Japan Tsunami

[punkrocket]

Many on here were over in Japan in 2002 and were greatly impressed with the welcome that they were afforded by the Japanese people. Now they need our help.

http://www.redcross.org.uk/japantsunami/?approachcode=68816_googlePAD13JpTs&gclid=CL2HtKW636cCFQRP4QodLSYx-A

[punkrocket]

There's a fundraiser for the appeal in Letterkenny Sat March 26th
http://www.donegalmalayalees.com/

Also an all day gig at St Columb's Hall in Derry on Sat April 9th with Fighting with Wire and a load of others.

[osarusan]

There are a few Japanese people living in Limerick, and they'll be having an event soon to raise money for aid to Japan. Don't know what it will entail yet.

[Dodge]

There are a few Japanese people living in Limerick, and they'll be having an event soon to raise money for aid to Japan. Don't know what it will entail yet.

Is your wife's family affected at all osarusan?

[osarusan]

No, all from south of Tokyo, so no problems. But some of the Japanese here are from Fukushima (some company from there has an office/plant in Limerick), so quite a few worried people for a few days - I think all relatives were eventually accounted for.

I'll let you all know what life in Tokyo is like in 10 days or so:doctor::skeleton:

[punkrocket]

Here's some details about the benefit gig in St Columb's Hall this Saturday, the 9th
http://en-gb.facebook.com/event.php?eid=161344773922868
There's 2 shows, an all ages matinee for £6 and the evening show for a tenner.

http://profile.ak.fbcdn.net/hprofile-ak-snc4/187786_161344773922868_4304853_n.jpg

[osarusan]

7.1 earthquake last Thursday night. 200 miles away in Fukushima, but I felt it in Tokyo. I've experienced quite a few in the time I've been here, but that was the first one that made me think it might be time to get the hell out of the building to a safe place. Stuff rattling everywhere.

[punkrocket]

OS what is the word on radiation levels in Tokyo? Are the rolling blackouts still ongoing and is Disneyland open yet? (serious question)

[John83]

OS what is the word on radiation levels in Tokyo? Are the rolling blackouts still ongoing and is Disneyland open yet? (serious question)
I, too, am interested in these answers (except for Disneyland), as I have to visit Tokyo for work in May.

[SkStu]

7.1 earthquake last Thursday night. 200 miles away in Fukushima, but I felt it in Tokyo. I've experienced quite a few in the time I've been here, but that was the first one that made me think it might be time to get the hell out of the building to a safe place. Stuff rattling everywhere.

wasnt there another one again in the last 12 hours or so measuring 7.1?

[osarusan]

Minor tremors every few hours. Another one last night (might be the one you're talking about Stu) that made me wonder about getting out of the building.

Radiation levels in the air and water in Tokyo are below limits considered dangerous to health (even for infants). I get daily emails from the Irish embassy telling me of this. This site (http://mextrad.blob.core.windows.net/page/13_Tokyo_en.html) should be useful for checking radiation levels.

In the part of Tokyo where I am (Hachioji - west Tokyo), there have been no blackouts at all, but I'm not sure about other parts. Best thing to do is type the address of the place you're interested in into this application - http://teidenjapan.appspot.com/en.html. But I know that the blackouts were seen as a way of saving electricity if people/companies didn't do it themselves. So far, things like turning off escalators, lights in trains, lifts, less lighting in supermarkets and so on have meant that electricity consumption went below the level where a blackout would have been necessary - the planned blackout was then cancelled.

According to japantoday.com (http://www.japantoday.com/category/business/view/tokyo-disneyland-to-reopen-friday-disneysea-before-end-of-april), Disneyland will open on Friday, and Disneysea before the end of April.

[John83]

wasnt there another one again in the last 12 hours or so measuring 7.1?
I heard 6.something on the radio this morning.

[osarusan]

Serious earthquake last night. 6.4 in Fukushima, but no damage reported. Here in east Tokyo, it felt pretty scary indeed - whole place shaking, doors rattling, not nice at all.

The whole Miyagi area where the tsunami hit with most force still looks like a total wasteland. I'm amazed that so little has been done, but the country has been paralysed by political squabbling as the opposition try to get rid of the PM as a reward for agreeing to a rescue/restoration bill.

