Various thoughts on Japan

AP reports:

An explosion shattered a building housing a nuclear reactor yesterday, amid fears of a meltdown, while across wide swaths of northeastern Japan officials are searching for thousands of people missing more than a day after a devastating earthquake and tsunami.

The confirmed death toll from Friday’s twin disasters was 686, but the government’s chief spokesman said it could climb enormously

AFP is reporting that 9,500 people are unaccounted for in one town alone, Minamisoma. …

The scale of destruction was not yet known, but there were grim signs that the death toll could soar. One report said four whole trains had disappeared Friday and still not been located. Others said 9,500 people in one coastal town were unaccounted for and that at least 200 bodies had washed ashore elsewhere.

Who knows when it will end. I must say that over the last coupel of days I am glad NZ is nuclear free. I know the reacter hasn’t actually leaked, but still nuclear reactors on fire is a problem you can do without in a disaster.

Of course in some countries nuclear power is a necessity – they don’t have our access to hydropower and the like.

Despite the scale of the tragedy, Japan is well used to disasters like these. Was interesting to listen to a TVNZ report with Kiwi Cole Cameron in Japan. The majority of people are just carrying on with business.

It seems there is little loss of life from the earthquake itself despite being a massive 8.9. The tsunami is what has been so lethal.