Leaving under shock Japan for Taiwan soon

Well I didn’t know where to post this topic, as it doesn’t fit in anywhere… I am currently living in Japan (Osaka) and will leave the country in two weeks time for Taiwan. I was supposed to have a very busy schedule at work here and I was expecting to spend some good time before leaving Japan, but after the earthquake yesterday, my work was cancelled (I work as a sportscaster for the Japanese Football League), and my last month here is going from bad to worse.
I cannot blame anyone for it, and I don’t want to complain about it as people living in the north of Japan are having far much more troubles than me, and to see the country that welcomed me for 8 years in such a huge crisis and up side down, really hurts me. What can I do to help? Well I can only pray for people in need and try to donate something, even if it isn’t that much. Are there many earthquakes in Taiwan? Was the Tsunami from yesterday strong?

There are lots of extremely minor quakes here, occasional moderate ones, and rare large ones. Don’t worry about it. The tsunami here was minor. Enjoy your stay here, and look both ways before crossing the street, as traffic here is far more worrying than quakes and tsunamis.

Well now we are all praying for the Nuclear Power Plant in Fukushima to survive the earthquake!

Do you think god didn’t mean to cause issues with a nuclear power plant and that reminding him that he fucked up aught to sort things out? I personally don’t think he gives a s****.

Do you think god didn’t mean to cause issues with a nuclear power plant and that reminding him that he fucked up aught to sort things out? I personally don’t think he gives a s****.[/quote]

God??? What god has to do with this!? When I say “we are all praying”, it means that we all want things to turn good. I may have used the wrong words. And actually I am not christian.

Do you think god didn’t mean to cause issues with a nuclear power plant and that reminding him that he fucked up aught to sort things out? I personally don’t think he gives a s****.[/quote]

It’s not a good time for this. Let people pray without the patronizing atheist fit. They are not hurting anyone. :thumbsdown:

Do you think god didn’t mean to cause issues with a nuclear power plant and that reminding him that he fucked up aught to sort things out? I personally don’t think he gives a s****.[/quote]

It’s not a good time for this. Let people pray without the patronizing atheist fit. They are not hurting anyone. :thumbsdown:[/quote]

Thank you for your understanding!

Taiwan, like Japan, is part of the Pacific “ring of fire”, so there are many earthquakes, like in Japan (most of them small, as you know). I can understand that after an earthquake people are emotionally more sensitive than before, and although many who have lived through an earthquake eventually return to a “normal” state (the state of accepting the risk that comes with living in an earthquake prone part of the world), some reportedly never return to that less sensitive state they once were in.

I suspect very much that, since you didn’t physically experience the shaking this time, you’ll find that your mind will calm down before long and you can keep going with your life along the lines of your plans, but in case you find out in the following months that the thoughts of earthquakes and their risks impacts negatively on the quality of your life, then i’d recommend, of course, that you consider moving to a less earthquake-prone part of the world - fortunately you’ll have some choice, even considering your connections with/ your interest in languages (for example, in Canada, the US, Australia, and northern Europe you can find work situations where you could continue learning and using both Japanese and Mandarin).

:2cents:

The existence of this island as we know it is a result of earthquakes, typhoons and landslides; earthquakes caused uplift; typhoons brought rain, which caused landslides; the landslides gradually widened and leveled parts of the island. These processes occur many times every year.

Deaths are usually due to the governments’ ignorance of nature; for example, allowing buses to drive on the Suhua highway after a typhoon or moving aboriginal villages to landslide areas. (Ma was lying when he said nobody knew. I can provide sources by Taiwanese geologists.) Government building code is worthless in my mind. You’ll need to due some thinking when choosing a place to live. (Some tips: (1) Research the company that built the place. If it has a long history, that means it probably doesn’t have anything to cover up. If it is has changed its name (or is new), it may have things to cover up. (2) Don’t live in buildings that went through the big earthquake. They may have been structurally weakened. (3) Read up a bit on structural engineering and earthquakes. This will help you choose a safer building. There’s lots of good info online.) With common sense, self education and thinking on your own, you can lessen the chance of being caught in a bad spot.

Im very concerned about the nuclear power plant as they seem to be having troubles with leakage. What kind of dander would taiwan face if this thing had a conplete melt down?

Taiwan’s reactors are of the same basic design as Japanese ones and are water cooled. Chernobyl was not water cooled and was (proven) to be much more dangerous.

