving grace in a society.

Best thing I've heard all day.

[Christopher]

Turbulent times indeed: Haiti, Gulf oil spill, Japan, Egypt, Tunisia, Libya,Bahrain Saudi Arabia, terror attack Russia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nuclear Meltdowns, Financial Crisis affecting several countries, Higher than average unemployment or under employment in several developed countries, The accelerated unequal distribution of wealth not seen since before the Great Depression... & much much more!

And thus it brings me back to Stevie ~ Someone who has always taken me away ~ if only for a moment ~ from the serious reality we face in our day and age. For this I am grateful. Thank you ~Stevie Angel~

[Ghost_Tracker]

Originally Posted by David

All hope is not lost. Preparation consists in teaching -- or training -- yourself to take specific action under certain circumstances.

If you're on a beach or in a marina & you feel shaking strong enough to knock you off your feet, consider that a sign that the quake is locally generated. Don't wait for Civil Defense sirens (there's even a chance that a tsunami would reach your location before the sirens sounded). Let the quake itself serve as your prompt to gain ground & elevation, either by running inland or by getting into a steel-reinforced concrete building that's at least three stories high -- a beachfront hotel, for example. Get into it! Get upstairs! Use the stairwell....

Above all, in a remotely generated tsunami, follow the instructions issued by the authorities. If they report that a tsunami is possible in your area in five hours' time, take them seriously.

From what I've been reading lately, it's unfortunately more complicated than that.
There's often a series of strong foreshocks - preliminary earthquakes (as there were in this case). Each or at least most of those foreshocks are strong; none of them generates a tsunami. So one would have to run inland, etc. 10 or more times in the 24 or 48 hours before the strong quake might or might not follow. Hey, I'm all for that but I doubt it would be possible to get large numbers of people to go along; and employers wouldn't tolerate it.

[Ghost_Tracker]

Just a thought that occurs to me - Everywhere I look in the last day or so, the lead story has been the nuke plant accidents - about which they've already said most of the radiation will probably be contained no matter what happens. Without wanting to badmouth the individual reporters, etc., the news groups as a whole have only one job: to help the advertisers sell cars and beer. So they've switched over to a related - but different - story that's more dramatic and less depressing. But that's not what really just happened here, is it. The real story is that a very large number of people have just been killed and hurt and they need our prayers and help. Including, if possible, financial donations and/or donation of blood, supplies etc.

[David]

Originally Posted by Ghost_Tracker

From what I've been reading lately, it's unfortunately more complicated than that.
There's often a series of strong foreshocks - preliminary earthquakes (as there were in this case). Each or at least most of those foreshocks are strong; none of them generates a tsunami. So one would have to run inland, etc. 10 or more times in the 24 or 48 hours before the strong quake might or might not follow. Hey, I'm all for that but I doubt it would be possible to get large numbers of people to go along; and employers wouldn't tolerate it.

I know that foreshocks are a fact of megathrust quakes, but what does that have to do with the widely accepted recommendation to get off a beach as fast as you can if you experience an earthquake strong enough to make it difficult to stand?

What is all this about running inland ten times? I don't follow.

Please see the following:
http://www.uhh.hawaii.edu/~nat_haz/t...eachquakes.php

And actually, a foreshock of, say, M7 or M7+ can generate a local tsunami.

[DavidMn]

I was just reading that there is some radiation now leaking from one of the reactors that was shut down at the nuclear plant that´s had the explosions. Not good. David is it possible that the radiation would effect Tokyo or is it too far away?

