http://siliconangle.com/blog/2011/03/14/guest-post-some-perspective-on-the-japan-earthquake/

This is fantastic. No matter what happens in Japan, people need to remember that they just got hammered by an earthquake that would probably have killed 10 MILLION people if it had hit some poorly-prepared place like Mexico City, Tehran, or Jakarta....

Also, here's why we should NOT be worried about the nuclear reactors in Japan. Unlike all of the other bullshit reported by the media, this is written by someone who actually knows what they're talking about.

http://mitnse.com/2011/03/13/why-i-am-not-worried-about-japans-nuclear-reactors/


READ.

[Edited on March 15, 2011 at 9:32 AM. Reason : .]

3/15/2011 9:30:41 AM

^that second link is a really good read... I'd like to hear the guy's take on the most recent fire early today.

3/15/2011 9:38:33 AM

yeah, same here. Sounds like it could be a game changer, but then again, I saw that on the news, and they've exaggerated everything else so far.

3/15/2011 9:55:40 AM

Quote :

" See, the thing that people don’t realize is that Honshu is massive. It is larger than Great Britain. (A country which does not typically refer to itself as a “tiny island nation.”)"

hahaha loved that.

3/15/2011 10:20:04 AM

Quote :

"Aftershock with preliminary magnitude of 6.1 shakes eastern part of Honshu, Japan, U.S. Geological Survey says. "

3/15/2011 10:29:03 AM

This is what happens when you make Charlie Sheen angry.

3/15/2011 10:31:16 AM

^^^^^
Just posted

http://mitnse.com/2011/03/15/damage-to-fukushima-daiichi-2-world-nuclear-news/

3/15/2011 10:31:35 AM

has the US not sent any of our engineers over there to help? i doubt there is much we could do though.

3/15/2011 11:20:07 AM

Quote :

"http://mitnse.com/2011/03/13/why-i-am-not-worried-about-japans-nuclear-reactors/"

I wish I could say otherwise, but most of what was written by this person has been modified or retracted. Bloggers from both side of the nuclear debate have been saying a lot of junk they shouldn't have said.

This nuclear event is serious and has already taken a major human toll by disrupting otherwise productive relief efforts. But, given history, and given ALL of the connected information, this won't kill many people, if any.

3/15/2011 11:30:03 AM

Quote :

"A few friends of mine have suggested coming to Japan to pitch in with the recovery efforts. I appreciate your willingness to brave the radiological dangers of international travel on our behalf, but that plan has little upside to it: when you get here, you’re going to be a) illiterate b) unable to understand instructions and c) a productivity drag on people who are quite capable of dealing with this but will instead have to play Babysit The Foreigner. If you’re feeling compassionate and want to do something for the sake of doing something, find a charity in your neighborhood. Give it money. Tell them you were motivated to by Japan’s current predicament. You’ll be happy, Japan will recover quickly, and your local charity will appreciate your kindness."

3/15/2011 11:33:15 AM

I'm reading right now that they've discovered two holes in the outer containment wall of reactor four spanning about 8 meters. The exposed area is near a pool for 548 spent rods and theyre concerned if there is another explosion it could cause the rods to scatter outside the containment area

3/15/2011 12:17:41 PM

if anyone wants to donate money to help

https://www.networkforgood.org/donation/MakeDonation.aspx?ORGID2=530196605&source=YAHOO&cmpgn=NEWS&vlrStratCode=mFiOKIT04TWTWKlF4QdAFR0u35js6InNm81sjFCqNVWg9Q%2fKRMSUtCzucPzih%2bEe

3/15/2011 12:33:49 PM

Quote :

"has the US not sent any of our engineers over there to help? i doubt there is much we could do though."

experts from the NRC have been flown in, supposed to get to work today or tomorrow.

The nuclear situation is (of course) not as bad as has been portrayed in the media, but still pretty scary until they can restore offsite power.

3/15/2011 12:53:44 PM

What do you think the death toll will estimately round out to? I read somewhere that an event similar to this size killed 30,000 but I'm thinking it won't be nearly that high. i am actually surprised to see it still in the 2,000s. Even more died in 9/11 and that was a very targeted area. It feels like Japan has been adequately prepared minus the whole nuclear freedom.

3/15/2011 1:00:51 PM

how many people are still reported missing?

3/15/2011 1:02:24 PM

As of March 16, police has confirmed that over 3,300 people died and over 7,500 people are missing.

FYI, in the Great Hanshin earthquake (Kobe earthquake) of January 1995, over 6,400 people died.

[Edited on March 15, 2011 at 1:16 PM. Reason : a]

3/15/2011 1:13:05 PM

Another crazy video of the tsunami coming in

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2011/03/14/nhk.vo.quake.damage.friday.nhk?hpt=C2

[Edited on March 15, 2011 at 1:15 PM. Reason : wrong link]

3/15/2011 1:14:57 PM

Hm then CNN is underestimating, it was like 2,400 dead and 3,000 missing.

3/15/2011 1:18:19 PM

I would say the final death toll will be about 15,000. It might reach 20,000, but I really can't see it getting higher than that.

Seriously, if this was Pakistan, Indonesia, India, Iran, etc, At least 100,000 250,000 would have died, and maybe as high as 500,000 1,000,000 or more. Remember, it is the tsunami doing the killing here, not the earthquake itself. And a massive tsunami coming into populated cities will always kill more than a strong earthquake hitting the same cities.

