8.9 Earthquake off the coast of JDM land ..ie Tsunami!

[rningonfumes]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/ap_on_re_as/as_japan_earthquake.


TOKYO – Japan was struck by a magnitude 8.9 earthquake off its northeastern coast Friday, unleashing a 13-foot (4-meter) tsunami that washed away cars and tore away buildings along the coast near the epicenter. There were reports of injuries in Tokyo.
In various locations along Japan's coast, TV footage showed massive damage from the tsunami, with dozens of cars, boats and even buildings being carried along by waters. A large ship swept away by the tsunami rammed directly into a breakwater in Kesennuma city in Miyagi prefecture, according to footage on public broadcaster NHK.
Officials were trying to assess damage, injuries and deaths from the quake but had no immediate details.
The quake that struck at 2:46 p.m. was followed by a series of powerful aftershocks, including a 7.4-magnitude one about 30 minutes later. The U.S. Geological Survey upgraded the strength of the first quake to a magnitude 8.9, while Japan's meteorological agency measured it at 7.9.
The meteorological agency issued a tsunami warning for the entire Pacific coast of Japan. NHK was warning those near the coast to get to safer ground.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii said a tsunami warning was in effect for Japan, Russia, Marcus Island and the Northern Marianas. A tsunami watch has been issued for Guam, Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia and the U.S. state of Hawaii.
The quake struck at a depth of six miles (10 kilometers), about 80 miles (125 kilometers) off the eastern coast, the agency said. The area is 240 miles (380 kilometers) northeast of Tokyo.
In downtown Tokyo, large buildings shook violently and workers poured into the street for safety. TV footage showed a large building on fire and bellowing smoke in the Odaiba district of Tokyo.
In central Tokyo, trains were stopped and passengers walked along the tracks to platforms.
The ceiling in Kudan Kaikan, a large hall in Tokyo, collapsed, injuring an unknown number of people, NHK said.
Footage on NHK from their Sendai office showed employees stumbling around and books and papers crashing from desks. It also showed a glass shelter at a bus stop in Tokyo completely smashed by the quake and a weeping woman nearby being comforted by another woman.
Several quakes had hit the same region in recent days, including a 7.3 magnitude one on Wednesday.
Thirty minutes after the quake, tall buildings were still swaying in Tokyo and mobile phone networks were not working. Japan's Coast Guard has set up task force and officials are standing by for emergency contingencies, Coast Guard official Yosuke Oi said.
"I'm afraid we'll soon find out about damages, since the quake was so strong," he said

If you check out your news station, they're currently reporting a second Tsunami.

[Kioshi]

its scary news....and i feel useless not being able to do anything from here.

trying to get in touch with people there...

[thebarber]

just wait for the tsumami to hit hawaii and the western coasts of north america....weee!

[thebarber]

interesting factoid: the tsunami wave/swell travels as fast as the jets that cross the pacific (about 180mph/300kph)

[rningonfumes]

PK, the Tsunami itself is the energy of the quake, it doesn't translate back into ground activity. The majority of the energy is in the big wave that is formed just as the swells hit the shallow shelf of a coast.

[JumpmanYaris]

God be with the people of Japan and with the people that are on the path of this thing

[sqcomp]

I have some friends in Japan...I'm still trying to get in touch. Definately, my thoughts and prayers are with the Japanese people.

[SilverBack]

One of craziest things I've seen on the news. Hope they recover quickly.

Closer to home, Santa Cruz just got the tsunami. Boats in the harbor are all over the place. Avoid the beaches.

[DebbyM46227]

I don't know anyone in Japan, but my thoughts are with them. The videos are horrific. I wonder if this affected the Toyota plant(s) where the Yaris is built.

[Kal-El]

I wonder if this affected the Toyota plant(s) where the Yaris is built.

Yup. :frown: Almost specifically the Yaris interestingly enough.

TOKYO -- Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. have suspended production at plants in Japan today and were assessing damage after an 8.9-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast, triggering a tsunami and shaking buildings violently as far away as Tokyo.

The shutdown could affect exports to the United States of such cars as the Toyota Yaris sedan, the Scion XB and Scion XD, as well as the Honda Fit small car.

Toyota, the world's largest carmaker, said it evacuated workers from several factories in the quake zone. Toyota has two parts plants in northern Japan and it has 2 affiliates, Kanto Auto Works, Ltd. and Central Motors Co., that assemble small cars in the region.

