# 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:** 15
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/281 "2011-03-12T13:56:14Z")
> [@Sakuma\_Drops](#): > > Yeah, he was technically disobeying orders, since he was told to take cover and didn’t. IIRC his film was actually confiscated (although it was used in a ton of tornado docs in the '90s). Not to mention that he wasn’t exactly supposed to be up on the roof to begin with, either! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/282 "2011-03-12T13:58:16Z")
> [@cards](#): > > What are the best relief agencies to donate to? I realize the Red Cross of course, but what are some alternatives? I’d like to know a good answer for this as well. I’m rather broke until payday, but I’m probably going to donate to the Red Cross, but I am open to suggestions. I do know that money is far more useful as a donation than goods are, since you don’t have to sort through money to find the stuff people need (also, a lot of those “stuff donation drives” tend to work more as a way for people to clean out their garages of junk they don’t want) ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/283 "2011-03-12T14:25:04Z")
> [@cards](#): > > What are the best relief agencies to donate to? I realize the Red Cross of course, but what are some alternatives? Besides the big relief agencies, I donate to one I’ve been somewhat involved with that’s based in the US here - it focuses on people with disabilities after disasters. We’ve been told that, culturally, "people with disabilities are marginalized in Japan. " Can anyone comment on that? Some of the key people are ex-military and have amazing contacts through the world. They’ve done a lot of work to provide housing and medical equipment to people in Haiti, and have already contacted related organizations in Japan to work through. Since it’s a call-to-action, I’ll wait for mod-approval before posting a link. -D/a ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/284 "2011-03-12T14:26:05Z")
> [@TokyoPlayer](#): > > The evacuation order is up to 20 km from Reactor 1. Shit. > > The talking heads on TV are all saying that this accident wasn’t “expected” or anticipated. Good god. Everyone was looking at the Big One coming in Tokyo. > > They need to get a better disaster prevention committee together, because there are 120 million Japanese who can tell you we are sitting on major faults and there could be a major earthquake anywhere. > > Confirmed over 1,000 dead and climbing. One of my friends in Tokyo said 4 people were injured in the explosion. This is becoming surreal! ---
**Author:** ![EKDS5k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c5a1d2/32.png) [@EKDS5k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EKDS5k)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/285 "2011-03-12T14:49:23Z")
> [@TokyoPlayer](#): > > The evacuation order is up to 20 km from Reactor 1. Shit. > > The talking heads on TV are all saying that this accident wasn’t “expected” or anticipated. Good god. Everyone was looking at the Big One coming in Tokyo. > > They need to get a better disaster prevention committee together, because there are 120 million Japanese who can tell you we are sitting on major faults and there could be a major earthquake anywhere. > > Confirmed over 1,000 dead and climbing. Is there evidence to show that disaster prevention/relief has been poorly executed? Or that the nuclear power plant was not built to proper safety standards? Keep in mind that this is the 5th worst earthquake since we started keeping track of earthquakes. The talking heads on Japanese television are not exactly what I would call a reliable news source. I am honestly curious, because I really would have thought Japan would be on the ball when it comes to earthquakes. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/286 "2011-03-12T15:16:42Z")
I was on YouTube and noticed bunches of videos by conspiracy people, HALO\* clouds over Japan, UFOs and who knows what else. People always look for meanings and causes of events, even random ones. ==eta== I mean HARP clouds of course. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/287 "2011-03-12T15:19:00Z")
> [@Sakuma\_Drops](#): > > Anyway, if it’s possible, the guy who filmed [this video](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2cFXBWqjKE) might be a bit more stu-…uhh, I mean, _cavalier_. First he gets struck by lightning inside his house (probably from a root of a tree that was struck), but he _keeps filming_ until the tornado is basically across the street and doesn’t stop until he gets hit by debris from his own house. :eek: Not saying the guy wasn’t taking an insane risk, but once you start filming you can get kind of hypnotized. Back in 1966, before video cameras and such were everywhere, there was a major tornado, F5, that went through my home town of Topeka, Kansas. Most of the existing film of it was taken by one man, who had had a camera ready to film his son’s Little League game. He has said that he stayed outside filming, almost unable to turn away(this was one huge storm!). Then _“My wife leaned out of the house and hollered at me to come inside, and she used words I didn’t even know she knew!”_ ---
