Posted by As most of you are already aware, Japan suffered a major earthquake last Friday (3/11), last reported to be 9.0 magnitude, making it the largest ever recorded in the country’s history. The epicenter struck off the coast of Sendai in the Miyagi prefecture and caused a catastrophic tsunami which hit the eastern coastline. The quake and its aftershocks caused heavy damage, but was incomparable to the destruction of the waves. Sendai was hit by a massive 10-meter tsunami traveling at jet speeds and many other cities such as Tokyo suffered 4-meter high waves as well. Everything in the tsunami’s path was swept away, including entire towns, and many people were stranded by the water. The official number of dead is 2,000, but the amount of people unaccounted for is in the tens of thousands. Most troubling at the moment is the damage to the nuclear power plants located in the disaster areas. The cooling systems of four nuclear plants failed and officials declared a state of emergency. Workers attempted to cool the reactors by pouring seawater, but the resulting hydrogen reacted with the oxygen and caused several explosions. Luckily, the reactors cores remained intact and full meltdowns were avoided for now, although radiation levels are still many times above normal.
I commend the Japanese people for being able to deal with this severe disaster and nuclear crisis calmly. Their system has been worked to the maximum efficiency; television warnings were sent out one minute before the earthquake hit Tokyo and tsunami warnings were issued immediately, saving lives. The earthquake building codes and tsunami protection systems are among the best in the world, but unfortunately the sheer scale of this crisis caused unbelievable amounts of destruction. I cannot imagine the casualties that would have occurred if a less-developed country had been hit by such a disaster in population dense areas. My heart goes out to those suffering through this tragedy and to those with missing friends and family members. This has been described as “the biggest disaster the country’s experienced since World War II”. Images of the devastation are surreal, but emergency response teams have done an impeccable job with evacuations and rescue operations.
The tsunami also affected several other areas in the Pacific, causing damage in places as far away as Hawaii and California. Taiwan was not affected severely, and my friends and family there are fine, which is a relief. I hope the best for Japan and everyone going through this disaster. Many people are still stranded and missing, with dwindling supplies of food and a lack of electricity and heat. So many bodies are turning up that there is also a shortage of body bags and cremation services are overwhelmed. If you would like to help, the American Red Cross and various relief organizations are accepting donations. Crunchyroll is matching donations as well, up to $5000.
Updates and details on the situation can be found on BBC.
My thoughts and prays are with the people of Japan. 🙁
Pray for Japan.
Indeed, our hearts and prayers are with Japan
Just a random thing to throw in here…
If you’re going to donate to Japan, make sure you’re actually donating to Japan. For example, if you’re donating to Red Cross, don’t donate to “Red Cross”; donate to “The Red Cross’ Efforts in Japan” (don’t actually know what it’s labeled as). Otherwise your donation gets split among all their operations worldwide.
Very true. Also, just because the title of a charity says Japan Tsunami Relief or something to that effect, does not mean they are a legitimate charity. Sadly, there are always those who would try to take advantage of the misfortune of others and start a scam. Please donate to a reliable charitable organization. There are several organizations that monitor charities, such as Charity Navigator or Charity Watch. Check with one of them and make sure that most of your money is actually going to go to where you think it should go.
Just a suggestion – animenewsnetwork has links to websites (legit) taking donations for the event. Would be a good place to start.
I noticed that too when sharing links. I donated to both Red Cross’ Earthquake Charity and Crunchyroll seeing as they were most familiar to me.
I’m pretty sure the tsunami/earthquake happened on Thursday night, but it was reported Friday morning for most people out there… I found out Thursday night (California time) because my friend’s family lives in Japan.
But at any rate: yes, my thoughts and prayers and money go to the people suffering in Japan. 🙂 Fundraisers are beautiful ways to raise money, non?
Thursday night in California is pretty much Friday in Japan…
…you’re right. OTL
Just to add to Vsin’s statement
Don’t donate to Christian charity organizations, the Japanese need food and blanket, not boxes of Bibles.
So true, so true…
Wow O_o That’s offensive. Not every Christian charity is like that. Saying “Donate to a charity you trust” would have been enough. There are Christian charities that help people LONG after the initial hype dies down. I commend some of them. Please don’t stereotype.
I know for a fact most established Christian services like the Catholic Relief Services (The Vatican’s official relief arm) keep on giving after the initial months, where people tend to forget. It’s highly wrong to label all religious relief services as ‘bad’ or ‘not-trustworthy’ due to some bad seeds.
wow, you’re a douchebag, SnooSnoo.
While it’s true that some Christian charities can be a bit like that, I highly doubt all of them are like that.
I thought Tokyo Magnitude 9.0 was bad, but honestly, this is reality. The fact that I didn’t consider the effects tsunamis would undoubtedly have in case of an earthquake is frightening actually. Sometimes reality is scarier than fiction.
Just today I was listening to a report on how a hospital in one of the provincial regions had suffered major damage…but was the only building standing in the region. When they began describing how the people in the lower floors didn’t have time to evacuate…it just made me cringe. They showed how they made the top floor of the hospital a makeshift morgue for those who couldn’t make it…to think of the poor defenseless women, men, children, and elderly whose last memories had to see a giant flood overcome the town they lived in…is just shocking.
Thoughts and prayers got out to the great people of Japan
aww these gonna be no anime or manga for a while, its alright though they can take as along as they like to recover from this disaster
The blunt display of Western culture’s actual concern and sheer lack of tact has made this simple statement one of the funniest things I’ve read this year.
