Today the news has been dominated by the horrific events surrounding the massive earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Led by Star Trek’s George Takei, many of Star Trek’s celebrities on Twitter have been talking about the event, sending out wishes, prayers and links to help and more. See below for a summary.
Star Trek stars send out well wishes for Japan Quake & Tsunami victims
Some of the most popular celebrities on Twitter are current and former stars from Star Trek. And today most of them sent messages of hope along with calls to help via their Twitter accounts. Here are a selection of tweets from the Trek stars (you can click images to get to linked charities).
Takei: Today We Are All Japanese
Not surprisingly Star Trek’s original Sulu George Takei has been the most prolific today with many posts about the event in Japan. The Japanese-American actor has been posting news updates, links to charities, tools for finding friends and even letting fans know his friends and family are OK. Here are just some of his tweets.
As for Star Trek: The Next Generation’s Wil Wheaton, who with 1.7 million twitter followers is the king of Trek celebs in social media, he hasn’t sent any direct messages about Japan, but has been ‘retweeting’ (Twitter talk for forwarding) some of Takei’s tweets on the event.
On a personal note…
I myself was up in the wee hours of Friday morning tweeting about events in Japan and around the pacific, along with tweeting some of my concerns in about the effect at home. As it happens, living in Venice, CA, that I am in one of California’s official Tsunami Hazard Zones. In the end our area was downgraded from Tsunami Warning (get the hell out) to Tsunami Advisory, which turned out to just mean some high surf. But I want to thank all the well wishers on Twitter for sending their thoughts.
I also join with the Star Trek stars for who suggest helping any way you can, such as donating to the Red Cross.
As George Takei says – “Today we are all Japanese”
God bless the victims in this difficult time.
My prayers goes to the Atomic Reactor. Hopefully it will cool down.
God bless them all in those times. May the catastrophe won’t come worse.
Prayers for the people of Japan. They’re not out of the woods yet with danger to their nuclear power plants. Hopefully the world will help with that situation.
Thoughts go to those suffering in Japan.
They have taken an even more devastating blow than us in Christchurch and we are still struggling now.
My family and I are thinking of you all.
Last time Americans sent money to Japan, the Japanese returned all the money. They hate charity. Let’s just pray for the victims…
Sending positive thoughts to those suffering in Japan.
Japan will deal with disaster as they have always done — stalwartly and with fortitude.
Takei said it best; today, we are all Japanese.
Can’t even imagine an 8.9 earthquake, and I live in California.
The Japanese are a tough, resilient people.
My thoughts and best wishes are with them.
Thoughts and prayers go out to those in Japan, I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much destruction in my lifetime. It makes the awesome destruction of a film like 2012 pale in comparrison and it’ll be MANY years before they recover for this, they might not even recover in my lifetime…
Hard to believe the images I have been seeing on TV. My thoughts and prayers are with them, and also those waiting to hear about the safety of loved ones.
It is a sad day for all in Japan. I hope everythig there can be taken care of and I hope that everyone can be found that is still Alive and needs help. I pray for those victems and hope for a full and speedy recorvery. I have donated to Japan and hope that all of us will do the same. May all in Japan Live long and Prosper.
My thoughts and prayers, too, are with the Japanese people. First the earthquake, then the tsunami, and now a possible nuclear disaster. Seems the news keeps getting worse. They are going to need a lot of time, money and support to get back on their feet. Living in a prime earthquake zone myself, I cannot imagine having to live through something like what Japan is currently experiencing. I hope to never experience something like this.
But it seems these kinds of disasters will be occurring more frequently. Two of the biggest earthquakes in modern history, this one and the Sumatra quake, have occured in a span of under six years. Not to mention quakes in Iran, Pakistan, Chile, New Zealand and Haiti.
It is all so sad – all of it. It is a little unsettling at the moment living on this side of the Pacific rim and even with the best seismological technology, it is still hard to predict if, when and how big. There was also another sizable but smaller earthquake in China a couple of days ago – not sure where though.
I think a sadder element is that in the couple of days ago the Japanese search and rescue teams flew back to Japan with what remains they could find and identify of about 30 Japanese students in Christchurch studying English when the 22 Feb. earthquake hit, bringing down an entire 5 storey (CTV) building onto them. Now these guys return to something a lot more horrendous occurring in their own country.