**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, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/288 "2011-03-12T15:24:09Z")
anderson cooper had an interview last night with a woman who’s husband was at one of the nuclear plants. from what she said the plant told the workers to get out during the quake. her husband told her that they were grabing what they could and ran. he didn’t have shoes on and was slowed down by glass. he saw the tsunami coming in. they were running from the tsunami while the ground was shaking. she had one call from him telling her that he was okay and in a safe area. she hasn’t heard from him since, just from the company that he works for saying they are safe. it is winter there and it sounds like this man and his coworkers just ran with out coats and shoes. it sounded like he and his coworkers were off shift workers at rest when the earthquake hit. from her interview it sounded like coastal areas know to run very quickly when a strong quake hits, as the plant was telling them to get moving while the shaking was going on. in some places the tsunami is going to hit faster than others. the plants are on the leading edge of the shore. magiver, i believe you are reading that correctly. that is the plant the woman’s husband was at. the tsunami came in very quickly there. ---
**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, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/289 "2011-03-12T15:31:25Z")
> [@Sakuma\_Drops](#): > > Yeah, he was technically disobeying orders, since he was told to take cover and didn’t. IIRC his film was actually confiscated (although it was used in a ton of tornado docs in the '90s). > > Anyway, if it’s possible, the guy who filmed [this video](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2cFXBWqjKE) might be a bit more stu-…uhh, I mean, _cavalier_. First he gets struck by lightning inside his house (probably from a root of a tree that was struck), but he _keeps filming_ until the tornado is basically across the street and doesn’t stop until he gets hit by debris from his own house. :eek: > > Anyway, regarding the earthquake, here is an[interesting map](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:2011_tsunami_wave_height.jpg) that I found that shows the approximate wave heights propagated by the tsunami across the Pacific. It’s eerie to think that some of the little speckled areas on the map are actually islands. that map shows a red streak pointing toward the area cresent city is in. kinda makes you wonder if tsunamis know where the “tsunami friendly” harbours are. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/290 "2011-03-12T15:45:14Z")
To those who think there wasn’t enough warning time, at least in Japan on the coast, if you feel an earthquake, then run for high ground. Part of the problem with the 2004 Indonesian earthquake was that in places far away like Thailand it wasn’t felt. A lot of beaches had zero warning until the water started to flow out. Even that was enough warning to clear some of the beaches such as in Phuket. In other words, water gets sucked out before the tsunami rolls in and it can look like an ultra low tide. Some of the people on the beach raised the alarm and a lot of people were able to reach higher ground before the tsunami came in. Now there are clearly marked tsunami evacuation paths (run like hell this way to get away from the water). ---
**Author:** ![JpnDude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/838e76/32.png) [@JpnDude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JpnDude)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/291 "2011-03-12T16:15:24Z")
Another (mostly lurking) Doper in Japan checking in. I was at **Tokyo DisneySea** yesterday afternoon when the first quake hit. If anything, it was one of the safest places to be. No injuries or minimal damage so far. Apparently lots of soil liquefaction in the surrounding neighborhoods. That whole area is reclaimed land. Many of the 70,000 guests (including me) stayed overnight and were well taken care of by the Cast Members (staff) with some safety goods and food. The train lines from the theme parks into central Tokyo were closed until this afternoon. The local news announced that the **Tokyo Disneyland** and DisneySea will be closed until March 21st for inspection and/or repairs. I got back to my home north of Tokyo (around 180 miles from the epicenter) around 6pm local time, 28 hours after first strike. I had made contact with my wife late last night and was finally reunited with her this evening. Our home had lots of things scattered on the floor such as dishes, books, and other things on cabinets. No furniture fell, but there was lots of displacement. Water and power always available. ---
**Author:** ![Sakuma\_Drops](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Sakuma\_Drops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sakuma_Drops)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/292 "2011-03-12T16:28:17Z")
> [@EKDS5k](#): > > Is there evidence to show that disaster prevention/relief has been poorly executed? Or that the nuclear power plant was not built to proper safety standards? Keep in mind that this is the 5th worst earthquake since we started keeping track of earthquakes. The talking heads on Japanese television are not exactly what I would call a reliable news source. > > I am honestly curious, because I really would have thought Japan would be on the ball when it comes to earthquakes. I don’t think anyone (including seismologists) was anticipating a megathrust quake of this magnitude in the vicinity of Japan. It’s an earthquake-prone region, of course, but quakes of 9.0 magnitude were unheard of in this entire region until yesterday. So I’m willing to give the engineers/emergency officials the benefit of the doubt here, and I would not be surprised if their particular barometer for “worst-case scenario” was the Kanto Plain earthquake of 1923 which was 8.3. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/293 "2011-03-12T16:54:54Z")
