Massive 8.9-magnitude quake hits Japan

[Doc Holliday]

Tokyo (CNN) -- An 8.9-magnitude earthquake hit northern Japan on Friday, triggering tsunamis and sending a massive wave filled with debris that included boats and houses inching toward land.

The number of fatalities was unclear, but Japan's Kyodo news reported at least 10 killed and numerous injured.

The quake prompted at least 19 countries and numerous Pacific islands to issue tsunami warnings. It was followed by powerful aftershocks that were felt in capital of Tokyo. The quake's epicenter was 373 kilometers (231 miles) away from Tokyo, the United States Geological Survey said. But residents there continued to feel aftershocks long after the quake.

Massive earthquake hits Japan

 

[Doc Holliday]

Tsunami slams Japan after quake

TOKYO - Even in a nation accustomed to tremors, Friday's massive earthquake in Japan, and the tsunami it triggered, were terrifyingly different.

Roiling water swept away homes, highways and the cars driving on them as waves 10 metres high hit the country's northeastern Pacific coast after the magnitude 8.9 quake, the biggest in nearly a century and a half.

The tsunami, black with soil and thick with debris, some of it ablaze, submerged farmland near the coastal city of Sendai, and television images showed upended cars bobbing up and down in the water. Boats were floating in an inland sea.

The quake rattled skyscrapers in Tokyo further south, where the streets around the main train station were packed with commuters stranded after buses and trains were halted.

Tsunami slams Japan after quake

 

[Doc Holliday]

Tsunami warnings issued to at least 20 countries, including US & Canada

(CNN) -- The threat of a tsunami prompted the U.S. National Weather Service to issue a warning for at least 20 countries and numerous Pacific islands after an 8.9-magnitude earthquake struck Japan Friday.
The wide-ranging list includes Russia and Indonesia, Central American countries like Guatemala, El Salvador and Costa Rica and the U.S. state of Hawaii. The weather service's bulletin is intended "as advice to government agencies."
The quake, which struck near the coast of Honshu on Friday afternoon unleashed a wall of water that rushed in toward land, leveling houses and cars in its path.
Authorities in the U.S. territory of Guam said a tsunami could hit the island as early as 7:09 p.m. (4:09 a.m. ET). Sirens sounded in Hawaii around 10 p.m. Thursday (3 a.m. ET), warning residents they could expect tsunami waves five hours later.

The West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center early Friday issued a tsunami warning for coastal areas along the United States and Canadian west coasts. The tsunami warning includes coastal areas of California and Oregon from Point Conception to the Oregon-Washington border. It also includes coastal areas of Alaska from Amchitka Pass to Attu.

Tsunami warnings issued to at least 20 countries, including the US & Canada

 

[CS Martin]

It's going to be facinating to see just how some of the Newer Buildings in Tokyo fared with this quake. Typically some of the more recent buildings are meant to withstand an 8+ Magnitude Quake. One of them is build directly at the intersection of two fault lines.

 

[CS Martin]

Based upon that, it looks as though the engineering worked as planned. I'm sorry for the loss of life and wish everyone over their the best.

 

[hormone]

Pretty good 10-4, arigato!

The BC site also has some pretty good videos, the longer/ more complete versions of the ones we see on CNN and N-A sites. Really makes you as a human feel very small

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12709847

 

[CS Martin]

This is not in any way meant to lessen this event or the obvious suffering & loss of life, but the Japenese have been assuming that an 8+ quake would hit the main population centers sometime in a 100 year period. Most of the newer buildings have been built accordingly.

 

[Springsteen]

Hawaii was hit with a moderate tsunami, but the worst is not always the first.

 

[alphonso]

The US economy is already in the crapper, imagine if a tidal wave hits the west coast.

 

[evillethings]

Thx for posting this Doc Holliday. wonder if they anticipated the magnitude of the hit?

 

[JH Fan]

The US economy is already in the crapper, imagine if a tidal wave hits the west coast.

There will be one in 2012....


the Republicans will probably win the next presidency !

 

[Merlot]

Hello all,

A man prays in front of a house devastated by tsunami in Minami Soma, Fukushima, northern Japan after Japan's biggest recorded earthquake slammed into its eastern coast Friday

(The Associated Press/Kyodo)​

In just one large town there are reportedly 9,500 people missing. Multiple those possible numbers knowing all of the islands of the country were hit and you can understand somewhat what has happened. Pray it's not as bad as it seems right now.

Aside from designing structures to survive these natural disasters the Japanese know these episodes are part of living on their islands. Japan was made from volcanic activity that will not cease for eons because of it's position at the convergence of two tectonic plates, and that fully 10% of all of the world's volcanoes line through or surround Japan. Tsunamis are one of the risks of living there, and the speed of a tsunami (possibly 500 mph or roughly 900 kph) and closeness of this one means little could have been done.

Regrettably,

Merlot

 

[K Douglas]

Devestating. I will be donating to World Vision. I hope all of you will reach into your pocketbooks too. Even though Japan is an advanced country this quake is in the trillions of dollars of damage....they need our help.

 

[OnUrGspot]

Is this the beginning of the end...2012 is coming fast!

