[denny]

Tsunami warnings our for the coast here.  Don't think anything's hit yet, but I've heard reports the draw back is starting.

[bluesman]

Wow...glad to hear your okay punatic. I was thinking about you as soon as I heard of all of this terrible news. What a tragedy for the Japanese. I was looking at the photos of all the devestation and I'm awestruck by it all.

One of the major concerns right now is a nuclear plant in Japan that is continuing to heat up and they can't get it to cool down. If it continues to heat up there will be a meltdown which will be a catastrophe.

They're also concerned about the aftershocks, as much of their highway system is raised above ground and the aftershocks could jeopardize their structural integrity cuasing collapse.

[punatic]

All is OK here on Hawaii Island.  We had some inundation in coastal areas.  The Kona Brewfest is scheduled for tomorrow and the fest site is in one of those areas.  Haven't heard if that is still on. 

Just heard the news that the hotel where the fest is held was damaged.

Pele has gone missing.  No red lava visible anywhere on the volcano.

Pray for the people in Japan.  Japan is probably the most prepared place in the world when it comes to eartquakes and tsunamis, but there is no way to prepare for magnatude 8.9 or a 30 foot high wall of water that followed.  The video coming out of Japan is stunning.  We are only just beginning to hear some estimates of fatalities.  I'm afraid it's going to be awful.

[denny]

The Kona Brewfest is scheduled for tomorrow and the fest site is in one of those areas.  Haven't heard if that is still on. 

I hope so.  My bro in law is entered in that with one of my recipes.  His first AG batch.

[tschmidlin]

All is OK here on Hawaii Island.  We had some inundation in coastal areas.  The Kona Brewfest is scheduled for tomorrow and the fest site is in one of those areas.  Haven't heard if that is still on.  

We are pleased to announce that the Kona Brewfest will be taking place in/near Pahoa, approximately 5 miles inland and at 375 ft above sea level

I heard someone in northern California was swept out to sea after going to "watch the waves".   Dumas.

I have to say, it's hilarious to see the video of Japanese news anchors wearing hard hats on air, while no one in the background is wearing one.

The one headline we won't see out of alll of this mess is "Millions saved by engineering and government building codes". It's amazing what can be done when you combine resources with actual legal enforcement of things.

No one ever credits the engineers or regulations, they only ever get blamed.

[Rhoobarb]

I work for a Japanese company and things were very quiet here this morning. Managers were in emergency meetings all morning.  Some have family in Japan that they still cannot reach. We learned later in the morning that all employees at our HQ in Tokyo are safe. Now they are just trying to assess the damage to our manufacturing and shipping facilities there. All airports have been shut down for a minimum of 48 hours.

After lunch it was like a beehive, contacting customers with open orders for items arriving from Japan letting them know that they would be delayed. While a lot of our items are made here in the States, there are some items that come from our home offices.  This is going to be rough on the global economy.

[tschmidlin]

Two nuclear reactors in danger of melting down . . . I hope they get them under control soon. 

[tubercle]

Two nuclear reactors in danger of melting down . . . I hope they get them under control soon. 

 Until they get this get under control it ain't over. The worst may be yet to come

[bluesman]

Two nuclear reactors in danger of melting down . . . I hope they get them under control soon. 

 Until they get this get under control it ain't over. The worst may be yet to come

It ain't over yet ...that's for sure. I am hoping they can somehow get the reactors under control. They have measured 8 times the normal radiation levels at one site. This is scary.

[tschmidlin]

I don't know how much power they need to run the coolant pumps, but hopefully they're flying in every generator they can find . . .

[tubercle]

U.S. Navy is on the way. I'm sure this will be one of the top priorities.

[oscarvan]

The one headline we won't see out of alll of this mess is "Millions saved by engineering and government building codes". It's amazing what can be done when you combine resources with actual legal enforcement of things.

RIght on....

Just heard from a colleague that was in NRT when it hit. Worked his way down an emergency stairwell in a hotel. Said it was "nicely flexible....." and held up.
 

[akr71]

Damn!  I don't know what else to say for fear of sounding flippant or uncaring.  This morning I thought if anyone was prepared for earthquakes or tsunamis, its the Japanese.  Lets hope they get those reactors under control before it becomes a Chernobyl.

A co-worker's son teaches in that area - needless to say she way a wreck today.  Somehow he managed to call home and say he is safe.

[tygo]

This morning I thought if anyone was prepared for earthquakes or tsunamis, its the Japanese. 

Those skycrapers swaying back and forth without collapsing was some pretty good engineering in action.  It could have been worse had they not planned ahead at least for that.

[dbeechum]

Yeah, the earthquake is one thing.

There's just not a damn thing you can really do for a tsunami though. Watching some of those videos, it's frightening just the sheer power of the water.