Friday, March 11, 2011

With the extent there is so much damage...

...in Japan.  A first world country.  I believe we are looking at years if not a decade before the area returns to any definition of itself.  No one hopes I am wrong more than me.

The nuclear facilities have to be a high priority to evacuation.  While the Japanese government can state there needs to be evacuations in the area, I question the reality of the ability of people to actually leave to protect themselves.  I would think this should be one of the first places people would be removed if they cannot achieve escape due to flooding and infrastructure failure.

The plant itself was never prepared to protect from such a seismic event.  I would hope the USA and Japan are looking at a potential of building a sarcophagus in a worst case scenario.  Let's hope it doesn't deteriorate to that, but, I believe it is necessary to examine those options.

Unless Japanese standards exceed that of the USA, there is every possibility, with repeated high intensity aftershocks, the facilities' integrity is in danger.

Japan earthquake forces thousands to evacuate in nuclear plant emergency  (click title to entry - thank you)

...Experts warn that order to flee homes signals a serious problem at Fukushima power station in tsunami zone
guardian.co.uk,

Japanese authorities said pressure was rising inside the plant with the risk of a radiation leak, according to the Jiji news agency. One British atomic engineer said the evacuation suggested a radioactive leak remained a possibility.
"It looks very serious. Obviously we do not know exactly what is going on but evacuating people is normally only a matter of last resort when there is only one containment layer left to be breached," said John Large, a member of the British Nuclear Engineering Society and a fellow of the Royal Society.
If radioactivity has broken through into the final dome over the top of the plant this would put the incident on a par with the Three Mile Island accident in the US which cost $1bn in 1979 money.
Another nuclear expert said that if the water cooling system had broken down, the consequences could be dire....

The reason this problem exists at all, with at least one of the facilities the back up diesel power plant took on water.  Get the picture?

The Japan coastal areas dynamics are unstable.



I can't but wonder if similar dynamics occurred off Chile in South America.  I don't recall much information regarding the oceans, coastal communities and fishing industry being interrupted.  It would easy to find out.

This picture is on the New York Times front e-page (click title to entry - thank you).

While I believe there is significant damage, I also believe the 'area' effected is limited.  The aftershocks are still radiating from the same region without too much migration.  So, while this continues the energy waves are still concentrated in a region.  That means the repeated 'vibration' will continue to knock this area's infrastructure loose.

The images I am looking at have a lot of 'perspective.'  In the picture above there is a tower that provides invaluable dynamics to realiize the size and scope of the dynamics in relation to the infrastructure.  I don't know what the engineers of Japan's infrastructure have planned for, but, with repeated 'vibration' exposure it is bound to have a toll.

The whirlpools above are not caused by the earthquake directly.  They are caused by the tsunamis from the underwater displacement.  They occur because the displaced water 'piles up' in areas and the only resolve to the 'energy' is to move in a circle.  The velocity of that circle will determine its dangers.  The images I am receiving appear to be that of somewhat ? weak ? but sizeable dynamics.  If one realizes there are concrete structures jutting out into the water where these dynamics are playing out, on many occassion the 'energy / wave' dynamics of the whirlpool are interrupted by the structure and DO NOT appear to continue on the other side of that dynamic.  So, while these are significant and NO ONE should be seeking a 'thrill moment' in the wake of these whirlpools (YOU WILL DIE.) there is some hope in that the 'power' to destroy is limited.

What I am saying is, the damage is mostly being caused due to 'quantity' of water rather than by 'velocity.'  I believe the infrastructure of Japan is defeating quite handily the water dynamics of the ocean and its interaction with land.  That isn't true in the 'volume' of the water, but, certainly appears to be in the 'velocity.' 

That is not to say there won't be significant death with this earthquake.  There will be.  Where the Japan infratructure meets with land the impact is significant and the damage to life and limb dramatic.  It is realistic to believe there are lives lost that will result in a 'missing person' list.

My sympathy for every person lost and their friends and family. 
Posted by Picasa

Raw Video: Earthquake Triggers Tsunami in Japan



The tsunami may have caused more deaths than the quake in a limited area. Some of those that may have been on those ships will have survived. The ships may have trouble with engine propulsion, so I would expect any coastal effort would be looking for stranded vessels that may or may not have passengers. This tape shows cars on roadways undisturbed even in their movement down the road while the waters underneath are extremely turbulent. The Japanese infrastructure must be amazing.

The quake occurred on the 'Ring of Fire' side of Japan. That does not mean the tsunami only traveled to the West Coast of the USA.



While the Russian national newspaper, RIA Novosti focuses on what is in 'western' news in their English edition, htere are parts of Russia, China, Canada, the Pacific Islands, Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand worried about the outcome.  Outcomes that might be personal in that people are visiting in Japan and the potential for tsunami effects.

Tsunami to hit U.S. west coast, Alaska (click here)

Tsunami waves unleashed by a series of massive earthquakes in north-east Japan on Friday are expected to strike the western coast of the United States and Alaska, the Alaska Tsunami Warning Center said.
Tsunami warnings have also been issued for Guam, Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Hawaii and Canada....

