Anyone in Japan? Tsunami alert - any more news ? PLEASE

[RatherBeOnThePiste]

DH who gets these things has had a tsunami alert for Japan. Does anyone have any more info? Itsjust breaking news about the massive earthquake at the moment.

Sakura
:o Friend and I have agreed to disagree. Did not tell her to send the iodine tablets. I don't think that would amuse her. She is talking Die Hard scenarios without Bruce Willis.

I actually think that the Germans were VERY affected by Chernobyl.

yes, but Wales (where I'm from) was as well because the wind went up towards Sweden then to Scotland and down to Wales, where naturally it was raining heavily and everyone got a good dose of radiation. Lots of my classmates, my brother's too a year below me, have had cancer or lupus

Just been talking to db about the practicalities of him escaping from a radioactive cloud by hot air balloon . (He has friends who are balloonists.) I think he would need a Geiger counter in his balloon.

he is staying put for now, working from home this week more to avoid the inconvenience of getting stuck in Tokyo should there be another quake, than from fear of going outside.

I was in Germany at the time of Chernobyl, and it was a very big thing - though I don't remember huge amounts of panic. But then I was working with engineers who could look fairly rationally at the risks (there were geiger counters hanging around at work) and of course that was pre-internet, so you didn't have all the minute-by-minute reporting and instant videos and blogging and tweeting and commentary which can whip up hysteria - though of course those things can also be very good at spreading useful information.

earthquake in tokyo right now

6.2 magnitude, so pretty big

Its on the news magnitude 6.2.

Sakura - tell us you are OK.

Blimey . Have they not been through enough at this stage?

Yes, I think Sakura's right - didn't Wales, Cumbria, Scotland and a lot of Scandinavia actually get more fallout than Germany because of weather patterns?

I have News24 on - no mention of new earthquake

Come on BBC - keep up.

I'm fine BeenBeta, I'm not in Tokyo, but I was watching the news based in Tokyo and the newscasters started wobbling about.

Is this the big one that was predicted, Sakura? If so, then it's smaller than they were expecting (reports were saying it would be at least a 7).

Hope that everything still up stays standing this time.

exexpat - yes I think you're right - the weather patterns carried the Chernobyl fallout over those areas that you've mentioned. But Germany did cop it as well, as did France - althought the French were peculiarly reluctant to accept that as the case and did little to warn people.

Hope all the MNetters in Tokyo are ok.

Yes, that is all true. But the Germans are by nature a pessimistic and moany folk. (Being married to a German, I can say this).

There have been dozens of 6plus aftershocks in Japan since Friday - take a look at this site, and click on the tap for Japan. The red tags are all earthquakes over magnitude 6. They are not really making the news any more... What people are worried about is an aftershock in the high 7s, which would cause serious destruction in most places.

Did anyone else see the news that the French govt (or relevant French nuclear agency bods) are calling this a '6' on the International Nuclear Event Scale (while the Japanese are calling it a '4')

That is quite strange, Flyingcloud. I would have thought that the French would be trying to downplay this. They are huge supporters of nuclear power.

exexpat - that link is gobsmacking. I knew there had been some aftershocks; I had no idea it was on that sort of level.

My bro and his family are in central Tokyo and we want them to come home to the UK until this settles

MmeL, yes I agree - they have nothing to gain by deeming it a '6'.

the quake just now had its epicentre in Shizuoka, quite different from the one up north. It was a land-based quake with no danger of tsunami.

It was a 6 on the Japanese scale, and a 3 in Tokyo/Kanagawa

PlasticFlamingo, you OK? it was quite a long shake, wasn't it?

Penny is now down in Shikoku, right?

my mum wants db to come home. Dad knows Japan better and is less worried. I am keeping a close eye on what you MNers on the ground are doing....

flyingcloud - a level 6 is between a Three Mile Island and a Chernobyl disaster.

I think I read that France believes the No2 reactor may be severely damaged and more worryingly, TEPCO have just reported though that they cant get water into the pond which stores the spent fuel rods from No 4 reactor. The remaining water in the pond is now boiling away and if the fuel is exposed to air and heats up it will eventually start to burn.

This just gets worse and worse. There is likely more fuel in the pond than in the reactor itself.

it wasn't an aftershock - it was a completely separate quake...

can you link to that, BeenBeta. That does sound worrying.
The last news I heard was pretty good, it showed that the reactors were cooling down considerably, but I'm not sure that was No4