Well, Japan's economy has been rather bad for some time, and rural areas have been having most of their younger citizens moving away to the big cities for work. My MIL lives way out in the country, where they had a school for elementary aged kids, but they will be closing it down at the end of this year, so I heard, because they have less than a dozen students overall–not just in one grade, but in the whole school. From next year the kids will be bused to the next largest town for school. So yeah, I would guess in these small towns there would be a lot more elderly there, if that helps. Of course you can always google the statistics for Sendai if you want.
9.0 earthquake hits Japan
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I have to agree with the lot of you the media is very misleading. Alot of my school mates presumes a shit load of people have died, when it's not the case. I'm pretty much getting all my info from this thread.
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well a lot of people have died. just not as much, as say haiti because japan was prepared.
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@I:
Well, Japan's economy has been rather bad for some time, and rural areas have been having most of their younger citizens moving away to the big cities for work. My MIL lives way out in the country, where they had a school for elementary aged kids, but they will be closing it down at the end of this year, so I heard, because they have less than a dozen students overall–not just in one grade, but in the whole school. From next year the kids will be bused to the next largest town for school. So yeah, I would guess in these small towns there would be a lot more elderly there, if that helps. Of course you can always google the statistics for Sendai if you want.
Thanks.
Ms. ISTBC what does MIL mean?
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MIL = Mother-in-Law
CTV news in Canada was saying our reactors are built to have a weeks worth or emergency energy incase of an emergency.
they were also talking, about how it took several decades for the general public in the US and Canada to get comfy with the idea of nuclear energy, and now this. Apparently, Obama and us here in Canada were all set to build some new reactors, and now they are on hold for the moment.
Yeaaaah. If they tried to bring that up now, it would be a big fat no XD
I had looked up the locations of the US reactors, and most of them seem to be in stable places where they aren't threatened by nature too much. The ones slightly damaged by tornados were in New England. That just proves nature is unpredictable and shit will happen where you least expect it.
Personally, I don't think new plants are a great idea unless they start closing off older ones. Though I beleive this decade, a good number of them will be at their full term and will be closing, so it makes a lot of sense Obama wants to bring up building new ones.
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Thanks
I was so tempted to add an extra consonant. :ninja: SorryWasn't there a threat in Toronto a few years back when an earthquake hit the city and threatened one of its old nuclear reactors?
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If you ask me, we should get cracking on making nuclear fusion practical. More energy, less hazardous waste.
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I would take what the news says with a grain of salt and listen to what the people from Japan on here say. At least they are seeing the Japanese news themselves and it's not going through an American filter.
From what I'm hearing here, with a grain of salt mind you, there are fires that have broken out in some of the plants and the radiation level temporarily spiked, but went down again when the fires were put out.
Now America is arguing whether to continue building their nuclear plants or not.
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Thanks
I was so tempted to add an extra consonant. :ninja: SorryWasn't there a threat in Toronto a few years back when an earthquake hit the city and threatened one of its old nuclear reactors?
a few years back? I've been here for 10 years and there's been no earth quake. i think michigan had one maybe 15 years back or so. no, that was a tornado.
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@THE:
This photo moved me deeply, so I drew my version of it, with a more stoical expression.
!
Reminds me of a movie I saw recently about the 1976 Tangshan earthquake in northeast China. It was very realistic and very moving. The photo looked eerily like one of the scenes in the movie (and so is the quality!). Maybe it's just a coincidence.
Edit: rant. Fuck it.
On the other hand, the Japanese people showed the world the ideal response to a national crisis. It was heartwarming, and epic even. May Japan rebuild and prosper.
Edit: rant part II. Fuck it.
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a few years back? I've been here for 10 years and there's been no earth quake. i think michigan had one maybe 15 years back or so. no, that was a tornado.
Oh my bad. Tornado, did they shut down the plant?
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Apparently, a lot of the more recent problems at the reactors have come from TEPCO trying to salvage the reactors as a first priority and ignoring other potential problems like the water level in the fuel pool where spent rods are stored for reprocessing. They also didn't completely put out the Number 4 fire and let things go on long enough for it to burst back into flame again.
The more I look at TEPCO's track record on this sort of thing, the more disgusted I become. These plants were designed to withstand a 7.4 quake, but I have a strong suspicion that even an earthquake weaker than that would have had similarly disastrous results.
