Japan Earthquake: 8.9 Magnitude Earthquake Hits, 19-Feet High Tsunami Feared

Phillymg wrote:US govt advising Americans within 50 miles of the Fukushima plant to evacuate or take shelter. Tokyo is 150 miles away.

http://twitter.com/CNBCbrk/status/48074245573586945

Japanese govt only recommending a 12-mile evacuation radius.

US govt official says the US believes that Reactor #4's pool with spent fuel rods is completely empty of water & that the rods have been left completely exposed & therefore melted.

Glenn Beck hasn't gotten the pot & pans out yet today.....

I'm very disappointed in that

flowergirl wrote:Rachel Maddow's on MSNBC has presented the easiest understanding of nuclear fission, physics, fuel rods, and more all week. She has done such a phenominal job of "making the complex understandable" that even the nuclear physicists have stated "they could not have explained these complex issues better". Way better than pots and pans.....

Phillymg wrote:US govt advising Americans within 50 miles of the Fukushima plant to evacuate or take shelter. Tokyo is 150 miles away.

http://twitter.com/CNBCbrk/status/48074245573586945

Japanese govt only recommending a 12-mile evacuation radius.

US govt official says the US believes that Reactor #4's pool with spent fuel rods is completely empty of water & that the rods have been left completely exposed & therefore melted.

Glenn Beck hasn't gotten the pot & pans out yet today.....

Phillymg wrote:We still haven't heard back from our 2 Japanese-American friends who live in Tokyo tho we emailed them several days ago. Prayers for them & their families.

Need2Bworking wrote:Tom I am glad to hear your family members are getting out of Sendai, that sounds like a smart plan.

Philly I hope you hear from your friends soon, communication is often limited and difficult so it may just take some time for them to be able to check in.

All are in my prayers

Phillymg wrote:Thanx for sharing that Tom. Alot of people there are in transit. Your friends should be safe once they get to Kyoto.

TomW wrote:This page seems to have a good description of the Fukushima site and its problems:

http://blogs.nature.com/news/thegreatbeyond/2011/03/fukushima_crisis_anatomy_of_a.html

Also, here is a live feed of Japanese TV (in English), which is giving up-to-the-minute coverage of the crises:

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nhk-world-tv

JaneWI wrote:

Phillymg wrote:Thanx for sharing that Tom. Alot of people there are in transit. Your friends should be safe once they get to Kyoto.

Sending continued prayers.

Phillymg wrote:Based on wind direction projected by the State Meteorological Service of Austria.....here is a visual of the radiation release if the worst-case scenario of total meltdown takes place--

http://www.zamg.ac.at/pict/aktuell/20110315_fuku_I-131.gif

Mags wrote:When Mother Nature strikes, all I can think of is children looking for their parents, parents looking for their wee ones, lost and scared souls running around in a maze. I can't imagine the agony these folks must feel. Good Lord! I just can't fathom such an horrific scenario as one such as this. Entire cities wiped out, so many dead, so many searching for their loved ones. It's so horrible.

Quiethawk wrote:A bright story:
https://dawu.forumotion.com/t1100-we-have-a-lot-to-learn-from-animals

TomW wrote:

Phillymg wrote:We still haven't heard back from our 2 Japanese-American friends who live in Tokyo tho we emailed them several days ago. Prayers for them & their families.

Hope that you hear from your friends soon, Mark.

I received another email yesterday from my cousin in Sendai, as a follow-up to the one from him that I posted here on Monday. They have decided to temporarily flee Sendai for safer ground due to the continuing problems with the nuclear power plants:



"We have decided to get out of Sendai, and are going to leave in a few hours from now to drive to Kyoko's family home in Kyoto. We are concerned about the major nuclear reactor problems in Fukushima, about 60 miles (100 kilometers) to our south. If there is a real melt-down and a major explosion we are not far enough away. Kyoto, though, should be very safe. I will be taking a laptop computer with me, so hopefully we'll have computer accessibility after we get to Kyoto.

We don't know how long the drive will take us. We are going to go through Yamagata Prefecture, then Akita Prefecture and drive down to Kyoto from there. A best case scenario, if expressways are open after Niigata, is a 12-15 hour drive. If we have to take surface streets, it could be easily more than 24 hours.

After we get settled in Kyoto we will try to contact you all again.

Thanks for all your concern and prayers.

Love,

Marty and family"

Need2Bworking wrote:

TomW wrote:

Phillymg wrote:We still haven't heard back from our 2 Japanese-American friends who live in Tokyo tho we emailed them several days ago. Prayers for them & their families.

Hope that you hear from your friends soon, Mark.

I received another email yesterday from my cousin in Sendai, as a follow-up to the one from him that I posted here on Monday. They have decided to temporarily flee Sendai for safer ground due to the continuing problems with the nuclear power plants:



"We have decided to get out of Sendai, and are going to leave in a few hours from now to drive to Kyoko's family home in Kyoto. We are concerned about the major nuclear reactor problems in Fukushima, about 60 miles (100 kilometers) to our south. If there is a real melt-down and a major explosion we are not far enough away. Kyoto, though, should be very safe. I will be taking a laptop computer with me, so hopefully we'll have computer accessibility after we get to Kyoto.

We don't know how long the drive will take us. We are going to go through Yamagata Prefecture, then Akita Prefecture and drive down to Kyoto from there. A best case scenario, if expressways are open after Niigata, is a 12-15 hour drive. If we have to take surface streets, it could be easily more than 24 hours.

After we get settled in Kyoto we will try to contact you all again.

Thanks for all your concern and prayers.

Love,

Marty and family"

Tom,

Wanted to let you know I just saw Marty, Kyoko & Vivian on a Nightline report. A reporter documented their journey from Sendai to Kyoto near Kyoko's family.

It took them 16 hours by car and they looked very tired but ok. The area they are in now appears to be non affected. I knew you were concerned and wanted to pass the info along to you.
They have made it safely to Kyota!

Sunrise wrote:

Mags wrote:When Mother Nature strikes, all I can think of is children looking for their parents, parents looking for their wee ones, lost and scared souls running around in a maze. I can't imagine the agony these folks must feel. Good Lord! I just can't fathom such an horrific scenario as one such as this. Entire cities wiped out, so many dead, so many searching for their loved ones. It's so horrible.

It is unpredictable and can strike at a moment's notice.

Just like Californians are expecting a Big One, I believe that the Japanese was also expecting it. Many hope that these kinds of natural disasters do not happen while they are alive.