SBARC Posted March 12, 2011 Author Share Posted March 12, 2011 My son is heading to Hawaii tomorrow for a school trip and rugby tournament, so this has had us on the edge of our seats all day. Spoke to the guys at Air Canada cargo here in Toronto an hour ago (had to go and drop off a parcel) and they said that Vancouver, where they land first, only got a wave about a foot high and that's it. The tour organizer has heard from others in Honolulu and apparently the airport has not suffered at all. Looks as if it's a 'go', the only thing that might cause a snag is if a lot of emergency services are staging through there for points west, but since they're a hell of a lot more important than a rugby tournament we'll understand. And while we're on the subject let's give a big shout out to all those who are there now, heading there, and will be going there soon. I only wish I was young enough and in good enough shape to go myself and lend a hand. They have a long slog ahead of them, I wish them well. Vancouver is protected by Vancouver Island (west coast of Canada for non-Canadians), hence the small wave action in Vancouver. Tofino....on the west coast of Vancouver island got 1 metre waves. Apparently Hawaii also saw 1 metre waves. I heard that there are over 50 countries that are contributing to the relief effort.......which is the way it should be as the Japanese always send rescue teams each time there is an earthquake in other countries. In the videos of the Tsunami in Japan.....I beleive you do at one point see a bunch of Toyota Yaris being swept away......there is a Toyota Yaris production plant in Sendai....where the Tsunami came ashore. The death toll would have been much higher if this happened in any other country......the Japanese are very prepared for this sort of event....from Tsunami walls along the coastal areas to disrupt tsunamis once they come inland as well as building codes that reflect the earthquke situation in Japan. And finally.......the old style of buildings.....the Pagoda.....are usually very tall and include many stories and they survive major earthquakes in Japan. So modern engineers studied the ancient design and found that the Pagoda buildings in Japan had a central "backbone" structure in the centre of the building premitting it to sway with the earthquakes. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jay Chladek Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 Well, in case anyone was wondering about what type of damage HLJ suffered, here are pictures: http://plixi.com/p/83160918 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Wayne S Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 Man that is some crazy stuff over there. I looked up the area, they have had over 100 earthquakes in a matter of 24 hours. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mario krijan Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 Our prayers with Japanese people affected by earthquake and tsunami..... what will happened wit Nuclear power plants? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
vince14 Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 It's been a long tiring day for all of us. I got very little sleep last night and I've been following the TV news reports all day.I'm thankful the death toll isn't as high as I originally feared. The area hit by the Tsunami looks like it was a very peaceful part of the countryside. I think the people in that aera got little warning, but the local airport didn't seem to have any airliners on the ground, indicating they had some warning. The death toll is only going to go up, sadly. At least 600 dead, and that figure is going to go higher. There are whole towns and villages gone, and apparently now the Fukushima-Daiichi plant has gone into meltdown. Vince Quote Link to post Share on other sites
THX1138 Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 (edited) Makes jerking around with little plastic things that come in a box look so insignificant. This is just beyond imagination. When you see the wave crossing the land you constantly get the feeling it will stop, like a regular wave. But it just thunders on and on like a slow motion movie. Shocking. I hope the nuclear plants settle down soon. A metldown or radioactive cloud covering an area that's already in need of relief would be even worse. Our thoughts are with the people in the region. Lets all buy a few more Tamiya/Hasegawa kits, to help with boosting the economy. Edited March 12, 2011 by THX1138 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Antonov Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 (edited) Looks like an explosion just blew the walls and ceiling off the containment building of the reactor that's in meltdown in Fukushima: http://twitpic.com/48pqvs Edited March 12, 2011 by Antonov Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Antonov Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pg4uogOEUrU Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Kev67 Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 Now a Nuclear leak what could be worst, that will effect people for decades to come Quote Link to post Share on other sites
pollie Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 Ouch, this is getting worse and worse.......a large area contaminated with nuclear fall down is the last thing you want Quote Link to post Share on other sites
supergru Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 This was a hydrogen explosion. 'Cause of high temperature and pressure, cooling water disintegrated to its elements - hydrogen and oxygen. This was outer shell. Only structural elements of the building are left. China Syndrome is just a matter of hours, now - melting of nuclear core. I just hope winds will blow out into Pacific - you can't just evacuate 32 millions living in Tokyo. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Les / Creative Edge Photo Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 (edited) Lets not jump to conclusions folks! Assuming what level of catastrophe may be is unwise. This is not Chernobyl nor Three mile Island (which 3 Mile that is BTW did not melt down). It's bad enough that all the freaking Chicken Littles about nuke power are now coming out all over no matter what ends up with the nuke plant in Japan. For any Chicken Littles without the hundreds of safely operating nuclear plants where do any of you suppose the ever growing power grid will get its power from? Edited March 12, 2011 by Les / Creative Edge Photo Quote Link to post Share on other sites