The last thing these poor people need right now is more suffering because of some utility's desire to save face and money at the expense of safety.
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Aren't the problems caused by the tsunami wiping out the back up generators?
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Reminds me of a movie I saw recently about the 1976 Tangshan earthquake in northeast China. It was very realistic and very moving. The photo looked eerily like one of the scenes in the movie (and so is the quality!). Maybe it's just a coincidence.
Also, where were the fucking levees in Sendai? The place looked like the tsunami went through with nothing to slow it down, other than the buildings that were destroyed. I know Tokyo's got the best tsunami protection in the world, but the government left the north uncovered?
On the other hand, the Japanese people showed the world the ideal response to a national crisis. It was heartwarming, and epic even. May Japan rebuild and prosper.
And I hope Japan doesn't re-elect those hypocritical douchebags like Ishihara to be leaders, funded by assholes like Kodama. I see them at fault for all the mess and worry in Japan.
This Tsunami was, I read, in the neighborhood of 23 feet tall. The average Tsunami is 5 to 8 feet tall, (though of course a number of factors play into the actual size). Nothing was going to stop it.
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Live geiger counter feed in Tokyo.
10-20CPM is the normal range.
Talking with a guy I know in the Kansai region right now and it's life as usual there, barring the requisite panicked food hoarding and whatnots. No flooding, blackouts or any of that at the moment, which is nice to hear.
Foreign news reports are fucking retarded, though. I've seen Fox News fearmongering more than usual, and German news is saying that there's "a giant nuclear cloud over Tokyo."
Thanks to this, lots of expatriates in Tokyo are fleeing the country. -
Oooh that's cool Zenigame–thanks for posting.
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a few years back? I've been here for 10 years and there's been no earth quake. i think michigan had one maybe 15 years back or so. no, that was a tornado.
Actually we here in Michigan did have an earthquake about two years ago. It was so pitifully small though and it happened when most people were asleep at 5:00am.
Naturally, my insomnia had to wake me up prior to that, but I digress.
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Aren't the problems caused by the tsunami wiping out the back up generators?
The problems started out that way, but the events over the past few days are coming from TEPCO's handling of the situation. The fuel pool fire is something that shouldn't happen if somebody is bothering to check in on it from time to time and even TEPCO has admitted that the recent Number 4 fire is the same one that they claimed to have put out the other day. That's something that doesn't happen if resources aren't being diverted somewhere else before the job is done.
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How many employees are still in the plant right now anyways? I heard reports 700+ were evacuated. With a selected few remaining, I could see the lapse in maintaining all 6 plants there.
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If you ask me, we should get cracking on making nuclear fusion practical. More energy, less hazardous waste.
This.
I am hoping there is a lot to learn in regards to furthering safety in nuclear power plants. It's clean burning and efficient, if there was a way to make it safe too, we'd be pretty good.
Considering the license for many plants built in the 70s shall be up this decade, I hope they are focusing (or will start focusing) efforts on building new plants to be practical and much safer. I think a big revolution in safety and practicality is what it will take for the majority to even be remotely comfortable with the idea of nuclear energy again :/
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IMPORTANT
A friend's teacher in physics predicts another MAJOR earthquake in the same area (maybe even more) no later than the first week of June.
http://jinxer.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1039
http://jinxer.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1042
I have checked his previous predictions and they were correct . Usually, the error ratio is between 1 to 2 months. Basically, it is possible that the next one could occur between April and June.
As a reminder don't forget the 7 steps.
http://www.earthquakecountry.info/roots/seven_steps.html
I thank this friend and his teacher for their contribution.
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Without a doubt, aftershocks will continue. They can continue loooong after. ((Also look at Indonesia, it had a couple of small quakes in the same spot as the huge major one right before, and apparently a few days before in the same spot near the 9.0 quake, there was a smaller quake as well)). I'm sure they are well aware of the risk. I think most major major quakes were followed with many small but still pretty big afterquakes too.
Look how many quakes Sumatra has had since the big one: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_21st-century_earthquakes
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I read Japan is now at level 6? ISIS
Hopefully it won't get worse.
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Does Level 7 mean its going the Chernobyl route or just that a major meltdown has happened? Though it is guaranteed either way that the containment units will keep it from being as bad as Chernobyl, right?
I know we've gone over this a few times, but if information of how bad it really is being withheld and it's POSSIBLE the situation could be that dire, I'm just curious.
