Japan’s Strict Building Codes Saved Lives It doesn't say millions, but I don't think anyone is underestimating the importance of Japan's engineering.
At some point, the person building this house decided to spend the extra money on something no one would ever notice, the structural integrity, something that most houses in the suburbs of the US have none of. If the guy who built this house is still alive, he should feel some level of pride.
Um... you guys know that the Richter scale is logarithmic, right? So a 5.0 is not 25% more powerful than a 4.0, it's 10 times more powerful. You guys saying "I never usually believe calamity predictions but..." are cracking me up. If you take a hundred or thousand year view of natural disasters, it becomes clear that while these events are tragic, they are not predicting the end of days. It's horrifying and only natural to feel for the victims and get freaked out by thinking about what would happen to you in the same situation, but don't let that spill over into semi-spiritual fear.
I am really shocked to see the Chinese of all people one of the first countries to dispatch rescue units to Japan. Considering the not-so-good history between the two and how Asian countries old a grudge, this was a great thing to see. Now, HOW many rescuers they sent I have no idea, but it's nice to see us working together.
Haven't seen this video on here but it is crazy. Goes from clear streets to water moving in and ends with buildings being washed away. All from ground level. Dude was way too close for my comfort. http://video.l3.fbcdn.net/cfs-l3-sn...8&l3e=20110315101648&lh=0a6cfa5eeaecd6dc12abf
Gilbert Gottfried was fired by Aflac today after posting a bunch of Tsunami jokes on Twitter. Most were like this : I guess no more duck commercials.
What do you expect when you hire a comedian that has a history of off-colour jokes? In other news, it seems that there has been more than a bit of radiation released by the nuclear facilities in Japan. The US navy has sailed through some of it, and were exposed to a month's worth of radiation in less than an hour. I have no idea what kind of radiation reading they're talking about, but it seems somewhat substantial. <a class="postlink" href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/8379969/Japan-earthquake-US-aircraft-carrier-sails-into-radioactive-cloud.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... cloud.html</a>
The general panicky nature of the western media's reporting of this, when contrasted with how the Japanese are not panicking is a great show of the difference in our cultures general reaction. The Japanese have remained incredibly calm in what to many must seem like the end of the world. We aren't seeing people running around panicking, but lining up in an orderly fashion, and helping each other out, and not looting. I saw a clip of some American journalists interviewing a man who had lost his house, and the man was concerned that the crew might not have enough food, and offered to share what little he had with them. As I posted earlier in the thread, I live on the San Andreas fault, only a couple of miles from the epicenter of the 1989 quake that took out San Francisco. The community I live in was very small back then, and very close knit, and the county was also very low in population, and the issues were negligible. People worked with one another. I have a feeling that we wouldn't see that anymore here. The community is large, and the surrounding cities have become poor, and with a large gang population. Basically, this would be most people's reaction here in the US: [/quote] I can't be the only one who thinks that news stations need to hire Brian Blessed to read out these kinds of stories.
More news: second reactor experiencing explosions - http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/...-government-says/story-e6freon6-1226021503132 There's the usual caveat of taking everything the Western media seems to spew out with a bag of salt. Have also heard rumours of another potential tidal wave of 3 metres (10 foot). Then there's also the erupting volcano in South West Japan: http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/japanese-volcano-erupts/story-e6frea6u-1226021367453. I think the fear from that would not so much by the volcano itself but rather the ash clouds restricting flight access. Humanitarian aid would be relying on being able to fly in. ----- Personally, I'm not surprised that China is lending a helping hand. Sure, there's bad blood in the history between the two countries. However, at the very least it makes economic sense. I've heard reports that several important technology manufacturers have sustained damage (specifically Nikon). The Nikkei has taken a pounding. Not that I've been paying attention lately, but Japan's economy is very sluggish still recovering from the GFC. China may be the manufacturing powerhouse, but Japan is still a leading innovator in development. I would say there's the potential for some massive "down stream" ramifications. I would also guess that, without knowing prevailing wind patterns, China doesn't want the chance of radioactive material getting blown West. As for the way in which the Japanese community is responding to the devastation, I agree it goes a long way to commenting about the culture and psyche of the people. It's starting to change, but this is a country big on discipline, conformity and individual sacrifice for the "greater good". In a lot of respects, it's like a hive mind. Well, now is one of those times when we see how effective such a situation can be. Also, Japanese are intensely practical. They realise that running amok, looting and pillaging today is just going to mean worse conditions tomorrow. Plus, don't forget that historically Japan is subject to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. One of the first things I was taught about Japan, rightly or wrongly, was that the reason their traditional houses were made of light materials with sliding walls of wood and paper was because it was cheap and easy to reconstruct after an earthquake. Pragmatic AND fatalistic.
Yet another interesting read from someone at ground-zero in Japan. This guy happens to work in an Apple Store, and talks about how they've been helping those people affected by the quake. Apple's Role in Japan during the Tohoku Earthquake
Shit's getting REALLY real in Japan right now. Seems that the nuclear stuff is getting worse. <a class="postlink" href="http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/RS_Possible_damage_at_Fukushima_Daiichi_2_1503111.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/RS_Po ... 03111.html</a> Seems that a radiation cloud is about 8 hours away from Tokyo.
Hundreds of bodies coming back to shore, thousands missing and this. Possibly another Chernobyl. I feel like throwing up.
If you ask me, there are far too many living on this planet at the moment and I think we could do with a good cleanout of a couple of Billion, at least. For example, take the Climate Change. No matter what we do in Australia (with a proposed Carbon Tax) to counter Climate change; the rest of the developing world wants to enjoy a quality of life that is close to or the equivalent of ours. So, another 3-4+ Billion people from the third and the developing world want to live the lifestyle and have the quality of life that a relatively lucky few in the Western World have. That makes for an even bigger overall Carbon Footprint ... if you believe all the Climate Change rhetoric. (Mind you, how did the Western World manage to get this lifestyle? Partly, by stealing the land off its original owners, the American Indians, Aboriginals etc ; but that's another story.) You think that is even remotely possible without even further fucking up the planet or using up finite resources like crude oil? (mind you, no matter what we do to the planet, the planet will be fine. We on the other hand will be fucked.)
Great article on the science behind the nuclear issues. Lots of great, common sense science, none of the hyperbole. <a class="postlink" href="http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/shortsharpscience/2011/03/japan-megaquake-update.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/short ... pdate.html</a>
Just heard on the news that there's been a 4.0 earthquake just off the coast of Cairns, Australia. Make of that what you will.
California has been unusually quiet since the quake in Japan. Earth must need a recovery period like a guy who just blew a huge load.
Spoilered because some will find this in poor taste. Spoiler Japan will need a lot of to prevent becoming . I'm glad we don't get earthquakes in S.A... I hope things don't get worse for Japan though.
This is Japan we're talking about, so I'm sure they're more concerned about any radiation leak turning this: Spoiler into this: Spoiler