[Kolgena]

Is it just me, or am I not reading a lot about building collapses? There are fires here and there and things swallowed by muck, but nothing large toppling over.

If that's actually the case, kudos to the engineers.

[Rodo]

Man, some of the vids...
I'm probably the most unimpressive guy there is, still those shots from the tsunami wave and then reading these reports... It shakes me, down to the spine.

[Pred the Penguin]

Is it just me, or am I not reading a lot about building collapses? There are fires here and there and things swallowed by muck, but nothing large toppling over.

If that's actually the case, kudos to the engineers.

Even with super stable buildings, nothing short of a military bunker will stop a several ton boat. Heck, nothing will stop the water if that's all there was.

[Sandwich]

I'm probably the most unimpressive guy there is...

I presume you meant "difficult to impress"?

Any news about sea level surges in the Americas yet?

[Rodo]

I presume you meant "difficult to impress"?

Probably.

My cousin from Chile says they expect the wave to hit during the night, in like 10-11hs more.

[Scourge of Ages]

Any news about sea level surges in the Americas yet?

Listening to news snippets [EDIT: On the radio] this morning, any surges on the US West Coast (California, Oregon, etc.) are in the range of inches (cm). Nothing to worry about here, until the next big quake hits. 

[Astronomiya]

I live in Santa Cruz, CA.  The harbor here got hit pretty badly (something like $14 million in damage estimated).  One dock apparently exploded due to the water pressure, and a bunch of boats were capsize/thrown about/swept out to sea.  No injuries that I can tell.  I do know that one man is confirmed dead in Crescent City, and the harbor there got hit bad.  Two more are still missing up there.  The tsunami was 1-2 m high on the West Coast.

[Scourge of Ages]

Really? Woah, I guess my sources suck. I wonder if somebody could get a hold of Kusanagi, he lives on the coast.

[Klaustrophobia]

abc news is starting to piss me off.  i've been at work and know nothing of this, and now i have to put up with sensationalist reporting, snide remarks, and misinformation.  they seemingly just tried to incite mass panic by saying TMI is happeing over there right now.  RADIOACTIVE STEAM IS GOING TO BE RELEASED!  RADIATION IN THE REACTOR IS 1000 TIMES HIGHER THAN NORMAL!!!!

do NOT buy into this.  problems, yes.  crisis, absolutely not. 

[Scourge of Ages]

That's why I don't watch TV anymore.
Here we go: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110311/ap_on_re_us/us_japan_earthquake_pacific

Internet news ftw!

[Flipside]

Is it just me, or am I not reading a lot about building collapses? There are fires here and there and things swallowed by muck, but nothing large toppling over.

If that's actually the case, kudos to the engineers.

In the UK we get flooding on the River plains. Our solution : Lower house prices for buildings on Flood plains. In Japan/Korea etc, they'd start looking into building houses that could withstand it. It's one of the things that I've always felt Eastern cultures are far better at doing something about.

[Mustang19]

The headline you won't see: Millions saved by careful regulation and building codes.

[Mars]

I made that point on Facebook actually.

[Kolgena]

Is it just me, or am I not reading a lot about building collapses? There are fires here and there and things swallowed by muck, but nothing large toppling over.

If that's actually the case, kudos to the engineers.

In the UK we get flooding on the River plains. Our solution : Lower house prices for buildings on Flood plains. In Japan/Korea etc, they'd start looking into building houses that could withstand it. It's one of the things that I've always felt Eastern cultures are far better at doing something about.

Then we have China, home of stories about companies cutting corners in safety regulations for the sake of profits.

[Flipside]

The problem with China is size, population, politics and economics. They are at the same stage, in many ways, as Japan was 40 years ago, the market is almost entirely geared around products for the West produced as cheaply as possible, so the actual money to spend on Social structure is extremely limited. The difference here is that both Japan and the UK are capable of producing houses that have a good level of defence against natural disaster, but only Japan have chosen to invest in it. Now, admittedly, Earthquakes are a lot more dangerous than Floods in most cases, but Floods tend to be a lot cheaper to defend against.

As much as I hate to say it, life is also cheap in China, 1000 people die in a landslide? That's like someone being hit by a car in the UK with regards to total population impact.

[Androgeos Exeunt]

I was flipping through the papers earlier today and saw a report that stated that this most recent disaster might severely hamper Japan's economic recovery and reduce its GDP.

[achtung]

Fukushima prefecture says Tepco's no.1 reactor ceiling has collapsed - Jiji
by Reuters_TonyTharakan at 3/12/2011 8:34:47 AM3:34 AM

http://live.reuters.com/Event/Japan_earthquake2

Japan earthquake: nuclear disaster feared after power plant 'explosion'

Oh dear...

EDIT: Look! More!

Jiji news agency said there had been an explosion at the stricken 40-year-old Daichi 1 reactor and TV footage showed vapour rising from the plant, which lies 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo
by Reuters_TonyTharakan at 3/12/2011 8:46:35 AM3:46 AM

------

Japan Chief Cabinet Secretary Edano: expands evacuation area at no.2 plant to 10 km
by Reuters_TonyTharakan at 3/12/2011 8:50:12 AM3:50 AM

EDIT 2:
Footage of explosion

[Grizzly]

Is it just me, or am I not reading a lot about building collapses? There are fires here and there and things swallowed by muck, but nothing large toppling over.

If that's actually the case, kudos to the engineers.

In the UK we get flooding on the River plains. Our solution : Lower house prices for buildings on Flood plains. In Japan/Korea etc, they'd start looking into building houses that could withstand it. It's one of the things that I've always felt Eastern cultures are far better at doing something about.

Us dutch just don't allow anyone to build there 0_o.

[Flipside]

Is it just me, or am I not reading a lot about building collapses? There are fires here and there and things swallowed by muck, but nothing large toppling over.

If that's actually the case, kudos to the engineers.

In the UK we get flooding on the River plains. Our solution : Lower house prices for buildings on Flood plains. In Japan/Korea etc, they'd start looking into building houses that could withstand it. It's one of the things that I've always felt Eastern cultures are far better at doing something about.

Us dutch just don't allow anyone to build there 0_o.

Well, if there were one country in Europe that I would expect to be smart with regards to the risks of Flooding, it'd be you guys

[Grizzly]

The problem is that now the rivers are getting higher, we can't assign new flood area's without pissing someone off somewhere... The Netherlands is rather overcrowded, so if you have to make space for the river, you will have to ruin someone else's space...

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On Topic: A Nuclear Power Plant in Japan has exploded.