That statement isn’t, yours is.
come on dudes, this is a real calamity, stop being silly and selfish,
if anime delays it will be here in some time, but when some one dies , there’s no come back
prayers and best wishes to japan
^ anime09 did complain but also acknowledged that the complaint was minor and that japan could take as long as they’d like to recover. i don’t see any problem with his statement.
Perhaps I’m just cynical- but I do honestly believe the whole reason why people even give a shit in the first place is because Japan has all the cool stuff.
Were the earthquake/tsunami strike any other country over there(China, Taiwan, Thailand,etc.) I think people would be much less concerned.
“Oh China. Whatever. Buncha Commies”.
@Stranger Well, since many of us had been pirating and watching Japanese entertainment for free, it’s not wrong that we feel like we owe it to them. After watching anime for a long time, I’d personally feel like a douche if I didn’t help out Japan at a time like this. I also know that no matter how much I donate, I still won’t be able to cover the cost of all the animes I’ve watched, so the money I’m donating is technically theirs in the first place. On the contrary, I don’t feel like I owe China or any other country anything. I would still help any country that faces a disaster, but I know I won’t help them as much as I would help Japan.
I hope everyone in the affected areas still stranded can be rescued…and they are able to resolve that nuclear power plant issue quickly.
I am pretty sure Japan will be fine. All nations hit by the Boxing Day disaster in 2004 dealt with it. With the majority of the damages and lives lost was caused by the tsunami, Japan will probably make 30-40 foot dikes in their coastlines. All my condolences to all people of Japan.
Yeah, I seriously expect some Tsunami counters to be put into place as they are obviously at great risk from those.
“Tsunami Counters” (ie: Seawalls), are already in place. They got beat.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/14/world/asia/14seawalls.html?pagewanted=1&_r=3&hp
The video the headline image is from is over here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-zfCBCq-8I
Note how there’s cars on the other side of the wall? That’s because the water is usually back from it and there’s docks and loading areas on the other side. You can see an example of exactly how much space and how high the water had to get from the other side of the wall in that video over here.
Hope the Japanese people will be ok soon.
(sigh) it’s just so hard to beleive that such disasters are happening one after another. We are closing in to 2012. If this is just the begginning, then………. for now I just hope japan will be OK.
Let’s not imagine that, shall we?
I just hope that donating fifty dollars to the Salvation Army is just as good to help when I have personal problems to deal with.
Nevertheless, I hope for safety an. Security for the people in Japan; cause praying requires a lot of thinking up what to ask for.
Earthquakes happen all the time, they only become an issue when they impact cities where people live. http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/. On the side bar they also have a link that shows an animation of the earthquakes that happen in the US by the hour.
No one will care that a 9.0 hits somewhere out in the desert if its impact isn’t felt by a city.
That’s not the main issue, the Nuclear radiation is the main problematic. Radaition is a huge problem that Japan now has to deal with. Not to mention, unlike our recent oil spill, poluted radiated water isn’t exactly easy to contain or clean up.
Not to mention the economic crisis that Japan is going to have, right now, we are already having a recession, we don’t want to have any more problems.
The problem is that almost all of those earthquakes are below a 7? There’s a huge difference between a 5.0 and 9.0 earthquake. Unless that desert has no-one within several hundred to maybe even a thousand miles, the impact will be felt.
^ not downplaying the earthquake. trying to present a theory that this disaster isn’t necessarily related to 2012 myth just because it’s correlated with the timing.
my friend arrived in Japan just the night before the tsunami, couldn’t contact him. Finally managed to reach him after an entire day, glad he was safe. He and his family were safe, but electricity is out.
Taiwan on the other hand like Proof said is not affected very much, which is a great surprise to me. I don’t understand how Taiwan that is so close to Japan is fine while California and Hawaii got hit.
That said, on a slightly unrelated note. I did not know Proof was Taiwanese as well, I’m glad your family in Taiwan in safe as well. Being the one person in my family that lives in US, it was rather difficult to know the situation as well, didn’t go to sleep till almost morning until my friend called saying he and his wife were safe.
As I understand it, Taiwan is on a different tectonic plate, and was therefore mostly protected from the quake.
My thoughts and prayers to the Japanese people.
No no, the worry about damage in other countries wasn’t about the earthquake, but the tsunami caused by the earthquake. In Osaka for example, the only people who felt anything significant during the earthquake were people in tall buildings when the buildings swayed. So Taiwan of course wouldn’t have felt anything.
I actually finds it amazing that there wasn’t more casualties or damage then it was. It’s somehow proof that the Japanese building things to be earthquake proof did it’s fair part to save the country from being flattened. Most of the damage wasn’t from the actual earthquake’s but from the Tsunami’s. The nuclear plants are a bit embarrassing though as it’s fairly obviously a poor political decision involved. Shutting down a reactor is actually something that needs to be done carefully, so while having the reactors automatically shut down may sound good to the public so was it a lot more dangerous then simply letting them keep running. Tjernobyl accident was also caused by the reactors being cooled down below the levels needed to drive around the coolant.
Add the fact the disaster was more or less a perfect storm of all the worse case scenarios. I hate the fact the issue is now being politicized in some circles of the US as a case against nuclear power. These are 40+ year old designs. The fact we’ve yet to see something as bad as Chernobyl means that it’s doing well…for a system that lost MUCH of its backup safety power systems in the resulting tsunami and had to rely on battery power and then whatever can be jury-rigged into the plant’s internal power system. The politicians should leave this alone, and only do things when the engineers tell em to do something.
