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sodascouts
03-11-2011, 03:56 AM
One of my friends who happens to be an insomniac like me just sent me this news:

Major Earthquake, Tsunami Hit Japan (http://www.voanews.com/english/news/Major-Earthquake-Tsunami-Hit-Japan-117785138.html)

I'm watching CNN now and the footage looks very frightening.

And yes, it did occur to me that the guys were just there.

I'm praying for the people who are affected by this disaster.

Annabel
03-11-2011, 04:07 AM
I'm just watching this on the news here. Dreadful images being shown. The Tsunami warning has been widened to the whole pacific area now. :-(

My thoughts go to all those affected by this.

Glennsallnighter
03-11-2011, 06:34 AM
Yes! I've seen that too. Terrifying pictures and video footage coming in from Japan at the moment. And I must admit, when I heard what had happened I immediately thought of our boys.

Of course my sympathies go to any Japanese people who have been bereaved, injured or have had their homes damaged in this.

Insomniac Nancy! You posted that at 8am in my little world where we were all just heading out to work/school!!!

Annabel
03-11-2011, 07:28 AM
My Kiwi friend has just posted this site on her FB. Zoom into Japan. :fear:

http://www.hewsweb.org/seismic/

Victim of Love
03-11-2011, 09:20 AM
It is Saturday night over there and the boys were to be doing a show in Beijing, China (considerably west of Northern Japan and slightly INland from the ocean) so let's hope and pray that they didn't even experience a slight rumble. Looking at a map and seeing how open the waters are, let's all pray that the mainland of China is safe and pray even more that Hawaii and our West Coast are spared.

Brooke
03-11-2011, 10:19 AM
My first thoughts this morning when I heard about this were, where are our guys! I couldn't remember at first and was worried they were in Japan. Thankfully, they are in China.

My heart goes out to all affected and hopefully all on the west coast will be ok.

Victim of Love
03-11-2011, 11:06 AM
I've been searching the Beijing newspapers that are online at thepaperboy.com and am finding no mention of the concert lastnight. The GOOD news is that I'm also NOT finding anything to indicate there has been any backlash from the quake/tsunami on the mainland. It will be interesting to follow the news today ... Hawaii is already seeing 8' waves in places according to reports I've seen on CNN and they're predicting 3-8' in places along the West Coast.

UK TimFan
03-11-2011, 01:06 PM
I've been searching the Beijing newspapers that are online at thepaperboy.com and am finding no mention of the concert lastnight. The GOOD news is that I'm also NOT finding anything to indicate there has been any backlash from the quake/tsunami on the mainland. It will be interesting to follow the news today ... Hawaii is already seeing 8' waves in places according to reports I've seen on CNN and they're predicting 3-8' in places along the West Coast.
And our guys are supposed to be in South Korea on the 15th and Hong Kong on the 18th.
Considering the relative nearness (quite near in the case of South Korea) not the best of places to be within the next week.

Ive always been a dreamer
03-11-2011, 01:29 PM
Wow - Mother Nature strikes again! What a horrible tragedy. I was seeing where this was the 5th strongest earthquake ever recorded - registered at 8.9. My thoughts are with the victims, and we can only hope that any further devastation is minimal. :pray:

I'm guessing the situation is being closely monitored and, hopefully, the band is in no eminent danger. Still can't help but be a little nervous though.

Victim of Love
03-11-2011, 01:33 PM
Latest updates on CNN around 9:15 a.m. (Pacific time) is that it now appears our West Coast may be spared any major impact. It had been expected the tsunami would make landfall by now and instead everything is relatively calm and 'normal'. In fact, they said one of the Catalina Island ferries departed on schedule from Seal Beach! It appears that the direction has shifted southward but they also caution that they aren't out of the woods just yet. I'm still not finding any reports that mainland China or the Korean coastal areas have experienced any problems. Based on explanations I've heard, if either of those places was going to be hit, it would have happened hours ago because of their close proximity to Japan. I would imagine if the band and their entourage were in any danger, they would be evacuated and the shows in Seoul & Hong Kong rescheduled.