[KarmaContestant]

140,000 people told to seal themselves indoors

Japan crisis worse than Three Mile Island, experts say
No-fly zone imposed near stricken nuclear site

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42084187...fic/?GT1=43001

[jannieC]

Originally Posted by Tango

The heartbreak in all of this is endless. You survive the earthquake, and manage to avoid getting swept away by the tsumami- then there is the danger of radiation due to the nuclear powerplant damage- there's no place to live, there's no food, no safe water, sanitation is destroyed- you look around at all the destruction, and meanwhile, bodies that you can't even recognize are washing up on shore. We haven't seen anything like this in our time. To read that the earth shifted it's axis and the country of Japan actually moved as the result of the upheaval is shocking. Their ability to make a living has been largely destroyed. And have we even forgotten Haaiti and Indonesia? How about Katrina here in the US. And Muammar Gaddafi is shooting and bombing people that oppose his rule? People in various countries are being sold as slaves. It really is an insane world we live in. The news is unbearable, isn't it? How much worse to live it. A lot of people are trying to pretend all of this horror isn't going on, largely because there isn't an easy "fix." But I think it's in the little things that we survive. Being kind to one another, looking out for one another, doing what you can to be ready for the miserable times, etc. It's trite but just being nice to each other is sometimes the saving grace in a society.

I am struggling to comprehend the enormity of this. Thank you for the bolded piece.

[KarmaContestant]

U.S. Geological Survey Updates Magnitude of Japan’s 2011 Tohoku Earthquake to 9.0

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...le+Feedfetcher

Independently, Japanese seismologists have also updated their estimate of the earthquake's magnitude to 9.0. This magnitude places the earthquake as the fourth largest in the world since 1900 and the largest in Japan since modern instrumental recordings began 130 years ago.

[HejiraNYC]

Wow. Just wow.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/0..._n_835505.html

[KarmaContestant]

Originally Posted by HejiraNYC

Wow. Just wow.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/0..._n_835505.html

My favorite reader comment:

How long before FOX gives her her own show and calls her a "real" American?

[skcin]

Originally Posted by HejiraNYC

Wow. Just wow.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/0..._n_835505.html

I won't get into her Ching Chong comment - I think some of you remember where THAT thread got us a few years back.

Seems to me that she's an ignorant blond bimbo. Seriously. If you don't want to live & study with people from other countries & learn about different cultures, then don't f*cking go to a university with one of the HIGHEST INTERNATIONAL STUDENT POPULATIONS IN THE NATION and then bitch about it on the INTERNET. Dumb broad.

And the "tsunami, or whatever..." comment? Nice.

[HejiraNYC]

Originally Posted by skcin

I won't get into her Ching Chong comment - I think some of you remember where THAT thread got us a few years back.

Seems to me that she's an ignorant blond bimbo. Seriously. If you don't want to live & study with people from other countries & learn about different cultures, then don't f*cking go to a university with one of the HIGHEST INTERNATIONAL STUDENT POPULATIONS IN THE NATION and then bitch about it on the INTERNET. Dumb broad.

And the "tsunami, or whatever..." comment? Nice.

Agreed... let's not go there again.

If anything, I find her utter lack of sensitivity and empathy regarding the tsunami to be more disturbing than her racist views; at least she is being transparent about her feelings. But she is, like, dead inside if she can't relate to people being concerned about loved ones at home. Obviously she did not get the memo regarding UCLA's acronym: U C a Lot of Asians.

[KarmaContestant]

Originally Posted by skcin

I won't get into her Ching Chong comment - I think some of you remember where THAT thread got us a few years back.

I wasn't involved in that, but this reminds me of a Margaret Cho skit that I wish I could find a clip of:

"Margaret Cho: There was this girl, she was like 13, and she was looking at my poster and she said "Ew! Who wants to go see the chew-chow-ching-chong lady? I'm not gonna go see the chew-chow-ching-chong lady. Are you gonna go see the chew-chow-ching-chong lady?"
[as herself again, Margaret puts on a dangerous expression]
Margaret Cho: I'm gonna go see the chew-chow-ching-chong lady!
[as girl again, turns]
Margaret Cho: AAAAH!

I LOVE Margaret. I had the pleasure of meeting her in Denver this past summer - and she is truly a joy to be in the same room with. She did a meet & greet, and she was far more nervous than any of us meeting her.