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8.9 earthquake hits Japan

earthquake.usgs.gov

91–100 of 269 posts

Re: 8.9 earthquake hits Japan

#91
post #63
post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is the cell network still down/overloaded?

Hmm wow, apparently yes. , I still cannot make a call. Press call and it goes directly to call failed. (SoftBank iPhone 4)

stay with it. The telcos in New Zealand got COWS (mobile cell sites) and new cell sites/equipment down to Christchurch very quickly - importing some from China (Huawei gear I guess). Landlines take much longer to repair, and cells have redundancy - can link together with fibre or microwaves.

Re: 8.9 earthquake hits Japan

#92
post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do they shut off the warnings at some point, or do they have to listen to this ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfZkdIVcfEA ) for the next 5 hours?

Haha, if I remember correctly they sound them when they issue a warning, then they sound them again something like an hour before it will hit and then maybe again after that. It happens enough that it's well coordinated, usually there are police on Kalanianaole Highway making sure everyone heads up into the valleys up until about 15 minutes before it's supposed to hit.

Ok, according to my parents the sirens are going off every hour.

Re: 8.9 earthquake hits Japan

#93
post #31
post #26

Is this post appropriate for HN?

No, it is not. From the HN guidelines: Off-Topic: Most stories about politics, or crime, or sports, unless they're evidence of some interesting new phenomenon. Videos of pratfalls or disasters, or cute animal pictures. If they'd cover it on TV news, it's probably off-topic. And unlike cosmok, I do mind it, because this type of news is slowly turning HN into something it shouldn't be. There's a reason for this particu…

I didn't down- or up-vote you, but my immediate response to your comment was: "is this really the time to worry about what HN is or isn't turning into?"

If your downvoters think the same way I do, they're downvoting because they don't think right now is a good time to worry about the future of HN, no matter what the guidelines say. This isn't to say your opinion is invalid (it's a perfectly legitimate thing to worry about); it just seems ill-timed in the face of potentially catastrophic disaster, and downvoting is an easy way to express disapproval.

Re: 8.9 earthquake hits Japan

#94
post #42
post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks Patrick, that's refreshing to hear.

Problems Japan does not have #1: insufficient spending on public works projects In Case Shit Happens, because shit happens so often that when people in several dozen countries say shit they're speaking Japanese. Can I tell you my favorite outsourcing story? Apologies for those who've heard it (and yes, this actually happened): India: We can't log into the test server. Patrick: Then you didn't set it up right. India:…

Reminds me of QA at Yahoo! Japan. They make sure that every page that is going to be released is capable of showing the EMG1, EMG2, and EMG3 tags.

Here is a screenshot of EMG1 and EMG2 both being shown at the same time, it was the first time for me to see more than one shown at the same time in production.

http://i.imgur.com/mZxyA.png

I forget what EMG3 is used for.

Re: 8.9 earthquake hits Japan

#95
post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would his post deserve being downvoted to hell without so much as a discussion? You and I may disagree with him, but he has a valid point and doesn't appear to be trolling.

I would like to think that HN had some compassion for their fellow users (HN has a lot of Tokyo based startups/hackers), not to mention humans in general. In a scenario like this, who gives a fuck if it's off topic? And for the record, I saw the story here first, so I am thankful for that.

There are plenty of sites for general news. HN is not one of them.

The reason you saw it here first is because somebody posted it here despite what the guidelines say, and you happened to come at the right moment, before you checked other news sites you usually do.

The fact that you saw it here first does not change the fact that the article is, according to guidelines, off-topic.

Oh, and FYI, not posting this article on HN != not having compassion for fellow hackers.

Re: 8.9 earthquake hits Japan

#96
post #6

I just talked to my parents in Hawaii, there's a tsunami warning for 3 am HST. I reminded my dad to sandbag the doors of his restaurant in Waikiki (Vit's Hawaiian Steakhouse) before he closes for the night. It's just outside of the "tsunami zone" in Waikiki, so I know my dad will probably be working until the police make him evacuate. He did that on the last tsunami warning, and Vit's was pretty much the only restaur…

Do they shut off the warnings at some point, or do they have to listen to this ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfZkdIVcfEA ) for the next 5 hours?

its a matter of life and death. They better put up with it, if not feel thankful for it.

Re: 8.9 earthquake hits Japan

#98
post #42
post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks Patrick, that's refreshing to hear.

Problems Japan does not have #1: insufficient spending on public works projects In Case Shit Happens, because shit happens so often that when people in several dozen countries say shit they're speaking Japanese. Can I tell you my favorite outsourcing story? Apologies for those who've heard it (and yes, this actually happened): India: We can't log into the test server. Patrick: Then you didn't set it up right. India:…

what is the point?, and cant that be just another name instead of India?

Re: 8.9 earthquake hits Japan

#99
post #86
post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[deleted]

[deleted]

I feel the same way you do, but I'll hazard a boilerplate "don't feed the trolls" statement here.

It's clear emotions are running a bit high in this part of the comments.

Re: 8.9 earthquake hits Japan

#100
post #56

An interesting thing I noticed was that all cell phones were completely useless for a pretty long time following the quake. That's normal, but one difference this time, compared with several years ago, is that most people I know no longer have a landline phone at home. People were queuing up for like 20 minutes to use the one old green plastic coin-op pay phone accross the street. At first, I didn't think to use a ph…

Isn't that strange ? I mean cable should be more easily broken than airwaves, no ? Is it because the landlines in Japan are designed to resist and the cell phone tower got power disruption ?
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