The Earthquake Check In thread

Read this if you're worried about cooking with tap water in Tokyo.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/ferguswalsh/2011/03/japan_nuclear_leak_and_tap_water.html

Lots of confusion going around the net at the moment. It's nice to see the BBC ask an expert and not some douchebag from Greenpeace.

I've never drank a glass of Tokyo tap water... I don't like water by itself much anyway. We can all safely cook in it though. The air pollution in Japan is much lower than many other places, thanks to their nuclear efforts! More nasties in the air in most cities than in the water for sure.

BTW, Filtering mains water using household filter cartridges containing activated charcoal may reduce contamination of iodine- 131 by up to one half. Boiling the water will have no effect in reducing the small amount of radioactive iodine, but is recommended to ensure that the water is free from any bacteria or viruses. The water is safe to use for washing and cleaning.

 

Lake district isn't like it used to be nowadays..

I used to live in windermere years back, during postgrad college times, I left britain a decade ago after graduating, still maintain contact w me old mates around there, they say now too many tourist and newcomers to the area,
the water isn't as clean as it was, gone are the days of peaceful strolling at the lake.. too many yacht and boats nowadays, the jetty now like a huge boat parking lot.

 

that's sad. I also left the UK over a decade ago so I've not seen what has happened to the place. It will be a real shame if it's lost it's charm. I wonder if Snodonia in Wales is still worth a visit?

 

So are they any closer to containing these reactors? The idiotic American media isn't really much help, it's hard to know who to believe exactly.

 

From what I can gather, the problem is now being sorted.

Yakumo

 

There's not much more news. It's all been progress really. Going to be a long-job, but America's in zero threat from this, that's for sure. So is most of Japan really.

God knows how long it will take to rebuild Miyagi-ken.

 

This has been a pretty busy week for me, and I haven't had the chance of getting more news.

I watch CNÑ every morning before coming to work (and every day I vomit a little bit in my mouth because the journalists are SO stupid...), and they have completely neglected Japan.

The same goes for live streams online (the ones I could follow at least, since I don't speak Japanese- for the moment).

From what I gather, the reconstruction is under way, however slow it might be.

I researched if there were any efforts here in Uruguay to send medication, food and clothes (I have a huge stack of winter clothes to give away this year), but nobody has been able to answer...

How are things coming along for those members of the forum who live in the most affected areas?
How are you dealing with the water contamination?

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/13/japan-tsunami-survivor-shinkawa-rescued-fukushima

A little bit of lol and a whole lot of huzzuh.

 

I'm tempted to say that its absolutely baffling that journalists are so thick when it comes to news they are covering, even with my rudimentary knowledge of atomic power I knew that there was perhaps 1% chance of anything even remotely bad happening. Then of course I remember that journalists are told to report in a manner that appeals to the demographic, regardless of the bearing on truth their presentation has. I remember when UK news had figures, facts and table charts on rather than speculation and opinion. At least it hasn't fully gone the way of US news, saw a clip of CNN last night where the presenter was disagreeing with an expert over the potential of damage to the US due to radiation. Because the reporter had worked in the nuclear industry all her life and was as much of an expert of course

Do have to wonder what it would be like growing up listening to claptrap like that. Then again UK tabloids are just as bad.

Of course part of the problem was the Reuters merger too (in addition to its monopoly). Throw the founding principles out the window eh

It was still the same last time I went: foggy and couldn't see much haha.

I did go 'slateboarding' though - we went to one of the abandoned slate mines and crouched on a big piece of slate while hurtling down a big pile of scree. Great fun.

 

"God knows how long it will take to rebuild Miyagi-ken."

Would you build there again?

If they do they should build a city of the future...with everything elevated so its earthquake and tital wave proof somehow

 

Japanese aren't the brightest when it comes to building stuff in the right place to be honest. About 7 or so years ago the area of Chofu in Shimonoseki where I lived was flooded up to 1 meter deep in most areas due to a typhoon throwing the water from the sea in to the land. The abandoned theme park that I took a load of cool photos in was completely devastated. So do you know what they did? They built a massive hospital there right next to the cost!

Hmm, who's to say such an incident won't happen again. The first time it happened the town was ruined, or at least the lower level parts near the cost were plus the town had a total black out. Hmm....... Not too sure a total black out would be good for a hospital.

Yakumo

 

But don't most hospitals have backup diesel generators? I'm sure these would kick in as soon as the power has been lost :nod:

 

Yes they do but the fact that they've built a massive hospital on the cost with no cover from a typhoon is not a bright idea even if you do have back up generators. The building with a modern solid structure could face serious damage if the same unfortunate incident happened again.

 

Yes that's very true, and we all know how reliable them diesel generators are anyway, hmph!

 

That doesn't come close to people in the US who live next to flood-prone rivers. You see them on the news EVERY SINGLE YEAR - "We've been flooded out every year for the last thirty years, but BY GOD WE'LL REBUILD!!"

It's so bad that some states have passed laws such that if you're flooded out more than X times in Y years, you're forbidden by law from rebuilding.

 

"It's so bad that some states have passed laws such that if you're flooded out more than X times in Y years, you're forbidden by law from rebuilding."

makes sense...protects you from your own stupidity...I guess it is hard though if that piece of land is what you own.
Japan should be smarter this time round;invest more in technology
Heck they dont have the excuse that UK has in that our money is going to wars...

 

That's true but as long as they get rid of that twat, Kidafie (or however you spell his name) it will be money well spent. That prick has been causing trouble since I was born.

yakumo

 

I agree he should go but I just wish our governments were a little more thrifty. Do we really need to be lobbing that many $1,000,000+ cruise missiles against 70's era Soviet technology?

 

Japan is rather limited in where new things can be built. Either build in a dangerous area and take far more than necessary precautions or don't build at all. California is in much the same situation, I live less than a mile from a known fault line and within ~100 miles of my location there are likely thousands of fault lines. Too far inland for a tsunami of any known size though.

New Orleans is a great example of BEGGING for your city to have a natural disaster. The people running the place got no sympathy from me - when you deliberately force a giant river into a path geologists know it doesn't want to take anymore and should be on a very different path, then you build giant dirt walls to force it to stay in the old path? Yeh, big surprise when a hurricane finally shows you that Earth is the boss and we are its bitch.

Plenty of sympathy for those affected, just not for the moron politicians.

But where would the fun be in that? Sure we could send in some old F4 Phantoms and give their AA operators something they stand a chance to shoot at or you could play what amounts to a game of Battleship with an Action Replay.

 

we use 1000000$ missiles so we make sure all the libyan weapons are destroyed.
so they will need to buy us new weapons when kadhafi falls