New news. Three reactors have leaked over the weekend, and not an hour ago, A FOURTH reactor has reported to have leaked now! While these are miniscule amount that have escaped and the only people at risk of exposure to radiation are the plant workers struggling to fix them, people are still not taking any chances and are checked for exposure at every moment.
Those guys staying behind and trying to fix the reactors knowing its leaking are very courageous no matter if its their job.
Please read the following article about the reactors. They’re functioning perfectly fine and at no point have they been in crisis. The plants weren’t even designed for this level of disaster and they’ve still been as safe as an international flight. The article explains things very well. The continued sensationalizing of well executed safety procedures annoys me to know end.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/03/14/fukushiima_analysis/
Adding a reply to draw attention to the link. It’s a pretty good read.
Here is another good detailed read about the nuclear reactors in Japan. It should be looking safe to be honest. Nuclear power get a bad rep, must modern reactors are very safe, and they always have plenty of safety measures and backup plans.
The more pressing concern right now is food, water and shelter to the thousands of Japanese victims.
Seriously? That contradicts most recent news articles, interviews with nuclear physicist and doctors as well as live reports I’ve read in the last few days. The increasingly more worried official announcements make me believe differently as well.
And apparently in the latest explosion damaged one of the reactors’ containment vessels.
I think recent events should show how very wrong that Register article really is. At the very least it doesn’t draw the right conclusions.
The issue is being sensationalized, and I agree with the article. Frankly, if the media and politicians would keep doing these things, I can see no hope for a nuclear Japan, or France, or America. The politicians in Japan are taking precaution, and the engineers are fighting to keep the system going when everything has been stacked against them. But overblowing what has already been foreseen in standard operating procedure (loss of power, etc…) and the appropriate response to it would only lead to a bunch of talking heads and pundits on both sides of the ocean and abroad to take their talking points and stand on a soapbox.
The gravity of the situation gets worse, is understandable when your lines of communication, your analysis to the disaster, and the compounding effects of problems deteriorate your initial assessment. Worse case scenario, the vessel melts, nuclear fuel is spilled to the third containment zone (the building itself, with the especially designed floor to contain the radioactive sludge and spread it out to help cool it.) At which point, SOP would be followed and that building is quarantined, the plant shut down, and inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) come in to inspect the plant.
Maybe I really don’t understand enough about the whole issue, but I must say I find it odd when this article published yesterday says things like “All reactors’ temperature is now under control and the residual heat reactions inside them continue to die away; soon, no further cooling will be required.”
when today we get news about new explosions, breached containment chambers and the japanese government beginning to warn its citizens about what to do in case of a radioactive cloud.
Of course I expect the mass media to play this situation up and critics of nuclear energy to take this up as well, but it seems to me like the article takes the exact opposite stance and plays it down, because the author advocates nuclear energy (even the title says “Buildt more nuclear power plants now”)
Maybe I’m wrong. I’m just an average Joe. I guess the next days will show how serious or not this is.
but then again the news reports are also running on their own agenda of tryin to generate “news.” even if those articles written seem to have a pro nuclear stances, you can always research the claims to see if their description of the science is accurate. which will be a lot of effort.
I ve really been waiting for someone to cover this tragedy.
First of all I d like to thank Proof for making this post.
The saying bad things always happen is succession seems to be quite
appropriate as what started out as an earthquake elevated into a tsunami
and now a nuclear meltdown seems imminent. If i wa jus a normal guy i would rarely
care about something thats happening half way around the world from me. However seeing
that i m a huge fan of Japanese Culture(especially Mangas and Anime) I could only nod my head…
Let us just pray(no matter what religion u belong to) for the safety of the people in
Japan as the future of manga and anime hangs in balance.
As for the various artist that I admire I hope all of the mare safe and that they can resume their work to bring joy to people.
Manga and anime should be the least on our minds right now. But it’s not doubt that we know more about Japan than many other countries which, admittedly, also need relief MORE than them. Japan is one country rolled into a big ball of concentrated Awesome, and it breaks my heart that they have to experience this.
I already made various donations and am planning to gather some of my friends to go to japan for volunteer work.
OH BTW CAN EVERYONE PLEASE HATE THIS VIDEO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UmotTE-VlY
best to ignore trolls
I am glad that my family member and friends in Japan are ok. Most of the Japanese stars are reporting themselves via twitter and so that’s also a comfort. I am still shocked by the devestation and seeing the tsunami hit live was just terrifying. I’m so glad I live inland.
I am extremely enraged by some of the ignorant comments I’ve been seeing from Americans: “Karma right back at you Japan for Pearl Harbour!” It’s complete and utterly disgusting how unbelievably irrelavent and thoughtless these comments are. I really want to smack a new face onto these kinds of people!
yeah… I hate to say it but I wonder what other countries will call those ‘Americans’ and their remarks when the 9.0 scientists predict, at an unprecedented possibility, may happen to the Pacific Northwest, which has the same kind of plate movements that caused this disaster… I hope it never happens, but the same was said before this disaster. (If you need to know more, go to any of the following: http://news.opb.org/article/79604-oregon-not-prepared-magnitude-90-quake/ http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/dailyweekly/2011/03/history_lesson_earthquake_pacific_northwest_japan_tsunami.php http://www.physorg.com/news123259545.html
On another side note, it seems Ishihara, Tokyo’s Governor, has claimed that this disaster is ‘Divine Retribution’ for Japan… I question how someone like him is in office… I facepalmed the instant I saw the post on ANN… I guess the good news is he didnt try to claim it was retribution for all the loli/sex/ecchi manga and anime like some people expected.
