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Dodi Schultz
March 11th, 2011, 07:35 PM
Has everyone heard the awful news from Japan?

Steve, did you just manage to avoid getting caught in the earthquake and
tsunami? Or weren't you in that part of the country? (Actually, I gather
the entire Pacific is affected and I've just heard that, in a
comparatively small way, it's struck the Oregon coast!)

—Dodi

Steve Graham
March 11th, 2011, 08:13 PM
>>>Has everyone heard the awful news from Japan?

We arrived home, i.e. the Portland area, Monday night and the quake struck
Thursday night our time, so we were well away from Japan.

Japan, it seems, has more than its share of natural disasters. I suppose
that's why we imported the Japanese word for what we used to call, long ago,
a "tidal wave." While there, I made a comment about the frequency of natural
disasters in Japan, but next time I'll keep my big mouth shut, lest I give
the demons of the deep any more ideas. (They not only have earthquakes and
tsunami, but also world-class typhoons and volcanic eruptions)

The quake struck well north of Tokyo, but we were in the Kobe/Osaka area,
which is well west of - and a long ways from - Tokyo.

It's a persistent misconception in the West that Japan runs north and south.
It does, north of Tokyo, but just south of Tokyo, the land (island of
Honshu) turns and heads almost directly west. Thus, Kobe (site of the
disastrous 1995 quake) and Osaka were sheltered from the tsunami and a long
way from the center of the quake.

Tokyo itself shook, but didn't have much damage, from what I can tell.
(Except for that oil refinery fire.) On the other hand, millions were
without power.

Tokyo's International Airport at Narita (north of Tokyo) was closed, but has
reopened, so I guess it didn't suffer catastrophic damage. I don't think
Osaka's international airport (Kansai) ever was closed - at least I didn't
see that. Neither have I heard whether Tokyo's primary cultural attraction,
i.e. Disneyland, was damaged. Since the quake hit in the afternoon, it must
have been quite a ride on Space Mountain - but I digress. If the tsunami got
into Tokyo Bay, Disneyland is in real trouble, since it's right on the
water.

Our son lives in Kobe, but he had arrived in Hawaii for a few days vacation
on Thursday. He reports that where he was on Waikiki, (on an upper floor) he
stayed awake until 0430, but never saw anything noteworthy.

Here in Oregon, tsunami warnings were sounding on the coast (about 80 miles
west of here) and news people on local television stations were having
orgasms trying to sound knowledgeable about things of which they had
precious little knowledge. One "meteorologist" kept referring to "the island
of Japan." I'm not sure if that's better or worse than the CBS "newsman" who
called the inhabitants of Japan "Chinese."

When the bump in the ocean finally arrived, it was almost indistinguishable
in many places. We have heavier surf in our ordinary winter storms. That
didn't stop the local CBS affiliate from rebroadcasting the clip over and
over with a voiceover explaining that we just had to take their word for it.

Unfortunately, Darwin's theory didn't have a chance to operate on the dozens
of idiots who walked out on the beach to watch, despite warnings from the
sane portion of our population.

Another broadcaster, local radio this time, was completely ignorant of wave
action and prattled on about how fast the "water traveled to arrive at the
Oregon coast so soon."

If you got this far, thanks for reading.

Steve Graham

-----Original Message-----
From: dixonary (AT) googlegroups (DOT) com [mailto:dixonary (AT) googlegroups (DOT) com] On Behalf
Of Dodi Schultz
Sent: Friday, March 11, 2011 5:35 PM
To: Dixonary (AT) googlegroups (DOT) com
Subject: [Dixonary] OT: Japan


Has everyone heard the awful news from Japan?

Steve, did you just manage to avoid getting caught in the earthquake and
tsunami? Or weren't you in that part of the country? (Actually, I gather
the entire Pacific is affected and I've just heard that, in a
comparatively small way, it's struck the Oregon coast!)

-Dodi

Daniel B. Widdis
March 11th, 2011, 09:31 PM
SG> Another broadcaster, local radio this time, was completely ignorant
of...

If you think tsunami reporting is bad, listen to their doom and gloom
comparisons of the reactor crisis to Chernobyl. (In reality it's a lot more
similar to TMI.)

--
Dan, nuclear scientist

Michael Harrington
March 11th, 2011, 11:08 PM
....*news people on local television stations were having
orgasms trying to sound knowledgeable about things of which they had
precious little knowledge. One "meteorologist" kept referring to "the island
of Japan." *
Believe me, that wasn't just in your local news reporters in Oregon. I heard
a talking head say the same thing down here this morning in SoCal. Not sure
if it was local or national.

*I'm not sure if that's better or worse than the CBS "newsman" who
called the inhabitants of Japan "Chinese."*
Sorry, there is no excuse for that kind of goofiness. (So, my Subaru is
Chinese, then?)

I have been following this story closely having been in Japan for two years
from 1968 to 1970. Loved every minute of it except for the 8.0 quake that
hit us in Misawa-shi. (Hit off the coast of Hokkaido) I have always wanted
to go back. The people are fantastic.

Mike
*

*On Fri, Mar 11, 2011 at 6:35 PM, Dodi Schultz <DodiSchultz (AT) nasw (DOT) org> wrote:

>
> Has everyone heard the awful news from Japan?
>
> Steve, did you just manage to avoid getting caught in the earthquake and
> tsunami? Or weren't you in that part of the country? (Actually, I gather the
> entire Pacific is affected and I've just heard that, in a comparatively
> small way, it's struck the Oregon coast!)
>
> —Dodi
>
>