8.8 Richter earthquake hits Japan: Tsunami, nuclear meltdown, many dead

[guy]

Death toll officially rises to 7,348.

Many shelters are now reporting that cold and flu is spreading quickly. Many areas are still without steady supply of fuel for heating. More and more hospitals are reporting that patients are dying from cold, dehydration, and lack of medicine.

 

[spikier]

no matter what information is being told from individuals, tabloids, news stations, just all of you remember this: it ain't over, until its over.

anything can still happen. so don't underestimate this situation.

most of all: never forget about mother nature; in these type of tragedies,
"mother nature" can change the game significantly; which is another reason why i'm extremely & nearly scared to death, for japan.

so, all we can really do is wait, donate, & give physical support to Japan (if possible).

 

[guy]

Tokyo Fire department (which has taken the task of pumping sea water into the reactor buildings) just held a press conference detailing the work that they have completed over the past two days.

Due to the wreckage caused by the tsunami, it is impossible to bring in heavy equipment near the water. The fire department sent in a truck that is heavily shielded against radiation to inspect the area, and laid out a 800 meter path leading from an area north east of reactor 1 at the water edge, leading counter-clockwise to an area on the west side between reactors 2 and 3.

View attachment 422982

The department is using a series of truck-based pumps and several lengths of hoses (and hose extensions) to complete the 800m length. The work was completed by two teams of 20 men, using mechanical equipment as much as possible. There was one length just north of reactor 1 which is obstructed with wreckage; the hose connection along this length had to be completed by hand, and was done by 7 of the men.

View attachment 422985

The work was completed, and water has been and is continuing to be pumped into storage pool 3. The pumps are nominally rated to be able to pump 3800 liters of water per minute, but because of the length, the department estimates a pumping capacity of about 3000L/m. Radiation levels above ground (near the top of reactor 3) were measured at approximately 40mSv, so the fire department deployed a fire truck equipped with mechanical arm to pump water from 22m above ground level, towards the direction of the location of the storage pool.

View attachment 422983View attachment 422981

The pumps and trucks are all capable of running without human monitoring, so as soon as the connection was completed and water being pumped into the building, all the crew were evacuated. The crew reportedly had little or no radiation exposure. Pumping is set to continue until March 20, 00:30. Edit: Though the fire department could not visually confirm that the water was reaching the pools, they have now confirmed that since beginning the pumping, radiation levels near reactor 3 have fallen significantly. They estimate that 7 hours of pumping will provide approximately 1200 tons of water.

The fire department had reported to the site since March 12; work on the connection began on March 16. Reports and press conferences about the plan were delayed in order to focus on the work, possibly explaining why accurate news was relatively scarce.

Meanwhile, technicians and engineers have successfully restored electricity to reactors 5 and 6, and have officially confirmed that the temperature of the water in storage pool 5 has dropped significantly (from 68.8°C at 0500, to 48.1°C at 1800, March 19) and will continue to cool down. They are working to restore electricity to the remaining reactors.

View attachment 422984

 

[guy]

Latest press conference says that storage pools 1 ~ 4 are now all confirmed under 100°C, and are in safer condition than they were originally expecting. The work to connect electricity cables to building 2 is now complete, and workers will begin tomorrow to restart the cooling pumps. [Storage pool 2 is a slightly greater concern, because since the building is still in-tact, the fire department cannot directly pump in water without entering the building where radiation levels would be higher.]

In other news, officials have been constantly monitoring radiation levels in food and water sources. On the 18th, unusually high levels were found in a couple specific sources of milk and spinach. The levels are still low enough to have little to no effect on human health (less radiation than a typical CT scan), but the ministry has already stopped all shipments of milk and spinach harvested between the 16th and 18th from the affected sources/areas.

 

[Rhinosaur]

Thanks heaps for the latest reports, guy.

 

[Freedom Kira]

That's excellent news, guy. If this keeps up, the reactors will no longer be a problem in just a couple more days.