Oh well, people will be people. I just hope for the best for Japan, they seem to be handling things calmly, unlike what I expect to happen if science and history prove to be true in the Pacific Northwest here in the US… *facepalms*
Heard the news about the thing he said as well. He won’t be elected every again, I believe.
Eh, I’m from Louisiana, and after Hurricane Katrina, we had to hear about how the US “got what it deserved for Iraq” or some other reason from many foreigners, and many Americans also saying New Orleans “got what it deserved”. You just got ued to it. The Japanese though, they were always very kind, and it endeared me more to their nation.
You know,the ones who spell “harbor” with a “u” probably aren’t Americans (I’ve seen it quite a bit)…which confuses the hell out of me. I understand dumb people here in the US saying something like that, but from other countries? WTF?
Welcome to 21st Century society where people think they fit in best by being retarded in large groups.
My condolences to everyone overthere. I pray no more lives are lost over these events.
Sadly however there have been monsters like Watson of Sea Shepherd and Ishihara who have made “sucked in” comments. People like these should get kicked by a horse and die.
You should see some people say “This is payback for Pearl Harbor” or stuff like that it makes me feel so pissed off. What’s worse is that it makes America look worse when there’s people in the country who are busting their ass to help the Japanese out. Really is sad to see that =_=
My condolences to the people who have suffered from this tragic event.
It’s difficult for me to gage my emotions with regards to this disaster. As a caucasian American, I suppose it’s strange for me to feel so depressed by what’s happening thousands of miles away, but I can’t help it. I have put so much thought into Japan, and it has given me so much in return: from anime, to culture, to the simplest idea of being a better person. I feel strangely connected to this, even though I know I’m safe in my bed in America. Perhaps I’m not the only one.
All I can say is that the Japanese will always have my sympathy and my understanding. It is remarkable that fifty years after WWII, there can still be such hatred in America with regards to the Japanese, as demonstrated on my facebook feed when a girl at my school said “Karma’s a bitch, Japan. Remember Pearl Harbor?” As if we didn’t get our revenge by dropping the atomic bomb and sending Japanese Americans to what FDR termed “concentration camps.”
Anyway, the Japanese are in my thoughts. Let us all hope they can get through these tough times.
Thats the problem with facebook nowadays… they can shoot their mouths off and not give a damn… Then again, I guess there are people like that given Tokyo’s own governor has called the disaster ‘divine retribution’…
And also, most of the hatred people still feel about Japan is because they are to worried about their so called ‘life’ (usually involves lots of parties, and lots of illegal stuff) that they don’t take the time to properly learn things like history…
Some people in China are doing exactly the same thing actually, cheering and saying BS like it’s what the Japanese deserve after committing the crimes (massacre) in China in WW2. It’s not that I cannot understand their sentiment, but I find it little related to the disaster and tens of thousand innocent lives were deprived because of it. I mean, after all, Japan has paid the price as described in the textbook, and it’s time to let that hatred go.
People with these backwards views are frankly disgusting.
Any comments that I see on social media sites that state that this terrible disaster is some kind of payback is immediately flagged as inciting hatred.
I don’t have much of an opinion on this topic, but I will say this much:
If an American is calling this revenge for Pearl Harbour, I’d like to point them to Hiroshima. I’d think dropping nukes on a major residential area could possibly be construed as more than adequate revenge for a successful surprise attack on a large military facility.
I am a proud American, however when I see people spouting ignorant comments on social networking sites like facebook it makes me sick. What has happened in the past is just that; the past. The current generation should not be held accountable for the sins committed by our forefathers.
Despite a minority of hateful, idiotic people, most have been very supportive and helpful; which really is something to admire. The Japanese people too, have done a great job given the grave and tragic circumstances that have occured. It pleases me even more to see the wonderful people who visit this site showing they’re support. Even if you can’t donate anything, the smallest thoughts or prayers make can make a huge difference.
I also am American and I feel no different than you. Japanese way of life has changed me greatly despite the distance between us. I have nothing but love for them and its people.
I am ignorant towards racial matters because I haven’t been exposed to it growing up nor as of current. (Lucky.) I will try to stay away from Facebook whenever I can though because that’s ridiculous. I wish Japan to strengthen their resolve and make speedy recovery. :’]
Although I have no family or friends live in Japan, I have been following the news regarding this devastating quake for the last few days to the point that I am starting to feel the despair of those suffering. I just wish and pray that the ones survived are treated well, and the nuclear reactor crisis are contained as soon as possible. You can make it, Japan!
PS. Glad to hear that your family and friends in Taiwan are safe as well Prooof.
the Sendai airport swamped
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_6iDBoOvb0
sad
News from difference sources come with difference detail. Some sources tell story that look like Japan sank. Right now I follow NHK.
No Anime this weak…. me sad
same here 🙁 , but the most important is to save the people in Japan 🙂
For those of you that don’t know yet, a volcano erupted on Sunday as well.
It was actually beginning to erupt early last week. It was in quite a few places as kind of side stories until this happened.
well, 2 to 3 reactors maybe having a meltdown along with the formetioned 4th caught on fire earlier, some week Japan’s having (just terrible)
one of the said source
Hope those reactors cool down within the next few weeks
fyi, the 4 said reactors are @ the same complex – Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant…the other 3 reactor plants that were said to be affected by the earthquake are okay still (as of their last report in the weekend)
a more recent source
The earthquake was terrible. It was bad even here in Western Tokyo but my heart goes out the folks north in Sendai. But the nuclear plant failures are more of a concern here in Japan now. Several hours ago, 10 am Tuesday here, the winds changed and radiation levels shot up 10-23 times normal in central Tokyo. Trying to stay calm but not a happy camper.