> [@JpnDude](#): > > Another (mostly lurking) Doper in Japan checking in. > > I was at **Tokyo DisneySea** yesterday afternoon when the first quake hit. If anything, it was one of the safest places to be. No injuries or minimal damage so far. Apparently lots of soil liquefaction in the surrounding neighborhoods. That whole area is reclaimed land. Many of the 70,000 guests (including me) stayed overnight and were well taken care of by the Cast Members (staff) with some safety goods and food. The train lines from the theme parks into central Tokyo were closed until this afternoon. The local news announced that the **Tokyo Disneyland** and DisneySea will be closed until March 21st for inspection and/or repairs. > > I got back to my home north of Tokyo (around 180 miles from the epicenter) around 6pm local time, 28 hours after first strike. I had made contact with my wife late last night and was finally reunited with her this evening. Our home had lots of things scattered on the floor such as dishes, books, and other things on cabinets. No furniture fell, but there was lots of displacement. Water and power always available. thanks for checking in and glad y’all are ok ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/294 "2011-03-12T16:57:52Z")
> [@China\_Guy](#): > > … > In other words, water gets sucked out before the tsunami rolls in and it can look like an ultra low tide. Some of the people on the beach raised the alarm and a lot of people were able to reach higher ground before the tsunami came in. Now there are clearly marked tsunami evacuation paths (run like hell this way to get away from the water). That’s not necessarily true, from what I know a tsunami can come in without the shoreline receding first. I think it depends on the nature of the sea bed displacement, dropping, thrusting up, slides, etc, etc… ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/295 "2011-03-12T17:04:22Z")
Japan apparently [moved eight feet](http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/03/12/japan.earthquake.tsunami.earth/index.html?hpt=T1). ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/296 "2011-03-12T17:22:35Z")
> [@Raguleader](#): > > I’d like to know a good answer for this as well. I’m rather broke until payday, but I’m probably going to donate to the Red Cross, but I am open to suggestions. I do know that money is far more useful as a donation than goods are, since you don’t have to sort through money to find the stuff people need (also, a lot of those “stuff donation drives” tend to work more as a way for people to clean out their garages of junk they don’t want) Brookstone announced today that they’ll be matching donations. [Brookstone Collects, Matches Donations To Save The Children® In Wake Of Japan Earthquake](http://www.thestreet.com/story/11041501/1/brookstone-collects-matches-donations-to-save-the-children-in-wake-of-japan-earthquake.html) ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/297 "2011-03-12T17:25:35Z")
> [@fachverwirrt](#): > > Japan apparently [moved eight feet](http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/03/12/japan.earthquake.tsunami.earth/index.html?hpt=T1). Yeah, and _Earth moved 4 inches off its axis._ Holy shitting fuck. ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/298 "2011-03-12T17:30:16Z")
> [@Beware\_of\_Doug](#): > > Yeah, and _Earth moved 4 inches off its axis._ Holy shitting fuck. :eek: Well, you can bet we’re going to be reassessing our emergency preparedness kits and procedures today! ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/299 "2011-03-12T17:38:00Z")
> [@cckerberos](#): > > Well, _you_ guys were. We tend to focus on the Big One coming in Osaka 😃 > > A couple of years ago I participated in a joint seminar between Osaka University and the National Defense Academy of Japan which centered on the JSDF’s disaster relief capabilities and the Osaka prefectural government’s disaster response plans. I gave a presentation discussing the need for special capabilities in response to nuclear power plant containment failures following an earthquake, so reading the news now is bringing all that back. > > Sadly the conclusion of most in the seminar was that while there were various comprehensive response plans on paper, actual implementation still had a ways to go. My professor mentioned being told by a Tokyo official that the official casualty estimates for the next major Tokai earthquake were at least an order of magnitude too small but that everyone was in denial. I’m hoping that this doesn’t put the building of new nuclear plants worldwide behind schedule, but it probably will. ETA: I see there’s a nuclear thread going on - moving question to over there (if it’s not there already). ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/300 "2011-03-12T17:38:26Z")
> [@Beware\_of\_Doug](#): > > Yeah, and _Earth moved 4 inches off its axis._ Holy shitting fuck. What are the implications of that? Does it change the length of the day or the calculation of the solstice or is it just a random shift that happens from time to time? I can see that it’s a Big Deal but I don’t understand why. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279.md?page=14) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279.md?page=16)