Annabel
03-11-2011, 02:40 PM
I've had the BBC news 24 on most of the day here and NO mentions of China Or Korea have come up. Looks like Japan bore the brunt of this disaster.

Koala
03-11-2011, 02:51 PM
It's really terrible what happened in Japan, I have seen the awful pictures from the tsunami in the news over the whole day.

My thoughts and prayers go to all those affected by this.

Victim of Love
03-11-2011, 03:20 PM
Nagano this time, approximately 200 miles northwest of Tokyo and closer to the western (China/Korea) side of Japan. The news reports are saying it could be an entirely different quake than the first one but no tsunami alerts have been issued. I wish our boys would come home for the immediate future and reschedule!!!

sodascouts
03-11-2011, 05:27 PM
I read that the initial quake could be felt in Beijing but the tsunami went in the other direction. China - and even Korea - were in less danger than places like Hawaii that were further away but on the east side. I'm glad to hear things are not as bad as first expected.

Not sure about this latest one though.

Glennhoney
03-11-2011, 06:16 PM
..another disaster...there are bound to be many, many casualties...those poor people....are we SURE are boys are okay?...that was of course, my first thought...like everybody else...they must be considering themselves very, very lucky...

Freypower
03-11-2011, 06:34 PM
If the Eagles are in Beijing as far as I can tell this has not affected them.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/infographics/japan-quake-2011/tectonics.htm

At least that's how I understand it. This is devastating for the people of Japan & my thoughts are with them.

sodascouts
03-11-2011, 06:53 PM
Beijing is over 1000 miles away from Japan (http://www.map-of-asia.us/asia-map.gif) - an earthquake in Japan may be felt in that city (and in this case was (http://hken.ibtimes.com/articles/121624/20110311/japan-earthquake-china-beijing-seismological-official-mainland.htm)), but it would not cause destruction in Beijing unless it was on an Apocalyptic scale. Tsunamis are more dangerous and far-reaching, but Beijing is far enough inland to not bear the brunt of a tsunami. Even if a tsunami were to flow that far inland, its force would be considerably weakened by then, and people would have plenty of time to evacuate (unless, again, it was Apocalyptic in scale). In this case, the tsunami flowed east and away from Beijing. While the second earthquake was further to the west, I am not finding any reports that it is causing tsunamis like the larger earthquake did.

Unfortunately, the Japanese have sustained hundreds of deaths and maybe more as the day goes on and more bodies are discovered or people reporting missing. I am only glad that - so far at least - major, densely-populated cities such as Tokyo have not been hit by a tsunami. If that had happened, the death toll would have been far higher. As far as earthquakes go, Japan has taken great troubles to fortify against them over the years since they are inevitable in that region and happen on a regular basis. Such fortifications significantly decrease casualties, although there is only so much one can do and there will be some casualties no matter what. However, their precautions have helped keep this from being a disaster on the scale of Haiti despite the fact that the earthquake that hit Japan was more powerful. (BTW I am getting this info from the news - I don't know it off the top of my head!)

MikeA
03-11-2011, 07:57 PM
I just watched a broadcast stating 1,000 confirmed fatalities with 100% positive indications that there will be far more. One passenger train is freakin' missing with an unknown number of passengers on board. A ferry carrying over 100 is lost and feared to be sunk.

As Nancy indicated, Japan has the best early warning system in the world. Last month, our Congress voted to slash funding for an early warning system in Hawaii. Is the potential loss of life worth a token stab at the economical train wreck we are currently involved in?

Don't know. I'm not smart like our Government.

But I'm cool!

EaglesKiwi
03-11-2011, 10:06 PM
It's heartbreaking watching the footage, and scary to read reports of "issues" at the nuclear plants.

Another reminder of how precious life is.

sodascouts
03-12-2011, 06:13 AM
Saw this posted on Facebook but I'm not sure if it works for those outside of the US. However, I know those in the States at least can text REDCROSS to 90999 to donate $10 to help out the people of Japan through the Red Cross. You can also donate via their official site (http://www.redcross.org).