What are more helpful to Japan; Buy more Japanese products (BD, DVD, dolls, games, consoles …) or give money to charity. Wouldn’t rev up Japanese economy is better helping Japan to help themselves.
Well, prices for japanese goods and products, have skyrocketed because of this disaster, and although It may help the Japanese in the long run, our main priority is to donate what we can to aid the relief efforts and keep everyone alive.
For one, USN carrier George Washington with attendant ships is helping with rescue action off the coast near Sendai. So yeah for Pearl Harbor idiots. Severe disruption in the electricity supply due to disaster at nuke plants means there are rolling power outages, and anime industry is possibly suffering as well. But I would gladly give back all of this years anime if it would mean no such horrible life loss. I am also amazed by organization, solidarity and discipline of the Japanese people. Compare to Katrina, or worse, Haiti.
I am not most religious person, but such moments make me pray for the death toll to be smallest possible.
Japan did an amazing job preparing for and responding to these disasters. I know that many people lost their lives and many more are missing but it could have been so much worse. I really really hope and pray that they find those missing people unharmed and that there are no more deaths reported.
Shocked at the massiveness of this,
There are many manga/anime writers currently missing, one of the most noteworthy is Masashi Kishimoto, creator of Naruto, and others https://spreadsheets.google.com/lv?authkey=CNjfz9sC&hl=en&key=tJGqk96XYAsMueFout6fz4Q&type=view&gid=1&f=true&sortcolid=-1&sortasc=true&rowsperpage=250&pli=1
and ANN link of anime/manga/game celebs that have ‘cecked in’ via twitter/etc http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2011-03-11/anime/manga/game-industry-members-check-in-after-quake
hope most of them survive.
If there is a country in the world that can suffer an earthquake, tsunami, volcanic eruption and nuclear danger at the same time, that’s Japan.
They work together so calmly and amazing. ANY other country would fall to pieces.
A few months ago we had a fire going on over an entire city in Israel. We got crazy. It took us a week to put it off and there was such a mess, everyone was freaking out and yelling at each other.
Now, watching the Japanese handle some REAL problems, even the news said “we should learn from them, they do this perfectly”.
Too true.
Hope you guys are okay there after that fire you mentioned as well.
Thoughts are with Japan.
It’s so tragic … so far around 88,000 people are missing … and 10,000 people dead IIRC.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/events/japan-quake-2011/beforeafter.htm
Before and after shots of the quake/floods…. it’s devastating that all those houses are wiped out..
Most of my friends in Japan and their family are safe thank god.. But i prey for those left in japan..
As others have said, if there was any nation prepared for a disaster like this, it was Japan, except that this earthquake was one of the biggest in all history 🙁
I love the Japanese people and everything about them. I’m not even remotely Japanese and I’m not ashamed or afraid of all the potential “weeaboo!” remarks from all the haters when I say that post-war Japan represents some of the best of what Humanity and Civilization has to offer, and I’m sure that the spirit and unity of the Japanese people will get them through this disaster to emerge stronger than ever, just as they have done before.
On a side note, all the recent disasters have gone to show us that the best hope for humans in times like these, is other humans; Keep your Love strong, absorb Hate instead of returning it, and combat Evil by nurturing Good.
Peace.
Thoughts and Prayers to all who are enduring this crisis.
Anyone who is willing and able should donate what they can.
My thoughts are also with the people of Japan who are affected by this earthquake.
I know it is a very tough time and that it may take a while to recover but stay strong Japan. I know you are all strong enough to get through this.
I really do wish I could hear more stories on survival on the News. I fear every time I turn on the news.
And ignore the sick people relating this disaster back to Pearl Harbor, Whaling or Hurricane Katrina. Most of them were bashed back by millions of Japanese supporters and we really shouldn’t let idiots get to us.
Stay strong Japan. Right now you are showing the world how brave and calm you all are.
I really must commend the calmness and the cool headedness of the government as well as the people in dealing with the tragedy =)
looking foward to their recovery
Hope they are fine.
This was such a horrible disaster. After my hometown in NZ got hit with the recent earthquake, I thought that was bad enough but to see what Japan is suffering is just incomparable.
All I can do is to pray and hope that everything will be fine. It’s really such a saddening thing to see Japan hit by a disaster of such magnitude.
What makes me so angry is the fact that the CCP and 50 Centers had the nerve to mock Japan and make fun of Japanese after this event. It’s even more outrageous they could have done this when Japan donated and sent tons of aid during the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. Shame on CCP !!!
Be strong Japan !!!
NUCLEAR CRISIS
russia chernobyl nuclear total explode and meltdown release ton of radiation and radiation decay can make land become radiation decay zone max life for decay is billion of years!!!
DOOM-day 2012-2050 2012 is the beginning of end! destruction ending 2050!
worldwide now have about 400++ nuclear reactor plant this don’t bode well for earth if another earthquake reach up to 10 and aftermath + volcano erupt destory nuclear plant WORLDWIDE RADIATION SUX TIME WE GOING UNDERGROUND TO LIVE OUR LIFE FOR REST OF LAST MANKIND!!!
