Merged 8.8 quake in Sendai, Japan

[PhantomWolf]

I'm looking at the map and it looks like 35 or 40 kilometers to my house. It's six in the evening.

I hope the trains start back up.

Probably not a good idea to be walking about with those Tsunami coming, if you get caught in the open you won't be able to outrun them.

 

[gumboot]

Probably not a good idea to be walking about with those Tsunami coming, if you get caught in the open you won't be able to outrun them.

Really good point. Often Tsunami events come as multiple waves, building over time, with the most devastating ones arriving some time after the initial ones.

Early indications are this was a very long quake (at least that means low ground acceleration and will soften the damage a little) which means there could be Tsunamis for a while.

 

[Alan]

Several Australian MPs are in a bullet train that has stopped. One is Michaelia Cash. I do not know who the others are.

 

[Squid]

MPs?

 

[gumboot]

MPs?

Member of Parliament. Politicians.

 

[PixyMisa]

Members of Parliament. They seem to be safe.

 

[The_Fire]

I'm not good with geography. What kind of landscapes/topography are we talking about between Tokyo and the tsunami. I've taken a look at google maps, but I'm unsure of the directions etc. Are those mountain ranges of any use as wave breakers?

 

[icerat]

tokyo is not at much risk from the tsunami

 

[Orphia Nay]

Google.com has this message:

Tsunami Alert for New Zealand, the Philippines, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Hawaii, and others. Waves expected over the next few hours, caused by 8.9 earthquake in Japan.

 

[PhantomWolf]

tokyo is not at much risk from the tsunami

looks pretty flat in that area on google maps, and it could go up Tokyo Bay too.

 

[PhantomWolf]

So a 6.3 in NZ, a 5.8 in China, and now a 8.9 in Japan, must be the start of the end of the world in 2012.

 

[The_Fire]

Oh hell. Philipines/taiwan are about to get hit within the next 5 minutes.....

 

[gumboot]

So a 6.3 in NZ, a 5.8 in China, and now a 8.9 in Japan, must be the start of the end of the world in 2012.

I figure the earth has just decided to get all of its natural disasters for the year out of the way early.

 

[The_Fire]

I figure the earth has just decided to get all of its natural disasters for the year out of the way early.

or She's PMS'ing. Which would mean an...Interesting next couple of decades.....

 

[23_Tauri]

Does the wave amplitude get bigger the further from its point of origin (as one would expect), making the wave higher, or are there other factors that affect the height of the tsunami wave as it travels?

This is just awful.

 

[The_Fire]

REcommendation through danish television: Get at high ground at +6 mtrs/18 feet above sealevel if you are at a threatned location.

 

[The_Fire]

Does the wave amplitude get bigger the further from its point of origin (as one would expect), making the wave higher, or are there other factors that affect the height of the tsunami wave as it travels?

This is just awful.

From what I understand, you'll also have to factor in waterdepth and wether or not its at sea or over land as well as topography.

 

[The_Fire]

Taiwan: Estimated height of wave: 0,5 - 2 meters (is this correct?!) at a speed of 500 km/h

 

[Soapy Sam]

Puppycow- maybe safer to stay put? There will be traffic accidents, power outages, many additional hazards to a journey - as well as many other people on foot. You might do better to stay where you are and bed down for the night wherever you can.

 

[23_Tauri]

From what I understand, you'll also have to factor in waterdepth and wether or not its at sea or over land as well as topography.

Ok, well assuming that the tsunami is going to be travelling through deeper waters further out in the Pacific Ocean, that doesn't bode well for people in the Phillipines, Hawaii and other Pacific Islands etc. What if there's nowhere high enough to avoid a 10m high (and growing) wave? Christ....

ETA: the Red Cross have announced that the tsunami is higher than some of the Pacific Islands.