Of course the Red Cross is just one of many organizations. Here is a good list of tips when deciding who to donate through: http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=content.view&cpid=1221

Annabel
03-12-2011, 06:50 AM
As if a quake (or 2) and a tsunami aren't bad enough, now the nuclear reactor has had an explosion, with smoke seen, and is in possible melt down now. Oh and a further tsunami could be on the way. :brickwall: How much more? :shrug:

We saw 703 confirmed dead, 784 missing and 1000 injured as the latest fugures on the news. But they have also just reported a further 3-400 bodies found in a town / city. :thumbsdown: 4 trains were reported missing when I went to bed last night. Saw they have found one of them all carriages on its side. :-(.

Troubadour
03-12-2011, 02:01 PM
It's just horrific. The loss of life and damage to property is so terribly sad.

Victim of Love
03-12-2011, 03:34 PM
I heard earlier that an entire village -- 9300 people -- is unaccounted for. This is beyond my comprehension.

Glennhoney
03-12-2011, 04:23 PM
I just saw the pics that NASA posted...before and after tsunami...taken from outer space..unreal.....

tequila girl
03-12-2011, 04:27 PM
I also heard there are 4 passenger trains unaccounted for........but the boat that was missing with 80 people on has been found and they've all been rescued..

sodascouts
03-12-2011, 06:14 PM
the boat that was missing with 80 people on has been found and they've all been rescued..

Thank goodness for that, at least!

UK TimFan
03-12-2011, 09:58 PM
I heard earlier that an entire village -- 9300 people -- is unaccounted for. This is beyond my comprehension.
If it was a coastal village that the tsunami hit, then I wouldn't be surprised about the loss of life and an entire village.
The scene I saw was an unstoppable flow of water literally destroying everything in its path with no way of escape for anyone caught in it. Still not sure how people managed to film those scenes without losing their own lives unless they had a very good zoom on their cameras.

sodascouts
03-12-2011, 10:07 PM
More news on the meltdown threat Annabel mentioned earlier:

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fgw-japan-quake-meltdown-20110312,0,2889362.story

Annabel
03-14-2011, 06:14 AM
Found this video via a friend sharing on FB. Wow !!! :eyebrow:

https://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1605260179420&comments

(can't find it on youtube etc so had to add this link)

tbs fanatic
03-14-2011, 11:36 AM
The pictures from this are incredible. It's hard to wrap your head around. As for the Nuclear Reactors - Yikes! Isn't there a Nuclear Reactor built on top of a fault line in California? Double Yikes!!

MikeA
03-14-2011, 12:36 PM
I haven't been able to follow the developments very closely at all on the situation with the reactors in Japan. I think they must rely heavily on Nuclear Energy. And from what I hear, at least on one and maybe two reactors, they are flooding them with seawater to cool the cores down. When they do that, they are in effect destroying the possibility of ever getting those reactors back on-line in the future.

So even with recovery from the Tsunami and the Quake, they are going to be really short on power.

And, I did hear that there was in fact a partial meltdown on one of the reactors. There is a big difference in threat with a partial meltdown and a full meltdown. Hopefully, that statement I heard was the correct one. Of course, they cannot release full disclosure for fear of PANIC worldwide that could come with the impact on the World's Environment with a Full Meltdown.

Ive always been a dreamer
03-14-2011, 01:00 PM
The series of events resulting from the earthquake is unquestionably one of the most horrific tragedies in recent memory. There don't seem to be many good stories coming out of Japan, and it seems like this may be destined to become the deadlist and costliest disaster ever. The magnitude is almost uncomprehensible and I can't even think of adequate words to describe it.

tbs fanatic
03-16-2011, 10:32 AM
The nuclear sites sound scarier every day.

Annabel
03-16-2011, 10:35 AM
Yep, they've called in your guys I heard now.