Quote From @hello_online
Translated tweets from Japanese citizens in the aftermath of the quake. Fascinating/heartbreaking/heroic http://is.gd/pI1XXu
china is very selfish people watching people to die i tell you
u all idoit go help china sichuan earthquake BAKA in the end they don’t help you cause they still remember hatred for world war 2
China is not selfish for one with a country of 3 billion ppl you really don’t have much to spare to help other countries, two china is kind of still consider to be a third world country where most of the city states are still farmland and undevelop, three is sad there are like 2 thousand ppl got kill and many more missing in this earthquake but do you know how many chinese got murder during WWII by the japanese, probably ten to hundred times more that got murder by the japanese during WWII, that kind of hatred cannot be eaily forgotten by the older generation.
China has sent help to Japan
lolwut
Well unless BBC is lying, i see some people from china involved in the rescue
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12756780
I could barely hold back my tears as I saw the panic and fear in people’s eyes as the world around them began to crumble. There was one clip of the street level and a girl was looking all around while the ground shook. People behind her were running frantically as debris shattered against the ground just inches away from them. I feel so scared for those who’ve lost everything they worked hard to keep. “What will happen to them?” and “How will they recover from this?”
A question that comes to me time to time is who exactly died? I know there are many missing but I can’t help but want to know if any of our favorite Japanese individuals from televised shows were caught up in the wave.
My deepest regards to the victims of this horrible event.
https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?hl=en&key=tcCCSmH2BqksxvElSLRTbBg&hl=en#gid=0
Here’s a link to a spreadsheet listing Japanese personalities who are safe. Hope that helps a little 🙂
Thank you very much. It helps a lot. :]
My condolences to japan as well:( I pray that they can somehow recover their lives><
Condolences. </3
Them Japanese taught the world one important lesson: They can respond calmly and well to a crisis of such magnitude.
Kudos. My cheque is coming to Japan’s Red Cross. I just came out of the hospital donating blood.
I send my Condolences to Japan and their citizens and pray for their safety.
well I think everyone in Japan knew that this day was coming fair enough they get alot of earthquakes/stroms etc but this wasbound to happen, it happened it sri lanka years ago its happened here followed by a bad series of events. hopfully it wont take too long to start recovering I hope we at the UK and US can help out. I also hope that our fave developers and voice actors werent not caught up in the wave 🙁
Be Strong Japan! we(the bloggers)are with you and pray that you get through this.!
Condolences to Japan. I’ll be traveling to Japan at the end of May hopefully (barring any further problems with the nuclear power plant that could affect Tokyo) mainly as a tourist excursion, but now I’m also looking at donating as well.
stay strong japan!!!!! nippon banzai!!!!!
I guess we all suffered a little with what happen in Japan.
Rest In Piece to all teh souls lost in the tragedy.
Condolences to Japan…
I can’t give you anything, except my best thoughts
and prayers..
be safe, stay strong and know that we are with you!
So sad of seeing this happened on the news on that day.
Me, my family and friends sends my hope and condolence to japan.
i’m so sad and almost cried my tears out, but i hope
the japan people to be strong.
We are with you Japan and the world.
Takziah.
This article came rather late here, but never mind that, my condolences to everyone there, its good to see that international effort are currently underway for disaster relief there. As much as Japan are preparing for such event it is never enough, though the death toll might not be as much as the 2004 quake and tsunami we should remember that peoples life are not statistical number to be compared.
What came to my mind next is the effect it will had on the international economy, already the news of Fukushima reactor meltdown send almost (if not all) asia pacific stock index to a deep fall, even including the dow’s. And what’s pissing me even more is that someone had the guts to make a hoax that there will be radioactive rain in my area because of the Fukushima incident (I live like thousands of kilometer from Japan) and then transmits it via BBM and SMS. Why would someone make fun of something so serious is something I cannot understand.
Lastly about Fukushima reactor meltdown, I remember reading a manga called coppelion just before a few days before the quake happens, it has a scenario of a nuclear reactor meltdown caused by an earthquake. Just until then I thought that fiction is just fiction, never thought it could come so close with reality.
Some newspapers around the globe, speccially from United States and France are taking advantage of the situation to make scandalous news whitout real knowledge or facts about the nuclear reactors in Fukushima. It makes my blood boil to see how some people only see profite in the misery of others, disrigarding that their news could cause mass panic to a country that has already suffer so much.
Is kind of sad due to the effect of an earth Japan don’t build too many tall building afraid of crumbling down during earthquake, but because of that the ppl don’t have too many high places where they can stay away from the tsunami. So you can’t win in this situation, either died by building crumbling on top of u during earthquake or get swept away in a tsunami.
The earthquake and Tsunami are bad enough on their own, but the crisis at the Fukushima Dai-ichi Plant is what really worries me. 150,000 square kilometers was affected by the disaster in Chernobyl. If this plant goes into full blown melt-down, it could ruin a good portion of Japan for decades, or even centuries. It’s 25 years later, and people still can’t live at Prypiat. I hope and pray that a similar fate doesn’t await the Japanese people living in the Fukushima province.
I was starting to think it was sad that no one in this blog was making an entry about this. Thanks, Prooof, for acknowledging this.
These people are not getting any breaks. While coping with the earthquake and tsunami damage, they have to deal with continuous aftershocks and nuclear radiation threat, and even volcanoes.
The workers remaining to work at the nuclear plant are real heroes.
I can only hope that it is resolved soon.
suddenly, this hits and reminds me of the animation not too long ago, tokyo magnitude.
hopes japan the best.
For all the grace of gods and power of men I hope the nuclear plants will be safely under control. I salute the bravery and sense of responsible possessed by the plant workers to fight on in an environment like this.
