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Looks like we'll have to start stockpiling fuel sooner than expected.
People can't get water or batteries in Tokyo which is hundreds of miles from the epicenter of the earthquake, this is an extraordinary natural calamity but earthquakes happen here too, plan ahead
People will be fine there, it will take a few days but they will get things back to normal for those people who are mobile. They will have issues for a few days, but things will clear up pretty quickly. For those trapped and/or hurt, it could take awhile for them to get help.
The unique thing about Japan is the population densities. It would be like having an earthquake up and down both sides of the US, with tsunami's hitting on both coasts to basically have the same kind of effected population.
Â¥
2011 Mar 12, 10:28am
^ actually the recent quake is pretty identical to a big one going off in Monterey Bay (if such subduction faults existed there)
You could imagine the 101 corridor from Salinas to San Jose (same population as Sendai) losing power and all the coastal communities from Santa Cruz to Pacific Grove getting washed into the sea. Throw in some valley farmland and it's a closer match.
Only 4 deaths in Tokyo so far is a pretty damn good survival, given this quake was almost as bad in Tokyo as our 1989 quake.
But it's going to take a lot of time and investment to replace the hundreds of billions of dollars of economic loss to the Tohoku seaboard. Maybe a hundred thousand people have lost everything in this world, and they're going to be need to be recapitalized to get back into the primary sector of the economy, and meanwhile the secondary sector that served the ag and fishery industry is going to get similarly wiped out.
And this is not getting into the issues with the crippled nuke plant spewing radioactivity right now. Tohoku may only be a small part of the Japanese economy but this 2% or so just got kicked in the nuts.
American in Japan
2011 Mar 15, 5:31am
@Troy
Where did you get the 2%? Not saying you are wrong, just curious.
I have enough stocked (especially water for now).
It's now been a few days, I wouldn't say things are back to normal.
People will be fine there, it will take a few days but they will get things back to normal for those people who are mobile. They will have issues for a few days, but things will clear up pretty quickly.
The situation at the power plants is a ticking bomb
The danger of nuclear power plants is all hyped up. We have a serious group in our county attempting to create an energy park including nuclear power. That would be awesome and an economic boon.
Vicente
2011 Mar 15, 1:48pm
So are potatoes more or less likely than other foodstuffs to accumulate radionuclides?
Â¥
2011 Mar 15, 2:40pm
Where did you get the 2%? Not saying you are wrong, just curious.
Tohoku has 7% of GDP, so the coastal fishing industry is one fourth of that?
Plus Sendai serves as a regional center supporting the Tohoku coast, too, so lost GDP from fishing will bleed back to Tohoku.
Then again, if Japan can't get its energy situation sorted out by summer, it will be losing more than 2% of GDP just from the blackouts. Imagine trying to run a conbini when a third of your goods go bad every day. Plus all the transit mayhem.
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I've been reading about the events in Egypt and I found myself wondering what would happen if the US entered some kind of period of social/political unrest. I was surprised at how quickly the Egyptian government could shut off the internet, close the banks, etc.
Thinking back to the period after 9/11 I was also surprised at how everyone here panicked, and how quickly habeus corpus, and civil rights in general, were tossed to the side like trash. I don't have any faith that the US would act any better if something hugely disruptive came around again.
I was thinking of making my own "survival kit." I'm soliciting comments as to what you would keep on hand, like how much cash (it's useless in my savings acct. anyway). I plan also to get my radio operator's license (HAM). I'm not going to get any guns (there are kids in the house), and I reject on principle that kind of Armageddon-head for the hills mentality, but I want to be able to lie low, communicate with my family, keep people safe and fed, and get out of town if the need arises.
I already have the basics of food, water, battery-operated radio, etc. for earthquakes, but I'm thinking about a more disruptive scenario.
What do you think?