Death Toll Estimate in Japan Soars as Relief Efforts Intensify

From the New York Times:

Japan reeled from a rapidly unfolding disaster of epic scale on Sunday, pummeled by the death toll, destruction and homelessness caused by the earthquake and tsunami and new hazards from damaged nuclear reactors that were leaking radiation. The prime minister called it Japan’s worst crisis since World War II.

Japan’s $5 trillion economy, the third largest in the world, was threatened with severe disruptions and partial paralysis as many industries shut down and the armed forces and volunteers mobilized for the far more urgent effort of finding survivors, evacuating residents near the stricken power plants and caring for the victims of the 8.9 magnitude quake that struck on Friday.

The disaster has left more than 10,000 people dead, many thousands homeless and millions without water, power, heat or transportation.

The most urgent worries concerned the failures at two reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, where engineers were still struggling to avert meltdowns and where some radiation had already leaked. An explosion at one of the reactors on Monday did not appear to have harmed it, Japanese officials said.

And

The quake and tsunami did not reach Japan’s industrial heartland, although economists said the power blackouts could affect industrial production — notably carmakers, electronics manufacturers and steel plants — and interrupt the nation’s famously efficient supply chain. Tourism was also bound to plummet, as the United States, France and other nations urged citizens to avoid traveling to Japan.

More here.

I don't really have much to say about this. I mean, I'm posting on it because I want to acknowledge here that this is going on and that it's blowing me away: they're estimating a death toll of ten thousand, which will probably rise, and then all these nuclear reactors threatening to melt down. I'm speechless. Sure, I could pontificate on how nuclear power has very little margin for error, which is why it's generally a really bad idea, but I've said as much before, and there will be time for more of that later.

But right now, I just want to say that I've always really liked Japan, no doubt because of the role that the island nation has played through decades of World War II mythology, the dignified and noble enemy that gave us a run for our money in the Pacific theater, but also just because Japanese culture is totally fucking cool. No one deserves destruction on this scale, but it sucks all the more when it happens to a nation you respect and admire.

The good news here, if there is any, is that Japan wasn't totally devastated. Like the excerpt above notes, the nation's industrial infrastructure remains essentially intact, which means that they're well primed to recover, even though it will probably take a decade or more.

In the meantime, I'm just watching. If anything to say occurs to me, I'll post it here.

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