Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan

[Ktulu7]

Hey Inudesu, is everyone you know in Japan okay after the quake? So far I guess half of my people have reported back, so I'm still waiting. I actually wanted to live in Sendai, but thank God I don't right now. I don't really have anyone in the northeast, thankfully, but the ones in Tokyo are dealing with a lot of crap right now. I haven't heard from my best friend in Osaka, but I'm sure he's totally fine, 'cause there shouldn't be any damage there obviously. An odd thing is that I'm actually interviewing with a Japanese company for a job right now, though it's in Covington.

8.9 earthquake near Sendai, Miyagi-ken today folks... This is like one of the mega-quakes experts talk about, and would have annihilated a HUGE swath in North America. It's amazing how good the infrastructure is in Japan, but even their infrastructure gets screwed by this big of a quake and ESPECIALLY the tsunami, my goodness! 33 foot tsunami ain't nothin' to play with! This saddens my day a good bit... I recognize places in some of the pics and videos I see, and I am not wanting to find out just how many people end up dead from this... Pray for Japan.

[DellDawg]

This is just horrible. http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/japa...quake-13112262

[DellDawg]

Echo. I know. Admin can y'all combined the threads.

[ddgravy]

Some of the most amazing photos I have ever seen. Prayers go out to Nippon.

[DellDawg]

Another quake just hit about 10 minutes ago. 6.2 this time.

[inudesu]

Most of my Japanese friends are in the Kansai area. I know of a missionary family in Sendai, but I've heard that they are ok (I don't know them well, but they were there when I was there).

This is a bad deal. If there is any country who can best respond to something like this, it's Japan - but it's still going to be pretty bad. I've toured the Earthquake research center/Hanshin earthquake musuem several times and I know they have lots of diaster relief planning for this kind of thing.

Be praying for Japan. There is going to be a high death toll, a huge number of people displaced and injured, and a long rebuilding process to go through.

[Ktulu7]

I know it's probably selfish as hell, but it's one thing to see Indonesia or Chile get hit... It's another when you see a place you have a personal connection to, get ravaged like this. It's Katrina #2 in a way for me, though the destruction is probably much worse. We'll see now that it's daybreak in Japan. I actually was wanting to move to Sendai, but thank God I haven't yet. Still waiting to hear from some folks in Tokyo. I'm not worried about the friends in Kansai. I heard there was another 7.2 in Nagano-ken a little while ago, but I don't think it was too bad.

Thinking about all the quakes I felt in Japan, I'm very fortunate that none of them were like this one. When a big one starts, you just don't know if it'll stop after a couple seconds or if it'll keep going, so it can be pretty scary at times. Pray really hard for Japan... Let's hope the death toll isn't too high...

[longdawgview]

There are reports on CNN now that a nuclear meltdown is taking place in one of the reactors, doesn't look good. One the experts said the salt water they're pumping in is a last resort.

[JuBru]

Upgraded to a 9.0 earthquake, tieing it for 4th most powerful.

[Sw]

The before and after pictures are incredible. I never realized how the earthquake scale works. A 9.0 is 32 times more powerful than a 8.0. If the guy explaining it was correct then that is almost unbelieveable.

[hookdown]

More pics. I cannot even begin to imagine what those folks are going through.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...survivors.html

[qng001]

It's interesting how the Japanese react to a catastrophic event vs Americans. I haven't heard of any looting and shootings from the news.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15YKFhK0c5Q

[hoppinmad]

They probably need a seminar given by 9th ward or Watts.

[ITdrummer]

Before and after.
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2...sunami.html?hp

[Ktulu7]

Before and after.
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2...sunami.html?hp

Those pictures are nuts!

By the way, AT&T and Verizon are allowing free calls to Japan from the USA for the rest of March, as well as text messages. AT&T is also making the 24-hour television network, TV-Japan available for free to U-Verse customers for the rest of March.