Japan quake

[Col]

Terrible event but no doubt these disciplined and diligent people will overcome this tragedy.
The 'as it happened' coverage really showed the devastation and why so many are expected to have been killed.
In addition there are problems with 2? nuclear reactors which must be brought under control soon for obvious reasons.
All very sad and sympathies

[smellygerm]

Shocking

[mcicy]

I have friends out there at the moment, only just got an email from them saying they were ok, only problem they are really having is constant power cuts

[Beamer]

Makes you realise just how 'lucky' we are!!........ ...... life is too bloody precious and short to waste....be grateful for what we have and the fact we are alive....whilst saying some pretty heavy prayers (or whatever you do) for so much human loss and for those that have survived 'cos its not going to be easy for them for a while :-[ :-[ :-[ :-[ :-[ :-[ :-[

[Loops]

I was watching the Live pictures on BBC breakfast as it happened - watching the wave move across the countryside was just something else...too big for your brain to put into context until you saw some poor motorist trying to outrun it :(

[Mark_Able]

Sad indeed, and shocking. Makes you wonder why they thought it was ok to build nuclear power plants in an earthquake zone though... :-?

[Jon_W]

Shocking so se towns liquified by the torrent.

The Nuclear power stations survived the quake, it was the tsunami that has caused the havoc... Basically after the quake the reactors shut down as expected, the Diesel backup pumps came on, and ran and all was well. The Wave hit, swamped the diesel pumps and stopped them. Normally a problem, but not catastrophic as tghe station has the rest of the grid and 8 hrs of battery backup in reserve. However, all the power lines are down, and the roads are non-existant so spare pumps cannot reach the station....

Bad combination. :(

[Chappers]

I was watching the Live pictures on BBC breakfast as it happened - watching the wave move across the countryside was just something else...too big for your brain to put into context until you saw some poor motorist trying to outrun it :(

They BBC stopped showing the earliest helicopter coverage where you see the two trains crossing and then being covered in a second. Absolutely horrific.

[Chappers]

from the AP: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_JAPAN_EARTHQUAKE_NUCLEAR_CRISIS?SITE=TXHAR&SECT ION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-03-14-11-26-01

Japanese officials say the nuclear fuel rods appear to be melting inside all three of the most troubled nuclear reactors.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said Monday: "Although we cannot directly check it, it's highly likely happening."


Not sounding brilliant...

[redken1]

I find it diffficult to get my head round the images broadcast on TV. Hard to believe it's real - like watching a Hollywood disaster movie. Very sad.

[Nelly]

Agree Ken. Absolutely horrific. :(

[BladeTriple]

And then we make our squabbles about the most meaningless things, about fuel prices going up, we still have our cars, about food prices going up, anything not tinned has been washed away and destroyed , about our neighbours and the like, thousands washed up on beaches..... This puts life in perspective and the scary thing is if the earth wants to reclaim something we have in some way altered , damaged or changed it can just wash it all away so we have to start again .

It makes you realise what tiny specks of dust on this planet we really are .

Our thoughts, hopes and prayers are with everyone around the world who are suffering , lost and desperate , be they in Japan, the middle east, New Zealand or anywhere there is pain sadness and tragedy . :(

[SupeRDel]

Effects of the quake my be felt here as well.

Apparently Honda had 130 parts suppliers in the troubled area. They have only contacted a few but some have been totally destroyed.

Car plants have shut for the week out there and part supplies may be a problem here soon.

Not really that important when you consider the loss of life though.

I was decorating on Friday and had the tv on in the background. I saw the clip with the passing train. The tv news readers were talking about 1 person dead at that point while showing helicoptor film of houses being swept away.

[tommyjgraham]

Watched it on the news-horrific