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I'm actually kind of worried now since I live near the ocean in California.
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I'm actually kind of worried now since I live near the ocean in California.
Calm down, the distance between Fukushima I and the american west coast is around 8,000 kilometers. Chernobyl for example is 'just' 1,300 kilometers away from Germany, where I live, and my parents were telling me that several nuclear clouds were rushing over northern and southern (Bayern) Germany, when the nuclear palm in Chernobyl exploded. And still then the radiation level was much lower (around 1/3) than in the 50s/60s during the nuclear experiments. (was in the news today as well) The only aftermath risk is that the mushrooms and other plants in some regions in southern Germany are still a bit irradiated and you shouldn't eat them in masses, that's all. My Grandma lives in a region which was affected by the clouds and she is still alive. I'm not sure to what level Chernobyl can be compared to Fukushima, because I've heard of highly toxic Plutonium in Fukushima's reactor No. 3, but again… it's around 8 times further than Chernobyl from Germany. Don't worry, mate.^^
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Thats what I hate about the western media. Its all about us! Even in Canada the primary news is "how will the radiation effect us". Which is why I spend time on this topic cause it gets to facts where it matters!
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@Kuma:
Chernobyl for example is 'just' 1,300 kilometers away from Germany, where I live, and my parents were telling me that several nuclear clouds were rushing over northern and southern (Bayern) Germany, when the nuclear palm in Chernobyl exploded. And still then the radiation level was much lower (around 1/3) than in the 50s/60s during the nuclear experiments.
Thank God there was no internet back then. This is a panic machine.
I've been reading so much BS lately, it's exhausting. -
The news that's on right now, whatever my mom is watching in the other room, has been doing what it sounds like, debunking that mass amounts of radiation are going to be heading for North America and how we are exposed to radiation everyday that (so far) isn't killing us. Glad to see something is not blowing shit out of proportion.
@goty: I agree. We only panic about stuff nowadays the internet makes it so easy to spread things, good and bad.
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Another 6.0 aftershock happend near the coast of the prefecture Chiba, which affected Tokyo as well. No Tsunami warning however, but still… when is this shit about to stop?
A more or less funny thing that I found is that the Jehovah's Witnesses declared the 20.03.2011 as the biblical date of the apocalypse back in 2007. Just wanted to share this, because they failed like hundred times with defining the apocalypse in the past and some religious people are panicking now... xD
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Da-yum
So much support from many anime and manga groups and at the top of the list the One Piece podcast 24 hour marathon!
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@Kuma:
Another 6.0 aftershock happend near the coast of the prefecture Chiba, which affected Tokyo as well. No Tsunami warning however, but still… when is this shit about to stop?
Well, iirc they said earlier this week there was a 70% chance of new tremors like these until the 16th, so we can't say this is unexpected. Hopefully things can calm down for real from now on.
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Without a doubt, aftershocks will continue. They can continue loooong after. ((Also look at Indonesia, it had a couple of small quakes in the same spot as the huge major one right before, and apparently a few days before in the same spot near the 9.0 quake, there was a smaller quake as well)). I'm sure they are well aware of the risk. I think most major major quakes were followed with many small but still pretty big afterquakes too.
Japan is accutally very weird and something I had not heard of until this earthquake, A 9.0 one following a 7.2 one the afterquake was bigger than the first one. I never heard of an afterquake being stronger than a major first one. Usually the energy stores up for decades or centuries and then releases in the first big blast. Edit: well wiki says foreshocks are quite normal though…
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Kinda confused with what is happening at the moment. Some reports say that they've had to temp evacuate the plant since it was too harmful. Others say they've completely abandoned the Plant to let it meltdown. Others say they're using Helicopters to douse things.
Also some say that the radiation level was too high whereas some say it WAS too high but it's since returned to lower levels.
So so confusing.
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follow this thread or the OP pod cast on facebook where greg posts updates.
whatever happens, north america is safe people. ok. :)
The nuclear plants are not in a dire situation, but anything could happen, so best be caucious. so far, they are working on things and it's ok. Greg reported this morning that there are about 100 workers there, and they just decided to scrap the helicopter thing due to radiation, but are doing other things instead.
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And what confuses you? That you're not getting informations about what's exactly going on there?
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And what confuses you? That you're not getting informations about what's exactly going on there?
