Japan Earthquake and Tsunamis

[jackthehack]

The further the better, generally...

Here's a link to the NPR broadcast on effects to Japanese economy/supply chains: http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=134542510&m=134543627

 

[jackthehack]

Holy shit, the Nikkei's down 13% at this posting; kicking myself for not pulling everything out of the market today...

 

[mullyman]

GOOD NEWS!!

The town of Minami Sanriku was reportedly missing 10,000 people and pretty much given up for dead. They have found 9,700 of them that had evacuated. It's given me tears of joy to read that.
MULLY

 

[Dan025]

Ok, I see what you are commenting on, let me explain....

mully how many people are without power over there? it seems to me that much of japan was turned into a third world country over night. if the power plant leaks aren't controlled japan might never be the same.

Not to downplay anything but it's a small area compared to the rest of the country. Lots of farmland up in that area. Total devastation though. Millions of people without electricity. Relief and rescue efforts are on full scale though. They will rebound from this.

What I meant by a relatively small area was trying to convey the image that the entire country wasn't turned into a 3rd world country by this. In no way shape or form was I trying to downplay the severity of what is happening up there. I just don't want people thinking that the entire country is like this. Outside of that area things are as they usually are. It probably would have been better to convey the image by saying imagine living in Jacksonville, Florida and a huge hurricane takes out Miami. It doesn't lessen the severity of the situation in Miami, but nothing happened in Jacksonville.
MULLY

maybe the word "much" was over stating it, replace that with "part". and yes there is farmland up in the north but there are also coastal cities of conciderable size, they may be small for japanese cities but anyone from the midwest of the US would think they were large.  but im a little more at ease, my military friends on misawa have power restored atleast on the base which has it's own generators, and i have finally had my buddies there check in. but in a grand scale this disaster at a minimum is worse than hurcaine katrina, it already has a similar confirmed death toll and the reactor scare brings alot of attention to the situation. and i know there wont be another chernobyl but leaking radiation is always a serious problem.

 

[OzziePete]

Mully

I had experience working as secuirty for Lucas Heights Nuclear Reactor in Australia, and some of the guys who ran that reactor went to Three Mile Island and Chernobyl as part of the IAEA assessment team. I worked there back in  the 1990s.

A lot of the contamination fears are well founded BUT, and this is the BUT, the weather could be the determining factor if there is a release of radioactive gases into the air and far and wide. In Chernobyl's case the radioactive gases were carried up into the upper atmosphere and dumped into nearby countries. Kiev in Ukraine had more contamination in it's boundaries than a local town to Chernobyl. Finland copped a lot of radioactive contamination from the Chernobyl disaster, whereas Russia wasn't so affected.

Most 'experts' on the TV are saying this situation is NOT a potential Chernobyl, more closer to a hotter version of Three Mile Island.

From what I have seen on Australian TV, there is a concern about gases being released into the atmosphere. Locals to the troubled reactors are being given Iodine tabs as a pre caution. They have extended the evacuation area to 30 Klms, but some folks can't get out because they have no transport either due to no fuel left or the vehicles being wrecked.

There is some sensationalised reports coming up saying that some family members have contacted a family member within the evac zone, and told not to come get them as that would present a greater danger, ie: the folks trapped have decided to spare their family members the risk of any contamination & risk their own lives instead. I would say that in reality the Self Defence Services would go get them out..........

My suggestion would be to keep a close tab on  weather reports about how the prevailing winds might blow something from the nuke stations over to your area, if that could happen.

All the best Mully , keep us informed how things are going over there.

 

[Paul-less]

It's been a couple of days, so how's it going Mully?

 

[bagman67]

This is not definitive, but it gives food for thought; more discussion here:  http://blog.xkcd.com/2011/03/19/radiation-chart/

 

[ORCRiST]

It's been a couple of days, so how's it going Mully?

+1

How are you doing? Its been awhile since we've had a blog post from you too... although thats understandable.
You need anything from the states? Let us know...

ORC

 

[mullyman]

Thanks for asking, guys. Things in my area are business as usual. Personally, I'm stressed to the limit. Sitting on a fault where 3 plates come together, where there hasn't been a big quake for over 140 years, scares the bejeezuz out of me. I seriously believe that if we even got a little tremor here I'd be spooked enough to leave and never come back. I'm fighting that in my mind every day. I shouldn't though. In all fairness I probably have more chances to have a car accident or a heart attack than a huge quake wiping this area out. Still messes with my head though. It's going to take me a little while to get back to normal.
MULLY

 

[m4rk0]

I can imagine that it freaks you out, but the same could happen in the US...
Yellowstone may explode and affect half of the country.. or California may break off the rest of the country.. I also keep on hearing lots of stories from people freaking out about the New Madrid Faultline now... We have tornados in Texas, and Hurricanes at the east coast...  there is always something to be freaked out about..

a fault with 3 plates is pretty scary though..