The Rat Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 From Brian Dunning, who runs the web site Skeptoid: "Fukushima nuclear plant does NOT have a combustible graphite core like Chernobyl. A total meltdown should flow into underground containment." That's at least some better news than you might be hearing elsewhere. Still not great, but not 'end of the world' stuff. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fishwelding Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 (edited) The nuclear situation is deeply frustrating for those outside, because however serious it is, I doubt global news media sources will accurately portray the situation. As in previous nuclear crises, news media tends to report speculation, or facts out of context, or repeats comparisons (such as Chernobyl) that are not relevant. If it turns out to be a major tragedy (and I sincerely hope it does not, of course), we'll be aware of that when it happens. But regardless of what happens, details as to what went wrong from the beginning are too hazy and adrift in speculation for me to trust. I know just enough to suspect that reporting has already been mutilated pretty badly. It's funny how, despite the enormous increase in communications, I'm now quite certain we've made zero progress toward getting accurate news more quickly. Sadly, the last 24 hours has confirmed this again. I really never trust news reporting beyond the simplest accounts until at least a week after something's happened. That's a record roughly equivalent to the year 1933, when newspapers were the dominant early news source, and news magazines the more accurate follow-on. By the way, anyone interested in a history of Three Mile Island, with some retrospective of American nuclear power history, this is a good book. Edited March 12, 2011 by Fishwelding Quote Link to post Share on other sites
The Rat Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 It's funny how, despite the enormous increase in communications, I'm now quite certain we've made zero progress toward getting accurate news more quickly. I'll go further and say that it's less accurate than years ago. Today it's all about getting first with the sound-bite, and accuracy be damned. Newscasters these days seem very ignorant of geography, history, basic science, and even basic pronunciation. I won't go further because it will just stray too far off topic, but I urge everyone to read several sources and be skeptical of any first reports. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fishwelding Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 (edited) I'll go further and say that it's less accurate than years ago. Today it's all about getting first with the sound-bite, and accuracy be damned. Newscasters these days seem very ignorant of geography, history, basic science, and even basic pronunciation. I won't go further because it will just stray too far off topic, but I urge everyone to read several sources and be skeptical of any first reports. I'm afraid you're right, and sadly it's on topic, too. I've heard some crazy speculations over the past day about what's happening in Japan and the rest of the Pacific. Some amount of "what could happen" is expected, but news reporting seemed to run wild with that, confusing it with what had happened or was happening. Further, I saw all sorts of photographs attached to different stories such that, it was not clear whether I was looking at devastation in Hokkaido or Hawaii. The last ten years in the United States, through Katrina, overseas wars, and political campaigns, make me highly dubious of anything coming out of TV and internet news media. I'm not suggesting conspiracy; rather the opposite, I'm suggesting sloppiness resulting from greed. Edited March 12, 2011 by Fishwelding Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TonyT Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 (edited) UK tv is saying it could be steam explosion as they had been trying to relieve pressure and if it is it would be low level radiation about 20 times background, the core may be ok............ please be hope and pray for those poor souls..... this is gonna have a megga knock on in anything "made in Japan" prices from Sony to Toyota Just hope the death toll does not rise but i fear those hopes are in vein :lol: ........ Gaddafi must think all his eggs arrived in one basket as the world and medias attention is shifted to Japan. Edited March 12, 2011 by TonyT Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tomcat RIO Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 (edited) Images from Associated Press, rerouted via my local news network. Matsushima Airbase as it was hit. F-2B washed into civilan area. Prayers and God bless. -edit. A salute to encourage all the men and women now deployed to aid rescue efforts after the disaster. be safe be strong. Edited March 12, 2011 by Tomcat RIO Quote Link to post Share on other sites
superhornet1015 Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 Saw the video's, good Lord what a mess. Lord please watch over all those people and protect them all.Amen Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SBARC Posted March 12, 2011 Author Share Posted March 12, 2011 It appears the story has a long way to go regarding the nuclear plant. I really did hope they would get this situation under control before it reached this point..........I'm gutted by this turn of events regarding this nuclear plant. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
William G Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 I am speechless William G Quote Link to post Share on other sites
pollie Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 F-2B washed into civilan area. That is actually one of the hangars on base. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
foxmulder_ms Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 That looks terrible, cannot be good... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
supergru Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 Last I heard, they are trying to cool the reactor with the sea water. I think this is last chance to minimize chain reaction consequences. Radioactive Caesium and Iodine were messed outside the powerplant. This is probably a direct result of outer shell blow off. Winds are blowing from SW or W to NE, and weather forecast says it will remain so, in the next couple of days. Eventual radioactive cloud will go into Pacific Ocean, thankfully. With a new sunrise in a few hours, we'll get a better approximation of the situation at Fukushima. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Finn Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 Flooded Airbase: http://komica7.dreamhosters.com/17/src/1299839283336.jpg Jari Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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