# Large earthquake in Northeast Japan **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 11, 2011, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279 "2011-03-11T06:10:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/221 "2011-03-11T23:16:58Z")
> [@user\_hostile](#): > > [link](http://www.gadling.com/2011/03/11/video-swaying-skyscrapers-in-tokyo/?ncid=&a_dgi=aolshare_twitter). > > I should think that should be reassuring actually. Yeah, we’ve felt smaller quakes up here before. It’s fascinating (and, for some, nauseating) how long the swaying goes on. Still, I vastly prefer swaying to the alternative. ---
**Author:** ![Mississippienne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d2c977/32.png) [@Mississippienne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mississippienne)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/222 "2011-03-11T23:27:15Z")
My mother’s friend Keiko hasn’t checked in with her yet – she lives in Tokyo but her mother lives in North Japan and her town was swamped by the tsunami. No word on what’s happened to Keiko or her mom. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/223 "2011-03-11T23:52:17Z")
tv news is reporting that emergency generators are being delivered to the damaged nuclear plant. seems the on site backup systems are failing or inadequate, they didn’t supply details. ---
**Author:** ![kapri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4491bb/32.png) [@kapri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kapri)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/224 "2011-03-11T23:57:08Z")
Okay, I love research and playing detective, and I found this on his FB page from Autolycus’s dad: “John called us at 4:30 am and was with friends at his apartment in Aomori with no power or water, but using candles and gas heater to keep warm. The building is ok. The tremors weren’t too severe where he is in Aomori.” (Also posted in his "Ask the . . . " thread) ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/225 "2011-03-11T23:57:17Z")
> [@Hokkaido\_Brit](#): > > My husband has been given orders to go to help with the rescue. So far we only know that he’s going this morning, to somewhere in Northern Japan. Please keep them in your thoughts. I’m glad he’s going. Help is so very needed. But selfishly I’m worried for him. I hope everything goes well. I’m sure your husband will be fine. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/226 "2011-03-12T00:10:02Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > Ah, the local newspaper has at the top of their website “Tsunami Unsettling for USC Golfers”. Thanks, The State. MTV News had an item about how the tsunami fear temporarily shut down filming of “Twilight: Breaking Dawn” in Vancouver. ---
**Author:** ![Gleena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b3f665/32.png) [@Gleena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gleena)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/227 "2011-03-12T00:15:37Z")
**kapri** thanks for the good news on **Autolycus**. I started watching this about midnight when one of my FB friends currently in Israel but who mostly lives in Japan posted about it. Horrible. Just horrible. Stay safe, Japan Dopers. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/228 "2011-03-12T00:40:09Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > Ah, the local newspaper has at the top of their website “Tsunami Unsettling for USC Golfers”. Years ago there was a National Lampoon newspaper parody where the front page headline was about some minor local crime – “Powder Room Bandit Still at Large”, as I recall – while tiny type at the bottom of the page announced “Japan Destroyed”. And the entire story on Japan was from the perspective of a local couple who were forced to change their vacation plans. ---
**Author:** ![Hokkaido\_Brit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/d26b3c/32.png) [@Hokkaido\_Brit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hokkaido_Brit)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/229 "2011-03-12T00:48:45Z")
> [@TokyoPlayer](#): > > I hope everything goes well. I’m sure your husband will be fine. Thanks, TP. I know he’ll be OK really. There is nothing I can do so I’m putting him out of my mind. Hope that doesn’t sound cold, it’s not meant to be! His group is getting sent to Iwate. They leave this morning but won’t arrive till tomorrow morning. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/230 "2011-03-12T00:51:11Z")
I am very glad to hear that \*\*auto \*\* is safe. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/231 "2011-03-12T00:51:35Z")
Reports now that there are 5 reactors at 2 plants that are in trouble. A state of emergency has been declared. [ > [@](#): > > Japan declared states of emergency for five nuclear reactors at two power plants after the units lost cooling ability in the aftermath of Friday’s powerful earthquake. Thousands of residents were evacuated as workers struggled to get the reactors under control to prevent meltdowns. ]([http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS\_JAPAN\_QUAKE\_POWER\_PLANT?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-03-11-19-06-09](http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_JAPAN_QUAKE_POWER_PLANT?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-03-11-19-06-09)) ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/232 "2011-03-12T00:53:52Z")
OK, it can’t be a “China Syndrome.” Where is Japan’s antipode? ---