 

[JH Fan]

Just a reminder...

Although it may reach the 500billions it cost Japan for World War II...

In today's figure Japan's loss of human lives (in world war II) would be over 6 millions.

 

[CLAVIE]

Just a reminder...

Although it may reach the 500billions it cost Japan for World War II...

In today's figure Japan's loss of human lives (in world war II) would be over 6 millions.

Fine! but what Jap had created in south-east countries was been 10 times more death and 10 times more loss of economic.
Just a reminder....

 

[anon_vlad]

Fine! but what Jap had created in south-east countries was been 10 times more death and 10 times more loss of economic.
Just a reminder....

Even more than 10X. However, if people are to be judged, the sins of their grandparents should be totally irrelevant.

 

[Merlot]

Well all,

Japan 'overwhelmed by the scale of damage'

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42066622?gt1=43001

TAKAJO, Japan — A tide of bodies washed up along the coastline on Monday and crematoriums were overwhelmed as Japan faced a mounting humanitarian, nuclear and economic crisis following the massive earthquake and tsunami.

Millions of people were facing a fourth night without water, food or heating in near-freezing temperatures along the devastated northeast coast. Meanwhile, a third reactor at a nuclear power plant lost its cooling capacity, raising fears of a meltdown, while the Japanese stock market plunged over the likelihood of huge losses by Japanese industries including big names such as Toyota and Honda.

On the coastline of Miyagi prefecture, which took the full force of the tsunami, a Japanese police official said 1,000 bodies were found scattered across the coastline on Monday. The Japanese news agency Kyodo reported that 2,000 bodies washed up on two shorelines in Miyagi.

While the official death toll rose to nearly 1,900, the discovery of the washed-up bodies and other reports of deaths suggest the true number is much higher. In Miyagi, the police chief has said 10,000 people are estimated to have died in his province alone.

In nearby Soma, the crematorium was unable to handle the crush of bodies being brought in for funerals.

"We have already begun cremations, but we can only handle 18 bodies a day. We are overwhelmed and are asking other cities to help us deal with bodies. We only have one crematorium in town," said Katsuhiko Abe, an official in Soma.

In Japan, most people opt to cremate their dead, a process that requires permission first from local authorities. But the government took the rare step Monday of waiving that requirement to speed up funerals.

"The current situation is so extraordinary, and it is very likely that crematoriums are running beyond capacity," said Health Ministry official Yukio Okuda.

Friday's double-headed tragedy has caused unimaginable deprivation for people of this industrialized country that has not seen such hardships since World War II.

...

In many areas there is no running water, no power and five-hour lines for gasoline. People are suppressing hunger with instant noodles or rice balls while dealing with the loss of loved ones and homes.

"People are surviving on little food and water. Things are simply not coming," said Hajime Sato, a government official in Iwate prefecture, one of the three hardest hit.

He said authorities were receiving just 10 percent of the food and other supplies they need. Even body bags and coffins are running so short the government may turn to foreign funeral homes for help, he said.

"We have repeatedly asked the government to help us, but the government is overwhelmed by the scale of damage and enormous demand for food and water," he said.

Fifteen foreign teams, many equipped with search dogs and heavy lifting equipment, are also helping, with the largest from Russia, South Korea and the United States.

Many hospitals have either been wiped out or damaged, slowing treatment for those injured as well as those already hospitalized before the tragedy.

The pulverized coast has been hit by several hundred aftershocks, including a 6.2 on Monday that caused a new tsunami scare. Abandoning their search operations, soldiers told residents of the devastated shoreline in Soma, the worst hit town in Fukushima prefecture, to run to higher ground.
Story: Satellite photos show devastation in Japan

Sirens wailed and soldiers barked out orders: "Find high ground! Get out of here!" Several uniformed soldiers were seen leading an old woman up a muddy hillside. The warning turned out to be a false alarm.

Search parties arrived in Soma for the first time since Friday to dig out bodies. Ambulances stood by and body bags were laid out in an area cleared of debris, as firefighters used hand picks and chain saws to clear an indescribable jumble of broken timber, plastic sheets, roofs, sludge, twisted cars, tangled power lines and household goods.

Helicopters buzzed overhead, surveying the destruction that spanned the horizon. Ships were flipped over roads, a half mile inland. Officials said one-third of the city of 38,000 people was flooded and thousands were missing.

'Now we have nothing'
"I'm giving up hope," said Hajime Watanabe, 38, a construction industry worker who was the first in line at a closed gas station in Sendai, about 60 miles north of Soma. Just then, an emergency worker came over and told him that if the station opens at all, it would pump gasoline only to emergency teams and essential government workers.

continued...



Merlot

 

[JH Fan]

Fine! but what Jap had created in south-east countries was been 10 times more death and 10 times more loss of economic.
Just a reminder....

Take it easy with your next cup'o soup man !
Don't see your point and numbers don't add up anyway.

 

[JH Fan]

...should be totally irrelevant.

It is. my post was for those who compare past tragedies to today's which we tend to 'exagerate' because of instant tv, social medias, etc...
Clavie's post is a good exemple of this !

There was no judgement of people in mine.