Also shame to the electric company’s decision makers for some of their dubious record alterings in the past. I hope all other companies and organizations in charge of things as powerful and dangerous as nuclear plants take heed for the future’s sake.
I’m really worried about Japan, all the disasters they are facing. It’s really sad watching the news and seeing all those people suffer.
It’s nervewrecking to think that only 300 miles away (I live in Aomori Prefecture in Japan; American base), people are suffering the loss of family members, friends, etc., where I was lucky enough to only have 2 days without any electricity, heat, or clean water.
Biggest concern for me is the nuclear power plant meltdown at Fukushima, and though I’m aware that the likely hood of it traveling 300 miles north is next to impossible, it still urks me.
i saw on newspaper that the earthquake was so strong that it caused the whole Japan to move 2.44meters from it’s original spot… & that there was a volcano eruption at the other side of Japan that was not affected by tsunami…
Prays for the missing pple to be alive & the… pass away to RIP…
there was an earthquake in Honshu yesterday. Dear God, Hear our Prayers.
Don´t pray to god is not going to anwser, in fact this is his doing, is cleaning is greatest mistake, us, the human garbage.
I was not thinking in making donations, my country is near bankruptcy, many are unemployed, but you made me think a secund time.
I will wait for the end of this nuclear crisis for it, I hope for the best of the people of japan, … and for the leaders of the nuclear industry, GO TO HELL, AND TAKE NUCLEAR POWER WITH YOU.
I don’t think you should fault anything in what happen to Japan, for one, its a natural disaster, the people of Japan has long prepared for the likes of it but still a natural disaster being natural as it is cannot be predicted, let’s just say that Japan has a high level preparedness, its just that the disaster is in a notch higher. As for the Nuclear power, it has both negative and positive benefit for that. One thing that this disaster should tell as is how civilized Japan in handling their problems. Of course their is unrest amongst the people but its in a level that is tolerable. The rest of the world should look up to the Japanese standards.
In my country, time and time again whenever something bad happen, the first thing politicians will do is to Finger point, no one is responsible, its always another person, the people will blame the government for every misery they are experiencing while not looking upon themselves and try solving something on their own.
Back to Japan, while I believe no finger pointing is done so far is a testament on how the people there understand on how far they have prepared for this kind of disasters. Of course sooner or later someone will point a finger to somebody even for a country like Japan, but I like it better when they act first to control the situation rather than blaming one another first before even doing something to control the situation.
Banzai Japan!
Hang in their Japen; we’re rooting for you.
If anything, I don’t think that debating about pointing out stuffs like retribution or nuclear radiation and the likes. We should be doing our best to help them tide over this crisis. I found it utterly ridiculous when I read news reports criticizing Japan for not taking better measures for the safety of their nuclear reactors, rubbish coming from a small group of Americans saying things like “Ha, this is payback for Pearl harbor” and others. So, does it make them feel good about themselves when they laugh at others’ misfortune. Why are they still bringing up stuffs like World War II that happened decades ago. Can’t they recognize these are all part of the past, and right now, we are living in the present.
In this times of crisis, Japanese people shown great resilience and mental fortitude, they have proven themselves capable of putting others before themselves in a crisis. There was this news report I read that said, a elderly woman who was trapped apologizing to the rescuers for bringing them inconvenience, and telling them to rescue the others first. Another said that despite this crisis, law and order was still upheld with hardly any case of looting and such, and there was a certain rare case of looting that was committed by foreigners instead of their own people.
Right now, I don’t think it’s the time to care whether of not they are Japanese people or pointing fingers. This is a time when people should see each other, not as different races, religion or nationality, but as equal human beings and help each other out.
Donations, relief aids will certainly help, but I think the one thing we all can do to help is to stop pointless criticism, stop posting rubbish. Rather, we should post helpful links and news and wish them our best here.
Ghostalker
I am not puting the blame in anyone, I just hate nuclear power, if that power plant didn’t exist it be over now, But thanks to that milions can died and all the population of japan will have their bodies destroid for life.
Final post. I Hope for the best, one way or another. Please.
You’ve got to be kidding, trolling, or simply misinformed/ignorant. ALL of the population? Really? Don’t be an idiot.
@Gray w
you raised an interesting point their. assuming your not japanese, i would want to hear the opinion of a japanese living in japan for that matter. in history, it is clear that the japanese is the biggest loser when an atomic bomb was drop there twice in 1945. so how come despite its clear threat and history, the japanese is one of its biggest user? according to news 30% of their electricity comes from nuclear power. while i respect your opinion, its good to hear an opinion of japanese out there.
The reason Japan is one of the biggest users is that despite all the claims of danger involved, Nuclear power is currently the safest, cleanest and most efficient source of power we have access to. Yeah, solar/wind is cleanest/safest, but they’re not very efficient.
Just looking at the link posted about the scale of nuclear reactor accidents. There’s been a single level 7 (Chernobyl, which involved the people there TURNING OFF SAFETY MEASURES to reach that level of devastation) and a single level 6 over the span of the last 60 years.
In the US, 85% of our power is from Coal and Oil. Can you name any incidents involved in these resources? Coal miners have a life expectancy of what? Mine collapses happen how often? And what about oil spills? Pretty sure those things are more common than nuclear crisis’ and can be pretty devastating, the Gulf one with BP recently being a huge contributor to that.
