CNN An 8.8-magnitude earthquake has struck Japan

[patrick1]

Horrifying and incredible news. My best to the victims and responders.

Incidentally I'm traveling in late April/early May to Chile to meet with the Emergency management personnel down there and exchange info how they dealt with their quake last year. This rash of earthquakes is making me a little uneasy about that.

[patrick1]

It is tossing boats around in Santa Cruz.

Apparently it's been reported that the Harbor has been completely destroyed.

There was damage, but it is far from completely destroyed.

I'm going off AP Reports.

Apparently Radiation levels have surged at that power plant.

I just watched videos; 100 boats damaged with 20 sunk, but still more are afloat.

The reactor is at 150% of normal pressure.  Backup coolant pumps have failed as well.

I would've figured with this much warning, they'd try to get as many of the boats out to see until the tsunami was over.

We did an analysis of this tonight. I think they had less than ten minutes between the quake and the tsunami. The computers aren't even capable of generating a real picture of the earthquake before that time.

[patrick1]

F**k nuclear energy !

Perhaps. You also have to think about all of the industrial chemicals that were/may have been released. The cascading effects on this are real bad.  The US has been putting in place plans for secondary effects in the National Infrastructure Protection Plan, but we would be equally and probably more devastated from what happened in Japan today.  If that theorized Mid Atlantic fault ever had something of this magnitude the East coast would be royally f#ed.  A fault also runs through 125 st in Harlem and under the Indian Point Nuclear reactor just north of here.

[patrick1]

F**k nuclear energy !

Perhaps. You also have to think about all of the industrial chemicals that were/may have been released. The cascading effects on this are real bad.  The US has been putting in place plans for secondary effects in the National Infrastructure Protection Plan, but we would be equally and probably more devastated from what happened in Japan today.  If that theorized Mid Atlantic fault ever had something of this magnitude the East coast would be royally f#ed.  A fault also runs through 125 st in Harlem and under the Indian Point Nuclear reactor just north of here.

Here's a map of the hazard of earthquakes in the U.S.


Memphis is a disaster waiting to happen.

Yep, the New Madrid fault is due for a big one. Hopefully it takes its time and we're all planted by the time that happens. It is still good stewardship to plan for these things and try to have the best land zoning and building codes possible.

[patrick1]

Holy shi t, the reactor is blowing...

CNN: "Explosion near nuclear plant"

There was shaking, then several explosions, the entire top and wall of the reactor building has collapsed. Several workers are injured. Authorities are now telling people to go inside and shut all windows.

What an awful job that must be.

Radiation levels almost 10,000 times normal have now been detected at the plant.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvC4WQrQwTs&feature=youtu.be
:44 second mark for slo-mo of explosion at nuclear site

[patrick1]

I'm eagerly awaiting the left-wing propaganda about the earthquake risk in Central Europe making nuclear energy a ticking time bomb.

oh, brother.

You must not be familiar with the German Greens.

Franzl, most groups try to strike while the iron is hot to advance their agenda.  It is human nature and also very effective. In the emergency management field this is done all the time to try to secure funding. Most politicians and people choose not to think about these things. More to the point, I don't think you can dismiss their (the greens) concerns out of hand. Some are valid- others not so much. You are correct that Germany isn't really an earthquake hotbed, but there are other hazards that could negatively affect them.

[patrick1]

As usual, Franzl is way ahead of the curve...

http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/europe/news/article_1625603.php/Germany-promises-inspection-of-German-nuclear-plants

Except it wasn't the people he was referring to who did that...

Preemptive strategy, no doubt.  9.1 earthquakes are really a threat in Germany, after all...

Correction - and likely it was made in response to this:

http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFLDE72B08H20110312

Yeah, they are taking some perfunctory measures to protect themselves politically. The risks are known.

[patrick1]

Chernobyl was so bad precisely because it blew the top off and released a lot of radioactive dust into the air,  The most damaging isotopes aren't going to be carried off into the atmosphere for quick dispersal in the event of a China syndrome.  They would have to abandon using underground water supplies in the immediate area, but global effects would not reach to the level of having to evacuate the U.S. West Coast (Even if they did, evacuate to where?)

There wouldn't be an evacuation. If anything you would call on people to shelter in place for a while.

[patrick1]

Footage of the tsunami hitting Kamaishi, Japan. Disturbing!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCn6H3JKY4M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRDpTEjumdo

Absolutely insane.

Yeah, brutal stuff to watch. It not graphic, but seeing people like that guy at :40 in the first vid and knowing that he was just swept away. Then in the second video the reaction of the kids.  The enormity of this earthquake and tsunami has kinda been lost because of the ongoing crises at nuclear reactors.

[patrick1]

Interesting article about Japanese leadership during this crisis.  I can only imagine the media $hitstorm that there would be had this occurred in the US. Also the US populace would be calling for heads.  That is a general drawback to Japan's rather pliant culture- they have not been demanding information and consistent answers.  I think that is changing. Of course, the positive cultural aspects of people being more cohesive are that there is little panicking, looting etc etc.  Well enough generalizations for now.

Flaws in Japan’s Leadership Deepen Sense of Crisis
TOKYO — With all the euphemistic language on display from officials handling Japan’s nuclear crisis, one commodity has been in short supply: information.

When an explosion shook one of many stricken reactors at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant on Saturday, power company officials initially offered a typically opaque, and understated, explanation.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/17/world/asia/17tokyo.html?_r=1&ref=world