8.9 Earthquake and my Triumph (ALL JAPAN DISCUSSIONS HERE)

[motomaniac]

Well, the government could have foreseen this since we have earthquakes here all the time. Every time there is an earthquake there is also a tsunami alert. So, if you know that you have many earthquakes and tsunamis why would you build 15 reactors along the east coast where the huge fault sits just offshore and where the tsunami is most likely to hit? The answer is because they are completely stupid.
The reason the generators got knocked out is because they didnt have them well-enough protected nor did they have them on high ground. Again lack of foresight and general incompetence. The nuclear power people have a terrible safety record and done some amazingly stupid things like this:
In 1999 three workers received high doses of radiation in a small Japanese plant preparing fuel for an experimental reactor.
The accident was caused by bringing together too much uranium enriched to a relatively high level in stainless steel buckets outside of the reactor in a shed, causing a "criticality" (a limited uncontrolled nuclear chain reaction), which continued intermittently for 20 hours.
A total of 119 people received a radiation dose over 1 mSv from the accident. Two of the doses proved fatal.
The cause of the accident was "human error and serious breaches of safety principles", according to IAEA.
Later they brought in homeless people to clean up the accident.

There have been many similar acts of stupidity but they are allowed to get away with it because the media in Japan is strictly controlled by the government. Now, the whole world can see how stupid they are but unfortunately the guys who made this disaster are safe and sound while the rest of us have to suffer. I have many students who live in the area and this is only about an hour from here. I have ridden past these power plants many times.

 

[innominate]

Radiation is one of those things that ppl may get lazy about bc you don't see it. And generally ppl are exposed to it in smaller doses over time so it takes awhile before you see the effects of your negligence. And the dangers of it can seem nonexistent until someone f's up and the shit hits the fan. I work around radiation and see ppl not taking the most appropriate precautions, myself included, on a daily basis.

 

[motomaniac]

True. These guys here make a habit of it unfortunately. Radiation levels were through the roof this morning after the explosion. Another nuclear power plant which is nearby apparently had a problem this morning as radiation levels shot up and then died down a few hours later. It was not reported in the news here but it was caught by monitoring stations that automatically transmit their readings via the internet. I was lucky to see it: Radiation spikes. I have been inside all day with external ventilation off but the neighbors and others around me are letting their kids play outside as if nothing is happening.

 

[motomaniac]

Just dug up this article from 2004 which predicted this whole mess: Warnings Ignored

 

[Sal Paradise]

How is Tokyo otherwise? What is your estimation of the ability of the rest of the country to resume normal life?

 

[innominate]

i was hopin this nuclear crap would not get outta hand. have some family near tokyo. but most are farther south in yamaguchi ken

 

[Bonniebret]

A friend of mine who lives in Japan was in New Orleans when everything happened. She got back last night and posted this on Facebook:

"Shinjuku is eerily devoid of neon, but things seem to be up and running in the Tokyo area. No shortages or blackouts in Suginami-ku, but everyone is doing their part to conserve power."

 

[ivar]

that article was pretty much spot on...

 

[strokerlmt]

Every day it gets worse. Looks like the nuke issue will become a huge threat. Those poor people they have lost everything. Thoughts going their way....
LMT

 

[motomaniac]

Well, it gets more surreal here everyday. The radiation cloud blew over my area yesterday and there were several serious radiation spikes during the day. Radiation was detected in Tokyo and beyond although the Japanese gov't is downplaying it. However, the US military put out a directive to all of its non-essential personnel to stay inside and to seal up all windows and doors and they are south and west of Tokyo. People here are outside with their kids even as I speak so either they have been misinformed as to the danger or they are just too stupid to realize it.

Supermarkets in my area are open but there are shortages. There is no gas to be had anywhere. Still, I had stockpiled food and water so I have no need to go out. Lucky for me I went to COSTCO just a few weeks back and stocked up.

