Entire Pacific Basin put on alert after Japan earthquake.

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The quake has sparked fires in several areas including Tokyo, with at least 15 people reported dead.

It struck about 250 miles (400km) from the capital at a depth of 20 miles. There have been powerful aftershocks.

Video here. This is one of the most devastating natural disasters I've ever seen.

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A tsunami warning was extended across the Pacific to include the Philippines, Indonesia, Taiwan, Hawaii, the Pacific coast of Russia and North and South America.

Some of the islands in the tsunami wave's way have the potential to be completely submerged by it.

edit:

Some pictures.

It's 26 now, there are some good live updates here, and a Google person finder has been created to check on or submit the status of your loved ones.

One nuclear power plant is in trouble. No leakage yet, but the cooler is failing to respond.

Also: Fuck me!

ETA: Red Cross have a specific donation fund. If you can, add in!

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From BBC Breaking:

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1332: Between 200 and 300 bodies have been found on a beach near Sendai, the semi-official Jiji Press news agency is reporting.

Good Lord, the devastation is absolutely mind-numbing. Nuclear reactors may go critical, entire sections of land are on fire and/or flooded, and now the tsunami is headed for the West Coast. It's already hitting Hawaii, and will probably be coming up on the Pacific Coast anytime now. To the WGWers who live on the Pacific Coast--get to shelter and stay safe.

I'm not a religious person, so I can't really send my prayers, but all my best wishes go to the people of Japan in hopes that they stay safe and that no further horrors befall them.

"Mind-numbing" is exactly right. This ranks right alongside the Kobe tremors of '95 and the Tokyo quake of 1923 as one of the worst natural disasters in Japan's history...and if any nuclear plants like the one WD40 mentioned get damaged by aftershocks, that's going to add a whole new level of suck to the situation.

Hadiya Tannous wrote:

Good Lord, the devastation is absolutely mind-numbing. Nuclear reactors may go critical, entire sections of land are on fire and/or flooded, and not one single giant monster is responsible for all this.

This is horrific. It is witnessing people's lives and livelihoods getting swept away in seconds, with nothing you can do about it beyond donating a couple bucks to a giant hellpit of damage and destruction.

Sakurelf wrote:

This is horrific. It is witnessing people's lives and livelihoods getting swept away in seconds, with nothing you can do about it beyond donating a couple bucks to a giant hellpit of damage and destruction.

I know exactly what you mean. I wish I were a doctor now instead of an undergraduate junior getting ready to apply for medical school; otherwise I'd be hauling ass down to Japan in any way, shape, or form possible to try to save some people's lives. Hell, if I didn't have university to worry about, I'd try go get there anyway. Oh well, at least donating some money will probably help someone.

You can keep track of all the after shocks and tsunami information here. It's updated life every five minutes.

Braigwen wrote:

You can keep track of all the after shocks and tsunami information here. It's updated life every five minutes.

FFUUUUUUUUU-- They're getting aftershocks in the 5.0s! Please stay safe, people of Japan!

Hadiya Tannous wrote:

Braigwen wrote:

You can keep track of all the after shocks and tsunami information here. It's updated life every five minutes.

FFUUUUUUUUU-- They're getting aftershocks in the 5.0s! Please stay safe, people of Japan!

Most of the aftershocks have been between 5.5 and 6.5. So, yea.

And Onagawa nuclear power plant had to be shut down because of a fire in one of the turbines. Another has a water leak and Fukushima nuclear plant has had to have coolant flown in by the USAF until they can get the coolant systems online.

Nearly a fifth of the island nation's power has been cut off because of damage to the power plants. No one knows when that damage will be repaired.

5.0 as an aftershock? That's bad enough to be an earthquake in its own right!

I vote that with the trouble in the middle east and Africa, the shit happening down under, the depression, and now this, this is the year we can look forward to the apocolypse.

Everybody who likes those post-apocalyptic movies, get ready to live your dreams!

Update: Fukushima power plant will have to release radioactive steam to ease the pressure in the reactor. Apparently, without the pumps working in the coolant towers, they can't pump in coolant fast enough to keep the reactor cool.

Here's hoping they can keep the worst from happening.

Update:
Situation Update No. 20
On 11.03.2011 at 18:10 GMT+2

A devastating tsunami triggered by the biggest earthquake on record in Japan killed at least 1,000 people along the northeastern coast on Friday after a wall of water swept away everything in its path. Thousands of residents were evacuated from an area around a nuclear plant north of Tokyo after fears of a radiation leak, but officials said problems with the reactor's cooling system were not at a critical level. Underscoring grave concerns about the plant, the U.S. air force delivered coolant to the facility, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said. The unfolding disaster in the wake of the 8.9 magnitude earthquake and 10-meter (33-feet) high tsunami prompted offers of help from dozens of countries. China said rescuers were ready to help with quake relief while President Barack Obama told Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan the United State would assist in any way. Stunning TV footage showed a muddy torrent of water carrying cars and wrecked homes at high speed across farmland near the coastal city of Sendai, home to one million people and which lies 300 km (180 miles) northeast of Tokyo. Ships had been flung onto a harbor wharf, where they lay helplessly on their side. Japanese politicians pushed for an emergency budget to fund relief efforts after Kan asked them to "save the country" . Japan is already the most heavily indebted major economy in the world, meaning any funding efforts would be closely scrutinized by financial markets.

