Japan rocked with 8.9 earthquake.

[sana]

Marigold: And where was God? I wonder how many ask that question and get no reply.

Just saying, maybe...God sent a punishment, or maybe he was testing those people if they stayed firm with Him or they just left Him and thought that He wasn't fair and all that...just a small thought...

Its so sad that so many people died and all that..and it was so sudden, many people from my country who travelled to japan came back, I still thank God my father didn't go there. Just a few thoughts...

[Bonny]

To my knowledge Japan doesnt have their own domestic oil reserves. They dont control the global stock market either. China may own a lot of our national dept but I have to admit I dont know how much Japan owns.

I live in Alaska, I am very aware this can happen here, Ive lived with earthquakes all my life. The Good Friday Earthquake of 64, second most powerful earthquake recorded, was bigger then this quake.

Japan has been through much worse, Hiroshima and Nagasaki. You do remember WW||?

Earthquakes like this are why Japan built small nuclear plants, to limit the radiation released in case of this type of catastrophe.

It is spelled Japan, not Japen.

Doesn't Japan get their oil from the Alaska Pipe Line? We did a tour in Valdez once & that is what they told us that the oil goes to Japan?

[wombat2u2004]

And where was God?

Which one ????
Not much good saying this is a test of faith or something. The fact is, it was simply an act of the nature of planet earth.

[pomtzu]

I personally don't believe that God had a hand in this - one way or the other. God is not spiteful or vindictive or mean or testing anyone, but he is here to help us cope with this tragedy.

I also believe that God never deals us more than we can handle, tho at times, it does seem to be overwhelming.

[Alysser]

An accquaintance of mine lost two members of her family in Japan. Phone lines are down and she can't contact the rest.

[momoffuzzyfaces]

On the weather channel they said that quake moved the entire country of Japan over to the east by 8 feet and tilted the earth on its axes by 6 inches. That was one bad quake!!!

That will certainly change the world.

[Marigold2]

Exactly, it was meant as a joke. I don't believe in God like most people do, I don't believe in Karma either. The God I believe in does not punish, does not judge and would not only make ONE planet with people or creatures of life on it. The God I believe in has made hundreds of thousands if not millions of worlds with different life forms that we with our simple minds and petty attitudes cannot begin to comprehend.
We have not even discovered all the creatures in our oceans and yet many assume we are the only forms of life that exist on this planet that God created, silly. No no there are millions of other worlds out there, living, dying, breeding and loving. Does anyone really believe we are God's best work? I mean come on? Really?
I wish that someday I could see or meet the others but for now we will have to be content just meeting and distroying our own on this planet.

Which one ????
Not much good saying this is a test of faith or something. The fact is, it was simply an act of the nature of planet earth.

[Marigold2]

I wonder what this and the fact that the earth has moved on it's axes will mean for global warming or maybe an ice age a cometh?

On the weather channel they said that quake moved the entire country of Japan over to the east by 8 feet and tilted the earth on its axes by 6 inches. That was one bad quake!!!

That will certainly change the world.

[ChrisH]

Although visually spectacular, these explosions are not necessarily dangerous in terms of releasing radioactivity. The buildings are an external shell, with the task of sealing radioactive materials falling to a metal containment vessel constructed inside the concrete shell.

"The explosion... wasn't a terribly important event," according to Malcolm Grimston from the Energy Policy and Management Group at Imperial College, London.

"The building was designed to fall outwards" - preventing damage to the thick steel containment vessel inside.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12726628

A little reassuring I thought. That is assuming that he/they really know what they are talking about.

[ChrisH]

Thought you may be interested to read a part taken from one of the posts on another forum written by a person who has a number of family and friends living in Japan (thankfully all are ok as they live in the south west) and is a person who knows the country and its people very well.

One note about how the Japanese operate as a Group. Always as a Group. So although it might seem 'slow' in the beginning, as a group they are deciding big decisions as to how to harness the gasoline resources, and get it to the effected areas. Things like that are what they are thinking. So once the army opens up the roads, etc. then bam, huge help is there. Same thing going on with food and Electricity. Groups of people waiting for food, not really individuals. And groups of people preparing food. Trying to get them together seems the most difficult. Anyways, that type of thing is how they operate.

...One positive thing you haven't, and probably won't, see is mass pillaging of shops. Mass panic either. All very calm. They're so strong.

[Karen]

I wonder what this and the fact that the earth has moved on it's axes will mean for global warming or maybe an ice age a cometh?

It only moved a teensy bit, relative to the size of the planet, and will likely have not discernible effect on climate.

Our prayers are continually with the people of Japan, and their loved ones.

[pomtzu]

This is something that I noticed almost immediately when watching the videos of all the people: no panic, no fights breaking out, no looting, and nearly everyone taking things in stride. How opposite of the way things would be (and have been in the past), when the people here in the U.S. are faced with disasters in their own back yard. Hurricane Katrina is a prime example, and pics I've seen of this disaster in Japan remind me of that horrible event also. Homes washed away or surrounded by water, people on rooftops signaling for rescue, helicopters rescuing people from rooftops - so much similarity - yet the Japanese people as a whole, are coping so much better than we ever could.

[Grace]

Before and after satellite pictures of various places in Japan -

Frightening - http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2...r-tsunami.html

[pomtzu]

Before and after satellite pictures of various places in Japan -

Frightening - http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2...r-tsunami.html

Frightening - and heartbreaking. It's almost too much to comprehend.

[Freedom]

And now a volcano has erupted, in the south of Japan.

Those poor people!

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationwo...,2486939.story


Sunday's eruption, which was the biggest volcanic activity in Shinmoedake in 52 years, caused widespread destruction and panic. The blast could be heard for miles, and shattered windows four miles away, the BBC reported. Hundreds of people fled the area as the volcano spewed debris, including hot ash and rocks, more than 6,000 feet in the air, according to BBC reports.