# Botany Boy...



## abax (Sep 12, 2015)

where are you? I saw pics of the flooding and began to
wonder if any of the flooding was close to your place.


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## KyushuCalanthe (Sep 12, 2015)

I'm OK Angela, thank you! The flooding is the to the far north in the same region that was hit by the massive earthquake and tsunami in 2011.


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## NYEric (Sep 12, 2015)

Sounds like the San Andreas fault region of California!


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## SlipperFan (Sep 12, 2015)

I'm glad to hear you are OK, Tom. But those poor folks in the north!


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## abax (Sep 13, 2015)

Oh good, Tom. I've seen an area hit by major flooding and
the devastation is awful. So many small things lost like
family photographs and mementos in addition to losing one's home. I helped dig out homes after Katrina and the
mud and smell never really go away no matter how hard and careful the place is cleaned.


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## KyushuCalanthe (Sep 13, 2015)

The area effected is situated on a huge, flat floodplain at the base of the massive mountains of central Honshu, so in a sense is a sitting duck, much like New Orleans. In my area we had even worse rainfall back in '09, up to a meter in less than a week, enough to cause severe landslides and some flooding. Two women died just a couple miles from my house in a landslide.

Japan is on the boundaries of 4 tectonic plates, two of which are smashing against each other in central Honshu, hence all the activity there and the high mountains. The worst strain areas are also where most folks live in Japan, and where Japan generates the lion's share of it economy. When "the big one" comes, it very well could sink the country into depression.

Here's a look at the tectonic plates of Japan: http://cais.gsi.go.jp/Virtual_GSI/Tectonics/Niigata_Kobe/niigata_kobe.html

Then again, all those fault lines make for interesting stuff too, like hot spring resorts, geothermal energy production (not well developed yet), and bunches of volcanoes. It's a toss up.


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## abax (Sep 13, 2015)

As is the entire planet in the next hundred years or so.
I got my World Atlas out and have been looking over specifically where you live...well, is it an island not geographically connected to the land mass just above it?
Kyushu seems not to be connected by land on the map.
Would you mind saying exactly where you live? I haven't
had a geography class since the 6th grade and I'm trying
to catch up! Perhaps Japan, Hawaii and California will
meet up some far time in the future.


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## Marco (Sep 14, 2015)

Tom - Typhoon then Floods, I'm really glad that you and yours came out unscathed.


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## KyushuCalanthe (Sep 15, 2015)

Angela, I live on the northwest coast of Kyushu on the outskirts of Fukuoka City, in Fukuoka Prefecture, a metropolitan area with over 5 million people. It is tight living, even where I live. A couple kilometers to the west and you are in the thick of the human wilderness. Japanese cities are congested like any large Asian city with confusing roads that lead in circles since their layout dates back to the time before cars.

Here's the google map link: Fukuoka Prefecture

Kyushu is separated from the largest mainland island, Honshu, by the Kanmon Straits, that are less than kilometer wide where the bridge is that connects the two islands. So, they are barely separate.


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## abax (Sep 15, 2015)

Thank you, Tom. My geography is improving daily. The
world population is far higher than it should be so the crowding is everywhere. I consider myself very, very
lucky to have 150 acres of tree nursery and woodland to
live in, but the area is growing more crowded every year.
On the other hand, living near a metropolitan area gives
you lots of things to do and places to go...you know, cultural stuff. After living in a university town most of my
adult life, I don't think I could stand even one neighbor
anymore. I've become a recluse!


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## KyushuCalanthe (Sep 17, 2015)

A 150 acres is a nice piece of land. Before coming here I was living on 8.5 acres in the wooded sandhills of north Florida - that was plenty for me. I could just still see my neighbors in the distance through the trees. Now I could hand a carton of milk between houses through my kitchen window. Tight enough for you?

On the topic of danger, it is kind of funny that Japan has a plethora of natural disasters that can hit at any time - typhoons, flooding, landslides, and all that comes with earthquakes - tsunamis and volcanic eruptions. I say "funny" because this is a culture that is obsessed with safety. 

To sum up the last 30 day's activities - we had our usual significant typhoons in late August effecting mostly the deep south, 2 significant volcanic eruptions (one to the point evacuation was necessary), the massive flooding north of Tokyo, and this morning the entire Pacific coastline is under tsunami advisory due to an 8.3 earthquake in Chile yesterday. The water is not expected to rise very much this go around, but who knows for sure.

Just for giggles, here is the volcanic warning page for all of Japan as of this morning: http://www.jma.go.jp/en/volcano/


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## abax (Sep 17, 2015)

150 acres is a nice piece of land if somebody else takes
care of it. Tom, it appears that life is never dull there which is some compensation. Southeastern KY is probably
the dullest, safest place on the planet! I believe we do have a rather large fault line in the western part of the
state. That could be exciting.


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