Hi again everyone. I have just been going throughout my days as normal, but all the news about Japan has been hard to hear these past 2.5 days. Yesterday I was very on edge because I didn't hear anything from my friend and roommate in Tokyo.
I know noone was killed in Tokyo, but I had seen video of things falling on people there so I was worried he might be hurt. But he finally contacted me and told me that he had walked from work to home, because transport was down, and it took him 7 hours!
Gas was out, electricity will be going in and out in Tokyo, and there has already been a run on food and water. But generally the damage is minimal.
Here are some quick facts about the disaster.
Earthquake
* There are aftershocks registering that are above 6.0 which would classify them as earthquakes in their own right. These will last quite awhile
* It heavily damaged about 1400 roads, roads heading to the Tohoku cities were damaged making emergency relief difficult
* There is no heat, power or utilities in the Tohoku area
* 1231+ buildings in Japan have been destroyed
* The red cross has mobilized dozens of teams to set up mobile care centers
Tsunami
* US and Japan troops are moving into the area and doing most of the rescue from the air
* A special rescue team from Virgina USA with 12 trained dogs are on the way
* There is a lot of standing water, which is contaminated and may cause infections and make rescue difficult
* Over 1000 people have been drown by the Tsunami, but tens of thousands are still missing (so the death toll will rise)
* 4 entire passenger trains are missing
Nuclear Failure
* Japan declared an atomic power emergency (they don't have enough energy to meet their need)
* 11 Nuclear plants shut down after the quake, 5 could not cool
* The Fukushima power plant's outer housing of a reactor exploded and radioactive leak has occur.
* Residents in the area have been given iodine tablets to protect them from type of radiation
* A 30 km radius has been cleared around the Fukushima reactor
* A 6.4 aftershock hit the Fukushima plant, stopping workers from pouring seawater on the reactor to keep it cool. If it can't be cooled it may melt down
There are so many parts of this disaster, its very complicated and the infrastructure in some areas are completely destroyed/gone so it will take so much time to reconstruct. As I watch the news there is also much bad things about Libya, fires in TX, floods in NJ, etc.
I hope you and your loved ones are all safe where ever you are.
