8.9 Earthquake has struck Japan

Ryan you beat me to it. That image really speak for itself. In my 10 years of following seismic activity ive never seen so much activity concentrated over such a large area within a 24 hr time period. This is shocking!
 
Ryan McGinnis said:
Who are "they"? I don't think you'll find many/any reputable scientists or news organizations that will make the claim that the two events are linked.
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Sorry, My point was that they are blaming everything on the quake and all kinds of stuff is popping up. Supposedly one of the volcanoes in Japan has erupted as well but I haven't found anything convincing yet.
 
Well, the number of aftershocks isn't that unusual given that they're proceeding a Great Earthquake. It was similar with the 2004 Great Earthquake:

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It would really suck to be in Japan right now; an old friend of mine there reports that most of the aftershocks have settled down, but they've been shaking and rolling in Tokyo off and on for almost 12 hours now.

That quake further west is interesting, though. I suppose it could still be an aftershock, since "Typically, aftershocks are found up to a distance equal to the rupture length away from the fault plane." That's definitely within that distance.
 
Darren Addy said:
But this can't be a good sign...
full story
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I'm not an expect in nuclear power by any means, but I've read that this actually isn't really as bad as it sounds. Evidently, the containment facilities are designed to hold in this case, and, since there have been issues with the backup power, the ability to continue to pump coolant has been reduced. I even read (again, I hate relying on hear-say, but I'm too unfamiliar with nuke tech to know for myself) that the systems are designed to contaminate the coolant in a safety process that helps mitigate meltdown.

Regardless, considering the amount of power that Japan draws from nuclear facilities (55 nuclear reactors / link / creating approximately 25% of Japan's power / link), it's also important to get the facilities back in operation quickly.

On a different note: Timelapse video of tsunami reaching California. Not terribly exciting considering the tsunami(s) traveled across the width of the Pacific...
 
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Power supply cars have shown up at the stricken power plant. They are trying to hook up power to the cooling system so that it can resume its job.

-source

EDIT2:
Japan trade ministry says pressure inside Fukushima reactor may have risen to 2.1 times designed capacity.
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EDIT:
Jim, the two "NEAR THE WEST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN"
were only 1 km deep? Wild.

EDIT 3: Scientific American "How to Cool a Nuclear Reactor"

EDIT 4: The official Kyodo news agency is reporting that about 88,000 people are missing. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12307698?OCID=twwnabbc)
 
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I read on one of the mainstream channels that the guy that died was wading near the waters edge specifically to take pictures of the event.
 
  1. 2132: The Tokyo Electric Power Company has said radiation may already have been released at the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear plant.
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  1. 2131: Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan has just announced that residents living within 10km (6.2 miles) of the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear station must evacuate their homes, according to the Kyodo news agency. Engineers are trying to fix the cooling system of one of the plant's reactors, which was damaged by the earthquake. The authorities had earlier told some 3,000 residents living within 3km (1.9 miles) to leave.
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Hopefully that is just a precaution, but I wouldn't take it as a good sign.

EDIT:
  1. 2140: Meanwhile, officials in Washington have said the US military did not provide any coolant to a nuclear plant in Japan. Earlier, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said US Air Force "assets" had been used to do so.


2139: Radiation levels at the damaged Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear plant are continuing to rise. The Jiji Press news agency says the levels are eight times above normal. Its report also cites a ministry official as saying there is a "possibility of a radioactive leak".
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  1. 2149: The Kyodo news agency is now citing a safety panel as saying that the radiation level inside one of the reactors at the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear plant is 1,000 times higher than normal.
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Incredible video of an entire village being wiped off the map: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12717863
 
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