Japanese earthquake / tsunami discussion

ilovesleep

Deleted User wrote: »

I would assume that any coastal area would be in big trouble if it were to ever happen?

Does Ireland have any disaster plan, bar Iodine tablets and cheese?

Probably not. Thank goodness FF are not in power anymore - their plan would probably be to make a mountain from cheese and climb up it. But brian cowen would probably reach the top first and eat it all on us. We should lobby our new government to put a plan in place in just in case.

Thanks for the donation links

Topper Harley01

Deleted User wrote: »

I would assume that any coastal area would be in big trouble if it were to ever happen?

Does Ireland have any disaster plan, bar Iodine tablets and cheese?

This predicts what would happen if sea levels rose-but I don't think it is accurate for a surging 30ft wall of water bearing down on you... :eek:

http://flood.firetree.net/

maquiladora

Will be interesting to see how things are going with the reactors in the morning over there. Lack of news due to the time I think.

Overheal

Malty_T wrote: »

Hi guys,

I've been afk for like 6 hours, would be really grateful if someone could give be a sit rep on the latest developments.:)

Malt

Nothing dangerously new. I think a 3rd reactor site, one run by a different company was experiencing some minor issues. Fukushima plant status remains virtually unchanged. That in itself might be considered a good thing. Aftershocks continuing.

Turtwig

opinion guy wrote: »

Sky news been repeating the same stories over and over for about that time so I'm sure if you switched to them for ten minutes you would see a complete cycle and be up to date

Yeah but I tend to be only able to watch Sky News for Sports News everything else is usually somewhat exaggerated.

maquiladora wrote: »

Will be interesting to see how things are going with the reactors in the morning over there. Lack of news due to the time I think.

Onawaga is looking fine tbh. Unit 1 of FK Daiichi seems to be under control. Unit's 3 water level gauge appears to be damaged and so the level of sea water being pumped into the reactor cannot yet be confirmed.

123balltv

aftershocks 5.5 thats still powerful
they all seem to be 5 and over :eek: I hope they stop

Overheal

123balltv wrote: »

aftershocks 5.5 thats still powerful
they all seem to be 5 and over :eek: I hope they stop

2.67 Kilotons vs. 300-400 Megatons from the initial quake.

I imagine virtually all japanese buildings are designed to tolerate a 5.5

thetonynator

Overheal wrote: »

2.67 Kilotons vs. 300-400 Megatons from the initial quake.

I imagine virtually all japanese buildings are designed to tolerate a 5.5

Considering that the earthquake didnt even cause most of the damage at 8.9, its an incredible feat of engineering how they have made the buildings so well. Look what 6 did in Christchurch!!!

SnowY32

serious shaking going on in japan still if the get a level 7 game over!!:eek:

realtime earthquake monitor here for the world:

http://www.emsc-csem.org/Earthquake/index.php

cherryghost

This pretty much sums everything up. Absolutely shocking and disturbing. Just goes to show that man will never match up to mother nature. Nobody should ever have to go through this.

Rob A. Bank

More before and after photos...

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/03/13/world/asia/satellite-photos-japan-before-and-after-tsunami.html

It does not bear thinking about of all the poor souls who may have been in those houses at 14:46 in the afternoon with very little warning of the catastrophe to hit them.

So sad...

Rob A. Bank

rebel10 wrote: »

From my reading of the link, the south and extreme north would be the areas most at risk.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArcWdSjAkRY

If you believe this simulation of a possible La Palma tsunami... we may have 10 meter waves along the south and west coasts but with a 4 hour warning of their arrival.

Another Lisbon 1755 type earthquake would have less warning... but its bound to happen at some stage, as the Azores-Gibraltar Transform Fault is slowly building up pressure moving at 4 mm per year towards the next 'Big One'.

davyjose

Overheal wrote: »

2.67 Kilotons vs. 300-400 Megatons from the initial quake.

I imagine virtually all japanese buildings are designed to tolerate a 5.5

Had it not been for the Tsunami, japan would actually be in ok shape. After a 8.9/9M earthquake, that's a phenomenal level of infrastrucural engineering and planning.

Overheal, I just want to add to what was said earlier. Your contribution to this thread has been amazing. You've given a lot of us an understanding of the situation, we otherwise would've been in the dark over. Thank you. Unfortunately the cynics will always abound when given half a chance.

rebel10

Rob A. Bank wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArcWdSjAkRY

If you believe this simulation of a possible La Palma tsunami... we may have 10 meter waves along the south and west coasts but with a 4 hour warning of their arrival.

Another Lisbon 1755 type earthquake would have less warning... but its bound to happen at some stage, as the Azores-Gibraltar Transform Fault is slowly building up pressure moving at 4 mm per year towards the next 'Big One'.

Thanks for that, all those times I complained about having to walk up the steep hill home......never again!

Ironbar

Japan was moved by 2.4 meters. The earth rotation axis was moved by 10 centimetres which means the day is now 1.6 microseconds shorter...

ScumLord

Overheal wrote: »

2.67 Kilotons vs. 300-400 Megatons from the initial quake.

I imagine virtually all japanese buildings are designed to tolerate a 5.5

While the buildings may be able to withstand these earthquakes without falling over I'd wonder what kind of damage is being done to them with these repeated heavy quakes. If you keep bending a steel bar it will eventually break.

Overall it's a real testament to Japanese engineering, I can't imagine what it would have been like without all their preparation work.

Overheal

Ironbar wrote: »

Japan was moved by 2.4 meters. The earth rotation axis was moved by 10 centimetres which means the day is now 1.6 microseconds shorter...

Thats going to come out of my free time isnt it :mad:

On the bright side paddy's day is now 16 microseconds closer

SnowY32 wrote: »

serious shaking going on in japan still if the get a level 7 game over!!:eek:

realtime earthquake monitor here for the world:

http://www.emsc-csem.org/Earthquake/index.php

Another Magnitude 7.0 quake would be bad but think calmly about what a 7.0 is compared to the 8.9 they initially got and bearing in mind that most of Japan's buildings stood up to that. That's phenominal engineering. In contrast a 7.0 is much weaker than an 8.9 - more than 708x weaker. The first quake was reportedly equivalent to 336 Megatons of TNT. a 7.0 is equivalent to 474 Kilotons. Again, assuming I've got my math on straight.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richter_magnitude_scale

Surely it doesn't help, but a new 7.0 wouldnt be "game over". No need to dramatize.

P_1

I think the recent quake in Christchurch has demonstrated for us that the location of the epicenter, rather than the magnitude of the quake that does the most damage. Bear in mind that the quake that caused this tsunami happened a good hundred miles offshore.

sunflower27

thetonynator wrote: »

Considering that the earthquake didnt even cause most of the damage at 8.9, its an incredible feat of engineering how they have made the buildings so well. Look what 6 did in Christchurch!!!

But wasnt the epicentre in Christchurch. The Japanese quake was off land.

Overheal

pithater1 wrote: »

I think the recent quake in Christchurch has demonstrated for us that the location of the epicenter, rather than the magnitude of the quake that does the most damage. Bear in mind that the quake that caused this tsunami happened a good hundred miles offshore.

the other year a 3.2 had it's epicenter about 3 miles from my house. I woke up thinking a car had crashed into my living room.

Squall19

Ironbar wrote: »

Japan was moved by 2.4 meters. The earth rotation axis was moved by 10 centimetres which means the day is now 1.6 microseconds shorter...

Thats just crazy.

I dont know if this has been posted already but its just as frightening

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkHxDZGSM7E

Its just insane
If you listen,it sounds exactly like he is standing at the sea with waves coming in,not in the middle of the park!

hmmm

What a terrible time to find out your gauges are malfunctioning!

Injection of fresh water mixed with boron to inhibit nuclear reactions was started as soon as venting had been completed. However, water levels continued to fall and Tepco began an operation to inject seawater into the reactor vessel.

Unit 1 Seawater injection continues and it is thought the reactor core is now sufficiently cool. Safety regulators consider reactor pressure of 353 kPa an indication of a stable condition.
Unit 2

The normal reactor core isolation cooling system is in use. Fuel rods are covered by about 3.8 metres of water.

In a media briefing at 8.00pm, chief cabinet secretary Yukio Edano stated that while initially the water level had risen, a gauge indicated that this had leveled off, despite ongoing seawater injection.

The Japan Atomic Industry Forum (JAIF) reported back from a press conference given by the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) at 11.30pm. The trade body said that a malfunctioning guage means that water levels cannot be confirmed. The gauge in question reads that water levels are around two metres below the top of the nuclear fuel assemblies, which would represent a very serious situation with the risk of fuel damage.

"It is unknown whether [the reading] is real or not," said JAIF. Other readings from the reactor system do not indicate that the reading - and the associated potential damage to fuel - are the true situation. Pressure levels stand at around 250 kPa, compared to reference levels of 400 kPa - and a high of 840 kPa recorded at unit 1 yesterday. Radiation levels have dropped during the seawater injection, said NISA.

ScumLord

Squall19 wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkHxDZGSM7E

Its just insane
If you listen,it sounds exactly like he is standing at the sea with waves coming in,not in the middle of the park!

That's incredible, I didn't know you could actually see the ground moving like that.

SnowY32

Squall19 wrote: »

Thats just crazy.

I dont know if this has been posted already but its just as frightening

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkHxDZGSM7E

Its just insane
If you listen,it sounds exactly like he is standing at the sea with waves coming in,not in the middle of the park!

Madness!! :eek::eek::eek:

Overheal

hmmm wrote: »

What a terrible time to find out your gauges are malfunctioning!

Indeed. Hopefully thats not the case and the rods are still submerged.

Speaking of submerged that CNN video is nuts and fascinating.

hmmm

ScumLord wrote: »

That's incredible, I didn't know you could actually see the ground moving like that.

That's liquefaction at work I think.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthquake_liquefaction

aligator_am

Squall19 wrote: »

Thats just crazy.

I dont know if this has been posted already but its just as frightening

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkHxDZGSM7E

Its just insane
If you listen,it sounds exactly like he is standing at the sea with waves coming in,not in the middle of the park!

Jesus Christ that video is frightening! as others have said, it's a testament to Japanese engineering that their buildings survived for the most part.

Thrill

1. 2103: Japan's Earthquake Research Committee estimates Friday's devastating earthquake forced the tectonic plate on which Japan sits to spring eastward by about 20m (66 feet), says NHK. The researchers also say the quake caused some areas, from Iwate to Fukushima prefectures, to sink up to about 75cm.
   
   

tiger55

Japanese volcano erupts 13 March 2011


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSxC01K9J0g

tiger55

Volcanic lightning pictured as Mount Shinmoedake volcano in Japan erupts


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthpicturegalleries/8288283/Volcanic-lightning-pictured-as-Mount-Shinmoedake-volcano-in-Japan-erupts.html