Apr 19

Amazing Japanese Tsunami Footage

Posted in News

There’s a lot of videos floating around right now of the tsunami generated by the 9.0 earthquake Japan had last March, but I came across this amazing one posted fairly recently:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vZR0Rq1Rfw

You can see the wall of water completely sweep away an entire town. Towards the end you see people futilely running towards safety as the wave catches up to them from behind, sweeping them away.  Amazingly enough, at the very end of the video you see someone heroicly run towards the wave in an attempt to help people who were unable to get up the hill.

Recent reports have estimated more than 14,000 deaths as a result of the tsunami, and as most people are aware of, the nuclear power plant damaged by the tsunami will probably cause significant health issues for these poor people in the years to come. :(

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Apr 10

Japan: Positive Stories

Posted in News

The Japanese earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disasters are old news now, but much of the coastal regions in Japan are still in a devastated state.  Despite the tragedy, the best in people continues to be brought out during this terrible time.  CNN wrote an article today about the recovery process in Japan, stating that residents searching through the rubble have been turning in lost cash at a much higher rate than normal, rather than pocketing it.  Additionally, children are being taught to turn in lost items to the police.  Many of these people have lost everything from their homes and possessions to their family, yet they still remain selfless.

Do you remember when Hurricane Katrina submerged parts of New Orleans and devastated a chunk of the U.S. Gulf Coast?  I do, and I remember the looting that took place as a result of it.  Sure, it may have been a desperate time, but you aren’t hearing stories like this in Japan right now.  It makes me wonder if the people looting in New Orleans were really doing it as an act of desperation, or if they were just taking advantage of the situation and using Katrina as an excuse.

Regardless of all that, I am impressed with these stories I’ve been hearing about the people in Japan.  If I were a citizen in Japan, I would be proud to be a part of it.

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Mar 25

Japan Incident Gone From Headlines

Posted in News, Personal

Japan has finally lost its place as a headline on the front page of news websites, though the nuclear situation hasn’t been resolved and the death toll has exceeded 10,000 from the earthquake and tsunami.  Browsing some news websites, the headlines I read were about Libya and Egypt.  Considering how significant the disaster was, I really have a hard time believing people are losing interest.  Is the media trying to tell us what is “important?”  From what I’ve read though, donations to the Japanese have actually been lower than donations made to victims of the earthquake in Haiti and Katrina.  I feel bad for taking so long to post this, but you can donate to the Red Cross here.

You gotta love how people are taking what happened in Japan and trying to find ways it affects the US.  A small amount of radiation from the Japan reactors makes it all the way across the Pacific to Sacramento, CA, and drama erupts over it, even though the amount of radiation was less than that emitted from a cell phone.  It’s as if people want to be the victim in some way.  Just look at this:

Seeing videos titled “Will Japan disaster hut U.S. economy?” make me think these people read the horror stories of possible nuclear meltdowns, watch the entire towns get swept away by the ocean, yet the only thing they are concerned about is if it will indirectly affect their wallet.

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Mar 11

Wow @ Japan

Posted in Geology

I was watching the news last night as live footage from the tsunami triggered by the earthquake in Japan was coming in, and all I could think was “wow.”  The quake, which struck around 80 miles off shore (I believe?) was a magnitude 8.9 which is HUGE.  To put it into perspective how strong an 8.9 is, a magnitude 9.0 is ten times stronger than a 8.0, which is ten times stronger than a 7.0, etc.   The devastating Northridge, CA earthquake was a magnitude 6.7, making this quake in Japan more than 100 times stronger.  There was even an aftershock measuring 7.4 roughly 30 minutes after the quake hit.

While the damage in Japan is extensive, an even bigger story is the tsunami that was generated.  The live footage I was watching last night showed the wall of water crashing inland, sweeping houses and cars away.  The video I was watching can be found here, though there are tons of different videos of different places being hit.  To make things worse, they’re having trouble with a nuclear power plant not being able to cool down after the generators failed due to the earthquake.

One last thing I want to get out there before I end this, if you’re one of those people who think any of this is funny, do everyone a favor and jump off a tall building.  Sadly there are a lot of people out there it seems who are so desensitized that they can make fun of or downplay situations like this.  It’s pathetic.

A couple pics:

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