There are drawbacks to ALL types of power sources. The fact that it took a 9.0 magnitude quake and 10-meter tsunami to cause any sort of issue points to how safe nuclear plants are these days. Their issues are almost fully because they lost power to their backup generators to keep pumping water into the core. However, they’re using Generation II reactors. Generation III/IV reactors (which exist of course) have a “passive” pumping system and would not have failed in this circumstance. So with the latest form of nuclear reactor, they would have had absolutely no issue whatsoever after a 9.0 quake and huge tsunami.
Like the other haters, you’re a problem, not a solution.
Oh no its the end of the world! everyone’s going to die from a nuclear explosion!
Not…
This is rated as a level 4 event http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Nuclear_Event_Scale
from http://www.ft.com explaination “The scale is designed so the severity of an event is about 10 times greater for each increase in level.”
It’s been upgraded to a 6 for one of the reactors. If they don’t manage to solve the problems they are having so will it end up a 7 soon.
It’s really heartbreaking to see people take this situation in Japan lightly or even joke and make fun of the situation. My japanese friend on facebook was praying for Japan and it’s people and some guy commented “Well, this is God’s way of stopping overpopulation”. I mean really, that is extremely heartless.
On the other hand, I’m glad there are many more that are concerned about the problem at hand and are raising awareness to donate and help relief efforts in Japan, my japanese teacher started a fundraiser and a lot of us are helping out the cause, hopefully we can at least raise $1000 to help all the victims. If you any of you can, I encourage you guys to do the same at your school!
As 2nd generation Japanese and married to a Japanese, I had a bit of doubt coming to the site and seeing how much people would care for Japan over the anime and manga (which is still part of Japanese culture). I was surprisingly pleased, we do have friends in Sendai region and my wife has a couple of friends in Miyagi prefecture that she lost track of. I personally want to thank everyone for the nods to the Japanese people. There were a lot of conflicting information which created a lot of confusion (even in Japan as we speak). The issues and worries are not on the aftermaths and the tsunami but mostly on the nuclear plant in Fukushima. Also, the worries continue about the food shortage and electrical shortage experienced but overall, most Japanese are moving ahead and trying to keep a normal attitude. Mostly, in Osaka and Kansai region, the effect of tsunami and earthquakes were not felt.
We did get a lot of calls, texts and messages throughout the week-end. It has been tiring and stressful but overall, I believe Japan will strive forward.
I am Canadian but also and foremost, we here are grateful for each nods given to the families and people who have lost dear ones in this tragedy. I would want to say more but honestly, even after almost a week after this event, we are both really tired but still worried about what is still happening. Please extend your thoughts and prayers to the SDF and workers that are doing so much more than their best working to avoid a greater catastrophe.
Again, sorry for my poor English grammer.
if that happens to our country i am sure we are totally erased in the map. i am really admire on how tough Japanese were and the discipline they are show in times like this. in behalf of the Philippine community I extend our prayers for their safety and hope that there would be no more additional damages that will occur.
With all that is already said and done, what I’m more concern about will be the media’s handling of the current situation in Japan now, especially now the concern is on the nuclear facilities hard hit by the earthquake/tsunami, because the media simple never get it right in terms of accuracy of the contents of reports. Based on experienced, what I experience first hand that felt like I get worried or amazed by a situation once the same situation is reported on TV it became overly dramatic or too lacking, despite the fact that what I experience first hand and what the media reported is the same thing, something along those lines — What you experience first hand, the effect is either too lacking or multiplied many times when seen on TV. I don’t know, its just disturbing as it is. I’m not saying the situation in Japan isn’t catastrophic and disastrous in epic proportion, IT IS disastrous and in a scale of EPIC proportions, however I’m pretty sure what we see on media is either lacking on contents or multiplied many times over what is really happening, basically we don’t see how big or small the picture is. Just a thought…
I’m not trying to criticize media for the handling of the situation, it’s just that the camera cannot see the bigger picture. I don’t know, their is an uncertainty in me that is saying its either we are not getting enough OR we are getting TOO MUCH from the reports.
My thoughts are for the people of Japan, as one of its closest neighbor and with a part of their culture I’m so deeply attached with, and with parts of our history deeply connected with them, I hope and pray for their speedy recovery and for the situation not to get any worse than what is happening now.
Banzai Japan!
PS: I apologized for the somewhat redundancy of my first paragraph. I just keep on typing what’s on my head.
I saw the saddest photo of the tsunami yet. An old man sat outside the remains of his home, crying, because he lost his wife to the disaster, who was asleep at the time. He knows a tsunami is powerful enough to scatter everything to the extent that NOTHING is in the right place afterward, but he doesn’t go search for her. Why? Because he BELIEVES she is still right there, underneath the rubble of his home. For some reason, that photo, out of all the ones I saw since last week, made me cry.
One new problem seems to be that it’s about to get colder again in Japan. A lot of people have lost their homes and doesn’t have shelter from that cold. As far as I know so are help organisations like the red cross yet to be allowed to come and help. Japan is a proud country, but no single country have emergency relief on standby to handle a catastrophe on this scale.
allahu akbar GOD giveth and yet GOD taketh my condolence to all the people afected by this great disaster and i pray that ALMIGHTY ALLAH forgive those that died in this tragedy.i hope japan will get through this as soon as possible any one who donates to help japan will surely be rewarded by ALMIGHTY ALLAH.this should serve as a warning to disbielievers to tell them all the wordly things they have is vanity. we came to this world with nothing and we are going back with nothing………thanks with regards.
“This should serve as a warning to disbelievers”. Man, shut the hell up! This NATURAL disaster had nothing to do with any god. It’s so sad that all you religious nuts are using this tragedy to try and scare people into praising god.