Japan hit by 8.9 quake and following tsunami

[jimmy olsen]

There are some great comments out there. I liked the one that said the Japanese deserved this and more because they eat dolphins and rape the sea.

I respect that comment more, even though I disagree with it, because it means that the person stating it as an understanding of current events rather than only knowing Japan from WWII movies.

[Neil]

There are some great comments out there. I liked the one that said the Japanese deserved this and more because they eat dolphins and rape the sea.

I respect that comment more, even though I disagree with it, because it means that the person stating it as an understanding of current events rather than only knowing Japan from WWII movies.

No, it just means that they watched The Cove, and are probably a fucking faggot.

[CountDeMoney]

There are some great comments out there. I liked the one that said the Japanese deserved this and more because they eat dolphins and rape the sea.

Yeah, that was totally unnecessary.  The sea struck back, you should just leave it at that.

[Darth Wagtaros]

There are some great comments out there. I liked the one that said the Japanese deserved this and more because they eat dolphins and rape the sea.

Yeah, that was totally unnecessary.  The sea struck back, you should just leave it at that.

Wouldn't it be the earth striking back? The sea just seemed to take advantage of the situation.  The earth is you on a date, the sea was Tim scurrying in for the leftovers.

[CountDeMoney]

There are some great comments out there. I liked the one that said the Japanese deserved this and more because they eat dolphins and rape the sea.

Yeah, that was totally unnecessary.  The sea struck back, you should just leave it at that.

Wouldn't it be the earth striking back? The sea just seemed to take advantage of the situation.  The earth is you on a date, the sea was Tim scurrying in for the leftovers.

Nah, in this case, the earth is Japan's boyfriend who Rohypnoles her and lets his buddy the sea fuck her while he watches because, well, they're buds like that.

[Neil]

There are some great comments out there. I liked the one that said the Japanese deserved this and more because they eat dolphins and rape the sea.

Yeah, that was totally unnecessary.  The sea struck back, you should just leave it at that.

If the sea struck back, then the Japanese need to show it who's boss by redoubling their efforts.  If a single marine species survives the next century, I'll be disappointed.

[CountDeMoney]

There are some great comments out there. I liked the one that said the Japanese deserved this and more because they eat dolphins and rape the sea.

Yeah, that was totally unnecessary.  The sea struck back, you should just leave it at that.

If the sea struck back, then the Japanese need to show it who's boss by redoubling their efforts.  If a single marine species survives the next century, I'll be disappointed.

Monkeybutt does your schtick better than you.

[jimmy olsen]

Just tragic

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/official-toll-is-1000-ndash-but-true-figure-likely-to-be-far-higher-2240969.html

Official toll is 1,000 – but true figure likely to be far higher

By Jerome Taylor

The estimated death toll from Japan's devastating earthquake and tsunami leapt tenfold yesterday as the world's third-largest economy struggled to deal with the crippling aftermath of what Prime Minister Naoto Kan has described as the worst crisis to face his country since the Second World War.

With the relief effort continuing for a third day amid plunging night-time temperatures, the scale of Friday's disaster was unfolding as official lists of those missing were being compiled.

The official death toll last night stood at 1,000, but looked set to rise further. Police said that in Miyagi prefecture alone more than 10,000 people may have perished in the 7-metre tsunami waves that crashed in to Honshu Island's north-east coastline on Friday afternoon. Previous estimates over the weekend had hovered at around the 1,200 mark.

All across the quake-hit area reports came in of towns wiped off the map with thousands feared dead or missing.

There are concerns that as many as 9,500 people are missing in Minami Sanriku – roughly half the town's population. Further north, in the port town of Rikuzentakata, city officials confirmed yesterday that only 5,900 of the 23,000 inhabitants had made it to city shelters in the past three days. In Fukushima prefecture, officials said they were still unable to contact 1,167 residents, including 918 in the town of Namie alone.

In a sombre news conference, Mr Kan called on the people of Japan to unite in the face of its worst disaster in living memory. "The earthquake, tsunami and the nuclear incident have been the biggest crisis Japan has encountered in the 65 years since the end of World War Two," he said. "We're under scrutiny on whether we, the Japanese people, can overcome this crisis. I am confident people can overcome these hardships if we stand united."

The scale of the rescue operation now needed for those affected by the earthquake is breathtaking, even for a country as wealthy and technologically advanced as Japan. New aerial footage has shown that hundreds of kilometres of coastline have been overwhelmed by tsunami waves caused by Japan's largest recorded earthquake.

More than 310,000 people across the region are being housed in evacuation centres, many of which have little heating to guard against the freezing night temperatures. A further two million homes are without electricity and rescuers are struggling to reach some of the more remote areas.

Japanese television reported yesterday that up to 10,000 people are still cut off from emergency workers in the Miyagi, Iwate and Fukushima prefectures, the three states hit hardest by the earthquake. Many were reported to be holed up in schools, shopping malls and food factories that were either missed by the tsunami or were strong enough to withstand its force.

More than 100,000 troops – half of Japan's armed forces – have been called in to oversee the rescue operation and to carry out the task of searching for bodies in the wreckage of once-thriving coastal towns.

The rescue effort has been hampered by more than 250 aftershocks, 30 of which have measured more than 6 on the Richter scale.

Friday's initial earthquake was so large that the US Geological Survey estimates that Honshu Island has moved 8ft to the west. Kenneth Hudnut, a USGS geophysicist, told CNN: "We know that one GPS station moved [eight feet], and we have seen a map from GSI [Geospatial Information Authority] in Japan showing the pattern of shift over a large area is consistent with about that much shift of the land mass." Japanese seismologists have upgraded the size of the quake to 9.

[Neil]

Monkeybutt does your schtick better than you.

Nobody does anything better than I.  I am power and majesty and glory.  Monkeybutt is just a guy from Ohio who marries young girls.

[jimmy olsen]

180,000 people have been evacuated. I think they're overreacting, but it's always good to be cautious.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42056237/ns/world_news-asiapacific/

[Baron von Schtinkenbutt]

Just tragic

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/official-toll-is-1000-ndash-but-true-figure-likely-to-be-far-higher-2240969.html

Official toll is 1,000 – but true figure likely to be far higher

CNN reported about an hour ago that rescue teams found about 2,000 bodies sometime in the last few hours in the Miyagi prefecture.

[jimmy olsen]

And 10,000 missing!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42058349/ns/world_news-asiapacific/

[Tonitrus]

A weaker quake in 1995 near Kobe killed about 6500, so I'd be rather surprised if that figure were not surpassed.

[Syt]

Austrian media are following the developments in the nuclear plants closely. They're not actually going , but I feel there's a certain smugness about the coverage and the local experts that seems to say, "And that's why we don't have nuclear power plants. We always said they're too dangerous. Here you have it."

[jimmy olsen]

Austrian media are following the developments in the nuclear plants closely. They're not actually going , but I feel there's a certain smugness about the coverage and the local experts that seems to say, "And that's why we don't have nuclear power plants. We always said they're too dangerous. Here you have it."

Nothing really dangerous to the public health has happened yet and that's after an apocalyptic natural disaster.