Japan Earthquake

Aurora · Post by **Aurora** » 13 Mar 2011, 16:25

Update from Disasters Emergency Committee

See: http://www.dec.org.uk/item/497

British Red Cross - Japan Tsunami Appeal

See: http://www.redcross.org.uk/Donate-Now/M ... ami-Appeal

Save The Children - Earthquake and Tsunami Appeal

See: http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/en/ja ... appeal.htm

biffvernon · Post by **biffvernon** » 13 Mar 2011, 20:00

Here's a remarkable set of before and after pics. Slide the central bar left and right.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011 ... unami.html

Ludwig · Post by **Ludwig** » 13 Mar 2011, 20:25

biffvernon wrote:So will the catastrophe stimulate economic activity into a frenzy of rebuilding and thus increase demand for oil or push the already fragile Japanese economy into another long term recession which spreads throughout the world to greater effect than the 2008 financial blip?

Such a recession is already coming anyway. 2008 wasn't a financial blip, it was the first phase of financial meltdown. None of the underlying problems have gone away - the banks are being kept on life support by governments funneling money into them that they can't afford. The only hope is for the economy to pick up so that governments can at least service the debts they're amassing in the long term. But the economy can't pick up because of the oil price. At some point this fact is going to hit home hard.

Of course there will need to be rebuilding in Japan, but the question is where the money for this is going to come from. More loans, obviously. Which is going to hasten the ultimate economic meltdown - though given the size of the existing debt problem, even something as big as what's happened in Japan probably won't make much of a difference.

stumuzz · Post by **stumuzz** » 13 Mar 2011, 21:38

Back In blighty.

A few thoughts on the Japanese tsunami.

I have become pretty PO prepared over the last few years. Fuel, food and essential supplies are well stocked and the house/business can go off grid at the flick of a switch. Transport can be run on a variety of different fuels.
The main reasons for these preps are obviously PO, but also complex JIT systems and global interdependencies.

I always thought that when TSHTF I would be well prepared and ahead of the curve.

So catching up on news this evening it appears a devastating earthquake hit Japan causing a tsunami, a nuke power plant has exploded and Japan, a huge economy has gone into meltdown.

Was I prepared? NO.

I was on a jolly in Paris. Sightseeing during the day, eating and drinking into the early hours.

In the middle of millions of people and not a whiff of what was happening in Japan. Life for the vast majority just ticked on as usual. I only heard about it whilst waiting for the Eurostar back home.

So a few thoughts/questions.

Should we have transport preps (how to get home) as well as the usual preps?
Will the behavior or demeanor of the general public give us any clue as to what may unfold, if we do not have access to news? Should an iphone/blackberry be essential so you can get an early warning of stuff brewing? Does watching the news too closely stop you doing more important stuff?

Post by **clv101** » 13 Mar 2011, 22:01

This is just incredible:

http://www.vg.no/nyheter/utenriks/jords ... bilder.php

RenewableCandy · Post by **RenewableCandy** » 13 Mar 2011, 22:29

Notice the only buildings that stood a prayer are the ones down"wave" from trees.

We need more trees.

UndercoverElephant · Post by **UndercoverElephant** » 13 Mar 2011, 23:00

stumuzz wrote: Should we have transport preps (how to get home) as well as the usual preps?

You cannot live your life continually prepared for today being the day some major world-changing event occurs. Although having said that, I do not go on foreign holidays anymore anyway...

Will the behavior or demeanor of the general public give us any clue as to what may unfold, if we do not have access to news?

Will do if it is a big enough event.

I was on holiday 9/11 - on a narrowboat in Worcestershire. Our mobile phones all went off of course and we listened to what was happening on the radio, but it wasn't until the next day and the next village that we could buy a newspaper and actually see some photos of what happened. It was a rather strange mixture of idyllic tranquility all around us with a touch of Armageddon coming through the radio.

Aurora · Post by **Aurora** » 14 Mar 2011, 06:12

BBC News - 14/03/11

Japanese shares have tumbled on the first trading day after the massive earthquake and tsunami that hit the country's northeast shore.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index fell 6% to 9,632.18, while the broader Topix index was trading 7.4% lower.

That has knocked more than $150bn off the Nikkei's total market value.

The Bank of Japan will inject 15 trillion yen ($183bn; £114bn) into the banking system to stabilise markets.

Immediately after the quake, the central bank pledged to "do its utmost" to limit its impact, including providing liquidity to money and banking markets.

Article continues ...

Post by **mikepepler** » 14 Mar 2011, 07:04

stumuzz wrote:Should we have transport preps (how to get home) as well as the usual preps

Yes. When I travel into London for work on the train I take a small survival kit, some extra food, wear decent (but smart) boots with wool socks inside and have enough clothes to keep me warm. I've also planned out a rough route home on foot.

I don't think these preparations are anywhere near sufficient, but they would at least give me a fighting chance of getting out of the London area on foot, and it would be really annoying if I'd thought of these preps and then had done nothing when an event happened... Note that it doesn't need to be a disaster, it could just be the electricity grid going off for some time or something weather-related

Cabrone · Post by **Cabrone** » 14 Mar 2011, 09:06

After this disaster it will be interesting to see whether Japan decides to swing away from nuclear towards renewables.

If a nation as technically advanced as Japan were to throw serious resources into wind, solar, tidal, wave etc could we see big improvements on efficiency and affordability? Maybe a large kick on for renewable energy?

Of course they may just choose to stick with nuclear and decommission these very old plants whilst building cutting edge 4th gen plants that don't use water as a coolant (and thus don't need to be near a big body of water).

Post by **clv101** » 14 Mar 2011, 09:26

Cabrone wrote:If a nation as technically advanced as Japan were to throw serious resources...

Japan doesn't have serious resources, they are broke.

Aurora · Post by **Aurora** » 14 Mar 2011, 09:32

More video footage of tsunami:

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/video/ ... 3215951498

Cabrone · Post by **Cabrone** » 14 Mar 2011, 10:30

clv101 wrote:
Cabrone wrote:If a nation as technically advanced as Japan were to throw serious resources...
Japan doesn't have serious resources, they are broke.

True but being as Japan has bugger all energy resources a decision like this would be pivotal to their future and therefore I suspect they'd find the cash somewhere.

They could print more funny money or more likely raise bonds (as long as they could find someone willing to give them the cash and I think they would as they still have a strong manufacturing base).

At least this debt would be for something good.

I also heard on the BBC that the Japanese govt are to inject 15 trillion yen into their economy so they must still have access to cash.

PS_RalphW · Post by **PS_RalphW** » 14 Mar 2011, 11:24

The Japanese government injected considerable 'funny money' into the system over the weekend. On top of their already huge debts.

In a sane world economy this would cause a lasting recession - Japanese economic output is going to take years to rebuild - both the factories and roads and railways and the refineries and the power stations.

Without electricity, economic activity is going to be seriously curtailed.

However, there are whole towns to be rebuilt - this will require huge amounts of resources to be imported. These could be diverted from the Chinese property building bubble, as long as China accepts Japanese bonds as readily as US bonds. China could also export all its unemployed skilled building labour force.

We could keep this show on the road for a few more years yet.