Japanese earthquake / tsunami discussion

Yakult

A 8.8 (?) earthquake hits tokyo with tsunami warning around the pacific. 32ft high waves predicted.

On the mobile so cant post links etc.

No deaths reported yet but some injuries.

Mod warning
Any jokes or tasteless posts will result in a ban.

Taco Corp

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12709598

From BBC

A massive earthquake has hit the northeast of Japan triggering a tsunami that has caused extensive damage.

Japanese television showed cars, ships and even buildings being swept away by a vast wall of water after the 8.9 magnitude earthquake.

Officials said there could be a 10m (33ft) wave, with numerous casualties feared.

The quake struck about 250 miles (400km) from Tokyo at a depth of 20 miles, shaking the capital.

The tremor at 1446 local time (0546 GMT) was followed by a series of powerful aftershocks.

Seismologists say it is one of the largest earthquakes to hit Japan for many years.

The tsunami warning was extended to the Philippines, Indonesia and the Pacific coast of Russia.

Tsunami waves hit Japan's Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures, officials said.

Japan's NHK television showed a massive surge of water sweeping away buildings, cars and ships.

The earthquake also triggered a number of fires.

There were also reports of injuries in Tokyo.

Pauleta

8.8 is an absolutely huge earthquake. The same size as the Chile earthquake last year. This could be catastrophic if there is a Tsunami.

amacachi

A small Tsunami already hit Japan, worries there could be another wave and what the first wave will be doing out in the Pacific.

Some of the footage doesn't fill one with confidence.

Pauleta

From Sky News

Cars, trucks, houses and buildings have been swept away by tsunami in Onahama city in Fukushima prefecture

This sounds real bad.

Agonist

Live coverage from Japan in English
http://wwitv.com/tv_channels/6810.htm

enda1

I got an email from someone in Japan one hour ago.
Emailed them back half an hour ago and still no response, which I thought was unusual. But now??

Yakult

wow some very scary footage of the tsunami unfolding. Unbelieveable.

Agonist

Jesus, just watching a tsunami engulfing a huge area :eek:

Agonist

enda1 wrote: »

I got an email from someone in Japan one hour ago.
Emailed them back half an hour ago and still no response, which I thought was unusual. But now??

The mobile phone system isn't working and the Internet there is running slow

Lapin

Not a word on the news here yet. RTÉ or Newstalk. :mad:

enda1

Agonist wrote: »

The mobile phone system isn't working and the Internet there is running slow

Thanks.

Luckily its only a work contact so let's say the relationship isn't personal though I still hope he's ok of course.

Anyone know the extent of the Tsunami? How much of the coast was/is affected?

Stevek101

http://www.justin.tv/live_news#

CNN are shocking some shocking footage! This is crazy.

Yakult

enda1 wrote: »

Anyone know the extent of the Tsunami? How much of the coast was/is affected?

i say we wont know for another while, waves are said to get bigger so could be bad. Hopefully not tho.

spurious

Al-Jazeera have been covering it for a while - shocking stuff.

Agonist

I don't like the look of that wave. I hope they are all getting out of there quick

bnt

There have been several earthquakes: the 8.8 was off the north-east coast, a long way from Tokyo, but affecting Sendai and neighbouring towns. The first place I look in these cases is the USGS PAGER page, which estimates the numbers of people directly affected by the quake. The estimates say that close to 2 million people experienced magnitude VIII shaking: bad, but not extreme. But that doesn't include the impact of the tsunami on the coast.

Tokyo has been affected by another quake: a 6.8 struck about 66km north of the city, half an hour after the 8.8 quake.

enda1

Yakult wrote: »

i say we wont know for another while, waves are said to get bigger so could be bad. Hopefully not tho.

I just got an email from a the guy I am in contact with in Japan.

Said the building he's in was shaking for a few minutes.

Overheal

watching houses just ket swept away like driftwood on the beach. scary stuff

sunflower27

Scary, scary stuff. Remember hearing about this book years ago.

http://www.amazon.com/Sixty-Seconds-That-Change-World/dp/0283060794

irish1967

Russia just issues Tsunami warning !!

Overheal

thats that uber-fancy airport they put on a man-made island isnt it? Kansai. completely flooded now. infrastructure is getting slammed, it might be hard to get aid in there.

Overheal

oil refineries are gonna blow... massive inferno

inode

The current footage is terrifying. The sweeping mass of water carrying cars and debris looks totally unstoppable; it's just ripping across the countryside.

bnt

Overheal wrote: »

thats that uber-fancy airport they put on a man-made island isnt it? Kansai. completely flooded now. infrastructure is getting slammed, it might be hard to get aid in there.