The reporting from CNN International is hysterical and sensationalist with the idiots speculating today whether Mt. Fuji, which has been dormant for 300 years, could suddenly spring back to life and obliterate Tokyo!! Anderson Cooper was reporting from the city of Akita which is way over on the west coast and nowhere near the earthquake zone pretending as if he were in some danger. I guess the producers at CNN are worried about the effects of radiation on his hairpiece.
Still nothing about US military rescue and recovery efforts nor has there been any acknowledgement of foreign civilian rescue teams from the Japanese media. Their efforts have been sidelined by the Japanese gov't who don't want to admit that they can't handle the problem and the military who are extreme nationalist and want a return to the good ole days of 1941.
Yesterday, the nationalistic governor of Tokyo, Shintaro Ishihara, said that Japan deserved the disaster because it had turned into a greedy, western-style country. I kid you not! This same lunatic has been re-elected for four terms so it shows you clearly that many people believe the bullshit this guy regularly spews out. He even had the police and military practice riot suppression against foreigners in the case of an earthquake in Tokyo a few years back. He specifically said that foreigners in Tokyo would use the opportunity to loot the city if there was an earthquake. I guess all those foreigners (around 50,000) in the earthquake zone must be having a good time!

We had a biggish earthquake here last night about 10:30. It was a level 6.9 and was centered south of Tokyo where we often have many earthquakes. There are also nuclear power plants in the area but apparently there was no problem although they closed the expressway that leads south out of Tokyo and some train services have been halted. It felt quite big here about an hour north of Tokyo. I live in Kashiwa, Chiba prefecture.

I have many students who live about an hour further northwards near the border with Fukushima prefecture where all the nuke stuff is happening. None of them are in the evac zone but they are very close to areas of high radiation which according to radiation sensors near the border with Fukushima were 60 times higher than average most of yesterday. I saw the data from the sensors myself as it was online so I know it is true. I don't have data for my area but I would guess it was 5-10 times higher here depending on the time. The sensor data has now been taken offline. I assume this is to make it easier to cover up what is happening. There were civilian scientists with geiger counters who were also posting data but they too have gone silent. I'm hoping it is just temporary as it is one way to really know what is happening.

We are living in strange times here. Reminds me of a funny movie I saw a few years back. Anyone seen this classic?

 

[KingBear]

From what I have seen the Japanese people (at large, not necessarily the government officials) are handling this crisis with dignity and forbearance. I see no looting, no rioting, no profiteering. Just people trying to come to terms with an ongoing tragedy of epic proportions.

This thing isn't going to be over for some time, and then the road to recovery will be long and difficult. But I believe the Japanese have the character to come back from this stronger than ever, and we must embrace them and support them along the way.

 

[simpson]

Moto- just read your post to my wife. When I was finished I looked up all she said was, "holy shit, I had no idea"

Take care of you.

-simpson

 

[ivar]

motomaniac,
your non-bs reports are appreciated.

Here in Norway mainstream media is like everywhere else, either "Nothing bad can happen - everythings under control" , or scaremongers going "OMG - we're all gonna die!"

 

[Sal Paradise]

motomaniac your reports are a knife through the b.s we get on TV.

One way of dealing with it is by humor - we were mocking the networks yesterday with their extreme focus on scaring everyone to keep their ratings up. How many times can they say "meltdown" and show a stupid graphic animation of a reactor per hour? Got no information but have to keep the ratings up!

Sounds like you are taking reasonable precautions for now. I think that bringing in food supplies would be solved by the government and the city in the near future. You and (everyone there) have my sympathy and are in my thoughts constantly. Please continue to update us.

Sal

 

[motomaniac]