Victim of Love
03-16-2011, 12:08 PM
It's difficult to follow because the 'melt-down' stories seem to change almost by the minute. They did say either lastnight or early this morning that IF there is a meltdown and the current winds prevail, it will blow west and (depending on sever) it could have an impact in mainland South Korea. The destruction and loss of life is almost incomprehensible and the radiation issue only magnifies the entire situation. My heart breaks for the people of Japan for all they've lost, and my prayers continue that the reactors will quiet down and further disaster can be averted. Mother Nature dealt them a one-two punch...they don't need any more.

sodascouts
03-16-2011, 12:15 PM
Yes - I've been trying to follow the nuclear situation too, but there's so many conflicting reports that it's hard to know what to think at this point. Sadly, I think the news will not be good once it does become clear what has happened.

MikeA
03-16-2011, 01:19 PM
It wasn't a one-two punch...it was more like a one-two-three with the quake, the tsunami and then the resulting nuclear threat.

I don't know how much of the reports to really believe. There has to be a lot of smoothing over of the radiation threat to prevent panic. Things are bad enough as they are without billions of people in that area of the world losing control. Though of all the peoples of the world, I think that those brothers and sisters in Japan are the least likely to panic. Their culture has taught them to react calmly in most any situation.

God how I feel for them!

Annabel
03-16-2011, 02:07 PM
Reports here said there was a further 6.0 quake in Tokyo yesterday that killed 4 people, although it hadn't been confirmed. The death toll is now close to 3500 confirmed with many more still unaccounted for.

And snow / freezing cold is hampering the rescue mission in some affected areas on top of all of it. How much more can this poor country take. :sad:

Lots of foreign nationals have been advised to leave by their respective countries and many seem to be doing just that.

Victim of Love
03-16-2011, 02:54 PM
You're right, Mike, it was 1-2-3 but 1 and 2 were strictly Mother Nature while #3 was man-made. And you're right about their culture. I am constantly amazed as I watch the reports to see the resolve with which so many of them are handling the unknown and how accepting so many of them are of the loss of loved ones. While the rare stories of miracles (the 70-year-old woman and that newborn baby found alive in the rubble) want to give me a spark of hope, the numbers on the other side of the scale are staggering and it's alarming at how quickly that number is climbing. From the onset I knew the death toll was going to be incomprehensible for me.

Lastnight one of the reporters was talking about the lack of sufficient body bags, how the crews are trying to take pictures of the dead for identification purposes but decomp is making it difficult in many cases, and discussion was turning toward mass graves at this point. It dawned on me that in addition to the absence of housing, clothing, food and basic necessities, plus the radiation concerns, they also have to do whatever it takes to minimize disease born from the decomp. I simply cannot phathom the emotional/psychological toll it is taking. Throw in an unstable geological situation with the aftershocks and new quakes and the recipe is beyond disastrous.

MikeA
03-16-2011, 03:57 PM
I thought of that before I posted "VOL" but the enormity of the repercussions from nuclear disaster up there on or above the quake and tsunami combined.

It's not immediate death attributed to radiation. I think Chernobyl only reported 55 deaths from that meltdown....but there were thousands upon thousands of cases of cancer attributed to that disaster. How much more densely populated is Japan than was the area around Chernobyl?

If those 5 plants do melt down, it might as well be genocide.

Victim of Love
03-16-2011, 08:03 PM
The reports I'm hearing now is that it's AT Chernobyl level right now and only getting worse. Interesting that the NRC shifted gears so quickly in the last 24 hours, even more interesting that the utility company is feeding Japan's government officials dribs and drabs. My gut says that the whole situation is WAY worse than anyone is being told.

Victim of Love
03-16-2011, 09:00 PM
Just watched this video and it reduced me to tears. Found the original story on YAHOO.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3TM9GL2iLI&feature=player_embedded

sodascouts
03-17-2011, 12:11 AM
Just saw it on CNN - both dogs have been rescued. That's one good thing...

Victim of Love
03-17-2011, 10:21 AM
My daughter is such a bleeding heart that when she saw it she said it was imperative that she figure out a way to adopt both of them! She already has a one-eyed cat and a boxer with no hind legs.

