My heart goes out to Japan

[peptoabysmal]

Japan Earthquake Death Toll Rises to 31 (http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=201048)

No comment, just a :(

[roger]

I know. An ex-girlfriend's family is out there. They are alive, but I am not so sure they have a house anymore. Communication is difficult. :(

[toddjh]

Originally posted by peptoabysmal
Japan Earthquake Death Toll Rises to 31
No comment, just a :(

Let's mourn the people who died, but also be grateful for the building codes and regulations that made the death toll two digits instead of three or four.

Jeremy

[Hutch]

Originally posted by toddjh
Let's mourn the people who died, but also be grateful for the building codes and regulations that made the death toll two digits instead of three or four.

Jeremy

Concur, especially considering the massive damage and loss of life that sitting on a major faultline has caused Japan in the past (Tokyo earthquake of 1923--estimated 100,000 dead; Kobe earthquake of 1995--6,000 dead).

And sad to say, it will happen again..and again..and again. The best one can do is prepare and plan and hope.

Hmmmm...Government regulations helping to save lives..what a concept (apologies for that pepto, but this is a politics forum)

[Loon]

Originally posted by toddjh
Let's mourn the people who died, but also be grateful for the building codes and regulations that made the death toll two digits instead of three or four.

Jeremy

Building codes here are iffy, at best. The construction industry is rife with corruption. I think a significant factor in the low death tolls is that Niigata is not nearly as densely populated as Kobe or Tokyo.

With luck, I am overestimating these factors.

Been a rough year here. Worst typhoon in 25 years and the heaviest rainfall in 125.

[Beerina]

Originally posted by Hutch
Hmmmm...Government regulations helping to save lives..what a concept (apologies for that pepto, but this is a politics forum)

God knows the government knew the codes apriori instead of learning them the hard way. And also how insurance companies love to insure poor quality construction.

[shuize]

I'll second Loon's statement. I wouldn't put too much faith in the building codes around here. The reason more people didn't die was because the quake was centered in an area with relatively low population. There was an amazing story of a 2 year old boy who was rescued from the inside of a crushed car after being buried for days. Sadly his neither his mother or sister made it out alive.

As for the Typhoon deaths, most were from people who were either killed in mudslides or storm surge waves. And you have to see the pictures to wonder why anyone would stay in their houses on the slope during the heaviest railfall in 100 years or try and ride out the storm surge literally yards from the beach -- probably the same people that trust the building codes.

[epepke]

Sad, sad news.