# 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:** 39
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/763 "2011-03-29T03:31:34Z")
We’ve at least had a spot of good news. My wife’s 85 year old great aunt lives in Sendai and had been missing since the quake. We just found out this morning that somehow she made it out of her house and turned up in a nearby senior center with adequate power and food. One fewer missing person on the list. ---
**Author:** ![KinkiNipponTourist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e9bcb4/32.png) [@KinkiNipponTourist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KinkiNipponTourist)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/764 "2011-03-29T03:35:16Z")
Maeglin, that’s wonderful news! It must have been hellish to have been waiting all this time. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/765 "2011-03-29T08:45:17Z")
Maeglin, very happy for you and your family! ---
**Author:** ![gardentraveler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gardentraveler/32/3576_2.png) [@gardentraveler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gardentraveler)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/766 "2011-03-30T01:00:32Z")
That’s excellent news, **Maeglin**. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/767 "2011-03-30T17:47:42Z")
Radiation dosage chart [Radiation Dosage Chart — Information is Beautiful](http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/radiation-dosage-chart/) ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/768 "2011-03-30T18:08:23Z")
Something I despise about simplistic charts like that, is they don’t include distance, or the difference between inhaling some radioactive dust, or absorbing it from food and having it in your bones or glands. Like the 50,000 Sv figure for ‘next to Chernobyl for ten minutes’. At 50 meters from the open pile you would only get 187mSv, a Kilometer away you won’t get any measurable dose. And while walking around a village 25 miles from the leaking plant might be only a 3.6 mSv does, every hour, if you inhale some dust the effect on your lung tissue is a completely different matter. These charts all seem to be designed for one purpose, and that is to deceive people about risk and damage that is possible. It’s why NONE of them include any data about eating, drinking or breathing any type of radioactive material from a leaking reactor. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/769 "2011-03-30T21:24:24Z")
> [@FXMastermind](#): > > Something I despise about simplistic charts like that, is they don’t include distance, or the difference between inhaling some radioactive dust, or absorbing it from food and having it in your bones or glands. > > Like the 50,000 Sv figure for ‘next to Chernobyl for ten minutes’. > > At 50 meters from the open pile you would only get 187mSv, a Kilometer away you won’t get any measurable dose. > > And while walking around a village 25 miles from the leaking plant might be only a 3.6 mSv does, every hour, if you inhale some dust the effect on your lung tissue is a completely different matter. > > These charts all seem to be designed for one purpose, and that is to deceive people about risk and damage that is possible. > > It’s why NONE of them include any data about eating, drinking or breathing any type of radioactive material from a leaking reactor. Give the first chart some credit: It came from a webcomic and included a disclaimer that you shouldn’t make life-or-death decisions based on what a graphic you found on the internet said. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/770 "2011-03-30T21:27:54Z")
Due to my bias (I love xkcd) I actually have gone easy on that chart. ---
**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 30, 2011, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/771 "2011-03-30T21:39:19Z")
> [@FXMastermind](#): > > Something I despise about simplistic charts like that, is they don’t include distance, or the difference between inhaling some radioactive dust, or absorbing it from food and having it in your bones or glands. > > Like the 50,000 Sv figure for ‘next to Chernobyl for ten minutes’. > > At 50 meters from the open pile you would only get 187mSv, a Kilometer away you won’t get any measurable dose. > > And while walking around a village 25 miles from the leaking plant might be only a 3.6 mSv does, every hour, if you inhale some dust the effect on your lung tissue is a completely different matter. > > These charts all seem to be designed for one purpose, and that is to deceive people about risk and damage that is possible. > > It’s why NONE of them include any data about eating, drinking or breathing any type of radioactive material from a leaking reactor. Well, the chart DOES do a better job than the crap the US media shoveled out when “the cloud of radiation” was making its way to California. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/772 "2011-03-30T21:49:20Z")
> [@Yeticus\_Rex](#): > > Well, the chart DOES do a better job than the crap the US media shoveled out when “the cloud of radiation” was making its way to California. Have you seen the video with the weatherman getting into an argument with Nancy Grace about that?:rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/773 "2011-03-30T21:52:28Z")
