Oh my god....

[secondlina]

Nothing like waking up in the morning, opening the internet and seeing that a part of the world seems to have cracked in two while you were sleeping. Japan's coast was hit by a 8.9/9 magnitude earthquake that resonated all the way to Tokyo and caused massive tidal waves. That's a really big earthquake. The 8.9-magnitude quake prompted the U.S. National Weather Service to issue tsunami warnings for at least 50 countries and territories. Among the affected spots we'll find the Philippines, Taiwan, Hawaii...

Good god. 

I'm watching un-edited videos on the internet right now and I feel horrified. I went to buy a calling card and i've been trying to reach friends in Japan... I hope you guys are okay. 

I'm also angry. as usual, whenever a tragedy hits, a lot of donation websites are set up. Many of those are fake. If you wish to donate to help a tragedy, make sure it is a reliable, secure website. A lot of people like to make money off anything, even tragedies. It's disgusting.

I'm even more annoyed that people seem to be using this as proof that the world is ending. 

....Good god. I'm speechless, really.

- Isa

Comments

[kuridee.livejournal.com]

I know, I have a friend in Japan right now and I freaked out. But he's okay, apparently. I'm scared to look at more pictures of the quake. D:

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

It's pretty horrifying. But at least Japna is somewhat prepared for this stuff.

[kuridee.livejournal.com]

That's very true. I heard that most of the buildings would be rubble right now, if Japan wasn't so good at building earthquake-proof buildings (I forgot where I heard that, though). :/

[amelia-seyroon.livejournal.com]

I have family in Taiwan...I am praying for them, for all of Japan, for the other affected countries...

I'm even more annoyed that people seem to be using this as proof that the world is ending.

Sigh. I don't know what to think anymore.

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

Some people are just butts.

[ginasketch.livejournal.com]

One meme making me rage at the moment is the stupid theory that the supermoon caused the earthquake.

jdhasjdhjashkdjkjdjksa BAD SCIENCE JKHSDJKSKD!!!

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

....Good old soft stupid science fueling paranoia.

[moonphased.livejournal.com]

When I first heard about it, I was like, "Oh, heh... that's pretty normal for Japan." Then, "Wait, what? It was HOW BIG??" :( I haven't really been able to concentrate on work much today, even though I've heard from most of my friends and family and they're all doing fine. But they all say this was different than any other quake that's happened before...

Yikes.

I hope all of your friends are alright, too!

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

In a way, i'm relieved such a big earthquake happened there rather then elsewhere, because as you say, Japan is better prepared then other countries where the death count would have been a whole lot worse. It's still so sad though.

[earthstar-moon.livejournal.com]

I hope everyone you know in Japan is all right.

It annoys me how this is causing people saying that's it's the end of the world. Stu and I were discussing earlier that if this had happened 20 years ago, while it would still be big news, it wouldn't probably be getting such a big reaction from people since the internet wasn't as huge then.

[dqbunny.livejournal.com]

I like Mike's perspective: "What I mean is, bad stuff has been happening around the world for a long time. 'Here's the news for 5,000 B.C., a family of four were killed by a sabretooth.' 'Oh dear God, look at all the sabretooth tigers! It's horrendous!'

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

You can't take people too seriously though. They have been saying the world was ending since the 14th century.

[cxco.livejournal.com]

I go to the Red Cross for donations - you don't know exactly where your money is going but you know it's legit.

I've been following the news non-stop since I got up. I've got a friend in Sendai and its one of my favourite japanese cities, I can't help but feel so sad.

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

I'm a little "meh" about the red cross actually. They have done some pretty questionable things around the time Katrina hit.

I hope your friends are okay.

[starmetal-oak.livejournal.com]

Most of the phones are down in Japan, so the best way to try to reach people is through internet.

And yes, I know what you mean. I've been following this all day and it's so scary. Japane is still feeling aftershocks of mag 6 range. However, the most damage has been caused by the tsunami.

[starmetal-oak.livejournal.com]

And yes, that's a typo, suppose to be "Japan"

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

I find the water more terrifying then the quake, personally.