Actually, you have to give the Japanese people a lot of credit for how they are handling this situation. In many countries their would be pandemonium. Although it is fair to say there might be a certain amount of mass shock involved here.

I have to say it's rather sad that there is pandemonium in other countries (stupid media) on this whole situation, while Japan's doing quite well in comparison.

Rather than "never forget," people need to learn that scientific advances do actually do something. An event like Chernobyl can't possibly happen with today's standards of safety, but that simple fact appears to be hard-understood, even though advanced technology exists all around us that make our lives safer and easier that didn't exist in the times of Chernobyl.

 

[gyoza ramen & a beer]

An event like Chernobyl can't possibly happen with today's standards of safety...

Well, those are the key relevant words, Freedom Kira: "...today's standards of safety..."; my point being that regardless of whatever standards of safety are generally accepted at a given point in time, there is no guarantee -- as Chernobyl made horribly clear -- that those standards will be put into practice and operational design by a given country. Had Chernobyl been constructed to the same design standards as, even, Three Mile Island there would not presently be a multi-generational 25-mile dead-zone and 10,000 cancer-afflicted children in Ukraine. The Russians were well aware of the necessary design-safeguards and redundancies and chose to ignore them, precisely as they did in their space program with the predictable result in that instance of the unacknowledged deaths of an estimated dozen cosmonauts.

And while I agree with your remark about the media's propensity to stir up "pandemonium in other countries" away from Japan, I think Ceewan (I trust he'll weigh in) was referring instead to the absence in Japan of the sort of social disorder and criminal and pathological behavior that overtook New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina, post-(and even pre-) earthquake Haiti (where r*** is an horrific fact of daily life for women in the tent-villages) and in the refugee camps of civil-war torn Africa.

While the catastrophe and crisis in Japan points up the failures and shortcomings of its politicians and corporate leaders, in what country on earth have those two groups behaved any differently and consistently conducted themselves in an open, honorable and praiseworthy manner during the last generation?

But the people of Japan, those hundreds of thousands overtaken by natural calamity and its man-made nuclear hand-maiden, they have shown the world what it means to be a citizen and remind each of us, everyday, of the meaning of courage, duty, honor, bravery and sacrifice.

In short, they show us how to live-even in the worst of times. And in the case of the soldiers and firemen who are on-site everyday and the plant employees who have remained at Fukushima Daiichi from the start, they may just be showing us how to die.

They have lit a candle for us all to see :bow-pray:

 

[Ceewan]

But the people of Japan, those hundreds of thousands overtaken by natural calamity and its man-made nuclear hand-maiden, they have shown the world what it means to be a citizen and remind each of us, everyday, of the meaning of courage, duty, honor, bravery and sacrifice.

Yep. That was what I was talking about.

 

[spikier]

Well, those are the key relevant words, Freedom Kira: "...today's standards of safety..."; my point being that regardless of whatever standards of safety are generally accepted at a given point in time, there is no guarantee -- as Chernobyl made horribly clear -- that those standards will be put into practice and operational design by a given country. Had Chernobyl been constructed to the same design standards as, even, Three Mile Island there would not presently be a multi-generational 25-mile dead-zone and 10,000 cancer-afflicted children in Ukraine. The Russians were well aware of the necessary design-safeguards and redundancies and chose to ignore them, precisely as they did in their space program with the predictable result in that instance of the unacknowledged deaths of an estimated dozen cosmonauts.

And while I agree with your remark about the media's propensity to stir up "pandemonium in other countries" away from Japan, I think Ceewan (I trust he'll weigh in) was referring instead to the absence in Japan of the sort of social disorder and criminal and pathological behavior that overtook New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina, post-(and even pre-) earthquake Haiti (where r*** is an horrific fact of daily life for women in the tent-villages) and in the refugee camps of civil-war torn Africa.

While the catastrophe and crisis in Japan points up the failures and shortcomings of its politicians and corporate leaders, in what country on earth have those two groups behaved any differently and consistently conducted themselves in an open, honorable and praiseworthy manner during the last generation?

