Japan rocked with 8.9 earthquake.

[CountryWolf07]

Mike was telling me that Japan has been hiding information within their nuclear power plants, is that true? I don't know what to think. And that also, Japan does not want our help, also. I keep thinking about the whole WWII thing - how Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, and how we bombed Japan twice.. can someone clear it up?

[Karen]

Mike was telling me that Japan has been hiding information within their nuclear power plants, is that true? I don't know what to think. And that also, Japan does not want our help, also.

The company in charge of the power plants has a history of hiding information from the public. They are continuing to do so. But yesterday the Japanese government said they would accept help from other countries for their nuclear situation.

I keep thinking about the whole WWII thing - how Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, and how we bombed Japan twice.. can someone clear it up?

The war with Japan was a complex matter. Yes, it began with their bombing Pearl Harbor, but they continued to bomb ship and targets throughout the war, including the famous Kamikazee pilots, who would run a suicide mission, and fly their planes into "enemy" (American and Allied) ships. There was plenty of bombing on both sides. The war essentially ended when we (America) dropped two atomic bombs on Japan - Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

[CountryWolf07]

The company in charge of the power plants has a history of hiding information from the public. They are continuing to do so. But yesterday the Japanese government said they would accept help from other countries for their nuclear situation.



The war with Japan was a complex matter. Yes, it began with their bombing Pearl Harbor, but they continued to bomb ship and targets throughout the war, including the famous Kamikazee pilots, who would run a suicide mission, and fly their planes into "enemy" (American and Allied) ships. There was plenty of bombing on both sides. The war essentially ended when we (America) dropped two atomic bombs on Japan - Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Ah! Now I understand. Thanks for clearing that up, Karen!

[Grace]

A survivor has been found -

TOKYO (AP) — Military search teams pulled a young man from a crushed house Saturday, eight days after an earthquake and tsunami wrecked northeast Japan.

The young man, found in the rubble in Kesennuma city, was too weak to talk and was immediately transferred to a nearby hospital, said a military official. The official, who declined to give his name because he was not authorized to speak to the media, had no other details.

Kyodo, the Japanese news agency, said the man was in his 20s.

The rescue is the latest and one of the few after the March 11 disaster, as the power of the tsunami, triggered by the magnitude-9 earthquake, likely pulled many people out to sea.

The National Police Agency raised the death toll Saturday, reporting that 7,197 people had died — exceeding the deaths from the 1995 Kobe earthquake. Another 10,905 were reported missing, the police agency said.

[RICHARD]

I am sorry to repeat this but....

I went thru a 6.8 EQ that lasted about 20-30 seconds

The Japanese people are getting AFTERSHOCKS in the 6.0 range everyday. The 9.0 quake was to have lasted 5 minutes.

Stand in the middle of a room and run back and forth for 5 minutes crashing into furniture.

I know the radioactivity is a major issue at the moment?

But there are thousands of people who are so shell shocked, the sound of a large truck rumbling by will make them instantly panic and have flashbacks about the original quake.

Please remember and pray for them also.

[kokopup]

I can see how Radiation might get higher on the west coast that they might expect. During WW2 the Japanese were able to launch balloons from their beaches that set forest on fire on the west coast using the Jet stream as it's rapid transit for their balloons bombs. There were confirmed deaths in Oregon from these bombs.

[ChrisH]

A survivor has been found -

Japan news agency withdraws miracle rescue story

[Karen]

It is still ongoing, yesterday's news seemed bad, but at least today they have restored power to one of the reactors.

The other news is much worse, they have dug down a couple inches 50 kilometers away in several spots, and found very high radiation. This is very bad, as the areas around there have many farms, and grow a lot of Japan's produce.

It is just terribly scary, and even if it isn't in the forefront of the news, Japan will be dealing with this for many, many years to come. And even the damage from the earthquake and tsunami will take time and care to repair, the nuclear situation is just making it more tragic.

[smokey the elder]

(geek hat on)
The problem with radioactivity is, it depends on which isotope. Iodine 131 is the stuff that goes to the thyroid. This stuff has a half life of 8 days. So even if it did get into fish, it would decay rapidly to inert (stable) elements.

On the other hand, you have strontium 90, which has a half-life of 28.8 years; and cesium 137, about 30 years. Sr 90 is the isotope which is like calcium and goes into the bones; and Cs 137 is in the sodium group. These are what made the milk dangerous after Chernobyl. It is the longer half-life isotopes that are the worst, especially since they like to get into the system and hang around, causing great amounts of damage.

(geek hat off)