Thanks guys! I am still holed up here in my apartment using the computer when the electricity is on and catching up on some reading and sleep when the power is off. Still no gas and the trains into Tokyo are not running on a proper schedule. The idiots in the government have instituted rolling power cuts but unfortunately they are not keeping power to trains during the blackouts. So, unnecessary chaos is the order of the day for the rail network. It basically boils down to poor coordination between the gov't and rail networks and a common trait here which is for someone to take charge. They have meetings about meetings and twiddle their thumbs because nobody will take charge and get shit rolling.
We had another biggish earthquake today along with the usual innumerable tremors. I've lost count of how many there have been but at times it has been every three or four minutes. The big one today was apparently a level 6 but I am so used to them now that I hardly bother to stop whatever it is that I'm doing. It feelings like being on a boat when a large ship passes.....everything sways back and forth for a minute or two. Luckily, there haven't been any of the up and down earthquakes which really shake the buildings and cause the most damage. The side to side ones are not so dangerous which is why most of the houses here and up north survived the initial quake. The tsunami was the real killer. Of course, the radiation is going to get a lot of people in the long term. The levels are still very high and get higher the closer you get to Fukushima. You can see the levels here.. Horiguchi Hitachinaka (1024nGy/h) is near the border with Fukushima. Yatabe city (205nGy/h) is just 10 minutes from here. Normal levels are 30 - 50 to give you some perspective.
There is no price gouging or looting and people go about their business in an orderly way. The western media are saying this is because the Japanese are "special" or "different" but the reality is there is almost no poverty here so people are not really ever in need in their normal lives. Most young people live with their parents until they get married including grown men. If they lose their jobs they can always fall back on their families which are wealthy compared to a typical American family. I realized how wealthy they were on the second day I was in Japan back in 1995. It just happened to be the "recyclable garbage" pick-up day. That's the day once every week or two when you throw out anything you don't need and a big truck comes and collects it all from each neighborhood. I looked out the window to see what was happening since the collection point was right outside. There were people throwing away TVs, radios, computers, gas stoves, bicycles, skis, scooters and even a motorcycle!!!!!! I couldn't believe it! I immediately went out and began collecting this treasure when my Japanese wife ran out and pulled me back inside and told me that if I touched anything I would embarrass her family and the neighbors would think I was crazy! All of the stuff was basically new and even the motorcycle had the key in the ignition and looked only a few years old. The odometer said less than 20,000kms! The wife said people were throwing this stuff out because it was last years model and they wanted to get the newest models!!!!!! I know you guys will find it hard to believe but people have even offered to give me motorcycles and a few cars simply because they didn't want them anymore and they didnt want to pay the tax on them!!!! My first motorcycle in Japan was given to me by a guy because he didnt want it anymore because it wasnt stylish enough for him! No shit!

Well, we all know what would happen in the West if anyone put this stuff out on the curb. It would be gone in seconds because people don't have money to buy such nice things. So, there is no looting here simply because most people have never experienced "want" and can't imagine what it is like to not have someone take care of them. There just are no extremes of poverty like we have in the West. Plus, the affected communities are small towns and villages where most people are inter-related and everyone knows everyone else. Even where I live, which is a city of over 400,000 people, I am constantly being told by my students that I was seen at such and such a place and that I bought this or that at the grocery store even though I rarely see my students outside of school! So, if I go out on the drink I make sure I do it far away in Tokyo but even then I have been spotted by former students. So, if you do something bad here everyone will know it and you will be shunned by the community and your parents will have to apologize for your stupidity. Thus, no looting.

Just look at the cars which they show being washed away by the tsunami...if you notice there are no junky cars or crap like we have to drive in the states on a daily basis. They are/were relatively new cars even though the area where the earthquake hit is one of the poorest ares in Japan! Look carefully at the people standing in line outside the markets. You don't see any hardcases like you would in the states. Everyone looks uniformly wealthy, healthy and middle-class and that's just the way it is here. Rich, well-fed people don't need to steal.

I understand that the gov't has now placed restrictions on what the media can report regarding the ongoing meltdowns. I assume the coverage will start to shift away from this story or to other more favorable reporting unless another one explodes or people start glowing in the dark. Helicopters have been banned from a 20 mile radius so it will be impossible to see what is happening without restrictions. I think the western media will also constrained by these new restrictions as well so you will probably notice uniform stories about these events from the major media outlets as the gov't takes firmer control of information flows. I will watch the radiation monitors as that is the surest indication of something happening. Hopefully this shaking and radiation shit will stop soon....but even now the place is shaking again! Not a big one...just a small one.

 

[motomaniac]

Having a very big one just now!!! Spoke too soon!

 

[nohawk]

Very interesting insight,especially for someone who has always been curious about Japan. The news over here are all over the meltdown situation but no mention of the aftershocks that Ive heared.

 

[mark66]

Moto, reading your posts is like having a window to what's really going on. Thank you so much for writing them. As you know 99% of our news is all fluff and fear mongering. Your letting us know how it really is. Hold on tight!

 

[Bonniebret]

Thanks for the update, Moto. If you have the chance post some pics.

 

[koifarm]

For sure Moto, thank you so much for the insights and the reality of what's happening.
The damage is horrific, the government seems like it hasn't changed much, virtually no one want's to have the finger pointed at them so they all defer and defer and defer...but with the world looking at them they are going to have to come up with a reasonable presentation of the actual facts. The nuclear thing is huge...and as you said, could be causing some immeasurable damage downstream.
thanks again for keeping us in touch with how things really are.