What exactly is going on really. Since everywhere seems to contradict.
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LET'S HELP THEM!!
Donate now: http://helpjapan.onepiecepodcast.com/
ESPECIALLY 19-20th of March -
I've been keeping tabs on this. I've been to Japan a couple times when I was a lad because my grandmother lives in Osaka (she's fine btw). I love the country and the people which makes the situation even more sad for me. With the initial earthquakes, the aftershocks, the tsunami, and now the radioactive leaks Japan just can't get a break. I hope everything gets better for the people over there.
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Kinda confused with what is happening at the moment. Some reports say that they've had to temp evacuate the plant since it was too harmful. Others say they've completely abandoned the Plant to let it meltdown. Others say they're using Helicopters to douse things.
Also some say that the radiation level was too high whereas some say it WAS too high but it's since returned to lower levels.
So so confusing.
Same here.
Most of the information in foreign countries is just claims made by so called experts or organizations like Green Peace. Currently are 50 "heroes" at Fukushima, to prevent a meltdown. The radiation level around Fukushima is around 1000 mSv per second. The average dose for a year is 2-3 mSv usually and 5000 mSv are instantly lethal. They try to cool it down from the outside with the help of water cannons. So these people are pretty much sacrificing themselves for the sake of others. And some asshole bankers in Tokyo fled to Osaka.But according to Green Peace a massive nuclear cloud like in Chernobyl is impossible, due to the architecture of Fukushima.
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It'd be pretty stupid if Chernobyl happened again, and I really doubt it will happen.
We humans made countless mistakes, caused disasters that could have been prevented, but at least from the biggest catastrophes we learn our lessons. Furthermore, technology has been progressing. Chernobyl can't happen again.Still, I hope the worst won't happen.
And I'm worried about the people working at Fukushima. If something goes terribly wrong, I fear they won't survive it… I wish them luck.
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I've been following the radiation problem at the Fukushima plant since last night. I'm also getting contradictory information but I'm hoping that things are going to turn out all right since I would HATE to see radiation levels spike out of control.
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They left because the radition was too high, but then later they could get back, because it was lower again. I hope they can manage to solve the problem and they won't get sick because of this.
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I think it's too late, some people are already in isolation for radiation exposure. It's like Kuma up there said, they are basically sacrificing themselves to control the situation. Though I'm sure by now, there are people going in with proper gear to reduce the effects of exposure, but many people were not so lucky.
@Kuma:
Another 6.0 aftershock happend near the coast of the prefecture Chiba, which affected Tokyo as well. No Tsunami warning however, but still… when is this shit about to stop?
Sometimes, aftershocks from a major quake can come for years after. Though I think, after a month or so, the frequency should lessen significantly, but for the next month they're probably expecting the constant barrage. Like I posted earlier, Sumatra is still experiencing minor quakes every so often in roughly the same area as the large one occurred. Japan is no stranger to earthquakes, so as long as another massive one doesn't come along, they will deal. I hope they are able to get some reprive from this crap soon so they can have an easier time with the searching, clean up, and rebuild, obviously, being tossed around doesn't help that.
A more or less funny thing that I found is that the Jehovah's Witnesses declared the 20.03.2011 as the biblical date of the apocalypse back in 2007. Just wanted to share this, because they failed like hundred times with defining the apocalypse in the past and some religious people are panicking now… xD
And if people actually read the bible, they'd know they couldn't put a date on it. :ninja:
The stuff is getting ridiculous. Apparently the Illuminati are the real masterminds behind 2012
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Things are still somewhat normal here in Ichihara. People are still going about their daily lives, but there's less people out and about after work, it seems. Some businesses, especially small ones, are choosing to remain closed. Grocery stores are still understocked. I haven't been able to buy bread since the big 'quake last Friday.
We're still getting tremors – we got two decent ones today, in fact.
Hope you can pick up some bread soon. Things are pretty similar over here. We're pretty safe, but the now mythical Tokai quake has everyone pillaging stores every day so it's hard to grab certain food items. There were a couple of tremors today but I haven't seen them traced back to anything major. Any blackouts up there? We are scheduled for them regularly but they have been canceled every time.
Kinda cool having the Emperor chime in.
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@Steven:
Kinda cool having the Emperor chime in.
Huh ? Beg your pardon ?
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Holy shit! On top of everything, they're getting snow now?!