The picture accompanying this article is profound.  The fires, the flooding and the devastation of an 8.9 earthquake.  While everyone wants survivors to 'dial in' the chances any survivor in these areas even has any infrastructure to make that happen is unlikely.


In areas like this there is only ONE authority ABLE to begin to RECON the ability for search and rescue.  That is the militaries of the area.  ALL NGOs will be helpful, but, they have to be 'staged in' for there to be any sincere SAFETY and EFFECTIVENESS.  I sincerely don't want to hear how any military operation is standing in the way of any Not-For-Profit organization. 

IT IS NOT POSSIBLE to move into these areas without prior knowledge and an 'expert base' to achieve those goals.  With a 8.9 on the Richter there are going to be substantial 'aftershocks' and otherwise.  With significant aftershocks comes new tsunami warnings.

Japan's people, throughout that nation are traumatized.  THEY LIVE THERE.  In the last decade that country has sustained an enormous amount of trauma from earthquakes.  If NGOs want to help, then help the people that have survivied this quake and are paralized in their own lives because of the repeated trauma simply living in this island nation. 

Add to that the threat of North Korea's nuclear program and the dangers faced by the people of South Korea and what does that equate to?  Security?  If it only could be true.

This quake happened at 05:46:23 UTC, which is about midnight EST.  I was awake then.  I wasn't on the computer, but, the news said nothing.  I remember the Indonesian Christmas quake.  Within minutes there were reports streaming about that event. 

Oh, well.  It simply tells me that the quake has hit some vital areas and the information was very remote in coming to the global community.

NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN  (click title to entry - thank you)

When I look at the 'shake map' the quake was 24.4 km deep or just over 15 miles down into the crust of the Earth.  That is a fairly shallow eipcenter and why the energy wave did such damage.  Ths shake map is not that large and while there is significant damage to the East Coast of Japan it appears to be limited there.  The after shocks continue to radiate both deeper and shallow around that epicenter.  So, what ever is happening it is limited to a specific stress point in the planet.


continued...

And I found this to my delight on a FOX news website. I had to read it three times and pinch myself to believe it.

There is NOTHING here an ideologue would say.  Wow.

Watching Uproar Over Wisconsin Protests, It's Time to Remember How Unions Make Our Lives Better

By Sally Kohn
Published March 10, 2011
FoxNews.com

...Such monstrous inequality (click title to entry - thank you) and lack of opportunity for ordinary Americans is not a sign that capitalism is broken but a sign that our economy and politics have been rigged to work for the very few at the top. And since the same few rich people and big businesses at the top make most of the political contributions in our country, politicians are woefully skittish to challenge their greed. 

And that's why the final reason to thank a union, the organized voice -- and yes, political money, too -- large enough to stand up to the otherwise-unchecked disastrous power of big businesses that care nothing about you or our economy and care only about their profit. That’s not what America is about. 

That's  why we let people vote to join unions, to stand up together for working Americans and to fulfill the vision of freedom and equality for which our nation was founded. -- Just like we let people vote anti-democratic, anti-working families politicians out of office.

Sally Kohn is a community organizer and political commentator. She is the Founder and Chief Education Officer of the Movement Vision Lab.

I'll get to Japan in a minute. There is some really bizarre reporting regarding Wisconsin, though.

Does the Houston Chronicle have any connections to the real world?

They sincerely received this report from the Associated Press?  Demonstrators were carried out and opposed their removal the entire time.
Can the media get on the same pages with this?  Would be good.  This is where people lose respect for organized media.  When the reports are more propaganda than 'real,' You Tube and Twitter becomes the staples of the information diet.
By DINESH RAMDE Associated Press © 2011 The Associated Press
March 10, 2011, 8:35PM
MADISON, Wis. — The Wisconsin Capitol was eerily quiet Thursday night following three weeks of protests against anti-union legislation that drew tens of thousands of demonstrators to Madison. While people had been sleeping in the building for weeks, all eventually left after the Assembly voted to approve a bill eliminating public employee's collective bargaining rights.
The Senate had passed the bill the day before, and with the Assembly's action, the bill pushed by Republican Gov. Scott Walker was certain to become law with his signature.
The demonstrators' mostly peaceful departure ended a tense day that started with about 50 protesters being hauled from a hallway leading to the Assembly chamber. Police carried them out one at a time, dragging some in a seated position and holding others a few inches off the ground.
The protesters, who didn't resist, were set down behind a line of officers about 20 yards away. Other protesters walked out voluntarily. No one was arrested....

And will some of Laura Ingram's peers seriously council with her.  She is giving female journalists a bad name.  She doesn't do anything except rant 'Control, control, control' about global issues.  If this is the sincere 'core fear center' of the Right Wing Woman then I am not surprised we have a military budget greater than the next 14 nations combined.

As a mother she must be a horror.  Seriously.  I mean that completely.  Hate and fear.