japanese earthquake and tsunami

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toddmoding
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8.9-magnitude earthquake offshore this morning has created a tsunami waves of up to 10 metres high, the focus recorded sometime this morning (14:46 in japan)

this is the largest quake recorded to hit japan, and the sixth largest ever recorded on the planet

police in sendai already report upwards of 200 people dead and 500 missing, though these numbers are expected to rise dramatically

there have also been concerns about containment following damage to nuclear power plants with japanese prime minister naota kan declaring a nuclear emergency

bbc news has live footage
 
We have tsunami warnings in Oregon too now, I have relatives by the coast so I hope they'll be alright.

let's hope the waves don't ruin all the video games they're working on!
 
What a horrible turn of events. The biggest Earthquake in Japan? Thats just awful. My heart goes out to everyone in Sendai who is suffering.
 
Nuclear physicist Dr Walt Patterson tells the BBC it sounds like there is a "serious problem" at the Fukushima-Daiichi plant. "It's the sort of thing that nuclear engineers have nightmares about," he says. "If it is not resolved in the next few hours it will get serious. If the core is uncovered, then those rods at the top may get hot enough to melt themselves."
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I don't know much about nuclear plants, Swagger. What does that imply?

Dan, numbers of people missing have been scaled down dramatically, but it is still very high. This is hard news to view. Does anyone have friends or family there? What area does Chou live in?
 
it is basically the real life equivalent of the oft-mentioned but rarely explained "nuclear meltdown" -- the danger is basically that radioactive materials are no longer contained due to the compromise of equipment, and thus can be released into the environment, exposing people, animals, the environment etc to radiation

edit: yeah, i'm thinking of everyone who may live in japan or have relations there, but my first mental port of call was also chou
 
All nuclear plants/reactors have been safely shutdown and are not reporting any radioactive leakage.

This is the 7th biggest earthquake recorded in history.

There's a tsunami warning for West Coast of America (mostly North America)

expected tsunami impact
 
actually nuclear reactors aren't "safely" shut down at all -- heat levels are still a danger with the reactors down and fission at an end. the cooling mechanisms necessary for dealing with this have been damaged, which is why rods are in danger of melting
 
I did a 20 page paper on earthquakes in my senior year of high school. 8.9 is pretty enormous as far as just the amount of energy released.The amount of long term damage to families and the economy is inconceivable.
 
Prayers goes out, money will hopefully soon go out if I can scrounge some up, but I still feel helpless. Last night they were warning of another large quake will soon hit a bit more north likely, and potentially up to 7 on the magnitude scale. That'd be scary in its own right, but after this it's just be crazy.

It's amazing how well Japan was prepared for this, yet still get devastated, unfortunately.
 
yeah, and that aftershocks should be as large as seven is insane; that was the magnitude of haiti 2010
 
Swaggersaurus said:
actually nuclear reactors aren't "safely" shut down at all -- heat levels are still a danger with the reactors down and fission at an end. the cooling mechanisms necessary for dealing with this have been damaged, which is why rods are in danger of melting
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There's only one plant that needs cooling down right now, and it's functioning on batteries which can last a few hours. Since there's no electricity they're gonna use helicopters to add more batteries, which means there's no nuclear problem right now.

Swaggersaurus said:
yeah, and that aftershocks should be as large as seven is insane; that was the magnitude of haiti 2010
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seven is way too large and blown out of proportion; 6's more correct, with the rare 6.5.
 
I heard about this on the radio last night. Hopefully people did the right thing and evacuated instead of hanging around. Best of luck to everyone affected by this terrible disaster.
 
The situation at the nuclear reactor at Fukushima seems to be worsening. Japanese authorities are now to release radioactive vapour to ease pressure, AP news agency reports. Engineers are trying to fix the cooling system to the main reactor, damaged in the quake.
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US have offered to help out with supplying emergency coolant fluid
 
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