Tsunami hits Japan, or does it?
By Adrenochrome
@Adrenochrome (1653)
January 13, 2007 12:09pm CST
As I was watching the BBCs News24 channel at 5 o'clock this morning, they made a great fuss of 'BREAKING NEWS', that a 1 mile high Tsunami was heading for the Northernmost islands of Japan! I held my breath, and though not religious, uttered a small prayer for the peole there (not so much Hokkaido, but the small islands just off its coast).
Upon arrival back from the football this afternoon (my team lost, and its no fun sitting on a freezing plastic seat for 2 hours, just to lose), I switched on the same channel, hoping the damage would not be too severe, and found absolutely no mention of Japan! A precursory glimpse of the news sites on the internet gave up no details.
Could anyone on myLot, particularly the Asian users, tell me whether the BBC was just scaremongering, or possibly just trying to awaken any late night viewers who might be drifting off to sleep, or did the 8.3 on the Richter Scale earthquake beneath the Pacific, actually just cause a higher-than-normal tide and extra rain. I, genuinely hope this was the case, but am confused!
Thanking you in advance, for any details.
1 person likes this
2 responses
@greengal (4286)
• United States
13 Jan 07
Hi, I didn't know something like this had happened till I read your discussion. I did my research too and this is all I could find.
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2007/01/12/D8MK6C780.html
There seems to be no update if the tsunami has acutally hit Japan or not. None of the news channels are even mentioning the warning issued, maybe they don't want to create panic. If you find out anything else, lemme know.
@Adrenochrome (1653)
•
13 Jan 07
Thank you very much for these links, especially the second one, which contained a great deal of information. I must admit I feel humbled, and I owe a big apology to the US news agencies, because I have often maligned them, regarding their insular vision of news. I apologise wholeheartedly to the US news, particularly Seattle, and shall eat many big portions of humble pie.
Thank you again for your response, which has helped ease my concerns. I lived in Japan for about 9 months, with work, and have a great admiration for the nation, so my concerns were genuine, and thanks to your research, are now greatly eased.
Magnificent work, and a great big positive rating is winging its way to you, right now.
1 person likes this
@josephperera (2906)
• Sri Lanka
14 Jan 07
If you view a doucmentary video on Tsunamis, you will come to know that the depth of destruction a Tsunami causes is unpredictable. You can with some difficulty predict the arrival of a Tsunami. So the Tsunami wave when it hits the coast could be 1 mile, 8 feet or 8 inches. There are any amount of instances when millions were spent on evacuation and a wave just 8 inches higher hit the coast. But what is better, to expect a disaster and not get it or to unexpectedly face a disaster?
@Adrenochrome (1653)
•
14 Jan 07
You are absolutely correct, in everything you have said. It appears that the wave that finally reached Hokkaido was 16 inches high, and a subsequent after-shock wave was just 8 inches.
I agree with you entirely that people should react to these warnings, it certainly is better to be safe than sorry.
In this case, my surprise and concern was due to 2 things in particular;1/ The earthquake itself was on the very high side of the scale, which I thought may have warranted further coverage on the BBC news channel. Not the complete ignoring of an incident they made a big deal of, here in the UK.
2/ The earthquake had its epicentre among the small islands N.E. of Hokkaido, so both the earthquake, and wave could have quickly caused significant damage to these sparsely populated islands.
I agree again, that the Japanese authorities reacted in a measured and proper fashion, to protect their citizens, but feel disappointed by the BBC here in the UK for not following the story up.
Thank you for posting, the details within it, and your shared concern, I wish you all the best.
