Japan rocked with 8.9 earthquake.

[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]

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

[blue]

They say it's much worse! And if the reactor explodes, the radiation could be worse than Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Totally different type of nuclear fuel compared to a nuclear bomb.

Oh for Heaven's sake - knock off the petty crap and stick with the issues at hand. You of course, have NEVER made a typing error. Grow up, will ya' please??? Oh - forgive me - "ya" isn't a proper and acceptable word.

So if you think that these events will not change the world, then you are certainly entitled to your own opinion. Just stick your head in the sand and let the world go by all around you, and you will never be aware of any of these changes, and you can continue to live in your blissful state (of mind).

True, I am well aware that my grammar and spelling are horrible, thats why I love the spell check. I wish more people would embrace the spell check. So go lay down.

I do not think this will change the world other then to change building codes in earthquake prone areas. Did the Haitian earthquake change the world? More people died there, why wasnt that a world changing event?

Blue this is so horrible. The lose of life, the change in this part of the world. The years it will take to rebuild, to get over the emotional shock, scars of the people who have to witness the horror, the children who cry out for their dead parents.
The aftershocks could continue for months. Who and how can these poor people ever feel safe again?

I must have a higher opinion of the Japanese people then you do. The lose of life was minimal for how populated the region is. They will likely rebuild faster then New Orleans, NO is still rebuilding arent they. Did the 2004 tsunamis change the world? More people where killed there too.

Yes this will change the world in countless ways.
Do I remember WW11 yes I do? Better then you. My mom was in concentration camp and lost all her family. She had 10 brothers and sisters.
I understand how something like this effects a person for a lifetime, for generations these peoples mental state will be changed.
They will think differently, act differently and rethink what is important in life.
Something so profound changes people.
Just ask any man or women who served in battle and the horror they have seen how it changed them.
Now we have an entire country of shell shocked victims suffering.
The world has changed. No it will never be the same.
Just as WW11 changed the world this will as well.

I am very sorry the lose your family felt. Japan as a country likely remembers WW|| in as personal way as you do. They are also used to earthquakes, look at how they are dealing with this latest one. No looting, no riots, and no anarchy. So you may be right, this may change the world if the rest of us learn from the Japanese.

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?

Japan gets a lot of natural gas from us. I am unsure as to the amount of oil that we export.

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.

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?

Has Al Gore blamed the earthquake on Global Warming and George Bush yet?

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.

This is exactly why the Japanese built a lot of small reactors rather the the big ones America and Russia built. Even if one does fail it wont be a huge disaster.

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.

This is why I dont think the earthquake is a would changing event. California would be in utter chaos with all of the bad things Pomtzu brought up and worse.

Japan was, and is prepared for these type of natural disasters.