2 weeks ago, Japan Tsunami Aid Limerick went to the Ashinaga charity, which works with orphaned/abandoned children, and has more work on its plate as a result of the disaster. The Limerick folk (mainly Japanese living in Limerick) handed over 2,020,000yen, which is....about 19,000euros - much more than they'd originally hoped they would be able to raise.

https://www.facebook.com/JapanAidLimerick

[Spudulika]

Hate to ask you a question when you're already in the middle of things. We've a couple of clients who are due to travel to (apologies if my spelling is off, I'm reading from my diary and it's like sanskrit) - Saitana, Tskuba, Noto and Kyoto. The first tournament is the end of next month though I'd like to cancel things now if the view on the ground is not good. One of our girls had to pull out of a schedule in Japan in April/May and we took the decision early too. Have to say when getting a visa the Embassy in Dublin were amazing!

Just an aside, back in 2002 I was driving up through Turkey and passed through what looked like rows of broken teeth. Only when I got back to Dublin and spoke about it I was reminded of the 1999 earthquakes and I was still in shock seeing people sitting by the side of the road and living in tent cities. We don't know how lucky we have it in Ireland!

[osarusan]

Saitana, Tskuba, Noto and Kyoto.
Saitama (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saitama_Prefecture)is just north of Tokyo, Tsukuba (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsukuba) is to the east of Tokyo, but still close. Noto is in Ishikawa (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishikawa_Prefecture#Towns_and_villages), way west of Tokyo and hundreds of miles away from Fukushima. Kyoto (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyoto) is the farthest of all away.

None of those places will have suffered any earhtquake-related damage whatsoever I'd imagine, but in Saitama and Tsukuba, and perhaps the others, there are daily checks on radiation levels in all kinds of stuff. As the Japanese government was slow to crack down on things, a lot of foodstuffs with high radiation levels made it out of the affected areas around Fukushima. Water levels around Tokyo contaminated to the extent that tap water was considered unsafe for consumption by babies a few months ago, but that was only for a few days, and levels have been under limits since.

I don't see any reason not to go ahead at this stage - life continues basically as normal for people outside the affected areas, apart from trains running less frequently to save electricity, and air-conditioning a few degrees higher than previously. In my work building, it's set at a toasty 27degrees.

[Spudulika]

Thanks osarusan, we've just had a discussion about it and we'll most likely send them over, it's jsut a bit worrying. Then again, they're going from Russia, where everything glows in the dark!

[osarusan]

Magnitude 5 earthquake about 5 minutes ago. Epicentre about 150 km southwest, nowhere near Fukushima. It was strong enough that I was thinking, 'just a bit stronger and it might be time to get the hell out of the building'.

EDIT: Just revised up to 6.1. Less than that where I'm living obviously.

[BonnieShels]

Jaysus.

How regular are these earthquakes compared to normal.

[osarusan]

Jaysus.

How regular are these earthquakes compared to normal.

http://www.jma.go.jp/en/quake/quake_singen_index.html

Much more regular. In the 4 months I've been back, I can think of....5 pretty significant quakes, 2 of which made me seriously think about getting out of the building. That had never happened me before.

[BonnieShels]

Is there a tectonic cycle that Japan goes through and maybe its at the crest of this wave? Or at least getting there.

[Spudulika]

Anybody seen the movie 2012?

[peadar1987]

Is there a tectonic cycle that Japan goes through and maybe its at the crest of this wave? Or at least getting there.

As far as I know, it's not uncommon for earthquakes to happen in clusters. The pressure builds up until the lock breaks and the fault moves, until it hits another lock that stops it. The moving plates can load several weak locks on the fault to failure over a period of months, breaking them and causing earthquakes, until they eventually hit a lock that holds them for a decent period of time.

Of course, all this is irrelevant, because we all know the Japanese earthquake was God's punishment for not following the Ten Commandments:

http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2011/03/glenn_beck_says_japans_earthqu.html

[osarusan]

Go to 00.35 to see earthquake and then just keep watching.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QralDndMCeQ

This was from inside a delivery van - the driver got out, but camera kept running, I'm not sure when he got out, but he survived.

[osarusan]

Something of a sleepless night last night.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/375523_10150495174921341_577576340_10967838_163288 0567_n.jpg

[punkrocket]

Hope you're well. Looks like they'll be going on for a while yet. Are the big ones diminishing in strength yet ?

Just catching the video posted in September and can't get the thought of those wee children at the start out of my head. Hope they got all through it but I'd fear for them not too mention the adults on the pavements.