I just got back from there. This is horrible. All of my friends are okay, but fires are breaking out everywhere, even in Chiba, and it's still shaking. Unbelievable.
Apparently my 85 year old jdm grandma (who lives with my parents stateside) was up till 4am watching the news! So far all of our family is accounted for but the tsunami and flooding is still to come.
I just watched the news channel, this is big. The 4th strongest earthquake on record and tsunami is still coming.
Nuclear Reactor situation could be the biggest problem. Interesting to see what the U.S./US military response will be to this, as historically we have very close ties with Japan after WW2. This will also be a serious blow to the already ailing Japanese economy. IIRC last year the Japanese gov't accumulated debt around 200% of their yearly GDP. In contrast the US debt is only 13% of our GDP.
When you consider Tokyo alone is 30million+ people with a population density of over 6500 people per square mile that number will grow Compare that to the ~465 people per square mile in the tc metro area
U.S. military response for the nuclear reactor issues will be nill. Okinawa has a MCB on it but they will be offering humanitarian aid in their AO. Seventh fleet is on location and the 31st Marine expeditionary unit is there with 2000 marines as well. The Japanese are more than capable to deal with nuclear power issues.
The problem is there aren't many reliable sources of information about what's going on at the plant. It's all either what seems like complacency or wild fear mongering. All reports I've read come off as misinformed at worst and under-informed at best. Even the Japanese government is slow to get info from TEPCO. Also, with NHK 1-2 hours behind and cnn, nytimes, etc... about 4-5 hours late on reporting, the timeline gets really confusing. So when you hear 5 reports about the plant being evacuated and don't realize it's the same report and it's just a temporary evacuation while radiation levels are peaking, it gets really really confusing. The news reports are all over the place. I've heard that the 50 people at the plant represents the skeleton crew and there are actually waves of workers that make up that 50-person crew. I've heard from friends in the Coast Guard who have volunteered to go over there but weren't deployed. I've also heard the prime minister mention they may need US aide. The NHK English translation is leaving out many details. Couple this with the cultural persistence to remain calm, it gets harder and harder to decipher what all the messages really mean. Youtube geiger counter feeds are all sorts of inconsistent with what's being reported. It's really frustrating that in this day and age where information travels so quickly, that the quality of information is still so suspect. Anyway I hope for the best, keep everyone effected by this disaster in my thoughts and prayers, and applaud the efforts of all the people contributing. It's good to see so many heroes in all of this... from the plant workers, to those deployed, to volunteers from Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders, etc... and to those that have sent money and blood. I do hope the news starts covering the rescue and relief efforts more. There have been over 400 quakes in under a week. Some of these aftershocks are in the 6+ range. They're still finding survivors and uncovering bodies. Japan's existing landfill and waste disposal problem just got exponentially worse. However, it is really heart warming to hear that in spite of all this the country has pulled together and remained civil as they go into energy and food conservation mode.
Some of the aftershocks are in the 7M range. My friend Erika who lives in Chiba says the ground shakes so much that she's lost her sense of balance. I'm not a seismologist, but 400 quakes in one week doesn't seem typical. This is an extraordinary event. It needs to be approached with respect and kindness, not with smirks and snide remarks. I have a lot of friends there. They're alive, but they're not okay. This is just the beginning of something worse for Japan, I feel, perhaps an economic depression. Their economy was already on the brink before this catastrophe. Luckily, the Japanese tend to save their money. Despite the burden of a 200% debt over GDP, they have reserves to spend. Let's hope things settle down so they don't exhaust those resources building sandcastles.
Kinda surprised there are no comments on the inside info to nuclear reactors. I guess I'm that big of a geek.... As far as the Japanese culture goes, can a few of you explain how we may have or not have a lot of the info? What I've gathered is that the culture like to keep details quiet. Does this reflect on the amount of information we have?
Well, without a visual of what is being explained on the nuclear reactor situation, a layman is going to get lost. Therefore, i think this CNN link below that has visuals with less indepth content and has how the nuclear reactors work, how they got affected, and the consequencies. It makes it much easier to understand. http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2011/03/world/interactive.nuclear.japan/index.html?hpt=C2
I was going to respond to the info, but I forgot. It's a pretty great write up. I guess I don't know much about nuclear technology, so I don't feel compelled to offer an opinion on its relevance or accuracy. I don't know if the lack of info has anything to do with the culture, honestly. The Japanese government has never been all that forthcoming about situations that may jeopardize its credibility--but you can say that about any government, really. From my limited perspective, it seems to me that the lack of information is caused by those things idget pointed out in a previous post. I'd even go so far as to point out blatantly exaggerated new stories as evidence of chops-licking by various media outlets in anticipation of another catastrophic event. Call me a cynic, but I think there's the intention to reduce panic on the government's end and the intention to increase ratings on the media's end (without regard for the panic their reporting might induce).
Maybe I should have added this, but NHK World is probably your closest news source: http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/index.html