Edit: figures revised


[Edited on March 15, 2011 at 1:24 PM. Reason : ]

3/15/2011 1:21:11 PM

Quote :

"cnn just posted this on fb a little while ago. this video is insane. watch the whole thing, but if you don't have patience ff to 2:00. the earth splits, then repeatedly opens & closes, then spits out water http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/ireports/2011/03/14/irpt.japan.earthquake.cracks.ireport.html "

Wow, this video is just creepy! I have never seen an earthquake video like that. It is always the typical buildings shaking, things falling, people running. And then there is the tsunami videos.

But this one, it is in a park where everything is calm and then massive cracks start appearing and water shoots up from the ground. I found that really creepy, like what you might see in some artsy horror movie. And then the guy being calm, and his commentary just take it to another level.

Thumbs up. Will watch again.

3/15/2011 1:40:31 PM

3/15/2011 1:57:47 PM

^^It's on reclaimed land so it's going to be weaker than natural soil. The water "boiling" up through the surface is caused by liquefaction. Youtube some videos of it. It's quite common during earthquakes and a neat, natural phenomena that probably contributed to some surface damage in addition to surface waves.

[Edited on March 15, 2011 at 2:35 PM. Reason : -]

3/15/2011 2:34:56 PM

This breaks my heart

3/15/2011 5:51:22 PM

That photo is amazingly moving. Won't be surprised if it wins an award.

3/15/2011 6:17:13 PM

I can't get enough of the tsunami videos. It's horrible and I'm not even particularly impressed the destruction it can cause. Moreso the massive amount of energy it takes to create waves like that.

3/15/2011 7:16:15 PM

Quote :

"QUADRILLIONS OF JOULES"

3/15/2011 7:17:55 PM

It's all relative, This is kiddy shit compared with the planet destroying energy in outerspace

3/15/2011 7:20:30 PM

jigawatts

3/15/2011 7:25:06 PM

^ that's a unit of power.

3/15/2011 7:27:02 PM

This just in... a 0.01 earthquake in my pants.

3/15/2011 8:09:18 PM

I don't know why you would post a Korean pop band in a thread about the Japanese earthquake.

3/15/2011 8:58:10 PM

cuz he be a genius

and

we he so excited

3/15/2011 9:00:05 PM

Shadow wanted to see more lol.

He was like "i wonder if they're really japanese"

so he goes to edit post

notices the image name is girlsgeneration.jpg

types it into google and sees wikipedia article about them

Then, out of excitement he learns theyre not japanese and rushes back here to post about it!

3/15/2011 9:14:17 PM

ummmm.... or he can differentiate between chinese, korean, and japanese people?

omfg what a concept!

(i certainly can, in most cases)

you'z a genius!

3/15/2011 9:19:01 PM

Someone wants a cookie! What a good boy! Here's your cookie!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4-SxcCO5d0


We now return you to your regularly scheduled tsunami/earthquake/volcano coverage.

3/15/2011 9:22:23 PM

All Asian people look the same.

3/15/2011 9:26:29 PM

^bingo

3/15/2011 9:27:48 PM

imo....korean and se asian faces tend to be a little more distinct than the typical chinese or japanese face.

i occasionally get japanese and chinese faces mixed up but i've noticed that chinese faces tend to have less pronounced features than japanese.

unfortunately i'm still very hazy with distinguishing men, this is all women i am talking about

i think japanese women have BEAUTIFUL faces.

3/15/2011 9:28:10 PM

Or maybe I've actually heard of SNSD because they're one of the most popular music acts in all of Asia, our planet's most populous continent, and I have some vestige of culture.

3/15/2011 9:58:32 PM

Quote :

"Someone wants a cookie! What a good boy! Here's your cookie! "

the word cookie and 0EPII1 don't belong in the same thread.

3/15/2011 10:01:18 PM

i have never heard of them-im incredibly curious now


cody says his friends wife is obsessed with them (shes korean )

[Edited on March 15, 2011 at 10:01 PM. Reason : xdfd]

3/15/2011 10:01:19 PM

Then check out the video Genius's pic was from, it's a lot catchier of a song than the one he posted:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ch7iAWG6RCQ

I have a pretty limited awareness of Asian pop music aside from a handful of hiphop groups and a handful of gothic/metal bands, but SNSD is pretty ubiquitous and hard to avoid knowing if you have any interest at all in Asian music.

3/15/2011 10:13:04 PM

balance beam slowly shifting towards a move to The Lounge, trying to justify keeping in CC

3/15/2011 10:19:54 PM

you're not cool until you can name them all

then name all the momusu girls

3/15/2011 10:42:34 PM

How the hell do they know what's at the center of earth????

3/15/2011 10:45:54 PM

'simple' math

3/15/2011 10:49:36 PM

it's a mystery, just like magnets and rainbows.

3/15/2011 10:52:15 PM

Someone from Hell probably told them.

They also told the local church that stopping,dropping and rolling doesn't work in hell either.

3/15/2011 10:52:37 PM

double post'

What the hell, now ALL workers have been evacuated from the plant. Someone tell us what this means???

3/15/2011 10:58:43 PM

RUN FOR THE FUCKING HILLS!

3/15/2011 11:03:22 PM