 

[hannaugh]

Let's just hope Cascadia Fault isn't next!  I would hate to hear about any of those pretty guitar bodies falling off the shelves in Puyallup.  :toothy11:

 

[jackthehack]

Let's just hope Cascadia Fault isn't next!  I would hate to hear about any of those pretty guitar bodies falling off the shelves in Puyallup.   :toothy11:

But think of the great "pre-relic'ed" sale they would have!

 

[Jusatele]

I can imagine that it freaks you out, but the same could happen in the US...
Yellowstone may explode and affect half of the country.. or California may break off the rest of the country.. I also keep on hearing lots of stories from people freaking out about the New Madrid Faultline now... We have tornados in Texas, and Hurricanes at the east coast...  there is always something to be freaked out about..

a fault with 3 plates is pretty scary though..

actually, California is moving north,slowly and not going to fall into the sea, The sea of Cortez is the result of the movement that makes everyone think we are moving west.but it is the result of us moving north.

 

[OzziePete]

I can imagine that it freaks you out, but the same could happen in the US...
Yellowstone may explode and affect half of the country.. or California may break off the rest of the country.. I also keep on hearing lots of stories from people freaking out about the New Madrid Faultline now... We have tornados in Texas, and Hurricanes at the east coast...  there is always something to be freaked out about..

a fault with 3 plates is pretty scary though..

actually, California is moving north,slowly and not going to fall into the sea, The sea of Cortez is the result of the movement that makes everyone think we are moving west.but it is the result of us moving north.

Californians becoming Canadians isn't a good thought for the future........  :laughing7:

Thanks for asking, guys. Things in my area are business as usual. Personally, I'm stressed to the limit. Sitting on a fault where 3 plates come together, where there hasn't been a big quake for over 140 years, scares the bejeezuz out of me. I seriously believe that if we even got a little tremor here I'd be spooked enough to leave and never come back. I'm fighting that in my mind every day. I shouldn't though. In all fairness I probably have more chances to have a car accident or a heart attack than a huge quake wiping this area out. Still messes with my head though. It's going to take me a little while to get back to normal.
MULLY

Good to hear things are reasonably OK with you Mully....it's natural to be  spooked about the disasters that have happened nearby......easy for me to say it I know, but try not to think too much about the 'what-ifs'. What your country needs is a lot of folks looking forward, not over their shoulders. Hang in there mate.

 

[Cagey]

A good thing to remember is that earthquakes are the release of pent-up frictional pressure, so something on this scale means the plates have just adjusted to relieve that. It's unlikely anything on this scale will happen again for quite some time.

 

[Death by Uberschall]

A good thing to remember is that earthquakes are the release of pent-up frictional pressure, so something on this scale means the plates have just adjusted to relieve that. It's unlikely anything on this scale will happen again for quite some time.

I don't know about that theory. I have to go over it with my girlfriend sometimes. "Baby, I know we relieved that pressure a little while ago, but more has built up."  :icon_jokercolor:

 

[Jusatele]

or you could look at it as a fore warning of a bigger one about to happen, lots of times there are earthquakes before earthquakes

 

[Cagey]

I don't know about that theory. I have to go over it with my girlfriend sometimes. "Baby, I know we relieved that pressure a little while ago, but more has built up."  :icon_jokercolor:

I'm sure she'll not only be convinced, but flattered as well. Plus, it buys her brownie points which can be redeemed for honey-dos <grin>

 

[Cagey]

or you could look at it as a fore warning of a bigger one about to happen, lots of times there are earthquakes before earthquakes

And there are earthquakes after earthquakes. They're called "aftershocks". It's all about equalization and settling in. What will be interesting to see is that now that there's been so much tectonic movement and so much pressure relieved, some other area may be freed up to more easily adjust. A shift of that magnitude may indeed foreshadow similar events. Maybe California will finally fall off <grin>

 

[Jusatele]

or you could look at it as a fore warning of a bigger one about to happen, lots of times there are earthquakes before earthquakes

And there are earthquakes after earthquakes. They're called "aftershocks". It's all about equalization and settling in. What will be interesting to see is that now that there's been so much tectonic movement and so much pressure relieved, some other area may be freed up to more easily adjust. A shift of that magnitude may indeed foreshadow similar events. Maybe California will finally fall off <grin>

Cagey, not all earthquakes come first, sometimes you have a quake then a bigger quake then aftershocks. You see sometimes a quake on one fault sets another fault off. Like the Launders Quake 19 years ago. their were actually 2 quakes of 6. or bigger, within one hour, second quake was bigger. the one quake set off a fault 20 some miles away, then they both had aftershocks on their individual faults.
and sometimes there are 2 or 3 small quakes before the main event on the same fault within days or hours of the bigger one, then the aftershocks, After shocks are all earthquakes, but we tend to define the main event as the quake and all others as precursors or aftershocks