The immediate status of those plants was still being evaluated, Toyota spokesman Dion Corbett said. "We are still trying to get information from them," he said.

Widespread Damage

The quake struck at 2:46 p.m. local time off the coast of Sendai north of the capital, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. The tremor also triggered a tsunami that flooded coastal areas. Television footage showed cars being washed down flood zones like toys and large capsized cargo ships tossed sideways and jumbled together and pushed inland.

Aftershocks, many strong, rocked the region for hours afterward.

Toyota is 1 of the few Japanese automakers with a large manufacturing presence in northern Japan, a region it wants to make a center for small car production. In January, its Central Motors subsidiary opened an new assembly plant just an hour's drive away from Sendai. That plant, with a capacity of 120,000 vehicles, makes the Yaris small car for export to the United States.

Toyota's Kanto Auto Works has another assembly plant in the neighboring prefecture of Iwate. That plant also makes small cars, including the Yaris sedan, the Scion XB and Scion XD for export. The Toyota parent company has two parts plants in the region as well.

"As for production from here out, we will make a decision after we get a handle on the situation," Corbett said, about when the northern plants would reopen.

Toyota plants near the company's headquarters in Toyota City, in central Japan, had resumed production as normal after brief shutdowns, Corbett said. There were no reports of injuries from those factories. Possible damage was still being assessed.

Honda and suppliers

Toyota was also confirming damage at its suppliers. Toyota Boshoku Corp. and Denso Corp., 2 of Toyota’s biggest parts makers, both reportedly suffered some plant damage.

Honda shut down 2 assembly plants immediately after the temblor, spokesman Keitaro Yamamoto said. Honda’s Suzuka plant in central Japan soon resumed production.

But the company’s Sayama plant, north of Tokyo and closer to the epicenter, remained shut down by late Friday evening. Yamamoto said Honda headquarters was having difficulty contacting its plants. The U.S.-bound Fit is among the cars produced at Sayama.

Yamamoto said the company was unsure when production would resume there.

At Honda’s r&d center in Tochigi prefecture, 1 person died and 30 were injured when the quake toppled a wall at the facility’s cafeteria. No other injuries were reported.

[tomato]

Terrible news.

They've closed all the beaches and the Great Highway in SF to keep people away from the waves but we should be OK.

[big lo]

Well my father in law is out there (US Marines) and we haven't had contact thus far, but I'm sure the boys are ok. Our prayers to all the ppl in Japan.

[tomato]

+1 ^

don't worry just yet if you don't hear from ppl in a disaster area. You know the have no way of communicating so it'll take a while before you hear.

google has set up a people finder page for the people in Japan., if that helps any.

http://japan.person-finder.appspot.com/?lang=en

[PETERPOOP]

i doubt it will be anything close to that in Japan, but still better safe than sorry. I hope peterpoop can outrun it in his turboed Yaris...now that would be an awesome movie

lmao. I was envisioning that in my head during all of this. I too was thinking that'd be quite a sight!

But on a serious note, this is one of the craziest things i've seen. So sad for the people of Japan. It's going to take forever to clean that up. I thank God that oahu was untouched and other places weren't affected nearly as bad as Japan was.

[tomato]

Another link, this one from PBS: Digital Tools to track the aftermath of Japan's tsunami

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/the-daily-need/digital-tools-to-track-the-aftermath-of-japans-tsunami/7875/

for those of you who are interested

[Kal-El]

This sucks.


http://www.clublexus.com/forums/attachments/car-chat/202500d1299858358-earthquake-in-japan-affects-toyota-and-honda-plants-lg.hrzgal.12.gi.jpg

[tomato]

This sucks.


http://www.clublexus.com/forums/attachments/car-chat/202500d1299858358-earthquake-in-japan-affects-toyota-and-honda-plants-lg.hrzgal.12.gi.jpg

:eyebulge::eyebulge:

Yes it does.

[JumpmanYaris]

Wow that's a big loss. It's the Prius foult

[Flipper_1938]

Our cars came from northern Japan.

[Kioshi]

Kioshi do you have family anywhere near there?