Chernobyl had a core meltdown and explosion. Radioactivity polluted much of Europe (and likely went around the world). Chernobyl has been sealed (but not very nicely done) and will be dangerous for the foreseeable future. The 3 Mile Island reactor incident in the USA was a venting of radioactive cooling water (much like what is happening in Japan at this time) and pollution to a much lesser degree. There was no meltdown.

Taiwan reactors face the same dangers from earthquakes (and Tsunami) as the Japanese ones do. They are located on the shores to utilize ocean water to cool the reactors.

Urodacus would be able to explain this whole shebang a lot better.

It’s hard to get a grasp on what’s going on. It seems if the engineers can continue to cool the core over the next many days (weeks?), there won’t be a major life-threatening event. If they can’t and the fuel rods melt, things will get really bad.

Worst case scenario – scientificamerican.com/artic … shima-core
Words of an expert – youtube.com/watch?v=hhW-vMoyyIo

Current winds have any radiation blowing to the Pacific and headed for US Northwest.

That does not keep our lovely TV channels from broadcasting current radiation levels all over Taiwan 24/7…

[quote=“Icon”]Current winds have any radiation blowing to the Pacific and headed for US Northwest.

That does not keep our lovely TV channels from broadcasting current radiation levels all over Taiwan 24/7…[/quote]

Honestly, during times like these, I don’t pay attention to anything the Taiwanese do or say. Things like the news here – as you’ve described it (I haven’t watched it) – and the comments of your neighbor are the reasons why.

Oh, they are doing this fancy pieces of wearing this and that, taking some kind of pills… followed by brief statements from Taiwan’s government officials saying there is no current threat, that they remain vigilant but the possibilitie sof being affected are low. Whatever sells better…

But the winds thinghie is from international agencies.

Precisely.

If there is a major leak, you can bet I’ll be taking some fancy pills too.

The thyroid gland uses iodine to make several hormones, and is about the only part of the body to actively take up iodine from the bloodstream (the kidneys generally excrete iodine from the blood stream in the same way as bromine and chlorine, as fast as you absorb it from your food).

Because it takes up iodine, the thyroid gland is most at risk from radioactive iodine, the isotopes known as I131, I128, and I125 which are aggressively radioactive isotopes formed in nuclear fission reactors… hence lots of it would be floating around in the atmosphere and the water in the northern hemisphere if Fukushima No 1 or No 3 goes pop. Adding vast amounts of good iodine I127 to the body saturates the thyroid with good iodine and it no longer tries so hard to pick up iodine from the bloodstream (it can’t tell which of the isotopes it is picking up). The radioactive iodine may still enter your body but will get eliminated fairly uneventfully if you take those potassium iodide tablets like Mummy tells you.

Yep, they were warning people not to start taking them just yet.

I was thinking how awful it must be for the OP. If it was me and it was Taiwan instead of Japan, I’d be really devastated. It would be very hard to leave under those circunstances.

I mean, I know many people who left in panic during SARS. The world did not end. We’ve had typhoons, earthquakes. The island has not sank to the bottom of the ocean. Life goes on. Radiation, now that’s a biggie, it lingers too long. But after so many years, this is home and even under threat of war, heck, even after an invasion, it would be hard to leave. Too many friends and good memories.

I think it concerns all of us. It is not only Japan that is in danger. If it is to be another Chernobyl, then I would leave Taiwan, too. So OP, before you leave Japan, think twice where to go.
I used to live quite far from Chernobyl, different country and miles, miles of mountains between us and still got effected.People at my age group who lived there at that time have thyroid problems.

No one wants to spread panic, so the information about the radioactivity will be controlled for a long time. I just wait what happens next. If it pops, then I dont need any info, I just pack and go.
:unamused: I wish it was so easy…

Anyway: if you want to be safe, leave Japan further than Taiwan.

I am leaving Japan in two days, here became too dangerous. The reactors 1,2 and 3 of the Fukushima power plant blow up… and now they are evacuating people that lives 30 km away from the power plant. I got an email from the french embassy, asking us to be careful in Tokyo as the wind is going south west… but it isnt a problem right now, but we should be careful. The good news is that a live 750 km away from the nuclear power plant, but still, I dont want to take any risk, I am coming to Taiwan earlier that I was supposed to