A Big One Hit Japan (w/Updates)

UPDATE (3:10 p.m., CT):  More information from PC World.  Scroll down to the subheading, “Find your friends and family in Japan.”

UPDATE (2:46 p.m., CT):  Nagano, Japan hit by a 6.6 earthquake at 3:59 a.m.  It does not appear to be an aftershock.  Nagano, I believe, is in northern Japan on the main island of Honshu, and was the site of the 1998 Winter Olympics.

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UPDATE (2:15 p.m., CT):  Well, that bad boy tsunami did hit the West Coast, and it hit Santa Cruz and Crescent City, California big time. Crescent City in particular is experiencing some deja vu because it was hit some 40 years ago by a tsunami. Four people are reported to have been swept off by a wave today; one has not yet been rescued–or recovered. The harbor is a complete shambles, and Highway 101 has been closed. Santa Cruz is a mess as well; it bore the brunt of the Loma Prieta quake in 1989; now this. More later.

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UPDATE (1:53 p.m., CT):  Inquiries concerning US citizens living/traveling in Japan should call 1-888-407-4747 or 202-647-5225, the US Department of State. For inquiries about relatives living in Japan who are not US citizens, encourage the members of your community to keep calling or to try contacting other family members who live in the region.

First they said it was an 8.1; now it’s an 8.9, which is the largest recorded in Japanese history.  It was the strongest earthquake in 1200 years. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Richter Scale went higher.  Mother Earth is mad as hell, and may not be able to take it any longer.

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Right now, I am concerned about Japanese Soka Gakkai members and their safety.  Many have family members in the United States, and I am sure people are trying to get word, even of comfort, to their loved ones.   I am also concerned about the health and safety of President Ikeda, our Sensei.  The way those waves poured over farmland, bringing with them cars, houses, trucks, and other jetsam was horrifying.  People were IN those houses you saw.  A large American warship near Japan had the interesting experience of being lifted very high by a wave while anchored at sea, and being brought back down a short length away.   The world literally rolled. Above is a Japanese language live stream of events unfolding and occurring.

(I removed the link to BBC Live Feed because I couldn’t see it.  And if I couldn’t, you probably couldn’t either.)

And don’t think that the United States won’t get some of this.  Tsunami warnings have been issued for all of the West Coast and Hawaii, Canada (Vancouver, baby),The Philippines, Indonesia, New Zealand, New Guinea, and other countries.

Unfortunately, most communications in and out of the stricken areas are via Twitter, e-mail, and in some cases, Skype.  There is some cell phone coverage.

So far, things have been quiet in Hawaii, Los Angeles, San Diego, Santa Barbara, San Francisco and other American cities facing the Pacific.  Unfortunately, those surfing hotdoggers will want to ride the biggest wave ever, and these idiots need to be quelled from doing something that will cost their lives. This is no joke.

More later. It is going to be a long day.

~ by blksista on March 11, 2011.