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8.9 earthquake hits Japan

earthquake.usgs.gov

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Re: 8.9 earthquake hits Japan

#221

Post by bioh42_2 »

Florin_Andrei wrote: post #217
TimothyBurgess wrote: post #214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You know, I'm really not sure what they'd say Florin. What do you think they'd say?

Uh... are you asking me to... hm... exercise my... um... empathy?

An individual neuro typical person might show a slightly higher curiosity about what I cynically call the "disaster/tragedy porn" of the coverage.

On average however disaster porn is the lowest common denominator.

Do not paint all individuals with the brush created by looking at the average. Just because the big networks seek the maximum number of viewers does not mean every viewer particularly strongly prefers that kind of coverage.

Re: 8.9 earthquake hits Japan

#222

Post by jules »

mrcharles wrote: post #171
3pt14159 wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Closer to 80 times stronger than a hundred, but yeah definitely deep.

From Wikipedia: The energy release of an earthquake, which closely correlates to its destructive power, scales with the 3⁄2 power of the shaking amplitude. Thus, a difference in magnitude of 1.0 is equivalent to a factor of 31.6 ( = (101.0)(3 / 2)) in the energy released; a difference in magnitude of 2.0 is equivalent to a factor of 1000 ( = (102.0)(3 / 2) ) in the energy released.[2]

How does energy scale with distance from epicenter?

Re: 8.9 earthquake hits Japan

#223

Post by dtelepathy »

melvinram wrote: post #123

Red Cross and others will likely be jumping to the aide of those who have been affected by this disaster. If you have a website, please consider adding a message and link to the Red Cross donation website or the link to the donation page of any other website. To get it up ASAP, I've used the HelloBar ( http://www.hellobar.com ) on my site. You can see a working version of it at http://www.webdesigncompany.net but rea…

Awesome to hear about the clickthrough rate. I just wrote this post: http://www.dtelepathy.com/blog/telepathy/how-to-help-japan-w...

I am also going to ask some of the speakers at SXSW to share the "helpjapan" invite key at their talks.

I updated the code to a Hello Bar we control in case there are scaling issues:

new HelloBar(1,9126); Help The Victims of the 8.9 Earthquake in Japan by Spreading Awareness and Aid. Visit http://goo.gl/wjZQz to donate.

Re: 8.9 earthquake hits Japan

#224

Post by hoag »

What's staggering to me is that the 1989 earthquake in SF was only a 6.8 -- and that made our home in Marin feel like we were floating on a swimming pool. I can't even begin to imagine what an 8.9 is like. Tragic, but apparently expected: Japan's strict building codes will go a long way towards minimizing human loss. If only there were a way to protect against the biblical devastation of tsumanis.

Re: 8.9 earthquake hits Japan

#225

Post by petercooper »

CWuestefeld wrote: post #148

This is what I like about HN. This isn't a particularly "hacker" story, but the perspective here is unique. On the main stream media, I'll get a couple of statistics and video, then an empty comment about "loved ones trying to make sense of this senseless tragedy". On HN, I get the facts, but both broader and deeper, from the geological nature of the quake to the effect on other locales. And I get real, unfiltered pe…

What's funny is that I was around just after the quake was reported and thought.. "Ooh, no-one's posted it to HN! I should post it." Then I thought "Nah, it's just world news. HN won't care directly about a quake." Then minutes later, this got submitted anyway.

Re: 8.9 earthquake hits Japan

#226

Post by erickhill »

Confusion wrote: post #186
atgm wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm feeling shakes every 20 minutes or so; one of the earthquake alerts on my phone actually preceded the shaking by about 10 seconds. My body's so used to the shaking that it always thinks it's shaking -- I set up a bottle of water to look at just so I don't go insane. 11:30 pm JST and I'm still feeling quakes.

To verify your sanity: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/qu... Some of the later quakes were als closer to Tokyo compared to the big one.

The map view helps to visualize the intense chain reaction after shocks (some north of 6.0) that have been set off. http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Maps/10/1...

Re: 8.9 earthquake hits Japan

#227

Post by erickhill »

po wrote: post #25

I'm still feeling shakes every few minutes. It's like living in a house on a block of jello. Long rolling waves. I'm in central Tokyo and our china cabinet was shaken pretty badly: http://www.flickr.com/photos/poswald/5516954100/in/photostre... I know some people up in sendai that I'm a bit worried about.

I can't imagine being in one of the top floors of a high-rise with it wobbling around. I'd be paralyzed with fear clinging to the carpet. Mighty respect to the architects and engineers, though.

Re: 8.9 earthquake hits Japan

#228

Post by jarin »

petercooper wrote: post #225
CWuestefeld wrote: post #148

This is what I like about HN. This isn't a particularly "hacker" story, but the perspective here is unique. On the main stream media, I'll get a couple of statistics and video, then an empty comment about "loved ones trying to make sense of this senseless tragedy". On HN, I get the facts, but both broader and deeper, from the geological nature of the quake to the effect on other locales. And I get real, unfiltered pe…

What's funny is that I was around just after the quake was reported and thought.. "Ooh, no-one's posted it to HN! I should post it." Then I thought "Nah, it's just world news. HN won't care directly about a quake." Then minutes later, this got submitted anyway.

I know, it's totally shocking that hackers care about something other than money or code.

Re: 8.9 earthquake hits Japan

#229

Post by Confusion »

epochwolf wrote: post #190
Alex3917 wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If the power going out is enough to potentially cause a nuclear meltdown, I'm pretty sure that's indicative of flawed technology rather than some problem with public perception.

Most nuclear reactors will automatically scram if they lose power. The control rods are held up with electromagnets so they will drop if power is lost. Losing power isn't too dangerous. Loss of coolant is quite dangerous but there are backup systems that can flood the reactor with an alternative coolant source. For example a submarines can flood their reactors with seawater. You just don't want to do that except in a…

It seems they are going to be doing what they did in the case of Three Mile Island: vent steam. That steam should not be significantly radioactive.

Re: 8.9 earthquake hits Japan

#230

Post by Semiapies »

Florin_Andrei wrote: post #205
CWuestefeld wrote: post #148

This is what I like about HN. This isn't a particularly "hacker" story, but the perspective here is unique. On the main stream media, I'll get a couple of statistics and video, then an empty comment about "loved ones trying to make sense of this senseless tragedy". On HN, I get the facts, but both broader and deeper, from the geological nature of the quake to the effect on other locales. And I get real, unfiltered pe…

Now imagine a neurotypical person reading this comment. What do you think they'd say?

I'm neurotypical, and I thought that comment was just fine.

I don't know why you brought that up, though.

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