But the people of Japan, those hundreds of thousands overtaken by natural calamity and its man-made nuclear hand-maiden, they have shown the world what it means to be a citizen and remind each of us, everyday, of the meaning of courage, duty, honor, bravery and sacrifice.

In short, they show us how to live-even in the worst of times. And in the case of the soldiers and firemen who are on-site everyday and the plant employees who have remained at Fukushima Daiichi from the start, they may just be showing us how to die.

They have lit a candle for us all to see :bow-pray:

you are a valuable human being.

very, very, well said... elegantly said.
true. true. true.

 

[Freedom Kira]

Well, those are the key relevant words, Freedom Kira: "...today's standards of safety..."; my point being that regardless of whatever standards of safety are generally accepted at a given point in time, there is no guarantee -- as Chernobyl made horribly clear -- that those standards will be put into practice and operational design by a given country. Had Chernobyl been constructed to the same design standards as, even, Three Mile Island there would not presently be a multi-generational 25-mile dead-zone and 10,000 cancer-afflicted children in Ukraine. The Russians were well aware of the necessary design-safeguards and redundancies and chose to ignore them, precisely as they did in their space program with the predictable result in that instance of the unacknowledged deaths of an estimated dozen cosmonauts.

And while I agree with your remark about the media's propensity to stir up "pandemonium in other countries" away from Japan, I think Ceewan (I trust he'll weigh in) was referring instead to the absence in Japan of the sort of social disorder and criminal and pathological behavior that overtook New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina, post-(and even pre-) earthquake Haiti (where r*** is an horrific fact of daily life for women in the tent-villages) and in the refugee camps of civil-war torn Africa.

While the catastrophe and crisis in Japan points up the failures and shortcomings of its politicians and corporate leaders, in what country on earth have those two groups behaved any differently and consistently conducted themselves in an open, honorable and praiseworthy manner during the last generation?

But the people of Japan, those hundreds of thousands overtaken by natural calamity and its man-made nuclear hand-maiden, they have shown the world what it means to be a citizen and remind each of us, everyday, of the meaning of courage, duty, honor, bravery and sacrifice.

In short, they show us how to live-even in the worst of times. And in the case of the soldiers and firemen who are on-site everyday and the plant employees who have remained at Fukushima Daiichi from the start, they may just be showing us how to die.

They have lit a candle for us all to see :bow-pray:

Let's see, it seems I've been slightly misunderstood, where to start... I guess right from the top.

A reactor built like Chernobyl is 100% illegal because Chernobyl ignored many key concepts. The key one is that Chernobyl was designed so that reactions in its core would speed up as the temperature increased. That's absolutely unacceptable - standards require that reactions slow down as the temperature increases.

As for following regulations, the US controls the supply. Fuel is given to other countries under the conditions that all regulations are followed and waste is returned to the US for safekeeping. That's why the US got pissed off at Iran when they decided to start keeping the waste.

Next, yes, I'm quite aware of Ceewan's point. My point is that the fact that pandemonium is absent in Japan and present in other countries when the problem is centered in Japan drives it to a whole new level. There's mass panic whenever something bad happens, but Japan always seems to be the calmest.

The rest of the comment I have no argument with. I wholeheartedly agree that the Japanese are proving themselves very capable in the wake of the disaster.

 

[KoChun]

Hi
I'm sorry that I've never contributed here before, people always say I don't talk much.
I wanted to share this link to the Union of Concerned Scientists page that someone posted on the msn news page discussion before the topic was removed.
http://www.ucsusa.org/nuclear_power/nuclear_power_risk/safety/japan-nuclear-crisis-briefings.html
Our media has seemingly already moved on from reporting on Japan in detail. I suppose a potential new war makes for far more exciting news than a disaster in a peaceful country that has no beef with anyone.

 

[guy]

Death toll today is reported at 9,423 people.
Missing or status unknown is still at a staggering 14,715 people.

The town of Rikuzen-Takata-shi (in Iwate prefecture) estimates that 90% of its deaths are due to drowning.