I don’t envy the search and rescue workers one bit. For the most part, it is surely a very sad and gruesome task, as well as at times a dangerous task, but where would we be without them? God bless the search and rescue teams!
Edit: I meant to say – “if, when, WHERE and how big…”
I’m glad to know that Anthony is okay and hope that other readers of this site who might be in a hazard zone are also in good shape.
As I write this, I feel sadness over the nuclear peril that faces Japan. Of all the countries in the world that could be affected by nuclear meltdown, Japan is unique in that it remains the only country ever to have experienced nuclear weapons used against it — once at Hiroshima and once at Nagasaki. The current crisis at its nuclear power plants must revisit some painful memories in that country.
I know that the resilience of the Japanese people will carry them through this time and that they will rebuild better than before, but it is sad irony that Japan is one of the few nations, now, ever to have suffered a civilian nuclear emergency of this size and scale. In this it joins the ranks of the former Soviet Union (Chernobyl) and the United States (Three Mile Island).
Let’s hope such frightening and potentially devastating accidents never happen again, anywhere in the world.
Apparently, the quake moved Japan EIGHT feet west toward the Asian continent. It also altered the axis of the Earth.
<3 <3 … and prayers!!!
All this coverage of Japan makes me want to visit it, actually. Japan seems ultramodern and futuristic, like parts of China. I also want to do my (very small) part to help out the tourist industry there, and not just donate money, which Japan may not need anyway.
One attraction is the Tokyo Sky Tree (which you can Google) due to be completed next year. At 600 meters, it will be more than 185 feet taller than North America’s CN Tower, which held the record for tallest free-standing structure for a long time. (Dubai’s Burj Khalifa now holds that record, and will for a long time, I think.) Tokyo Sky Tree recently surpassed the height of the Canton Tower in Shanghai, China.
I’ve been to the CN Tower numerous times and also Chicago’s Sears (now Willis) Tower. I never had the thrill of visiting the now-destroyed World Trade Center towers in New York. It’s great to be able to see the surrounding cityscape as if you were aboard an airplane or helicopter.
It’s even nicer to do that when you can have a drink or two while doing so. I was recently at the Stratosphere in Las Vegas and the view was quite remarkable, and assisted by virtue of the libations served thereat. One can also dine there.
All in all, I think Japan would be a memorable place to visit.
Aside from all the horrific damage done to Japan…is the human facter of a death toll monting 19 thousand preliminary nombers, those who are hurt ,helpless and homeless.My church has started already gathering funds and clothing to send over to these stricken people. please pray,give and what ever help can be given…..This could happen here,
As President Obama said yesterday, the disasters — yes, plural — that struck Japan within the last 24 hours are heartbreaking.
The Huffington Post website has an article by Joe Green that lists a number of ways readers can help Japan in its hour of need.
Japan has been near the forefront of helping other nations when disaster strikes. Like the United States, it has a strong humanitarian tradition of helping other countries and is among the first or second countries to send relief missions to countries around the world in case of disaster.
Now it is becoming clear that our friend and ally, Japan, needs our help.
Discounting all of that, it is become clear as well that the casualties in Japan may be in the tens of thousands.
I hope that everyone who is reading this site will do their part to donate to help the brave people of Japan.
In the Christian, Jewish, and other great religious traditions, helping others is one of the noblest of all endeavors. Whatever your faith, and regardless of whether one is religious, we can do no less than help one another in our times of need.
Please donate generously. I know I will.
My heart was breaking when I was watching the news and seeing people running out of buildings and chunks of building falling down near them. Luckily the Japanese architecture is excellent since they know how to make building resistant to quakes but still.
I hope the reactor is kept under control as well.
God bless the people of Japan. My sympathies for those lost and sending positive thoughts to you all…
Wil Wheaton has been addressing the tragedy on his Tumblr blog. One important thing he brought up is the fact that there would be far more dead if Japan didn’t have such excellent structural engineering practices and government building codes in place. In fact, they are far ahead of us in that regard.
For all those people who follow no religion and would like to offer support to those in need go to the Richard Dawkins Foundation website and you can donate via the Non-Believers Gift Aid (NBGA).
