Japan experiences major earthquake and tsunami

[Annabel]

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]

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]

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]

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]

..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]

If the Eagles are in Beijing as far as I can tell this has not affected them.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/infograph.../tectonics.htm

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

[sodascouts]

Beijing is over 1000 miles away from Japan - an earthquake in Japan may be felt in that city (and in this case was), 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]

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]

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]

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.

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/inde...view&cpid=1221