Japan - Earthquake and Tsunami

[TexDaddy]

...(Yes, this is just a piece of the picture.  Nobody seems to have made the whole picture available anywhere we can find.)

Great post and good info, Mr. Bill.

So far as "the whole picture" being available, I doubt anyone has that at this point. The people on the ground are probalby still in pitched battle mode and nowhere near ready for getting the whole story together yet.

[Xavier]

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/03/12/us-japan-quake-scene-idUKTRE72A1FK20110312

Relevant quotes:

"In districts around Fukushima city, survivors lined up for drinking water in town centers, filling teapots and plastic containers."

"HOARDING, LONG WAITS FOR SUPPLIES"

"Cellphones remained down for much of the region and more than 5 million people were without power."

"In Mito, another town in the area, long lines formed outside a damaged supermarket as hundreds waited for medicine, water and other supplies. Supplies ran low as people stocked up, not knowing how long it would take for fresh goods to arrive."

""All the shops are closed, this is one of the few still open. So I came to buy and stock up on diapers, drinking water and food," Kunio Iwatsuki, 68, told Reuters."

""People make manuals for earthquakes, but when the earthquake actually happens, can you actually follow the manual?" said 60-year-old officer worker Kiyoshi Kanazawa."

[endurance]

Some interesting reading, particularly about the reactor.  Thanks for the info, all.

I was just thinking how one good thing about the high energy prices over the last month is how they really do lead to investment in alternative energies... like nuclear.  Not a shot anymore.  I think the American public will get their fill and be paranoid enough about nuclear energy for the next decade to make any new plants unpalatable.

[Mr. Bill]

Good up-to-date info on the reactors can be found here:

http://allthingsnuclear.org/

[sdcharger]

Based on the scope and magnitude of this event, I'd say the Japanese Nuclear Industry has done very well preparing for problems.  You could not engineer a system to survive intact at ground zero of a disaster of this magnitude, but the facilities nearby have done very well indeed.  Even if they have localized problems at Fukushima, we are absolutely not looking at a Chernobyl type event.

[Dainty]

I'm just reading what appears to be the latest info on the subject, according to this article, "Japanese officials...presumed that partial meltdowns had occurred at two crippled reactors and that they were facing serious cooling problems at three more."

...plant operators had to release radioactive vapor into the atmosphere. Radiation levels outside the plant, which had retreated overnight, shot up to over twice Japan's legal limit, Edano said.

NHK, Japan's public broadcaster, flashed instructions to evacuees: close doors and windows; place a wet towel over the nose and mouth; cover up as much as possible. At a news conference, Edano called for calm.

[endurance]

Sometimes it really does come down to luck.  Let's say you were on vacation, had a work assignment, or were otherwise in the danger zone and this came your way.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uJN3Z1ryck#

You walked to lunch with a friend and while sitting at the outside cafe, you feel and earthquake.  Minutes later you begin hearing strange noises and see water coming from your east.  You have no BOB, your home is in the line of surge; you either make it to safety or you don't. 

Sometimes it doesn't matter how much we've done to prepare with physical preps, all that matters is luck and your ability to make a few right decisions (like running to higher ground vs. going back to work to retrieve your BOB). 

Standing there, above the flood waters the thought enters your mind; what about my _________ (insert prized possessions, pets, photo albums, spouse, children, friend)?  As much as we survivalists want the illusion of control and that what we do to prep matters, sometimes you're the Louisville Slugger, sometimes you're the ball.

[cpf240]

Sometimes it really does come down to luck.

Don't EVER underestimate the power of nature. It will scoop you up, chew on you, and spit you out.

[Nicodemus]

That is some very frightening footage.

[SteveandTracyinKY]

I think that video just eliminated the coastal states as possible move locations for me.

[Xavier]

This is hot and developing news.  There has been a third explosion at the Fukushima nuclear plant.  I reiterate that government - any government - will try to project confidence, strength, and competence even when it knows the S is HTF.

From The Telegraph: "The Fukushima crisis now rates as a more serious accident than the partial meltdown at Three Mile Island in the US in 1979, and is second only to the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, according to the French nuclear safety authority. After insisting for three days that the situation was under control, Japan urgently appealed to US and UN nuclear experts for technical help on preventing white-hot fuel rods melting."

[Laz]

They went from leaking "slightly" radioactive gas to "Harmful radiation spewing" in a couple of days. If I ever here our government say slight radioactive gas is being released anywhere close to my location I will be heading 180⁰ out of dodge.

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/japanquake/8224259/japan-nuke-reactor-spews-harmful-radiation



Prepper note:
Millions have been left without water, electricity, fuel or enough food and hundreds of thousands more are homeless and facing harsh conditions with sub-zero temperatures overnight, and snow and rain forecast.

[Xavier]

Despite all news about how the Japanese were coming together, and helping one another out (which is true, I'm sure), the situation is getting more desperate.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1367473/Elderly-hospital-patients-left-die-Japans-nuclear-zone-400-000-fight-survive-tsunami-humanitarian-crisis.html

"The elderly are being abandoned to die in Japanese hospitals and care homes devastated by the tsunami amid a worsening humanitarian and nuclear disaster.  Hundreds of thousands of victims have been made homeless, with more than 400,000 struggling to survive in emergency shelters with no power and little food or water."

[joejoe]

Its a difficult situation for the people on the ground, they are struggling to get anyone to drive into the area. Personally I feel the situation is far worse than whats being reported, if you watch the second explosing very carefully its appears totally different from the first, the first was like a balloon bursting in all directions due to hydrogen in the main building, however the second appeared to have a strong verticle component and far less horizontal, making it look as if it originated from an area with extreme stong side walls therefore focusing the blast verticle, in addition it contained far more material (brownish).
If I was in the area the only safe place is on a Jumbo getting my ass out of there as quick as.

The guys still woking in the plant are real hero's, they know theyre dead, I couldn't do that.

[sdcharger]

The elderly were abandoned to die in hospitals and care homes long before the disaster...  With that being said, it's horrible to think they will suffer more.

In a true SHTF situation you will face triage decisions that will not come easy.

What a sordid mess