Our prayers go out to Japan today...

[Yoc]

I'm sure everyone has heard about the massive earthquake that hit Japan on Friday local time and the tsunami that resulted from it.
Yahoo News Link CLICK HERE.

We at DCM hope any members and their loved-ones living in the area survive the disaster unscathed.

-Yoc

[Geo (RIP)]

Yes Yoc, the devastation was just massive. And the after shocks are still going on,
(over 60 at the time of this post in less then 24 hours).
So yes my prayers are going out to the people of Japan.

Geo

[jfglade]

 One of the people who joined Rangerhouse's DCM Facebook page lately is an old friend of mine who lives and teaches in Japan (near Camp Zama in Tokyo). He's been posting some interesting information on his Facebook page. Fortunately, he's a couple of hundred miles away from the epicenter. A good sign is the trains are starting to run again, although only 30% of train service has been restored. I'm not sure if he's joined DCM yet or not, but eventually he'll probably share some informed opinions about Japanese mange and pre-code America horror comics.

[jfglade]

Sorry, that should have read "manga" instead of mange.

[bminor]

My daughter and her husband moved to just north of Tokyo last year to teach English for a couple of years.
They got all shook up on Friday. The locals told them the longest a bad quake lasted in the past was half a minute. She said the initial quake Friday lasted four minutes.

We talked to them today on Skype and they are just fine, but are having trouble getting information on what exactly is going on. There is not much news in English being broadcast.
The nuclear reactors are north of them about 90 miles.
They are in contact with our Embassy there.
Keep them, and all the people of Japan in your prayers.

[narfstar]

Will do b.

[kusunoki]

I'm in Sendai right at the center of the chaos. We are downtown and came through ok, but I'm sure you've seen the damage in the surrounding areas. Electricity and water has been restored in the city center, but there are concerns about food supplies and life is not anything like back to normal. The nukes to the south are worrying. At the same time, the foreign coverage of these is absolutely hysterical. In particular, CNN's constant shrill pronouncements that this will be another Chernobyl are particularly misinformed.

I'm about to set out to try and coordinate some relief efforts in Sendai today. Despite the challenges in the new situation, people are safe and secure in most areas of the city. The aftershocks have continued without stop since the first earthquake, with it being much more noticeable now when the ground actually stops shaking for a second than when it shakes; but nothing has been even close to as big as the first one. Just serves to constantly scare the living **** out of me.

[boox909]

I'm in Sendai right at the center of the chaos. We are downtown and came through ok, but I'm sure you've seen the damage in the surrounding areas. Electricity and water has been restored in the city center, but there are concerns about food supplies and life is not anything like back to normal. The nukes to the south are worrying. At the same time, the foreign coverage of these is absolutely hysterical. In particular, CNN's constant shrill pronouncements that this will be another Chernobyl are particularly misinformed.

I'm about to set out to try and coordinate some relief efforts in Sendai today. Despite the challenges in the new situation, people are safe and secure in most areas of the city. The aftershocks have continued without stop since the first earthquake, with it being much more noticeable now when the ground actually stops shaking for a second than when it shakes; but nothing has been even close to as big as the first one. Just serves to constantly scare the living **** out of me.

Keeping you and yours in my prayers!

[Yoc]

Great to hear from you and thanks for your update kusunoki. 
Let us know how things go when/if you have a chance.
Be safe.

-Yoc

[narfstar]

paypal has send a dollar to Japan option on their payments page. Is it needed/wanted? I know they may be too proud to take it.

[kusunoki]

I doubt anyone would be too proud to take it, but I might be nice to know exactly how it is being used. I'm acting as the official representative of Americares here in Sendai for the duration, so I can guarantee that money donated to them will go to the places where it's needed. I'm actually in charge of locating those places...

[narfstar]

Besides the dollar per transaction at Paypal I noticed some other major credit cards had donation buttons. I would be confident paypal is not a scam but any others I would only use the official sites of the credit cards that someone has. For instance if you have Chase Mastercard online account, etc. go directly there and donate. There will be lots of scam sites popping up with lots of phishing emails. What agencies do you recommend K?
And can you keep us posted on the nuke situation?

[kusunoki]

The organizations I have seen operating around here (other than Americares) are Medicins Sans Frontieres (Doctors without Borders) and the Japanese Red Cross. It's been pointed out to me that the Japanese Red Cross and the American one are separate entities and that donations to the American one would not necessarily go to there efforts in Japan.

As for the nukes, this is just all kinds of disturbing. The American and Japanese analysts are disagreeing on the extent of the damage, with the Japanese government imposing a 30km radius danger zone (putting it some distance away from Sendai) and the US folks calling for a 100km radius danger zone (putting it uncomfortably close). All of the information I am getting on it can be accessed by anyone. I've been using the NHK online live English feed, the BBC news site and the New York Times online.

[Yoc]

The lack of sharing specific details from the Japanese worries me.
Frankly if I were in your shoes K, I'd be making plans to move as far from the plant as possible!
But then I hear it terrible to get anywhere near an airport since the earthquake.

Be safe,
-Yoc

[John C]

I was even OK with the lack of details, Yoc, since no government wants to hurt more people by causing a panic.  But then I did some quick reading, and found out that not only did the GE designers quit over being forced to accept "serious design flaws," but Japan's power companies apparently have a significant decades-long reputation for ignoring safety protocols and covering up data.

Upshot, yes, be safe, and trust your own judgment over anything official.  Sick aid workers aren't helpful, no matter how heroic it might sound.