Yakoob on 14/3/2011 at 12:29
Quote Posted by frozenman
For the past few days I haven't been able to stop thinking about all that water, black water, absolutely devouring everything in its path.
Oh god yea. Thats what struck me too. It's not just water. Its goddamn dirty as fuck black water of doom. When I was in Japan I went to only one beach and let me tell you it was filthy as fuck. Living in California spoiled me good.
Dia on 14/3/2011 at 13:04
Quote Posted by frozenman
Does anyone know anything about the geography of these areas of Japan? I understand how a tsunami is formed, but seeing all this footage from different cities I've never heard of, it's just..how is this possible?
This:
The massive earthquake near the east coast of Honshu, Japan, occurred as a result of faults on or near the subduction zone -- the interface plate boundary between the Pacific and North America plates, the USGS said.
The Pacific plate thrusts underneath Japan at the Japan Trench, and dips to the west beneath Eurasia; these rocky plates cover the planet like a giant jigsaw puzzle and creep past one another at a very slow rate. The Pacific plate moves approximately westwards with respect to the North America plate at a velocity of 3.2 inches per year. The release of energy as the the two plates move past each other is what causes the earthquakes.
The Japan Trench subduction zone is relatively volatile, experiencing 9 earthquakes of magnitude 7 or greater since 1973. The largest of these was a 7.8 magnitude earthquake approximately 162 miles (260 km) to the north of the March 11 event, in December 1994, which caused 3 fatalities and almost 700 injuries, the USGS said. In June of 1978, a 7.7 magnitude earthquake in the area caused 22 fatalities and over 400 injuries.My heart breaks for all in that country.
Kolya on 14/3/2011 at 15:52
When Tchernobyl happened the atom lobby pointed at the Russians and their substandard equipment. Now they'll point at the earthquakes, although those were predictable and failing electricity supply could happen for lots of reasons.
It's hard to shake off the feeling that any guaranty of safety we're given will be dropped in favour of pointing at another cause in future too. (Suicide planejacker? Didn't see that one coming...)
The truth is that handling a technology which requires 100% safety for hundreds of years in a world that can change any moment into unforeseen directions is just crazy delusional.
Ulukai on 14/3/2011 at 17:18
I see Nuclear Power more as a necessary evil with calculated risk than craziness - although building them in highly geologically active areas has got to be questionable.
Given the world's current energy demands, the scarcity of oil and China, India and South America's every increasing appetite for energy, I've seen nothing to convince me there's a viable alternative at the moment. Don't anyone dare mention wind turbines or tidal energy without doing your maths homework, either.
Tonamel on 14/3/2011 at 17:35
Quote Posted by Ulukai
Given the world's current energy demands, the scarcity of oil and China, India and South America's every increasing appetite for energy, I've seen nothing to convince me there's a viable alternative at the moment. Don't anyone dare mention wind turbines or tidal energy without doing your maths homework, either.
(
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ep4L18zOEYI) Clever yet optimistic use of solar?
The videos coming out of this disaster are just mind-blowing. I can't even imagine what it must be like for the people there.
Kolya on 14/3/2011 at 17:46
We have natural energy sources (sun, wind, water, geothermal). What we lack is efficient ways to exploit them. While that's not a small technicality it is after all a technical problem and can be solved. However that will never happen as long as nuclear power is around, which will always look cheaper in the short run and cost us lives in the long run.
I'm sure they know the term "calculated risk" in Japan by the way.
d0om on 14/3/2011 at 19:11
(
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/03/14/fukushiima_analysis/)
Very interesting article explaining that actually, the Japanese nuclear plants have all done extremely well and no dangerous radiation leak has or will occur. Considering the earthquake was 7 times the estimate for the plant area, that's a pretty amazing achievement and shows quite how safe modern nuclear power is.
No-one has been harmed by the Japanese nuclear plants. Tens of thousands have died from the Earthquake. The nuclear power is perfectly safe.
Koki on 14/3/2011 at 19:21
Quote Posted by Kolya
Tchernobyl
Tchernobog's cousin I presume?
Kolya on 14/3/2011 at 21:45
You may have heard that Russian uses cyrillic letters, Koki. But they don't just have different letters, they also have different phonemes (sounds). The name of the town where the nuclear disaster happened in 1986 in fact starts with a t-sound. The name you know ("Chernobyl") is merely a transcription of the original Russian phonemes. I'll give you that it is commonly used, but it is no more correct than the transcription I used.
