And now it's Japan's turn

Just over an hour ago a huge earthquake hit One of the islands near Japan. Upgraded to 8.9, there is already Tsunami damage and our Civil defence are on standby in case of an alert.
It's it always the way, that when one big earthquake happens somewhere in the world, another big one follows. I guess it's a re adjustment of earth's crust.

Crazy stuff. Interesting point about earthquakes following each other....

That's it...... stop the world, I want to get off.

Heck, Japan is so intensely populated.

watching those waves on tv is way scary, sweeping eveything in its way.

That event dwarfs the Christchurch quake.

yes, its scary stuff, I've already heard from a friend in Japan and she's ok thank goodness.

I'm with you spoook though, I want to get off now too...the ride is getting bumpy and scary

It just never stops! September was bad but we were all grateful that noone died. Then the floods in Qld and I thought our quake wasnt the worst thing that could happen. That horrible day in ChCh I thought was the worst that could happen. Now this, I am blubbering.

We're expecting a planeload of Japanese students to arrive tomorrow on an exchange program in the Waikato. It's a 14 hour flight so it's touch and go whether they would have been off the ground. If they were there's going to be a lot of worried students arriving in AKL tomorrow...

kaybe;360785 wrote: We're expecting a planeload of Japanese students to arrive tomorrow on an exchange program in the Waikato. It's a 14 hour flight so it's touch and go whether they would have been off the ground. If they were there's going to be a lot of worried students arriving in AKL tomorrow...

If they left before the quake they may not know - unless the pilot told them.

The power of that tsunami is awesome, and I mean this in the true sense of the word. Those ships that were on their sides in the city street were huge vessels, and all those cars floating away. Have to worry that people may have been trapped inside. There was a shot of water surging over crop land. The rubbish floating with it was astounding. I hope we offer some help. They were quick to help us.

Simkin;360786 wrote: If they left before the quake they may not know - unless the pilot told them.

The Air NZ website says the flight is due as scheduled. The student due to stay with us comes from Chiba province, where apparently one of the oil refineries is burning out of control, but I think her home is about 10km from the refinery judging by what I can see on Google Maps.

I think the next few days will be pretty intense.

It all just looks so awful. How terrifying for all those people (and animals!)

kaybe;360792 wrote: The Air NZ website says the flight is due as scheduled. The student due to stay with us comes from Chiba province, where apparently one of the oil refineries is burning out of control, but I think her home is about 10km from the refinery judging by what I can see on Google Maps.

I think the next few days will be pretty intense.

Oh no, didn't put two and two together on this one, kaybe...good luck with this. Poor kids will be distraught and the language barrier won't help to find out what is going on with her family...I know a Japanese teacher in Cambridge who might be able to help if your student wants someone to talk to in her first language...let me know...

Thanks tigger, it turns out the flight had not left, and it appears their arrival will be delayed by 2 days, so at the moment the plan is for them to arrive on Monday instead. I still think given the aftershocks they are experiencing that may be overly optimistic.