Japan earthquake and tsunami

[Snokio]

Even though this happened on Friaday, I'm still really shocked at the damage this earthquake and tsunami has caused, and on top of that, they have radiation leaks at an old nuclear power-station that was going to be decommisioned last month
 
Heard today that they rescued a 60 year old man 9 miles out at sea. He was floating on what was left of his house roof!
 
Feel a bit helpless, but will make a donation with shelterbox
 
Hope they recover soon and does not get worse over there!

[OldBloke]

Incredible scenes that have had me watching with both awe and horror. This was released today - what can you say?

[Luminance]

I'm trying not to watch to many of it, the media is overhyping every disaster (Don't get me wrong, i know how terrible it is ofc, thats not what i mean) but for some reason I'd like to know as little as possible, maybe it mixes with other feelings, as I allready booked the flight and hotel for juli/aug for semi-backpack through central honshu.

But maybe atm they are actually underhyping it, as from what i've heard they are totally clueless about the severity of the nr of people missing/dead and/or in danger. But stil.

[Blunt]

Unbelievable scenes...when I first saw a vid I couldn't quite grasp what I was seeing.
then I saw a car, and a house, and I realised the scale of the picture I was watching.
I can't imagine the devastation.
I'm listening to radio 5 atm and some bishop fellow is trying to defend his god...

Edit: I glad to report that the UK rescue services are responding quickly

The UK team of firefighters, search dogs, and  medical teams have arrived at the US airbase in Misawa, northern Japan,  where they will join up with the United States Urban Search & Rescue  teams from Fairfax County and Los Angeles County.
The UK team includes six members of the West Sussex Fire & Rescue  Service Technical Rescue Unit. All team members are fit and well, and  eager to play a key role in the international rescue effort.
It is now the middle of the night in Japan, and the teams will remain at  the airbase overnight and move south at first light and into the main  areas of destruction to search for victims of the earthquake and  tsunami.

The West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service's Technical Rescue Unit (TRU)  is one of 21 Urban Search and Rescues (USAR) teams strategically  situated around the UK.
The USAR teams are primarily funded by the UK Government through its New  Dimensions programme which was established after 9/11. The teams are  used in the UK to respond to major incidents including widespread  flooding, structural collapses, or transport emergencies.
Thirteen of these teams are trained to be deployed overseas if the UK  receives an appeal for help from a foreign government following natural  disasters. When deployed overseas they are known as the UKISAR team (UK  International Search & Rescue). The UK team on this mission is made  up of firefighters from West Sussex, Hampshire, Kent, Mid and West  Wales, Cheshire, Greater Manchester, West Midlands, Lancashire, and  Lincolnshire.
All ISAR teams are trained to use the same kit and equipment, which can  lift, cut, and remove concrete or rubble from collapsed structures,  along with sophisticated cameras and listening devices for finding  casualties. The West Sussex team will primarily be responsible for  organising the logistics from a temporary Base of Operations in this  deployment.
The TRU consists of 12 specially trained West Sussex firefighters who  are based at Horley Fire Stn, but whose members live across West Sussex.  
All have ISAR experience and have been in UK teams responding to  earthquakes in either Indonesia, Haiti, or New Zealand. Two of them only  returned home from Christchurch 3 days before the earthquake in  Japan.

[Benny]

I've been watching a lot of this stuff and it's difficult to put perspective on the sheer magnitude of the disaster. I find the news reporting mesmerising from a 'geography lesson' perspective but see any one of my other posts about sensationalism and the broadcast media.

The scale of the disaster is clear from the people filming it, watching the waters come in and not taking refuge, just filming, I don't think I would, I just don't know. I don't want to be another vulture sniffing around the scenes of devastation but with things like this it's hard until you see the impact. The news should show the dead and dying, it puts things in perspective. As it does with famine and other atrocities. What we are seeing is the media spinning the 'tsunami' and tectonic plate show, there's no real talk of the human devastation being caused other than cursory. My heart goes out to the people there and I'm glad and proud our teams are on the way.

To be clear, I'm not playing it down, this is one of the worst things I've seen, but we should save the broadcasting money and glitz and throw money at helping.

[Nefertem]

The New York Times website have some slide pictures showing the damage certain coastal areas have suffered during the tsunami.

Although you don't see the victims of the disaster as such, it does give a fairly good idea of the devastating damage that have been caused.

[Gorion]

Does anyone know if Adularena was in Japan when the earthquake/tsunami struck?

[Penfold]

The New York Times website have some slide pictures showing the damage certain coastal areas have suffered during the tsunami.

Although you don't see the victims of the disaster as such, it does give a fairly good idea of the devastating damage that have been caused.

That is amazing

[TwoBad]

Had an email from our company president in Japan today.  He said all UK employees in Japan were accounted for and safe.  He also said they didn't have any reports of any of our Japanese employees being casualties but they hadn't been able to contact over 1000 of our staff since Friday.  That's scary.

[Blunt]

The New York Times website have some slide pictures showing the damage certain coastal areas have suffered during the tsunami.

Although you don't see the victims of the disaster as such, it does give a fairly good idea of the devastating damage that have been caused.

Jaw-dropping

[Penfold]

Unbelievable scenes...when I first saw a vid I couldn't quite grasp what I was seeing.
then I saw a car, and a house, and I realised the scale of the picture I was watching.
I can't imagine the devastation.
I'm listening to radio 5 atm and some bishop fellow is trying to defend his god...

Edit: I glad to report that the UK rescue services are responding quickly

Yes, for sure. You watch the footage and only then realise the scale of the devastation you're watching.

[Luminance]

Found this vid, typical japanese video explaining the dangers to kids (and younger adults maybe ).
I think this is very well done, apart from the bit childishness, but hey, thats normal there
[video]http://www.cad-forums.com/showthread.php?t=113159[/video]

[Luminance]

This chart is about the radiation, where it shows what you will be exposed off and what you can get, or what will kill you:
http://graphjam.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/radiation_gif.gif

[T-Bag]

I think it's disgusting how downplayed the tsunami was compared to the reactor. The reactor (which as it turns out hasn't hurt anyone - and is unlikely to be able to be statistically linked to causing any long term harm) was on the news non-stop. Thousands of people get washed away by a massive wave and that barely gets a mention.
Chernobyl directly killed 32 people and has been linked to and increase in Thyroid cancer in people who were young at the time of the incident (it's a fairly treatable type of cancer so fatalities caused by the meltdown are low). Compare that to 9,000 confirmed dead, 12,000 still missing and you can see the bigger story.

I work in a lab with a radioactive source. I have to wear a badge to tell me if I'm irradiated. One of the things I do when prospective students visit is take a Geiger counter and show it go crazy near the source. I also lived in Cornwall before university, it's more radioactive there too. My dose is probably far higher than anyone outside the evacuated zone and I don't lose any sleep about it. You're going to die, odds are it's heart disease, cancer or stroke, and the levels around the plant were so low that statistically they almost certainly won't be able to be linked directly to anyone's illness. But the wave correlates extremely well with deaths. The news is all about drama these days. If it's not about terrorism, or radiation it doesn't get a mention.

[Bastet]

http://badassoftheweek.com/akaiwa.html
 
or
 
http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/955222--the-star-in-japan-hideaki-akaiwa-must-keep-looking?bn=1
 
For the more serious under us.