My thoughts and prayers go out to the people of Japan. This is devistating. I watched a couple videos and had to turn them off, too much like a horrible movie. I cannot imagine what it would be like to be there.
Aftershocks suck. But they go on awhile; within a couple of weeks after Northridge, we were playing “guess the magnitude.” Got damn good at it, too. Hang in there.
Hope Autolycus is alright - he is in Aomori City. I found this warning on a news site: “Waves of up to three metres (10 feet) could hit the northern areas of Aomori, Iwate and Miyagi, the Japan Meteorological Agency warned, even as fears of destructive waves eased across the rest of the Pacific.” http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/1040484/1/.html
I visited the area in 1989 including the city of Hachinohe, and here is footage: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4ZenfkfKPM&
That’s what the Red Cross was saying this morning, but fortunately those fears seem to have been unfounded. (The wave front would have passed Tuvalu a while ago; waves on Pacific islands have generally only been of the order of tens of centimetres.)
Having said that, this photo of the tsunami striking Japan is terrifying: Aftermath of the Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan - Photographs - NYTimes.com
I’ll breathe a little easier after that, Hal. Looks like he doesn’t have any stable line of communication. Probably won’t for a while. Just hope he and everyone else stays safe.
Watching the local news out of San Francisco. Sounds like the waves are a little higher than usual, but nothing remarkable. But they’re saying that they’re getting big waves in Crescent City, much farther north. Eleven people were killed in a tsunami there after the 1964 Alaska quake.
Pity it took this to get Sheen and Lohan off the front page
Old friend of mine who works in Tokyo near the Bay said it took him 10 hours to get back to his apartment.
Anyone else having trouble - emotionally - watching the video footage? I keep wanting to know more, but the more I read/watch the more sick I feel.
This is just awful. My heart goes out to the people of Japan. Part of me feels good because it’s such a modern country (unlike say Haiti) and they have better resources to deal with it than most. And they were prepared in the light of the Kobe quake. But still, the biggest army can’t stop Mother Nature. And Mother Nature pretty much threw all she had at them, this time.
Dunno about Seattle, but San Francisco sticks out farther west than LA, and the tsunami would hit the former before the latter coming from Japan. Heck, look at a map with proper longitude lines and you’ll see even Reno, Nevada is farther west than LA.
Looks like at least one of the nuclear plants is still a concern…
12:06 p.m. ET, 2:06 a.m. Tokyo] Radiation level rising in Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant turbine building, Kyodo News Agency reports.
I was at the bus stop this morning, and the young lady next to me said, “I heard about that Japan toosammy thingy. This means it’s gonna rain alot, right?”
I’m updating his facebook page every ten minutes. Nothing yet, but one of his friends said he’s OK.
Don’t know if this was posted yet, but here are some amazing photo’s from Miyaga Prefecture and surrounding area.
Iwas in Aomori During the 1978 Miyaga quake. It was only a 7.7, and I don’t remember anywhere near the damage happening.
The wave has hit California; lots of damage in Crescent City Harbor (“all our docks are gone, the parking lot is flooded”) and there are boats loose from their moorings in Santa Cruz Harbor.
Me. I tried to watch a little of it and had to stop. Just made me ill. It really is like something out of a natural disaster movie, but with no promise of a happy ending. 
Is it the time of year for **Cerowyn **to be in Japan? I know he’s a back and forth traveler.
There wasn’t any aerial footage, but there definitely was footage.
Agreed.
I understand how you feel. It’s not pretty: it’s total and utter devastation. That’s hard to watch. My heart breaks for them.
That is indeed scary.
Gotta give her some credit: at least one brain cell is trying to work…
Prayers now, will do more when we can.
The death count wont be determined for a long time. But the nuke plant is on fire. The pres says the US has sent experts to help contain the damage. The Japanese can not get around .
It was like slow motion hell. The water picked up all kinds of debris as large of houses and just pushed it across the land. It was powerful enough to push anything in its way along with it.