**Author:** ![Heyoka13](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Heyoka13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heyoka13)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/233 "2011-03-12T01:02:40Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > Good luck, everyone. > My best friend from university moved to California two weeks before the Loma Prieta quake. He said that the building he worked in twisted back and forth about its vertical concrete elevator core, but, since it was designed to do that, nothing was damaged structurally. Though they had to replace a lot of drywall. Curious, a 40 story building in Omaha Nebraska had similar internal damage from wind loads due to a tornado. The structure was being evacuated, and the folks in the cement block walled stairwells reported spalling and cracking as the building swayed and twisted as the tornado passed over the structure. It is apparent the deflection of the steel frame of a building would be similar from seismic as well as tornadic activity, short of failing the structure. ---
**Author:** ![mutantmoose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a87d85/32.png) [@mutantmoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mutantmoose)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/234 "2011-03-12T01:05:18Z")
Brazil and Paraguay. I’d be thinking about packing my stuff if I was there. This is getting scary. Radiation leaks go up into the atmosphere and get carried around the world by air currents. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/235 "2011-03-12T01:05:31Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > OK, it can’t be a “China Syndrome.” Where is Japan’s antipode? Around South America (Slightly to the east). IIRC ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/236 "2011-03-12T01:30:51Z")
> [@user\_hostile](#): > > Thanks, 80 miles / 500 mph ==\> about ten minutes. Ecch, that’s virtually no time to get out of there, especially if your not sure about what just happened…☹ your estimate seems to be correct. they (cnn) are reporting about 10 minutes warning time between the quake and the first wave hitting the shore. the water hitting the airport at 3:55 ish must have been a later wave. they do say that disaster preparedness is close to a religion there, so as soon as the quake hit the alarms were sounded and people zipped into the routes that they practiced. i am impressed by the video of hard hats being passed out in an office, some people have masks and hats on as they are leaving buildings. ---
**Author:** ![Yeticus\_Rex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a698b9/32.png) [@Yeticus\_Rex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeticus_Rex)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/237 "2011-03-12T01:41:08Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > Your link states, “Indeed, the deep ocean is one of the safest places you can hang out when tsunamis are around, as long as you are well away from the site of the earthquake.” > > What would it have been like directly above the earthquake site? Did the ocean floor abruptly rise or drop, or was it jerked sideways, or both, or what? I can imagine that it would be akin to a pebble falling into a puddle of water, but on such an immense scale. There would be a lot of up/down (amplitude) motion if you are on top of the epicenter. The farther away you are from the epicenter, the more rolling motion you would get. Very similar if the earthquake was on land, except the viscosity of water versus rock/soil. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/238 "2011-03-12T01:51:44Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > Getting pissed off with the so-called “experts” on the BBC. > [@Kyla](#): > > The Coast Guard is looking for a guy who was swept out to sea while taking pictures of the tsunami. Not clear on exactly where this was - maybe Crescent City? > > It’s unkind of me to think negatively of someone in a tragic situation, but seriously? What kind of fucking moron are you? :rolleyes: She was not an expert, but one BBC reporter asked what I thought at the time to be a rather stupid question. After the quake and before the tsunami, she was on the line to some official in Japan, a tsunami alert was issued, and she asked: “So, what do Japanese people do in a tsunami alert?” I mentally slapped my head, but I never would have imagined the answer to have been: “They go out and snap photos.” > [@wolfman](#): > > I had to turn off CNN early this morning when I heard the governor of Hawaii talking about how difficult it is to evacuate all 900 million people people in Hawaii. Damn, the place has grown since we lived there. I blame all those nubile high-school girls wearing next to nothing. I knew it would have consequences. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/239 "2011-03-12T02:03:23Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > OK, it can’t be a “China Syndrome.” Where is Japan’s antipode? Here’s a pretty cool site for figuring out the antipode of anyplace [Andipodr.Com](http://www.antipodr.com/) Here’s is the [antipode for Sendai, Japan](http://www.antipodr.com/?addr=Sendai%2C+japan&x=0&y=0) ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/240 "2011-03-12T02:04:28Z")
Wow look at all the earthquakes in Japan today. From the [US Geological Service](http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/quakes_all.php) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279.md?page=11) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279.md?page=13)