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...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.