I spoke to all of my buyers and my exporter and they said the devastation is worse than anything we could see on TV. All of our stock comes from the auto auctions on Kyushu Island so they were unaffected by the disaster but they said 1/3 of Japan has been destroyed. The big fear now is the nuclear plants as if one or more of those go they could loose an unimaginable amount life, I'll keep everyone posted if I hear anything new.
Yeah, it is:frustration: So far it's had no affect on us as it's quite a distance away but still, can you have a worse week than they have had?? What are the odds of an earth quake, tsunami, and a volcanic eruption within 1000mi of each other in 3 days!!!
Actually an earthquake makes the Tsunami, so those are very closely related and odds of one following the other are all but guaranteed on an island... and I believe that volcano is on a fault line so it would also follow that if you're having seismic events you'd get an eruption too. I have friends who have family there, it's a seriously sad state of affairs
We are having constant tremors, but nothing like the initial quake. Military here is mobilized and helping out, but from what I hear, Japan has not issued an actual request for assistance (although this may or may not be the case). I fear the initial damage may only be a precursor to something worse, or a nuclear meltdown may occur. The death toll is rising considerably, and possible diseases may be an issue later on.. only time will tell. My family and I live down south, so no issues here. In-laws are scattered around Tokyo, and have been without power for some time, but still ok.
Glad to hear you and yours are ok, I was wondering about the members in Japan and thought about shooting some PM's out, but with everything that has happened, didnt think checking your email from the forum would be a priority. Prayers and well wishes to the entire country.
I am pretty far south on a tiny island Just watching the carnage like everyone else. Good thing I live on a mountainside, and (hopefully) out of the way of such disasters. If not, I have the trusty 4X4, a concrete bunker, and a generator to rely on.
Uh Stuff99, that map is a hoax. Don't spread rumors. Remember, the USA blew up dozens of nukes on islands half the distance from Japan. There is no chance of radiation reaching the USA. Keep it in perspective: A tsunami just scraped Japan's northern coastline clear, people are picking up corpses in the rubble of destroyed towns, sheltering in sub zero temperatures, with rolling blackouts. That's bad. The nuclear accident is scary, and bad as in 'if you live nearby, and get smoke soot on your clothes, and don't wash it off, you'll have an increased risk of cancer by 0.1-5% over the rest of your life' bad. Not '10m high rushing wall of flaming debris' bad.
phew. good to find out its not real! was kinda bordering home kinda wanted to have a reason to buy a Geiger counter though lol
The situation is much much worse than what is on TV especially the nuclear issues which they are covering up to avoid mass panic. Tokyo has turned into a ghost town with many fleeing and the balance staying indoors. The jetstream will definitly carry the radiation our way. Building 3 on Saturday blowing spent fuel rods 3,000ft in the air and now 2 of the containment vessels leaking is not a good thing.
Here's a little scientific explanation of what's REALLY going on with the Fukushima plant... http://bravenewclimate.com/2011/03/13/fukushima-simple-explanation/
Yeah, it's nice to have some boring MIT Science nerds take the sensationalism out of it and just give ya the facts...
Since it is on the news, no problem putting it on here.. Our base is playing host to many of the evacuees. http://www.kansascity.com/2011/03/17/2732213/us-begins-evacuation-of-americans.html
A Buddy just told me about this: From what I have heard of the survey teams, the area 80km around the plant is still low radiation. The east side of Tokyo is beginning to "warm up" a little from radiation though, and the plant itself is basically baking. Fuel rod cool down isn't working well, and they are considering a meltdown scenario. At least this is what I have heard from the grapevine.. from military people in the meetings. They are attempting to cool the rods from a distance using helos and whatnot, but that may or may not aggravate the situation by contaminating the ground, or water itself. They are evacuating non essential American military from parts of the mainland, and keeping them at other bases in the Pacific theater until this gets better, or gets worse. Shaping up to be a worse case scenario, unless someone can figure out a way to safely clean up those fuel rods.
From what I can gather from our opinionated news is that the reactor itself is fine but the cells holding the spent rods is what is in danger. Is that correct?
Also.. everywhere I read, there are people who have never been in Japan stating there is no looting after all this trouble started... A JAPANESE news report of looting in Japan.. http://www.jiji.com/jc/zc?k=201103/2011031300406 I'm pretty positive that most on here do not read Japanese.. but this is an older post from the 13th of this month stating there were 21 thefts mainly of food, cash, and tobacco from convenience marts. It also states that these thefts are the ones that are reported, and that these are just the tip on the iceberg. Not trying to belittle the issues, or play finger pointing games.. just stating the facts. Granted, if this happened in the US, I would be one of the first to raid a supermarket
Ahhh, that was posted 5 days ago... which was about 3 explosions and 4 fires ago. The situation has elevated considerably since that article was posted and is much worse since then. Did you see the explosion at buliding 3 that blew spent fuel rods 3,000ft into the air? The radiation is so high at the 2 prefectures in Japan near the plant stopped posting levels so it doesn't scare the public. Remember, there is only a 20km evacuation zone so many people will be affected.
They aren't moving and housing thousands of military/dependents/pets/tourists for nothing. This was a multi million dollar move. Thank you taxpayers
Here is the latest news... Japanese governement says the threat is worse than they originally stated.... nuclear plant chief WEPT as Japanese finally admit that radiation leak is serious enough to kill people Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...radiation-leak-kill-people.html#ixzz1GySUkzqEhttp://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...finally-admit-radiation-leak-kill-people.html Winds this weekend to shift towards millions of people in Tokyo.... http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-...y-grave-as-forecasts-show-shifting-winds.html Fallout is reaching the west-coast USA... big plume to arrive friday night... http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/storie...ME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-03-18-09-14-32 Track north american radiation here: http://www.radiationnetwork.com/ *
Here are some good before and after pictures. Takes a while to load but a good way to see the destruction. http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/...photos-japan-before-and-after-tsunami.html?bl You can scroll back and forth across the pictures once they load.
Tokyo water sample shows radioactive iodine: government http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/19/us-japan-water-idUSTRE72I29J20110319 If the government says it then you know it's true after everything they have been trying to cover-up in the last week.
When I spoke to our exporter earlier in the week he told me the government has lost all credibility with the people and everyone knows they are hiding things and not telling the truth about how dangerous it is