We’ve been following and covering on Twitter since news of the 8.9 magnitude earthquake in Japan — reported as the largest in its history — and a subsequent 13 foot high tsunami struck. The wave of water, later reported as 10 meters, or 30 feet, has engulfed entire towns, much of it captured on live daylight video.
You can check our feed and/or follow our coverage here for the latest (as long as we can stay awake tonight): @TheBradBlog.
A few key pieces of information at this hour (1am PT)…
Tsunami watches, warnings and advisories are in effect across the Pacific, including West Coast of the U.S. from CA-Mex border up to Alaska. NOAA Advisory.
CNN reports 50 countries in the Pacific under tsunami warnings right now.
Also via NOAA, here are estimated tsunami times for West Coast of U.S.
This map gives a more general idea of the scope of the tsunami warnings and the times they could take to strike in various locations, if they do.
Sirens are reportedly sounding in Honolulu at this hour. People are advised to get to high ground, as a “significant event” is predicted by NOAA to be headed towards the Hawaiian islands. The hope remains that the wave will be greatly decreased by the time it hits other coasts — if it does.
The tsunami and earthquake footage streaming live on the net and on CNN, MSNBC, etc. from Japan has been remarkable. Here’s just some of the incredible — and horrifying — footage:
A wall of water overtakes an airport — I believe it’s Sendai Airport, which has been seen completely flooded in other footage tonight — in about 60 seconds…
More remarkable tsunami footage. Leveling a village…
Still more amazing tsunami footage, tossing boats, cars, houses about…
The effect of the quake — which was said to have continued “for minutes” — is captured somewhat in this guy’s comments (in English) as he video tapes:
The calm demeanor of the folks seen here, as the quake occurs, is remarkable:
UPDATE 12:41pm: “Big Government Tyranny” saved countless lives in Japan. Though nuke plants still at risk. Details…
This moment is very bad for us. We all are with japan
A tsunami warning is in effect for the entire state, with the first wave expected … this hour are parts of Alaska and coastal areas of California and Oregon.
http://searchesntopics.com/2011...west-coast-und“¦sunami-warning/
To whom it may concern,..Just a quick note,..the last video in the article is of Christchurch Cathedral damage from the earthquake in downtown Christchurch New Zealand over a week ago, and not Japan. Thank You for all you do.
KAMI DI PAPUA TURUT MERASAKAN MUSIBA TSUNAMI DAN GEMPA YG MELANDA WARGA MASYARAKAT JEPANG DAN IKUT TURUT BERDUKA ATAS MUSIBAH TERSEBUT. DOA KAMI KIRANYA TUHAN YG EMPUNYA HIDUP INI MEMBERIKAN KEKUATAN DAN PENGHIBURAN KPD WARGA JEPANG YG TERKENA BENCANA TSB, DAN KAMI MENGHIMBAU SELAKU WARGA PENGHUNI BUMI/NEGARA2 INI UTK TURUT MEMBERIKAN PERHATIAN PD NEGARA2 YG TERKENA BENCANA ALAM SEBAGAI RASA SOLIDERITAS SEBAGAI MANUSIA.
my heart goes out to the people of japan but back here at home i keep hearing about these 2 rep wisconsin senators that are up for recall(voted in in 08),the chic won by less than 150 votes and the guy won 51% in a district that went 61% dem in the presidential race….and i think to myself…look at all the trouble we get possibly because we dont bother to hand count our votes openly and publicly….wisconsin was one of the best states in the nation for paper ballots,open access,education,heck they even had a balanced budget when this neo con walker came in…and its all gone now…sure the peops are talking about a recall but what dif does it make if they toss the ballots down the “blackbox” hole in the counting?
i am sure if i spoke like this to most peops they woulds say..o they would nevr do that(rig an election)but after what we have seen of walker and his fake koch call…what would you actually put past him?
ghost asked someone the other day on a thread..what good does it do to have a feel for how many peops voted in a precinct(since they dont take exit polls now) but imagine if hundreds,thousands of working class peops vote at a certain precinct all day….and they stay and watch the tape spit out the results…and the tape says..hea you all voted for the rep again or hea only a quarter of you made a choice we have tons of undervotes..nothing to see here move on….imagine if they call BS OPEN THE BOX
Karen
It’s not enough to just open the box, we need to make sure that what goes into the box is what comes out.
Paper ballots in 2012. Open counting of all votes.
I have been getting feedback on different boards about absentee voting rules in different states. It has been noted that absentee voting is more reliable than iVoodooTronic voting, but these points were raised:
1) some states require voters to swear that they will be out of the jurisdiction on election day before they are allowed to vote absentee.
2) voting absentee in some areas does not mean voting with paper. It simply means voting on an iVoodooTronic machine before election day.
3) although absentee ballots may be on paper, the paper may be fed into and processed by an iVoodooTronic machine.
As Brad repeatedly stated, the only reliable way to vote is with paper ballots and with open counting of all votes.
yes ghost ..that was the point of my rambling tirade….open the boxes and count the ballots for every1 to see….have live web cams streaming..take our democracy or whats left of it out of the dark
Japan Issues Emergency at Nuclear Plant; 2,000 Evacuated
Japan is a beautiful country with beautiful people. All our prayers are with you all.