12 days after the first earthquake, and we are still getting significant aftershocks. They have slowed down to about 1~3 a day, mostly below magnitude 6.0 -- little or no damage, but still noticeable.

Fukushima status: the reactors and pools must still be carefully monitored, but several pumps are now in place to keep water levels safe, electricity to all 6 buildings has been restored, and work to fix and restart pumps in buildings 1~4 is unuderway. There's always the possibility of something going horribly wrong, but for the time being the situation is relatively under control.



However, there is no shortage of western news media fear mongering and hysteria.

[youtube]ncey9ShigUs[/youtube]

Poor journalism is being tracked here:

http://jpquake.wikispaces.com/Journalist+Wall+of+Shame

 

[Xcaliber9999]

Check this out guys how any quakes and aftershock happened and still happening

my eyes hurt @___@

http://www.japanquakemap.com/

 

[spikier]

Death toll today is reported at 9,423 people.
Missing or status unknown is still at a staggering 14,715 people.

this is very bad .

i really hope the 'death toll' doesn't end up going to the same amount (or anywhere near the amount) of people who are currently missing.

please, this can't happen :rainyday:.

 

[Rhinosaur]

Check this out guys how any quakes and aftershock happened and still happening

my eyes hurt @___@

http://www.japanquakemap.com/

Small world!
That site was built by a university mate of my brother's after the quakes we had (and the aftershocks we are still having) here!!
Over 5500 to date in the last 6 months!!!

 

[aquamarine]

The shakers still aren't letting up. Had 3 that felt fairly big today (they felt like the normal 'every day' quakes we had before the 11th). The last larger one that I think hit up in Fukushima again was strong enough here in Tokyo to knock off a bunch of perfume bottles and thus making my apartment smell like the inside of an old-ladies second-hand store. As some of you may know, I live on the 7th floor of an 8-floor building so also due to the latest quake this afternoon, the elevator was shut down (frick). So take one chunky white guy who routinely carries his bug-out-bag around with him plus a 8-pack of bottled water & a bottle of Coke...well... I wasn't a happy guy once getting back up to my apartment. God damnit.

Anyways, yesterday there was 'bad' iodine in the water... and there still is today but it's "safer" for us toda which means I guess if I had a baby, I'd be holding it's head under the sink letting it drink as much as it wanted.

Here's a few more photos for you to peruse.

Oh and on that note, we're shaking at this exact moment.

Still very little available at the convenient store

At least we can still get smashed.

Here's another combini close to Ueno station - they have candy but very little normal food with any food value. I guess if we want to pretend we're on a '28 Days Later Diet' then we're in luck... just gotta look for Mr. Pibb... Oh and as you can see, it's pretty dark, one of the power-saving methods. That plus most stores and shops have the heating turned off which makes for a chilly day at work.

And yet more liquor (and cans of coffee)

No bread products

Tempting... I wonder why NOBODY has bought it....

Tofu (in the crate on the floor) and various other things that do not have much food value by themselves. At least we can feel full...

Oh god damnit. And I'm carrying a heavy bag full of camera gear to boot.

 

[aquamarine]

Here is a print-shop located behind my studio that I used to go to when I wanted larger prints done up. Sadly it was located in an older building and was VERY seriously damaged so it had to be taken down.

At least we have enough concentrated-salty water....

Nearly nobody - this would make me very happy if it wasn't for these circumstances.

 

[aquamarine]

Even Ueno Station is conserving power by turning off some of it's lights

Those weren't there the morning of the 11th.

Many businesses are shut down due to damage even here in Tokyo.

 

[aquamarine]

This back street is usually full of people at this time of day on a Sunday. It was so strange to walk down here without having to be shoulder-to-shoulder.

Fresh....

Mucho damage

Notice the crack in the bottom-left corner?

 

[aquamarine]

Basically explained that please limit your purchases with 'our' vending machine as we will not be re-stocked on a regular basis for the time being.

Trying to take care of the reactor site.

Crack