> [@FXMastermind](#): > > At 50 meters from the open pile you would only get 187mSv, a Kilometer away you won’t get any measurable dose. > > . Is that more or less than a banana? ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/774 "2011-03-30T21:59:02Z")
Unless your banana has been near the leaking reactors, it’s probably not radio-activated. ---
**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 30, 2011, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/775 "2011-03-30T22:09:19Z")
My kid eats enough bananas in a year to match the plane flight from L.A. to New York. ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/776 "2011-03-30T22:14:39Z")
> [@](#): > > TOKYO, March 28 (Xinhua) – The highly radioactive water detected at the No. 2 reactor of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is due to a partial meltdown of fuel rods there, Japan 's top government spokesman Yukio Edano said Monday morning. [http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-03/28/c\_13801490.htm](http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-03/28/c_13801490.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Norse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a9adbd/32.png) [@Norse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Norse)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2011, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/777 "2011-03-31T08:41:17Z")
> [@FXMastermind](#): > > NONE of them include any data about eating, drinking or breathing any type of radioactive material from a leaking reactor. No, they don’t. But unlike you, I don’t attribute that to any form of conspiracy theory. “Eating, drinking or breathing any type of radioactive material from a leaking reactor” isn’t as clearcut to analyse as direct radiation exposure. The type of material (iodine, cesium, plutonium or others) affects the radioactive **and** the biological half-life of the radionuclides. It also affects which parts of the body are exposed, for example will iodine be concentrated in the thyroid gland. The elemental composition of the environment also affects the biological half-life of the radionuclides, and e.g. radioactive iodine can be “washed out” by taking large enough doses of non-radioactive iodine. The central parts of Sweden and Norway were quite heavily affected by the Chernobyl disaster, I’ve given a [PDF cite](http://www.stralsakerhetsmyndigheten.se/Global/Publikationer/Rapport/Stralskydd/2005/ssi-rapp-2005-17.pdf) earlier (in Swedish, but figures and graphs - from p.7 and outwards - are with legends in English as well). Sheep and reindeer farmers (especially traditional Sami people who base a lot of their food on reindeer meat) were particularly affected, since these animals are farmed free range and feed on lichens and herbs, and they had to take countermeasures to reduce the amount of Cs-137 in their products. But even so there has AFAIK not been reported one single case of cancer in Scandinavia attributable to Cs-137 from Chernobyl. [Cite](http://www.tidsskriftet.no/?seks_id=1596718) (in Norwegian, but with references in English) ---
**Author:** ![Sleel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/73ab20/32.png) [@Sleel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleel)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2011, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/778 "2011-03-31T12:54:12Z")
> [@FXMastermind](#): > > [http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-03/28/c\_13801490.htm](http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-03/28/c_13801490.htm) Are you seriously quoting a _Chinese_ news source as a source of trustworthy information? ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2011, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/779 "2011-03-31T12:59:04Z")
Hmm … clearly my hatred of the media hasn’t come across as I had hoped … ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2011, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/780 "2011-03-31T13:01:09Z")
> [@FXMastermind](#): > > Unless your banana has been near the leaking reactors, it’s probably not radio-activated. Bananas are radioactive; see [Banana Equivalent Dose.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana_equivalent_dose) ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2011, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/781 "2011-03-31T13:01:57Z")
Oh no, not again. ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2011, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/782 "2011-04-03T19:09:16Z")
Please, educate yourself before you ever type anything again. > **[Bananas are radioactive—But they aren't a good way to explain radiation...](https://boingboing.net/2010/08/27/bananas-are-radioact.html)** > > Just look at that radioactive banana. There’s nothing special about it or where it was grown. All bananas are radioactive, because all bananas contain the radioactive isotope Potassium-40. In… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279.md?page=38) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279.md?page=40)