Japanese earthquake

[Baggers]

Glad to know LaMedicine and Daizawaguy are safe. My thoughts and prayers are with you and the rest of the Japanese people.

 

[YETI]

It's good to know you guys are safe. Sadly, many here in CA took it lightly(tsunami) expecting only a 2-3 foot swell on the coastline with people flocking to the beaches and harbors to get a glimpse. What happens?...5 get swept out to sea with one dead and another missing. It's a drop in the bucket compared to what happened in Japan. Wishing you the best and keeping you in my thoughts and prayers.

 

[Effingham]

My Kanto friends are all reporting in safely. We still haven't heard from a couple of friends in Sendai, and I'm a bit worried about them. I know things are a bit disrupted out there now, though.

 

[Harp]

Sanae so glad you are safe. Daziwa ditto. Prayers and best wishes.

 

[Pompidou]

Fortunately, Japan is one of the most earthquake prepared nations on Earth. Glad everyone's alright.

 

[LaMedicine]

I'll have to say, those who are safe, are lucky, thanks to the grace of the good Lord.

As the day wears on the extent of the damages are still not yet fully known. The deaths and the missing count is rapidly rising. On the other hand, many are being evacuated by air--hellicopters mostly, as many areas are isolated and inaccasible by land, and the sea is still dangerous. The quake also seems to have stimlated some faults, and we've had a few relatively strong quakes as well as the continuing aftershocks.

It's totally surreal, sitting safely at home, despite the afteshocks we keep getting, and seeing the scene evolving on the TV screen. No news save for those related to yesterday's quake, so, even us, those who are safe, and in areas where contact is intact, are caught in our own small bubble, unaware of what may be going on in the rest of the world.

For those of you who have friends here:

Yokohama, which is just south of Tokyo, is fine. Tokyo Bay got some tsunami tide (1.4m-abou 4 1/2') but no reports of damages from the waves. With Tokyo, Yokohama, and the areas south of us, the damages are from the quake itself, not tsunamis, and while there are some damages, they are minor compared to what happened north of us.

The Pacific coast north of us is another story. The damage from the tsunamis are far more extensive than first thought, and quite a few villages and towns have been wiped out almost completely, and some cities, half submerged yet in water, extesive fire in another city and so on. Due to the topography of the coast, when tsunamis hit it, the power of the waves are increased much more.
Contact with those areas is sporadic at most.

Sendai was pretty badly hit--a tsunami traveled more than 6 miles up a river running through the city.
There are lots of fires too, it seems.

If you have friends in the military posted here.
Misawa city, where Misawa Base is located, is on the Pacific coast. However, the brunt of the force hit south of Aomori prefecture, so I haven't seen much news about Aomori--I guess no news is good news.
The US forces have offered to help us, and our government is taking up on that, we need all the help we can get, so thank you all.

Cell phone services are regulated in the affected areas, and so are land lines, but land lines seem to have a better chance of connecting. Also, text mails can get through, though they may be delayed some. Electricity is out in most of those areas, so internet contact will be down once one uses up the battery.
Phone companies, both land lines and cell services, have set up people finder boards, and Google has one up as well, (sorry I don't have the urls) so, you can try that.

Here's the link to the ustream that NHK, the Japanese equivalent of BBC has up. The dialogue is in Japanese naturally, but the scenes evolving are powerful on their own.
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nhk-gtv

Added note. Many of the minicipal PR sections are utilizing facebook and twitter to send out evac information.

 

[TM]

The scale of this thing is really hard to imagine. Aftershocks that are stronger than the 1994 Northridge earthquake in Los Angeles!

My thoughts go out to all Loungers in Japan, and to the Japanese people. LaMedicine, I'm glad you are all right.

Tony

 

[Atticus Finch]

The news in the United States is still reporting that 1000 people my have died in this quake. I am hoping with every fiber in me that the final count will be many less...but looking at the raw video feed, I fear the US news will be proved very wrong.

AF

 

[scotrace]

Thank you, LaMedicine, for your updates. I'm personally very pleased that you are safe.

 

[J.B.]

So very glad that you and yours are okay, LaMedicine!

Good Thoughts & Best Wishes for all those impacted by this tragedy.

 

[Benny Holiday]

Great to hear you guys are okay. So much destruction there . . . and all around the Pacific lately. Our prayers and thoughts
go out to Japan now, but here in my neighbourhood we're all wondering what next?

 

[LaMedicine]

Fortunately, Japan is one of the most earthquake prepared nations on Earth. Glad everyone's alright.

Prepared as we are (we do have the strictest building codes, I believe) nature often surpasses the human imagination.

The area most hard hit by the tsunami (not just one, but many waves upon waves) have a lot of coves, small inlets and bays enclosed by high cliffs, and the people live in the small flat space between the beach and the hills behind. The force of the waves multiply due to this, wiping out entire communities. We've known this (we have lots of old local folklore and tales about past tsunamis that are recited to us since childhood), and warning systems and preventive measures were in place, but the force surpassed all our projections.

A lot of the hospitals in the disaster area are not functioning either, due to the disruption of the infrastructure--water, electricity, gas, etc. Of course, these places have some kind of backup system, but honestly, I doubt if they have enough to last more than a day or two. Plus a lot of people have headed for the hospitals for refuge even if they are not ill nor hurt, and that is enought to overload the hospitals.

Thank you world, for reaching out and sending out your disaster teams.

 

[HarpPlayerGene]

I'm pulling for you and your people, LaMedicine. You are such a classy lady. Got a real big mess on your hands now. Wishing you the best possible outcomes.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

My thoughts and prayers go out to all of you.

 

[Lily Powers]

LaMedicine, thank you for taking time to share this information. I understand that some of Japan's aftershocks were as strong as the 1994 6.7 Northridge earthquake that devasted Los Angeles. As YETI posted previously, many in CA took our tsunami alerts lightly. The damage that occurred here in Santa Cruz, CA was the loss of 17 boats docked at the harbor and damage to about 50 more. Very minor and no loss of life here.

Blessings to you LaMedicine and your loved ones, that you remain safe.

 

[YETI]

^^Those guys were stupid trying to secure their boats as the tsunami hit CA harbors. Also, any news on Mr. Lofgren who runs Speedway Vintage in Japan?

 

[Solid Citizen]

LaMedicine

You, are one of the very long time members here @ the FL! We are thinking of you & the people of Japan. Please keep us posted on how you & your country are doing?

Solid Citizen

 

[fluteplayer07]

Wishing all of you over there the best!

 

[Tiller]

My thought's and prayers out to our friends in Japan.

 

[subject101]

Thank you for posting LaMedicine;

Hope this information is wrong http://e.nikkei.com/e/fr/tnks/Nni20110312D12JFF03.htm but if you have the chance, it's a good time for taking that trip to the south.