Major earthquake in NE Japan - Narita closed
#46
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Of course there are many who need to continue to do business. We all know that they are friendly and polite as well. So if people do go they will continue to try to be positive and helpfull.
#47
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Thats the next problem and can cause health issues.
#48
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[QUOTE=HIDDY;16026886]I agree....go.
LTN Phobia can advise you better as she is in Tokyo just now.[/B]
LTN Phobia, glad that you are ok, didn't you that you were there. Thought you were moving houses.
Earthquacks are scary and the scarier part is that the after shocks are so unpredictable. Experienced lots of them in LA, but nothing of that magnitude. Somehow you stop trusting the earth. I always remember the utter silence just before the rumbles begin.
LTN Phobia can advise you better as she is in Tokyo just now.[/B]
LTN Phobia, glad that you are ok, didn't you that you were there. Thought you were moving houses.
Earthquacks are scary and the scarier part is that the after shocks are so unpredictable. Experienced lots of them in LA, but nothing of that magnitude. Somehow you stop trusting the earth. I always remember the utter silence just before the rumbles begin.
#49
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Assuming things don't get worse with some additional disaster, I still want to go. One concern though is that our travel insurance may not be valid if there is a travel warning still in place. I think that only applies to Tokyo though (and the disaster zone itself, which we are obviously not going anywhere near).
#50
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Also, there are just so many people who have been rendered homeless who all need better shelter than they have got now (a lot of them are staying in communal buildings such as school sport halls, village halls etc), not to mention rescuing whoever they can, and recovering the bodies of the deceased.
I have just been out to a supermarket near NRT to have a look at the situation and they had very little bottled drinks left, many shelves were empty, and they had no 'instant' food like pot noodles. And Narita wasn't really affected by the earthquake much, and it was not affected by the tsunami. So you can just about imagine the devastation of the areas that were affected.
Many shops were closed because their staff could not get to work due to transport disruptions. There was a big queue at a petrol station that had petrol to sell. So, the situations are not looking good at all, and I really think it will take a long time for them to recover, despite their extremely organised ways of doing things (and although they were really organised, the flow of information about transport disruptions fell apart due to the scale of the problems).
Last edited by LTN Phobia; Mar 14, 2011 at 6:15 am
#51
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#52
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Thanks. If anyone has any questions about the situations, I am more than happy to answer them.
In the meantime, I find the NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) news fairly fast and quite reliable, and reasonably balanced:
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/index.html
They do focus on the worst affected areas, so it is difficult to find out what the situations in the rest of the country are like from the media.
I have just been talking to someone in the more western part of Japan and heard reports that people have started stockpiling things, resulting in some areas originally unaffected by the earthquakes having shortages of certain goods such as torches, emergency supplies etc, as they are concerned that the increase in seismic activities around Japan may well lead to a major earthquake in the Tokai area.
In the meantime, I find the NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) news fairly fast and quite reliable, and reasonably balanced:
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/index.html
They do focus on the worst affected areas, so it is difficult to find out what the situations in the rest of the country are like from the media.
I have just been talking to someone in the more western part of Japan and heard reports that people have started stockpiling things, resulting in some areas originally unaffected by the earthquakes having shortages of certain goods such as torches, emergency supplies etc, as they are concerned that the increase in seismic activities around Japan may well lead to a major earthquake in the Tokai area.
Last edited by LTN Phobia; Mar 14, 2011 at 6:56 am
#54
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Thank you Yahillwe. I'm doing both (no, I'm not moving to Japan) - returning tomorrow to move house. I will probably come back to Japan very shortly to volunteer if I can make some arrangements to make sure I can actually help rather than hinder.
#55
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Echoing the sentiments of others, glad you're ok LTN Phobia. Looks like Mother Nature misinterpreted your plans on moving house literally!
Absolutely jaw dropping what's going on in Japan and my thoughts are with those in Japan- it's going to be decades before they can fully recover from this I suspect.
Absolutely jaw dropping what's going on in Japan and my thoughts are with those in Japan- it's going to be decades before they can fully recover from this I suspect.
#56
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I was getting ready to move house, but kept my scheduled trips including one to Japan. It really caught me by surprise, as I had already been feeling a bit stressed about moving house when I set off on the trip. I was hoping for a few days of relaxation during my Japanese trip, but that was not meant to be. Although I did not find the actual 'shaking' part as stressful as many travellers as I have been in many earthquakes before, it was still disconcerting. I was talking to Australian and American ladies today and they seemed genuinely stressed about what they went through with the earthquake.
Absolutely jaw dropping what's going on in Japan and my thoughts are with those in Japan- it's going to be decades before they can fully recover from this I suspect.
By the way, I hope you are safely home and not back in Libya?
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#58
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#59
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Lady Phobia, If they need volunteers I am willing to go and even have a place to stay at, so won't be a hinderance. Meanwhile, if you are in London on the 7th of April, join us for drinks. And maybe we can have oysters after
Something to look forward to,Stez can't come, but maybe his plans might change. Who knows.
Mother nature is very powerful indeed. Saw a bit of reporting on tv while I was at the gym and was very glad that I don't watch tv, instead get my news through print media.
Something to look forward to,Stez can't come, but maybe his plans might change. Who knows.
Mother nature is very powerful indeed. Saw a bit of reporting on tv while I was at the gym and was very glad that I don't watch tv, instead get my news through print media.
#60
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Very powerful indeed. I do not normally watch television but felt compelled to share the pain somehow. It is such a terrible event, I don't have the words to describe it.