[brendala.livejournal.com]

I still can't imagine how awful an 8.9 quake is. The Northridge quake is the worst one I remember; and I don't think it was nearly that big! O_o

Sadly, there are a lot of heartless people out there who can't let a tragedy go to waste. All we can do is make sure to carefully research a charity before we give money to it.

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

Indeed. I wish I could say I was amazed at how people were assholes, but i'm not.

[pinkwa.livejournal.com]

i feel so useless about it.

Today while i was having my breakfast i lived in real time on my TV the earthquakes and then i saw those huge waves.
I was drinkig orange juice and at the exact same moment i saw people died, houses being destroyed.

Now in Japan it is night and i heard a few hours ago that there were some new earthquakes. It must be horrible : woken up because of that, you must be so terrified.

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

Well, you can't pause your life because tragedy happens elsewhere. If anything, you should be grateful that you don't need to pause your existence. Those in trouble don't have that luxury. Don't ignore the bad, but don't prostrate yourself with grief either.

[yukinoomoni.livejournal.com]

It always amazes me how you have this strange ability to take the words right from my mouth. You and I? We're on the same page.

I can't stress enough how important it is not to donate to internet scams. Do it locally, through your government. Do not use the internet as a means to do so. It just never works. You have no way of tracing the money.

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

I know! It's crazy how often we agree!

[snapdragon76.livejournal.com]

I was watching footage on the news this morning and was flabbergasted. I know they experience earthquakes frequently due to their location in proximity to the Teutonic plates, but this one was the largest in recorded history.

I made sure I made my donation to the Red Cross. I know they are a legitimate charity and will distribute the funds as necessary.

I definitely have all the people affected by this in my thoughts and prayers.

I never heard the 'end of the world' theory though. That's a new one...

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

It's all over the internet. After all, things have been escalating and 2012 is coming! right? Right?

Except not. Dumb people.

[elirrina.livejournal.com]

My father works with international students, so he and my mother have been watching facebook to see as students they know in Japan check in. I guess facebook is good for something.

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

Yeah. Facebook just gained points today.

[ichiban-victory.livejournal.com]

Earthquakes are pretty localized, compared to some other natural disasters. Those closest to the coast where it struck would be the most impacted, but the farther away from the impact zone, the less affected they'll be...if at all.

Also, having lived through one major earthquake, don't take everything you see on t.v./the internet/in print to be what is happening all throughout the area. Back when we did have a strong earthquake in Seattle, we had some extensive building damage - in very specific areas of Seattle. The rest of the city and surrounding area was just fine. But, the media only showed the damaged buildings, so I had people freaking out trying to contact me, convinced all of western Washington was that bad off...

To be sure, earthquake damage is nothing to take lightly, since a lot of it will not be easily seen until further earthquakes hit. And really, if there are any major aftershocks, that could easily make the disaster much worse. o_O

In any case, we had a tsunami warning out here this morning as well. Kind of weird to think about... And I'm bracing in case we get some shaking on this side of the Pacific Ocean.

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

I'm mostly horrified by this earthquake because it's in the top 7 worse of recorded history. I,m somewhat glad that it hit Japan, a place well prepared for earthquakes, rather then another country that would have fallen to pieces. Remember China? The earthquake there wasn't has big, but it did a lot more damage.

Most of the damage came from the tsunamis. Brrrr. Water is scary.

[ichiban-victory.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the tsunami was the worst of it. We were impacted by the tsunami here on the West Coast as well. Washington fared the best (waves were not recorded any higher than two feet above the norm), but there were four people in Oregon that were washed out to sea, but thankfully all were rescued. There was one death in California, but the guy went purposely to the water to film it when he got dragged in so...his lack of common sense got him killed... XP

It's always better when earthquakes strike in areas they usually do, as the people are better prepared. It's when somehing unusual strikes an area that causes the most damage. O_o Silver linings...

[spankingfemme.livejournal.com]

It's an eye opener when something like this happens. Poor people, and yeah... people who use these devastations to 'make a buck' are true slime! :(

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

Pure slime. My hate for them is limitless.