Is that a report or a guess? The 8.9 hit north-east Japan near Sendai, while Kansai airport is near Osaka at the southern end of Japan, something like 800km away and there's lots of land between it and the quake epicentre.

Agonist

Overheal wrote: »

oil refineries are gonna blow... massive inferno

Yes, I can't see how that heat won't blow the others

Another huge wave. I hope this one is smaller

Agonist

bnt wrote: »

Is that a report or a guess? The 8.9 hit north-east Japan near Sendai, while Kansai airport is near Osaka at the southern end of Japan, something like 800km away and there's lots of land between it and the quake epicentre.

It says a 10 m tsunami hit Sendai airport.

sunflower27

7th largest earthquake ever recorded.

Agonist

Did the PM say something about radiation?

ollie1

Sunami warning for Hawaii this is crazy

irish1967

Tsunami sirens sounding in Honolulu ! Wave expected in 3 hours. Vertical evacuation in place. 3rd floor or above.

sunflower27

Agonist wrote: »

Did the PM say something about radiation?

he said he has no information re leaks at this point

sunflower27

irish1967 wrote: »

Tsunami sirens sounding in Honolulu ! Wave expected in 3 hours. Vertical evacuation in place. 3rd floor or above.

Hawaii has been told to be on tsunami alert from 2am (their time).

Australia also on alert.

Agonist

The tsunami is travelling at 800 kph across the Pacific...

leahyl

This is unbelievable lads...it's like the end of the world or something. Those poor people. And now Hawaii too is in danger. Just watching sky news there and that wave of mud crashing through all the farmland. Terrible stuff

Chopperdog 2

Poor Japan is getting hammered as we speak and sky are giving live reports from Hawaii..... 3,000 miles away!!

Wave (might) hit Hawaii in 5 hours, if it does.......

Why all this Hawaii hysteria?

Come on Sky News, Japan is where the issue is........ May God look after them all.

ollie1

leahyl wrote: »

This is unbelievable lads...it's like the end of the world or something. Those poor people. And now Hawaii too is in danger. Just watching sky news there and that wave of mud crashing through all the farmland. Terrible stuff

And you could see people just standing on the road and in the cars not knowing that the wave was coming towards them

helimachoptor

Agonist wrote: »

The tsunami is travelling at 800 kph across the Pacific...

That has to be s mistype????

Cantona's Collars

Chopperdog 2 wrote: »

Poor Japan is getting hammered as we speak and sky are giving live reports from Hawaii..... 3,000 miles away!!

Wave (might) hit Hawaii in 5 hours, if it does.......

Why all this Hawaii hysteria?

Come on Sky News, Japan is where the issue is........ May God look after them all.

Sky News have a contact in Hawaii and this tsunami could hit them hard as it picks up power crossing the Pacific.At least they are doing a better job reporting it than Irish Newscasters-not a mention of it here on the news earlier.

Agonist

helimachoptor wrote: »

That has to be s mistype????

Well no, I heard a reporter saying that. He may have been wrong.

leahyl

ollie1 wrote: »

And you could see people just standing on the road and in the cars not knowing that the wave was coming towards them

I know and if one person has already been confirmed dead in Tokyo which is hundreds of miles away from the actual epicentre of the quake can you imagine how many people are dead where the main quake was....:(

Dazza

Go to "justin tv " and type in cnn news. They have good coverage. So sad tho

tinofapples

My younger brother is in Japan on holidays since the weekend

helimachoptor

tinofapples wrote: »

My younger brother is in Japan on holidays since the weekend

I really hope he's ok

leahyl

tinofapples wrote: »

My younger brother is in Japan on holidays since the weekend

What part is he in?

Turtwig

sunflower27 wrote: »

Scary, scary stuff. Remember hearing about this book years ago.

http://www.amazon.com/Sixty-Seconds-That-Change-World/dp/0283060794

Kinda OT, but this guy has an excellent youtube channel for explaining sciency stuff. (See his history of the universe stuff.)

The scariest thing about this quake is I've seen numerous documentaries and reports forewarning this would happen. But now it's happened it's still hard to believe. When you hear about the grave stuff you think it sounds bad but when you see similar scenes on tv.:eek: Scary ****, just hope as many as people get as lucky as possible considering the circumstances.

tinofapples

leahyl wrote: »

What part is he in?

Was at Mount Fuji 22 hrs ago, can't make contact

FTGFOP

holy crap

(recorded video of tsunami wave)

Fekin hell, girl I was seeing in Philippines just went to the far north coast yesterday and there's a tsunami warning.. Hoping she's ok.

watna

We're on tsunami warning in NZ as well. Luckily I live up on a hill. Scary stuff.

leahyl

How likely is it that there will be a major tsunami hitting Hawaii? Any experts on here or is there no way of knowing whether it will hit or not?