March 11, 2011

8.9.

Dramatic photographs of the earthquake and tsunami.

37 comments:

sane_voter said...

Watching the webcams of cars driving down the road with a wave bearing down on them was amazing. I wanted to see another view if they made it or not.

wv:trickero. What the WI GOP did to the fleebaggers

Tibore said...

Wretchard at The Belmont Club blog also linked some videos. They're amazing.

http://pajamasmedia.com/richardfernandez/2011/03/11/tsunami/

The Dude said...
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Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Condolences to the families of the survivors.

lemondog said...

Saw first videos early this morning. Unbelievable devastation. Vehicles on a highway speeding just ahead of the tsunami.

Nuclear plant was on fire but indications that the reactor was untouched at that time.

Matthew Noto said...

Godzilla always does far greater damage, IMO.

Seriously, watching buildings BURN WHILE BEING CARRIED ON A 30' WALL OF WATER freaked me the hell out. That was incredible footage.

LawGirl said...

Heartbreaking. The people of Japan and elsewhere in and on the Pacific are in my prayers.

Anonymous said...

Devastating snap..

Thoughts for the affected..

lemondog said...

Pacific coast on alert.

Paddy O said...

When I was watching the coverage last night and they upgraded the magnitude from 7.9 to 8.9 I didn't believe it. The famous world-series earthquake that hit the bay area in '89 was a 6.9.

The earthquake in Japan was 100 times stronger than that. If I have my richter scale right. Even an earthquake in the mid 6 range is just about mindboggling. Anything bigger can't be explained. It is awesome in the classic sense of the term.

The epicenter seems to be quite a ways off shore, though, so that makes a bit more sense why Japan isn't entirely crumbled. But it certainly explains the waves.

Very sad.

On the news right before this happened was live footage of the police raiding Charlie Sheen's home. I can't help but think he was pissed at getting his time in the spotlight bumped by a mere movement of earth that unfortunately affected the lives of mere mortals.

Unknown said...

You can run, but you can't hide.

Literally.

In fact, your only chance is to run.

lemondog said...

On the news right before this happened was live footage of the police raiding Charlie Sheen's home

Forces one to put things into perspective.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...
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lemondog said...

There were 20 aftershocks.

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

This is looking like the most recorded catastrophic event I've ever seen, stunning video.

Prayers going out to the fallen.

LawGirl said...

It is awesome in the classic sense of the term.


That's what I keep thinkimg. Truly awesome. Makes one feel very very small.

Leland said...

I've seen many pictures, but only one video so far. In the video I saw, at least 40 homes were completely wiped away as a tsunami pushed over a 1/2 mile inland. I found the location on Google Earth. The video alone was devestating, yet even it didn't really do justice to what was done.

That's enough for me. It's bad. Thoughts, prayers, and whatever aid I can provide.

Patrick said...

Don't mess with Gaia, I guess. Wow.

rhhardin said...

It certainly makes a mess.

I'm Full of Soup said...

Another tragic reminder the world has bigger problems than an anti-bullying campaign.

If we learned the world was about to end in a week, how important would oil prices or unions be?

Alex said...

Oh my god. My prayers are with the people of Japan.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Japan earthquake shifted Earth's axis was(by) 10 cm

Triangle Man said...

@lemondog

There have been 16 aftershocks of magnitude 6.0 or greater. If you look at IRIS for the area there have been something over 80 total, with the last one a magnitude 5.5 about 30 minutes ago.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

Now will you people take global warming seriously?!?

*ducks*

Alex said...

The earth cares not a whit what we grubs do no the surface. Greater forces at at work below.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

On the news right before this happened was live footage of the police raiding Charlie Sheen's home. I can't help but think he was pissed at getting his time in the spotlight bumped by a mere movement of earth that unfortunately affected the lives of mere mortals.

You've got the cause and effect all mixed up. He was pissed by the police raid and lost his temper, causing the earthquake.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

All snark aside, My thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and their families.

DADvocate said...

The power of mother nature is almost unimaginable. My heart goes out to those hurt and killed by this event.

Emil Blatz said...

Wow, the only thing missing in that first photograph is a pedestrian slipping on a banana peel. That's a mess of complications.

Emil Blatz said...

I went to the marina, and a car lot broke out!

lemondog said...

There have been 16 aftershocks of magnitude 6.0 or greater. If you look at IRIS for the area there have been something over 80 total, with the last one a magnitude 5.5 about 30 minutes ago.

Thanks for the link. The 20 was mentioned this morning at 4:30est

Anonymous said...

The headline you won't be reading.

The Crack Emcee said...

So How's All That God's Love And We've Got To Protect The Planet Stuff Looking This Morning?

Phil 314 said...

The headline you won't be reading.

When I heard the magnitude of the quake and the initial death report (which I know will go up) I couldn't help but contrast it with Haiti. Preparation and infrastructure mean something don't they.

DaveW said...

Wow I had no idea it was that bad. If you click the link be sure and check the picture of the airport, photo number 11 I think.

Automatic_Wing said...

Has the NYT blamed Bush yet?

Don't be ridiculous. This is clearly the work of the Koch brothers.