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I'm guessing everyone here has heard, but there was a massive earthquake
in Japan about 12 hours ago. Reports say it registered as 8.9.
My brother in Osaka just reported that there have been (so far) 18
additional earthquakes over 6.0 and over 100 aftershocks of at least 4.0
(with 3/4 of them over 5.0), and that local news is saying this could go
on for days or weeks.
I don't even know how to react to this. He's about 500 miles from where
the first quake hit, and nearly all of the reported events are east and
northeast of Tokyo, so he (and his family there) don't appear to be in
any danger at the moment, but I've also got friends and colleagues in the
Tokyo area.
It's just staggering.
Jim
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On 11/03/2011 9:02 PM, Jim Henderson wrote:
> My brother in Osaka
I hope he and his get through it okay.
>
> It's just staggering.
>
I assume, no pun intended.
--
Regards
Stephen
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Jim Henderson escreveu:
> I'm guessing everyone here has heard, but there was a massive earthquake
> in Japan about 12 hours ago. Reports say it registered as 8.9.
>
> My brother in Osaka just reported that there have been (so far) 18
> additional earthquakes over 6.0 and over 100 aftershocks of at least 4.0
> (with 3/4 of them over 5.0), and that local news is saying this could go
> on for days or weeks.
>
> I don't even know how to react to this. He's about 500 miles from where
> the first quake hit, and nearly all of the reported events are east and
> northeast of Tokyo, so he (and his family there) don't appear to be in
> any danger at the moment, but I've also got friends and colleagues in the
> Tokyo area.
>
> It's just staggering.
yes, been following. I also remember Kobe some years ago. You can see
where giant youkai and Godzilla legends originate from the sheer
devastation left...
I have a nisei aunt who says geologically Japan will eventually be wiped
off of world map, much like Atlantis of myth.
best regards to your brother!
--
a game sig: http://tinyurl.com/d3rxz9
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On Fri, 11 Mar 2011 21:26:42 +0000, Stephen wrote:
> On 11/03/2011 9:02 PM, Jim Henderson wrote:
>> My brother in Osaka
>
> I hope he and his get through it okay.
So far, so good, or at least as good as can be expected.
>> It's just staggering.
>>
>>
> I assume, no pun intended.
Nope, I didn't even think of it - but as puns go, it's not bad. ;-)
Jim
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On Fri, 11 Mar 2011 18:29:59 -0300, nemesis wrote:
> yes, been following. I also remember Kobe some years ago. You can see
> where giant youkai and Godzilla legends originate from the sheer
> devastation left...
>
> I have a nisei aunt who says geologically Japan will eventually be wiped
> off of world map, much like Atlantis of myth.
I guess something like that could happen, given where they're located.
The view on the USGS map of the activity is just incredible.
> best regards to your brother!
Thanks, much appreciated. :-)
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On 11/03/2011 9:42 PM, Jim Henderson wrote:
>>> My brother in Osaka
>> >
>> > I hope he and his get through it okay.
> So far, so good, or at least as good as can be expected.
>
I hope that continues. Some of the footage, especially of the tsunami,
is horrific. :-(
--
Regards
Stephen
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On Fri, 11 Mar 2011 21:46:42 +0000, Stephen wrote:
> On 11/03/2011 9:42 PM, Jim Henderson wrote:
>>>> My brother in Osaka
>>> >
>>> > I hope he and his get through it okay.
>> So far, so good, or at least as good as can be expected.
>>
>>
> I hope that continues. Some of the footage, especially of the tsunami,
> is horrific. :-(
Yes - the thing that really shocked me was seeing the damage from the
tsunami in *California*. That an entire bay was essentially destroyed in
CA from this gave me pause just because of the distance it traveled
before causing that damage - and thinking how much worse it is in Japan.
Jim
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nemesis <nam### [at] gmail com> wrote:
> You can see
> where giant youkai and Godzilla legends originate from the sheer
> devastation left...
AFAIK, the concept that Godzilla (Gojira) and other kaiju originate
from ancient Japanese folklore seems to be just a misconception.
Youkai are part of ancient folklore and mythology, but they consist
mostly of supernatural creatures taking various forms of small animals
such as raccoon dogs, foxes, cats and wolves, or sometimes even humans.
The closest youkai is probably a mountain ogre (but I don't know how
large the mythology says they are, but from the description it probably
wasn't deemed anywhere even close to gigantic; I'd guess human-sized or
slightly larger.)
Godzilla and other kaiju were most probably a pure invention of the
1950's Japanese movie industry, mostly inspired by King Kong. (In other
words, gigantic monstrous animals as a movie plot were actually invented
in the US before they were in Japan. This is not to say that there were
not pieces of fiction, mostly literature, that had gigantic animals even
earlier. However, none of them were probably based on Japanese folklore.)
I suppose that the closest you could get in ancient oriental folklore
is dragon myths (which were probably inspired by dinosaur bone fossils).
In a way this could ostensibly be a source because Japanese dragons were
most often associated with rainfall and bodies of water. (I wouldn't be
surprised if some myths associated tsunamis with dragons for this reason.)
--
- Warp
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Jim Henderson <nos### [at] nospamcom> wrote:
> I'm guessing everyone here has heard, but there was a massive earthquake
> in Japan about 12 hours ago. Reports say it registered as 8.9.
I have always wondered why there are so many huge cities at places
where earthquakes are very common. One would think that the danger would
kind of deter big populations from forming there.
--
- Warp
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On 11/03/2011 10:00 PM, Jim Henderson wrote:
> Yes - the thing that really shocked me was seeing the damage from the
> tsunami in*California*. That an entire bay was essentially destroyed in
> CA from this gave me pause just because of the distance it traveled
> before causing that damage - and thinking how much worse it is in Japan.
