Thanks everyone!

[divisionten]

The past week has been nothing short of hell for myself and everyone else in Honshu and southern Hokkaido in japan. I've had no sleep, almOst no food, experienced three earthquakes, more aftershocks and tremors than I care to count, a nuclear power plant failure, a volcano eruption, blackouts and food shortages. And I was 40 miles from the quake's epicenter. Japan now has a lake that it didn't have six days ago, as parts of the country have split 13 miles apart, leaving a swath of cities and villages to sink into the new body of water. Tsunamis have hit half the planet, and the quake even sped up Earth's rotational pull.

I was hardly near the worst of it, but it's been bad. And some of the worst things are what you can't see- the devestaion in the wake of cracked earth and massive flooding is nothing short of terrible, but whole trains have been swallowed up by the sea, passengers inside, leaving not a trace behind. Carcinogenic radiation is steadily leaking into th atmosphere We are still experiencing aftershocks, and two of them around 3 AM fell around Mag 6. Today.

And that's 60km (40mi) from here for the quake epicenter, and 150 for he reactor. I was pretty sure I'd lose it. Talking with you guys has gIven me this fantastic point of grounding. I dant begin to rhank you all for keeping me amused when I just couldn't think straight anymore. I'm honored to be your new moderator, and I hope someday I can repay the kindness that you all have given me. ^___^

[GeorgeC]

No problem, enjoy your flight!

Also, I'm really curious about the radiation leaks, but haven't been able to find any solid reading material on it, the papers seem to edge around the fact that nuclear radiation is leaking from reactors ;(

I wish I was on a plane, I love the acceleration on take off ;(

[divisionten]

No problem!
I wish I was on a plane, I love the acceleration on take off ;(

I wish I was too. Hopefully I will be out of here in 11 more hours.

[doodo!]

What a disaster zone. I'm glad that you're physically healthy. I hope for your psychological health as well. You've seen a lot for just one week. A lot.

My thoughts with you.

[Hayley the Hedgie]

Lots of love and prayers from the Emerald Isle. Hope you have a safe journey. :)

[Irishmile]

The whole thing is so sad.... anyone who's heart doesn't go out to all of Japan are pretty heartless. I am really glad you are ok it would have bummed me out if something bad happened to you.

[Martin McFly]

I think everyone's just relieved that you're okay. I hope you have a great flight to the US.

[GeorgeC]

I don't mean this in a rude way, but can you answer my question regarding the nuclear power plants? I haven't been able to find ANY answers anywhere :(

[rubygloommel]

I don't mean this in a rude way, but can you answer my question regarding the nuclear power plants? I haven't been able to find ANY answers anywhere :(

Ever heard of BBC? Anyway, apparently there was a period where there was enough radiation leaking out that they were advising people to evacuate/stay indoors, but the levels have lessened some now.

But there's also just been another fire, so we can probably expect levels to rise again.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12711226 - Loads of articles, educate yourself! :P

P.S. Glad this forum helped Divisionten! :)

[GeorgeC]

Ever heard of BBC? Anyway, apparently there was a period where there was enough radiation leaking out that they were advising people to evacuate/stay indoors, but the levels have lessened some now.

But there's also just been another fire, so we can probably expect levels to rise again.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12711226 - Loads of articles, educate yourself! :P

P.S. Glad this forum helped Divisionten! :)

Last time I checked the BBC the report just looked worded as if there was a guy behind the editor saying "noo, pretend it's all fine and no danger!"

Sorry, I'm just prepared for the worst is all

[rubygloommel]

Last time I checked the BBC the report just looked worded as if there was a guy behind the editor saying "noo, pretend it's all fine and no danger!"

Sorry, I'm just prepared for the worst is all

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12732015 Here's a link specific to the radiation. And you know, just because they're saying it's not too bad, don't just automatically assume it's worse! For all we know the effects are only local :) Stop worrying!

[Giant Tope]

For all we know the effects are only local :) Stop worrying!

That's still not good. Innocent people still have to suffer.

My parents living in Taiwan say that the country is carefully monitoring the radiation, as it could possibly spread to a close country like theirs.

[rubygloommel]

That's still not good. Innocent people still have to suffer.

My parents living in Taiwan say that the country is carefully monitoring the radiation, as it could possibly spread to a close country like theirs.

Oh no, sorry, I didn't mean it like that! I just meant it's unlikely that'll it'll spread far, not to not worry about the people it is affecting! :(

[1nky]

Here's to wishing you the best of luck, dude. That's a lot for one person to go through. That's a lot for millions of people to go through.

But I'm glad you're safe. Have a safe trip.

[WarpSpeed]

I'm honored to be your new moderator, and I hope someday I can repay the kindness that you all have given me. ^___^

Congrats on your new moderatorship. I'd make jokes about you having to make your avatar bigger now, but just get safe first.

Oh no, sorry, I didn't mean it like that! I just meant it's unlikely that'll it'll spread far, not to not worry about the people it is affecting! :(

Actually, it's a reasonable point. There are a lot of scared people right now hoarding sodium iodide who really don't need to. Let it go where it's needed.

[RAnthonyMahan]

I'm glad you're safe and hope you're able to leave Japan unharmed.

As unrealistic as the idea is, I'm really hoping that soon this whole disaster will die out, Japan will return to normal, and all of this will just be a very ugly memory.

[thesporkman]

I'm glad to hear you're all right. My heart goes out to all of Japan.

[Rather Dashing]

I'm honored to be your new moderator, and I hope someday I can repay the kindness that you all have given me. ^___^
What in the world are you talking about? You're easily the nicest person here! Any kindness paid out now adds up to, at most, paying back for everything you've done for us all already.

[Jon NA]

... I just don't know how to express myself ... I'm not good with words ... I think Dodoo!'s post expresses my felling best, so I'm gonna quote him here ...
What a disaster zone. I'm glad that you're physically healthy. I hope for your psychological health as well. You've seen a lot for just one week. A lot.

My thoughts with you.

[Vainamoinen]

New moderators! Best news ever. Congrats divisonten! I trust you to be more of a mediator than moderator.

Please inform us as soon as you're definitly out of there, and again if you have landed safely.

/edit: Just saw you're boarding. Thank god.

[ShaggE]

I haven't been able to really wrap my head around what happened, as it just sounds inconceivable in scale (and I'm still a bit shaken by the floods in Australia, what with two of my closest friends being so close to the damage). But it's really starting to sink in, and I'm truly thankful that everybody I know over in Japan is okay, as well as saddened for those who aren't.

And to think that it could still get much, much worse, what with the power plant situation and all... this whole thing is terrifying.

[Vainamoinen]

It freaks me out, frankly. I haven't really slept in days, and I'm feeling deeply depressed, and I am so far away from Japan. A lot of my friends have friends in Japan (those who studied Japanese at the University), but I myself do not. divisonten's fate is about as personally close as this catastrophe will get to me. I'm flattened nonetheless and have massive trouble concentrating at work. Whenever I have to write an e-mail to a Japanese translator, I honestly don't know what to say.

I've donated a lot more money to the Red Cross yesterday than my budget actually permits. Didn't help at all, so it's not some kind of bad conscience that keeps me up at night. Also, after watching a thorough science programme yesterday, I'm pretty sure that actual radioactive effects in Germany (or other direct effects) will be very very neglectable, so it's not personal fear as well.