Japan Quake and Tsunami

el_chode · Mar 11, 2011, 08:48 AM

Who was our forum member from Japan? Is he OK?

Penny Lane · Mar 11, 2011, 09:12 AM

Quote from: el_chode on Mar 11, 2011, 08:48 AM
Who was our forum member from Japan? Is he OK?

Timwaki (sp?) I'm not sure anyone keeps in touch with him off the board. :(

Ruckus · Mar 11, 2011, 09:29 AM

His name is Tomoaki and his handle is CrazyJ. I haven't heard from him in some time. Best wishes go out to he and his family.

I just got off the phone with my mother not long ago and all of our close friends and relatives are OK as far as we know. My brother flew out yesterday and though he would have likely been safe, he probably wouldn't have been able to get out for some time.

Just hoping for the best...

Crispy · Mar 11, 2011, 09:40 AM

Glad to hear your relations are okay, Ruckus, and let's hope we hear from Tomoaki. Thinking all those people affected by this, just a huge disaster.

Jon T. · Mar 11, 2011, 09:54 AM

Quote from: Ruckus on Mar 11, 2011, 09:29 AM
His name is Tomoaki and his handle is CrazyJ. I haven't heard from him in some time. Best wishes go out to he and his family.

I just got off the phone with my mother not long ago and all of our close friends and relatives are OK as far as we know. My brother flew out yesterday and though he would have likely been safe, he probably wouldn't have been able to get out for some time.

Just hoping for the best...

I thought about you when I heard about this. Glad to hear your crew is okay so far. Pretty devasting pictures coming across.

Jon T. · Mar 11, 2011, 12:24 PM

http://video.foxnews.com/v/4579888/incredible-video-wall-of-water-sweeps-ashore-in-japan

Watch the beginning and pick back up around the four minute mark.
This doesn't even seem real.

Jaimoe · Mar 11, 2011, 12:59 PM

dragonboy has ties to Japan (hence his name). I'm not sure he lives there now, but I'm sure he's concerned.

My best friend and family live in Tokyo and my cousin lives in Kyoto. I believe these are ok. I'm still worried though.

Hawkeye · Mar 11, 2011, 01:42 PM

My brother is stationed near Tokyo in the U.S. Air Force. I have heard he's ok. My Dad left me 2 voicemails this morning...this was the first I had heard of the 'quake. Haven't seen any videos or read anything yet...Dad said that there were 2 nuclear reactors over there that they were having a hard time cooling down/getting under control, and that they might need to evacuate them. My bro just got off a 12 hour shift and had to go right back to work because they were landing tons of planes on the runways that were still serviceable. Crazy. Haven't heard much of the "tsunami" that was going to hit Hawaii...so I assume no news is good news?

Ruckus · Mar 11, 2011, 01:52 PM

Hey thanks for the kind words guys. I did hear early that all American service people were accounted for. I'm still waiting on news from my extended family who live on a small island off the coast of Tokyo. Just crazy stuff.

Taterbug · Mar 11, 2011, 02:33 PM

Amazing video of a Whirlpool caused by the tsunami.

Massive Whirlpool After Japan Earthquake

el_chode · Mar 11, 2011, 02:40 PM

Good to know the family is good, Ruckus

Hawaii got relatively little damage from what I hear. Kauai is the first to get hit by these things and showed a max swell of about 7', which isn't too bad

What is bad is Japan. Largest quake in recorded history, larger than most quakes anywhere at any time

One of those videos of the tsunami waters was supposedly 60 miles inland

Perspective: That's roughly the distance from NYC to PA

e_wind · Mar 11, 2011, 03:31 PM

Quote from: Jon T. on Mar 11, 2011, 12:24 PM
http://video.foxnews.com/v/4579888/incredible-video-wall-of-water-sweeps-ashore-in-japan

Watch the beginning and pick back up around the four minute mark.
This doesn't even seem real.

fuck. that just leaves one speechless

tdb810 · Mar 12, 2011, 05:05 AM

Quote from: Ruckus on Mar 11, 2011, 01:52 PM
Hey thanks for the kind words guys. I did hear early that all American service people were accounted for. I'm still waiting on news from my extended family who live on a small island off the coast of Tokyo. Just crazy stuff.