I have two host families there who pretty much treat me as their own child...thus my 2nd family.
Most of my family and friends are in Yokohama/Tokyo area...and in one in central Japan.....(where the second quake 6.6 hit)

Since friday at 3am, i have been facebooking with a few of them and have got responses...others i had to wait till their docomo/softbank cell phone services were working...
Most of my friends in Tokyo had to spend the night at a hostel or at work~

The second quake in central Japan hit hours after...Saturday morning there...
I got in touch with my friend/2nd family. They are fine, their city shook a bit..but all are safe~

Tremors/after shocks are still felt till late at night earlier in Japan...according to my contacts in Kantou region~ Tokyo/Yokohama...

There is a member on here from Sendai....he exported a Yaris from Hawaii or California i believe...to Japan.

Please PM him...his username is Ryohei Omura...with a 3-door white Yaris/Vitz.
He hasnt logged on since March 9th....so its a little concerning for a fellow Yaris member.

[tomato]

Don't worry just yet, Kioshi. You know the forum is probably the last thing on his mind right now even if he's OK and cell towers are probably out.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Japan.

[tomato]

PK you're a little young to remember Cheronbyl.
Were your relatives in relative proximity of the disaster area?

[auxmike]

Will US Yaris owners suffer parts shortages or huge price markups?
Will the Yaris become an "orphan"?

[Hershey]

With the high prices of gas here and less YARIS being produced could lead to less discounts or next to none . This was the case when we bought the '08 sedan in MAY 2008 and they were short of demand from KATRINA and RITA . This could help bring up the book values for YARIS owners . We looked today at K.B.B. , N.A.D.A. , and Edmunds for the 2010 3 door w/ auto , and power package with 16,500 miles . The . K.B.B. ( good ) is $10,250 , Edmunds ( clean ) $10,159 , and NADA ( average ) $10,175 . Added all 3 book values and divided by 3 which comes to a $10,195 average for all 3 . Looked about a month ago and the book values were lower , if I remember right it was close to $9,700 at K.B.B. in the 1st week of February , so they seem to have risen with the spike in gas . I believe the new plant for the YARIS was to produce the new " C " hybrid . That'll likley be put off for awhile . We wish all those impacted by this event our sympathy and best wishes .

[Kioshi]

well I wish you and your 2nd family all the best and hope everything is good. Having lived through a nuclear disaster (Chernobyl) I know how stressed these people might be. Hopefully they will get the nuclear reactors under control

On a lighter note, I think this Vitz survived unscathed:
http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/51652000/jpg/_51652291_011509813-2.jpg

Thanks Pavel, and the nuclear reactor crisis seems harder to follow because news media injapan says differentt than what american media is saying....confusing~

its as if the vitz was hiding underneath a rock and decided to just peek out.

@tomato - thanks...but the natural instincs of a human being just start to go into frustration...

[JumpmanYaris]

I seen my post got deleted idk because I was just stating the truth. Would you rather your car was safe or your loved ones? It's a no brainer

[Kal-El]

Another pic. Notice the oddity of a Yaris's rammed up each post the same way going off into the distance. :eek:

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2011/03/japanearthquake.df25b16abfc9412382e9c2d3dc58cd67-opt.jpg

[Kal-El]

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2011/03/japan-earthquake-damaged-road.jpg

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2011/03/japan-earthquake-fixed-road.jpg

Due to the extensive damage in Japan caused by the massive earthquake and resultant tsunami on March 11, many have questioned if the island nation can recover in a year, much less a few months. If the swiftness with which the Japanese can repair roads is any indication, we wouldn't bet against the country cleaning up this catastrophe in short order.

As a result of the quake, a 150-meter section of the Great Kanto Highway in Naka was absolutely obliterated, with massive chasms running right through the middle of the road. Work crews at the NEXCO road repair company sprang into action on March 17, working at a fevered pitch to help get their country on the road to recovery, literally. Amazingly, after only six days of labor, the road is silky smooth and ready for travel. Look at the the before and after photos above to see just how amazing this feat is.

Given the fact that road crews in the U.S. can spend three or more months repairing a single lane of concrete, only to leave the orange barrels on the road for another two weeks, we're blown away by this feat of engineering. Simply amazing.


Amazing what can be done without all the government bureaucracy and unions in the way. :wink:

[47_MasoN_47]

Amazing what can be done without all the government bureaucracy and unions in the way. :wink:

AMEN BROTHER!