This pic kind of brings it home as to what this thing is (Japan)

[Skip_In_Boulder]

Massive destruction and human suffering on an unbelievable scale.

At least it does for me.

[democracy1st]

1. I'm blown away by the destruction!

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. There is an aerial photo of one of the towns

that if it was black and white could be confused with Hiroshima...

[jannyk]

3. k&r! Thank you.

[No DUplicitous DUpe]

4. Yeah it does...

Really unbelievable.

Jon in Basalt.

[hlthe2b]

5. I feel like sitting down and crying alongside her.

What pain.... What helplessness. That translates across all languages and cultures. May help be on the way and soon. :cry:

[Skip_In_Boulder]

6. Yes, her facial expression and posture

is just the epitome of aloneness.

[Maru Kitteh]

12. me too. n/t

[Delphinus]

22. Me too.

:cry:

I reach across the ethers to hold her and give her comfort.

[Old and In the Way]

7. An earlier pic was cropped to focus on the plight of this grieving young lady.

This pic really exposes us to the magnitude of her plight. Just so, so sad.

[Skip_In_Boulder]

8. Yes I saw the earlier picture

but I thought the expanded picture just seemed to me to capture the totality of the event better, so I went ahead and posted it as well.

[ZombieHorde]

9. So surreal. nt

[necso]

10. A very large earthquake,

and relatively close to the coast, meaning short tsunami-evacuation time, strong onshore earth-movement effects.

My condolences to the afflicted.

[Vinee]

11. If there's a hell, it probably looks just like that. nt

[TheMadMonk]

13. Tradgedy when done by "Mother Nature."

Ho hum when it's us.





We rail against that which we cannot affect and refuse to address that which whe can.

[joshcryer]

14. There's a picture of the Indonesian tsunami where it looks like debris. But it's bodies.

It looks like, on first glance, just a lot of debris from houses, and cars, and boats and whatnot. But you look just slightly closer, it's bodies. Tens of hundreds of bodies. Really shook me up, that picture.

[joshcryer]

15. To clarify: that picture I described was to me how this is for you.

I don't think this conveys Japan's disaster to me, I haven't seen that 'one' picture yet.

[PufPuf23]

16. The simulataneous earthquake, tsusami, and nuclear event in Japan

is the largest natural disaster of my lifetime (born January 1953).

Lost my home twice as a child in natural disasters.

Educated and professional and academic in natural resources.

The immediate death toll is far from documented IMO.

To worry about nukes and "official statements" is rational given medias and governments.

[Mojorabbit]

18. and the volcano erupting today.

I was born a couple of years after you and I don't remember anything like this either.

[malaise]

23. Last night we watched NGOs Mega Quake

a hypothetical situation in the US - it was frighteningly accurate in terms of the time between the quake and the tsunami.

[Mojorabbit]

17. I saw this earlier

and it just broke my heart. It totally captures the essence of this disaster.

[chill_wind]

19. There are just no words..

[DainBramaged]

20. .......................

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x638579

[rainbow4321]

21. I went to Wikipedia to read more about Japan's demographics

after I saw one news report saying how a large percentage of the people in the hardest hit areas are elderly who will be have a much harder time/desire to rebuild/relocate, etc. Many who perished will eventually be found to be the elderly as they couldn't get out of the way as easy as their younger family members/neighbors.



One very scary stat was the leading cause of death for those under 30 y/o in Japan...suicide.

Seeing pictures like this..you just really, really, really hope that in the short and long term plan, there is a huge offering of post traumatic counseling for survivors. If the rate of suicide was so high before this all hit, imagine what it MAY be after their country has gone thru all of this.

[Kadie]

24. .

:cry: