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Post by Skooby Snaks on Mar 12, 2011 3:27:45 GMT -5
Any thoughts?
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Post by Teutonic on Mar 12, 2011 6:20:44 GMT -5
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NPLXIV
Skin Crafter 
The Motherland of Chinchillawater Founder
Posts: 196
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Post by NPLXIV on Mar 12, 2011 9:08:05 GMT -5
yea i heard about the reactor. japan is in trouble, i feel for them
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Post by Kardas on Mar 12, 2011 11:24:52 GMT -5
Well, we discussed it in our Geology class. Luckily, Japan's well prepared, they've had plenty of tsunamis in the past so they have some defenses against them and a good majority of their buildings are earthquake-resistant.
As for the reactor, it appears it had an explosion, but there is no leakage. They're filling it now with seawater to speed the cooling process to help prevent a meltdown.
Then again, nuclear plants have become much safer since Chernobyl anyway. No one uses graphite reactors anymore, for starters.
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Post by Teutonic on Mar 12, 2011 11:34:36 GMT -5
Oh, Japan certainly has a huge amount of pre-emptive measures and protocols, but they can't fully prepare for this sort of thing. Afterall, short of coastal barricades, how does one stop a vast tonnage of water than can quite easily destroy cities (i think one actually did here, though I forget the name), so as is always said, it won't be the disaster itself, but the fallout afterwards (pun not intended) that causes damage in japan.
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NPLXIV
Skin Crafter
The Motherland of Chinchillawater Founder
Posts: 196
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Post by NPLXIV on Mar 12, 2011 12:13:17 GMT -5
Whats the current death toll? and im sure japan will recover in time.
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Post by Kardas on Mar 12, 2011 12:16:53 GMT -5
Wikipedia says more than 500 people.
According to Nu.nl (Dutch news source) we've also got one death in California and one in Indonesia from the tsunami.
Japanese meteorologists are also warning that a second tsunami is likely going to occur.
given the large number of aftershocks (and the 2004 SEA, 2006 Java and 2010 Chile earthquakes in mind) that occurred, I agree.
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Post by Teutonic on Mar 12, 2011 12:58:18 GMT -5
Estimates put the toll at 1300 at the moment, though less than half that is confirmed-Only 300-400 bodies have been recovered by the Japanese Defence Force.
As for more tsunamis, I agree. Given the size and frequency of the aftershocks, it seems fairly innevitable that more will hit, though the damage has already been done in most cases, so their effect may be limited.
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Post by seattile on Mar 12, 2011 18:55:30 GMT -5
About 90% of all earthquakes happen on the ring of fire, Japan is one of the countries that is on the ring of fire, including all the States on the west coast of the U.S.A, Alaska included. Also scientist say Bellingham, the place where I live, has been due for a earthquake for a long time and my school's tennis court is on a faultline, so is most of the school.
The person in California that died was with three other people and some how they didn't know that there was a tsunami warning, the Coast Guard was able to rescue three people but they were unable to save the other guy.
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Post by Kardas on Mar 14, 2011 5:44:04 GMT -5
Well, It Got Worse.
Nu.nl says 2000 bodies have been found along the coast.
And there's been problems with a second nuclear reactor.
Truly tragic. I did not expect it to become this bad.
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Post by Teutonic on Mar 14, 2011 15:25:26 GMT -5
Indeed-I've been getting 3000 from the BBC and Guardian. Expecting another aftershock hitting 6 on the Richter scale as well. I thought it was pretty much over as well. All the worse for being helpless.
All the industry is shutting down as well, due to power shortages and safety issues. Their automotive industry has apparently been utterly hamstrung by this.
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Post by seattile on Mar 20, 2011 11:43:05 GMT -5
It is very sad with whats happening to the Japanese. I was watching the news the other day and this sceintist said there would be a earthqauke in Washington, between now and the 26 of March, and here I thought we couldn't really predict earthquakes. But I just hope the people in Japan can recover from this without to much trouble.
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Post by Kardas on Mar 20, 2011 17:53:52 GMT -5
'couldn't really' is somewhat correct. We can't pinpoint the exact date and everything, but we are able to figure out that another one will happen relatively (from a geological perspective, so give or take decades) quickly. There are two big reasons for this: one, earthquakes tend to happen along boundaries where tectonic plates meet and that's how we know which region is more at risk. Second, I think that geologists measure the pressure that's building up in the crust near the tectonic plates somehow. The more pressure, the more chance that an earthquake will happen... give or take a couple decades.
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