I thought of you immediately, Ruckus. So glad the immediate fam is ok, and hoping for good news for the extended family. Watching coverage now about the nuclear plant explosion. Just terrifying.

weeniebeenie · Mar 12, 2011, 06:56 AM

I was watching it on the news yesterday. It's so horrible.
Glad your family is okay Ruckus.

Ruckus · Mar 12, 2011, 11:13 AM

Hey thanks again guys :) Enjoy every day right?

Many of my relatives were traveling when the earthquake happened so were using public transit which all shut down in and around Tokyo and many had to be put up for a night before they could return home the next day but everyone is all good. My parents had planned to go in two weeks and now were reconsidering going thinking they'd be an inconvenience to relatives during this time. Well after talking with my uncle and aunt, they would have been much more upset had they not gone. I'm happy for all of them.

darkglow · Mar 12, 2011, 01:44 PM

as most of you know i left japan back the week before the T5 run and so i left alot of friends behind.

luckily all is well with all the ones i knew over there.. most of them are aboard a ship that's sailing over to help the ones in need.. keep them in your thoughts as well.
:)

Ruckus · Mar 12, 2011, 02:00 PM

Quote from: darkglow on Mar 12, 2011, 01:44 PM
as most of you know i left japan back the week before the T5 run and so i left alot of friends behind.

luckily all is well with all the ones i knew over there.. most of them are aboard a ship that's sailing over to help the ones in need.. keep them in your thoughts as well.
:)

Jaimoe · Mar 12, 2011, 04:04 PM

I got through to my cousin who lives in Kyoto, and he's actually vacationing in New Zealand, so he's ok. However, my best friend lives and works in Tokyo with his young family and he had to leave work at 3am EST due to the possible nuclear meltdown. I haven't heard from him since, but it's overnight there so I'm hoping for a good news update later tonight. I am worried and a bit stressed.

el_chode · Mar 13, 2011, 05:42 PM

Quote from: Jaimoe on Mar 12, 2011, 04:04 PM
I got through to my cousin who lives in Kyoto, and he's actually vacationing in New Zealand, so he's ok. However, my best friend lives and works in Tokyo with his young family and he had to leave work at 3am EST due to the possible nuclear meltdown. I haven't heard from him since, but it's overnight there so I'm hoping for a good news update later tonight. I am worried and a bit stressed.

If there's a silver lining, it's that their technological innovation has led to significantly less damage and therefore casualties. Not to minimize the death toll, but last I read it was maybe over 10,000. All things considered, for a disaster of this size, that's pretty amazing. there are some videos of various skyscrapers there swaying from the tremors. It's incredible they did not collapse

As for meltdowns, everything I've read seems to indicate that the "smell" of the situation is more dire than the situation itself. In other words, it's the mere fear of a meltdown, regardless of whether it is imminent or just a risk. that's not to say there's no reason to worry, but I'd at least be glad to know this happened in Japan than say Iran where the response is much less likely to be as coordinated.

Here are two decent articles on what's up wit hteh plants for those interested. One is the basics:

http://boingboing.net/2011/03/12/nuclear-energy-insid.html

The other is the worst-case scenario:

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=fukushima-core

doctorinthehouse · Mar 14, 2011, 05:08 PM

Quote from: Jaimoe on Mar 11, 2011, 12:59 PM
dragonboy has ties to Japan (hence his name). I'm not sure he lives there now, but I'm sure he's concerned.

My best friend and family live in Tokyo and my cousin lives in Kyoto. I believe these are ok. I'm still worried though.

Hey guys,

Has anybody heard from dragonboy? I haven't been around for a while and don't know if he still lives in Japan or not.

Hope all's well with your friend and cousin Jaimoe.

So awful. All of it. And now the problem with the nuclear power plants. Can only send our good hopes and wishes. Good point about their technology el chode.