Tsunami hits Japan after massive quake

[Gato4Astrid]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12709598

I am sorry for the disaster that hit Japan.  My thoughts are with these people and for the members who is living there with wives....

[Bob_S]

Thanks for your expressed concern about my wife's family.  Fortunately they are far far from the center of action.  They wouldn't have even felt the quake.  And even though my MiL lives at an elevation of 2 feet above the waters of Hirao Bay,  the tsunami's lateral energy would have to travel nearly 800 miles along Japan's rugged coast, around 3 peninsulas, around the big island of Shikoku, around some more peninsulas and smaller islands before reaching the breakwaters of Hirao bay.

By the time it reached my MiL's home, the wave would just be a ripple at most.  You can see where she lives here.

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=33.920567%2C132.061914&spn=0.002974%2C0.006223&z=18

[z_k_g]

Bob, Jeff,

Hope all is well with your families!!

Zulu

[Jedironin]

Well, Bob's accounted for... Jeff?    I hope all is OK with you and your family, too!   

[Bob_S]

Well, Bob's accounted for... Jeff?    I hope all is OK with you and your family, too!   

If I remember correctly, his in-laws are near Yokohama?  About 200 miles from the epicenter.  They would've felt it pretty strong.

[utopiacowboy]

My son called me this morning from the Yokosuka US Naval Base where he serves as a corpsman to tell me he was all right. They were still feeling tremors even while he was talking to me. He is hoping that they get to participate as part of the relief efforts.

[z_k_g]

My son called me this morning from the Yokosuka US Naval Base where he serves as a corpsman to tell me he was all right. They were still feeling tremors even while he was talking to me. He is hoping that they get to participate as part of the relief efforts.

Great news!

God bless Utopia!!

Zulu

[flipit]

May God bless the good people of Nippon, especially the most vulnerable of them all...the elderly and the kids.
The destruction in northern Japan is  both heartbreaking and breathtaking.

I pray for the speedy emotional & psychological healing of the Japanese people and may the physical reconstruction,  in the northern part of the Land of the Rising Sun be swift.

flipit

[Jeff S]

I was up in the bay area for business, by car the past couple of days. Just got home late Fri night. My FIL has a home in Ube-shi, not too far from Bob's MIL - in the same prefecture (province) Yamaguchi. He splits his time between Yamaguchi and Tokyo, but was down south when it hit, so missed the quake. He lives on the coast too but well protected like Bob's family.

All our relatives in Tokyo, Osaka and Kobe are OK.

What a mess that place is though. The damage is shocking. The Japanese are extremely well drilled in emergency response, the entire nation practices it regularly, and even the 10 million people stranded in the streets when the Tokyo rail system went down at 3 PM were given food and water before nightfall. Many people had no idea which direction to walk to go home and many asked train workers and police, having relied so heavily on public transportation all of their lives. Temporary housing will be up within 2 days for those left homeless.

The calm lines at the grocery stores with no pushing, fighting, or looting were something to behold, and a good lesson in how a polite society gets along. The contrast to New Orleans in emergency response, and public cooperation is incredible.   

[z_k_g]

I was up in the bay area for business, by car the past couple of days. Just got home late Fri night. My FIL has a home in Ube-shi, not too far from Bob's MIL - in the same prefecture (province) Yamaguchi. He splits his time between Yamaguchi and Tokyo, but was down south when it hit, so missed the quake. He lives on the coast too but well protected like Bob's family.

All our relatives in Tokyo, Osaka and Kobe are OK.

What a mess that place is though. The damage is shocking. The Japanese are extremely well drilled in emergency response, the entire nation practices it regularly, and even the 10 million people stranded in the streets when the Tokyo rail system went down at 3 PM were given food and water before nightfall. Many people had no idea which direction to walk to go home and many asked train workers and police, having relied so heavily on public transportation all of their lives. Temporary housing will be up within 2 days for those left homeless.

The calm lines at the grocery stores with no pushing, fighting, or looting were something to behold, and a good lesson in how a polite society gets along. The contrast to New Orleans in emergency response, and public cooperation is incredible.   

Jeff,

Great news!!  Keep us posted!

Zulu

[Jedironin]

I was watching the news this morning, which was showing more images of the destruction, and they also showed a video of one of the buildings at a nuclear power plant exploding and the raging fires in several places.   

It occurs to me that I don't think Japan has seen destruction on this scale since WWII! They say the islands have actually shifted 8 feet eastward?!   

Just incredible what is happening there, hopefully the situation at the refinery and the power plants can be contained and not cause an even bigger disaster! One of the people they interviewed from Japan today (an American performer for Disney-Japan) said they have been told that if it rains today or tomorrow, DO NOT go outside! The chemicals from the refinery fire are all in the air now, but rain would wash them down and could cause serious skin problems.

Hard to believe...   

[Dave H]

My son called me this morning from the Yokosuka US Naval Base where he serves as a corpsman to tell me he was all right. They were still feeling tremors even while he was talking to me. He is hoping that they get to participate as part of the relief efforts.

Hey UC,

Glad to hear that your son is OK! My son is a Navy Corpsman also. He is on the east coast (Bethesda, MD). I wish he could get assigned to Japan so I could see him more often. Oh well...still better than Afghanistan!

Dave

[Dave H]

All our relatives in Tokyo, Osaka and Kobe are OK.

Hey Jeff and Bob,

Happy to hear that your family members are OK! Our friends and relatives living in Tokyo are OK, but without power.

Dave