Annabel
03-17-2011, 12:03 PM
Awwww bless. Seen a Boxer with 3 legs, running around like a loony still, but not one with no hind legs. Thankfully mine has all 4 of hers.

MikeA
03-17-2011, 12:37 PM
I refuse to watch those kinds of videos. I know I can't help them and watching them just puts me on a real downer!

http://www.facebook.com/TheGentleBarn

That is a link to some folks in Ohio who do animal rescue and they have a pretty good following on Facebook. I sent them some information about involving State Penitentiaries for handling "overflow" dogs. It is sad. Humane Societies can only house animals for a limited amount of time and if they aren't "adopted" they are euthanized.

The people from whom I got Mia do this all the time. They wait until an animal is going to be euthanized and then take them in themselves spending untold amounts of money in medical expenses. They even take the animals THEMSELVES at their own expense to introduce them to families who are interested in adopting them. But even THEY run out of room to care for all the animals. They discovered that the local State Penitentiary in Kansas will take a number of dogs and allow Inmates to care for them. Mia was such a Prisoner before she found us. I'm hoping that the Gentle Barn folks will check into this possibility for animals that they are having trouble with.

I wonder though why the Humane Societies are not contacting State Penitentiaries for a last resort? Maybe they are...I just don't know.

TimothyBFan
03-17-2011, 03:06 PM
A passenger from a Japan flight into O'Hare set off radiation detectors yesterday.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/cityhall/4368976-418/toyko-passengers-set-off-radiation-detectors-at-ohare.html?sms_ss=facebook&at_xt=4d825aabdb1c774f%2C0

What's even scarier is that my son took my friend and her 3 daughters up there yesterday for a flight to Washington.

MikeA
03-17-2011, 03:52 PM
I fear that we are REALLY FAR from hearing the worst of this folks, if you can believe that!

AzEaglesFan
03-26-2011, 07:30 PM
I could hardly believe what I was seeing. In the video the water seems to move slow but as I watched all the houses,cars and crops being pulled along with the water I knew it was an illusion.
This is so sad and they are saying that a full count of the people lost may never be known because so many people were swept out into the ocean.

tequila girl
03-27-2011, 05:38 AM
That is a truly shocking Video, if not the same one it's very similar to what they kept playing on the news here......absolutely horrific

MikeA
03-27-2011, 09:05 AM
I saw something on one of the Disaster Sensation "news" shows yesterday that disturbed me (as if the whole epic incident DIDN'T!) The thought is entirely pessimistic now with the Reactors. They fear the worst case is happening and that Plutonium is exposed now. A single grain-sized particle of it can cause lung cancer! The radiation level of the water around the reactor (OUTSIDE IT) is 10,000 times greater than normal.

sodascouts
03-27-2011, 09:59 PM
I've been looking up info and while disaster sites are a bit too quick on the trigger to call things "worst case" there is no doubting that the radiation level you cited is dangerous. I just hope things don't get worse.

Annabel
03-28-2011, 03:59 PM
That is a truly shocking Video, if not the same one it's very similar to what they kept playing on the news here......absolutely horrific

A lot of that video was shown on Sky News at the time it happened and then gradually after as further footage came in. The way the water swallowed everything up was sort of eerie. Horrid to watch people trying to flee it and not know their outcome too. :(

Glennsallnighter
03-30-2011, 05:33 PM
It was indeed. It makes one realise that a 'bad day' isn't really one at all when compared to this! I've heard that the Japanese are showing remarkable perseverence and resiliance in the aftermath. But I wonder how much longer they can continue to show such restraint in the absence of basics such as water, food and shelter.

I believe radiation has been detected in water in Scotland. Allegedly the levels are so low that they are not a danger, but it shows this has the potential to spread right around the world.

Annabel
03-31-2011, 05:20 AM
Heard on the radio this morning that some has been detected in American now too. Washington DC I believe, (wasn't totally awake.) Again very low but like you say it shows it can get anywhere.