Domestic media said the death toll was expected to exceed 1,000, most of whom appeared to have drowned. The extent of the destruction along a lengthy stretch of coastline suggested the death toll could rise significantly. Tsunami warnings were issued across the Pacific but were later lifted for some of the most populated countries in the region, including Australia, Taiwan and New Zealand. Even in a nation accustomed to earthquakes, the devastation was shocking. "A big area of Sendai city near the coast, is flooded. We are hearing that people who were evacuated are stranded," said Rie Sugimoto, a reporter for NHK television in Sendai. "About 140 people, including children, were rushed to an elementary school and are on the rooftop but they are surrounded by water and have nowhere else to go." The quake, the most powerful since Japan started keeping records 140 years ago, sparked at least 80 fires in cities and towns along the coast, Kyodo said. Other Japanese nuclear power plants and oil refineries were shut down and one refinery was ablaze. Television footage showed an intense fire in the waterfront area near Sendai. There were also reports that an irrigation dam had broken and swept away houses in Fukushima prefecture.

Braigwen wrote:

Update: Fukushima power plant will have to release radioactive steam to ease the pressure in the reactor. Apparently, without the pumps working in the coolant towers, they can't pump in coolant fast enough to keep the reactor cool.

Here's hoping they can keep the worst from happening.

Amen. The quake was bad enough; the last thing Japan needs is for a Chernobyl-esque meltdown to add insult to injury.

I keep watching these videos and I'm this fucking close to tears. In one video that I can't find now (on BBC, I think), there was a car driving down the road while the water was closing in on one side. It was only for a few seconds and didn't show what happened. That image will haunt my dreams.


e: found it; go here and click on Sendai. There are actually more cars, and he's cutting one off. Can you imagine trying to out-drive a tsunami

I can't even bring myself to watch the footage, just reading about the destruction is heartbreaking. I hope everyone who has friends and family in the area have heard from them and that the news have been good ones.

I've been online all night trying to get in contact with all of my Japanese friends. I haven't heard back from everyone except Yukiko... but she should be okay because her family lives inland, but last time I talked with her she was planning on moving into an apartment closer to her job... agh!

It's been heart-wrenching, a lot of my exchange-student friends have been posting hour-by-hour reports as they wait to hear from their families.

A lot of sleepless people over here.

grmblfjx wrote:

I keep watching these videos and I'm this fucking close to tears. In one video that I can't find now (on BBC, I think), there was a car driving down the road while the water was closing in on one side. It was only for a few seconds and didn't show what happened. That image will haunt my dreams.

I see what you mean. It's like Falling Man all over again.

The design of the Fukushima reactors is different from Chernobyl and an explosion of the core is unlikely. It is possible that the plant operators are doing their damnedest to avoid an emergency shutdown that would mean a very long outage, but the safety systems are in place to stop the chain reaction should the need arise.

I have cousins in Japan. We've heard nothing from them.

Lady Anne wrote:

I have cousins in Japan. We've heard nothing from them.

I wish you and your family are able to contact your cousins and that they are still alive and unharmed.

XLT-100852.0 wrote:

Lady Anne wrote:

I have cousins in Japan. We've heard nothing from them.

I wish you and your family are able to contact your cousins and that they are still alive and unharmed.

I hope everything's okay. Everyone has been posting on one cousin's Facebook, asking if he's okay, but he isn't responding. Then again, there are a lot of power outages, so I'm hoping they just don't have electricity.

Morgan and I were watching the live coverage last night of when the first Tsunami hit, and they were talking about how most of the people who lived in the area were farmers, some of whom didn't have electricity or TVs, and likely had no idea what was about to happen. I honestly started crying and had to quit watching. The knowledge that these people were going about their jobs, or possibly sitting down to a meal with their family, unaware that this 30 foot high wall of water is about to come crashing down on them, was too much to bear.

They were showing footage this morning of people stranded on rooftops, surrounded by water. One of them was using plastic bags to spell out HELP US in English. Others had lit signal fires or were waving clothes to attract attention. Even at peak capacity and with help from other countries, how long will it take to marshal enough helicopters and boats to rescue them? And where will they take them once they do?

Would anyone like some nuclear meltdown with their earthquake?

grmblfjx wrote:

Would anyone like some nuclear meltdown with their earthquake?

Believe it or not, the explosion in the plant actually is a good thing. At least, it's far better than a meltdown.

As it is, the explosion was a massive release of steam. Which is kinda what they were doing anyway, to cool down the core. Some fault just let off a lot of steam very quickly! It's still a great way of cooling it down. Generation 2 & 3 reactors (Fukishawa is a Gen 1) are actually designed to explode in order to prevent a meltdown. (Of course, they're also designed to take into account the process that is causing the build up of heat that is underlying this whole problem too, but hindsight is 20-20, right.)

That said, it's still not confirmed if the 'cloud' in the explosion was steam or smoke. If it's the latter then we have lots more to worry about, but all accounts point to it being the former.

You know, when Chernobyl exploded, it was definitely the latter. With plenty of radioactive plant chunks strewn about the Ukrainian landscape. Just sayin'.