You can get the BBC sites. You may have seen this.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12709850
--
Regards
Stephen
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On Fri, 11 Mar 2011 22:28:59 +0000, Stephen wrote:
> On 11/03/2011 10:00 PM, Jim Henderson wrote:
>> Yes - the thing that really shocked me was seeing the damage from the
>> tsunami in*California*. That an entire bay was essentially destroyed
>> in CA from this gave me pause just because of the distance it traveled
>> before causing that damage - and thinking how much worse it is in
>> Japan.
>
> You can get the BBC sites. You may have seen this.
>
> http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12709850
Yeah, some stills were taken from that video footage for another article
I was reading on it.
Steve's been having trouble getting news in English there (his Japanese
is pretty good for conversation, but following along on a news broadcast
is another thing). He's been trying to catch it on the BBC and on Al
Jazeera's English site.
Jim
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On Fri, 11 Mar 2011 17:26:00 -0500, Warp wrote:
> Jim Henderson <nos### [at] nospamcom> wrote:
>> I'm guessing everyone here has heard, but there was a massive
>> earthquake in Japan about 12 hours ago. Reports say it registered as
>> 8.9.
>
> I have always wondered why there are so many huge cities at places
> where earthquakes are very common. One would think that the danger would
> kind of deter big populations from forming there.
Pretty much anywhere you live there is a potential for natural
disasters. I live in Salt Lake City, about 20 miles from a major fault
line. We're going to move west in the next year, and where we're
planning to go is not far from Mt. St. Helens.
The thing is, being near water is something that is/was good for
agriculture, so that's what makes costal areas fairly popular.
Jim
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Warp wrote:
> Jim Henderson <nos### [at] nospamcom> wrote:
>> I'm guessing everyone here has heard, but there was a massive earthquake
>> in Japan about 12 hours ago. Reports say it registered as 8.9.
>
> I have always wondered why there are so many huge cities at places
> where earthquakes are very common. One would think that the danger would
> kind of deter big populations from forming there.
Big cities are on coasts, for obvious reasons. Half of all coasts
(approximately) are logically on the side of the continent where the
earthquakes happen.
When we have spent enough time with high-speed over-land transportation that
coasts are no longer preferred places for big cities, we'll have less of a
problem with sudden changes in water levels.
--
Darren New, San Diego CA, USA (PST)
"How did he die?" "He got shot in the hand."
"That was fatal?"
"He was holding a live grenade at the time."
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Darren New <dne### [at] sanrrcom> wrote:
> When we have spent enough time with high-speed over-land transportation that
> coasts are no longer preferred places for big cities, we'll have less of a
> problem with sudden changes in water levels.
Actually coastal cities are still quite important even today because
transporting large amounts of cargo from one place to another is still
cheapest by sea than any other form of transport. (With smaller forms of
commerce and the transportation of people the significance has dropped
quite a lot in the past decades, of course.)
--
- Warp
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Warp <war### [at] tagpovrayorg> wrote:
> nemesis <nam### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
> > You can see
> > where giant youkai and Godzilla legends originate from the sheer
> > devastation left...
>
> AFAIK, the concept that Godzilla (Gojira) and other kaiju originate
> from ancient Japanese folklore seems to be just a misconception.
>
> Youkai are part of ancient folklore and mythology, but they consist
> mostly of supernatural creatures taking various forms of small animals
> such as raccoon dogs, foxes, cats and wolves, or sometimes even humans.
> The closest youkai is probably a mountain ogre (but I don't know how
> large the mythology says they are, but from the description it probably
> wasn't deemed anywhere even close to gigantic; I'd guess human-sized or
> slightly larger.)
>
> Godzilla and other kaiju were most probably a pure invention of the
> 1950's Japanese movie industry, mostly inspired by King Kong. (In other
> words, gigantic monstrous animals as a movie plot were actually invented
> in the US before they were in Japan. This is not to say that there were
> not pieces of fiction, mostly literature, that had gigantic animals even
> earlier. However, none of them were probably based on Japanese folklore.)
>
> I suppose that the closest you could get in ancient oriental folklore
> is dragon myths (which were probably inspired by dinosaur bone fossils).
> In a way this could ostensibly be a source because Japanese dragons were
> most often associated with rainfall and bodies of water. (I wouldn't be
> surprised if some myths associated tsunamis with dragons for this reason.)
You're probably right in all accounts. I was probably mislead by current mangas
retelling of youkai which were probably inspired by kaiju in turn, not folklore.
Though I believe it wouldn't be hard for ignorant peasants in past ages to
attribute such massive destructions by nature to gods or giant monsters.
The giant bones of dinosaurs are thought to have influenced legends, including
giants and dragons.
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On 12/03/2011 12:03 PM, nemesis wrote:
> Though I believe it wouldn't be hard for ignorant peasants in past ages to
> attribute such massive destructions by nature to gods or giant monsters.
>
Everyone knows that the Giant's Causeway was built by Finn McCool in his
quarrel with the Scots giant Benandonner. The Frost Giants in the
Northern European myths left massive stones in their wake after
retreating from the land of Man.
--
Regards
Stephen
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> When we have spent enough time with high-speed over-land transportation
> that coasts are no longer preferred places for big cities, we'll have
> less of a problem with sudden changes in water levels.
The problem will then be space in Japan, you have a choice between a
tiny apartment in a popular safe inland city, or a big house near the
coast. I suspect lots of people will still choose the house, no matter
how convenient the transportation network is.
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