:)
I had to delete some comments. Please this is about a disaster and is not an excuse to hijack and derail this into some political thing ok?
It’s nice to see so many showing their support. My family and I are extremely lucky in that we live very far from where the quake and tsunami hit. Unfortunately things are going from bad to worse here day by day. The death toll is steadily increasing, the cold weather is hampering rescue efforts and making it even harder on the survivors, there’s two nuclear reactors on the verge or have had melt downs (the Japanese media is being very ambiguous on that point), and there’s a chance that the recent quake may trigger more in a fault running through southern Japan. All we can do here is hope for the best but prepare for the worst………
I hope things turn out for the best for you and yours, Stewie G. Much luck to you. Stay safe.
Let look at realty ,why nobody knew what could have happen if an earthquake and tsunamis like the one has hitted Japan ?
It is doesn’t make sense. Specific and accurate studies could have made a projects for a fine life for the people live on the cost also the Nuclear Power station should not be considered a good economic projects since there are other energy source since it will put the people at high risk of their life. Man has always study the nature , but today the technology , science , with a great responsability, will make the life of the people of our planet eartth if we will work for the richs and the poors solving all the adverse and bad sign of the nature. Men are mostly intelligent to find the best solution to reduce and avoid this natural disaster.
All the world shoud give support to solve very quilckly for theJapan’s natural disaster.
RECENTLY WE ARE HAVING TO MANY NATURAL DISASTERS,THEN WE HAVE TO LOOK AT NATURE WITH A DIFFERENT SIGHT TRYING TO PROTECT THE PEOPLE THAT LIVE NEAR THE WATERS.
LET ‘S PUT OUR SMART PEOPLE TO WORK AND MAKE THEIR REASEARCH SO THAT WE WILL NOT SEE LOST PEOPLE’S LIFES IN ANY PART OF THE WORLD .
I agree that we should invest in science and technology to help people, as well as to push the frontiers of knowledge.
As a society, we are wealthy enough to do much more than we are, and to do both.
It used to be that respectable money was used very prominently to fund things that improve our practical and theoretical knowledge. The Victorians, for example, were (at least notionally) dedicated to progress, including science and technology. These days, the “smart money” has been on real estate and stock speculation, leading to the current super-recession, among other things. What a waste.
I came across this amazing website that showed the power of an individual, using his own money, to discover or rediscover what he terms “forgotten technology”. (Google “Wally Wallington.” Yes, it’s a real name, and not from the Simpsons.) It’s real tech, not pyramid-power kind of stuff. Well, come to think of it, it IS pyramid power, but not the kind you would expect.
We’ve become too beholden to huge corporations to do science and technology, when in fact each of us probably has a role in advancing the cause of science, research, and technology, if only by advocacy and demonstration of interest.
The public citizen is as necessary now as it ever has been, to assure the future of mankind in an uncaring, entropic universe.
Maybe you already know some of this.
http://tvnz.co.nz/world-news/japan-quake-latest-developments-4060402
On the midday TV news here, a volcanic eruption in Japan was mentioned and I thought it had just happened. When I googled for information, I found nothing for yesterday or today, however I did find this.
http://tvnz.co.nz/world-news/volcano-eruptions-evacuate-sth-japan-4010873
This is a little OT. I am not sure where to put this but I thought that some people might be interested. This is to do with the seventy (70) Chinese students killed in Christchurch’s latest earthquake. Very sad. I have only heartfelt sympathy for the Chinese families who have lost their loved ones here, however I do NOT have any tolerance for what the Chinese government is asking –
http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/china-seeks-more-money-christchurch-victims-4060527
It seems that its one-child family policy with its high sterilisation and abortion rates may be coming back to bite them in the bum. Good. The Chinese government forced this policy on many parents, most of whom would probably have wanted more than one child anyway, hence the high abortion rate. I guess that same government had better turn round and support these grieving parents and not expect us, many of us parents struggling but keen to have and rear more than child, to pay for Chinese inhumane and idiotic laws.
If this follows suit with the Indian Ocean quake, Japan is likely to experience earthquakes and aftershocks for several months. Parts of Indonesia experienced aftershocks almost daily for nearly 3 months following the tsunami. Increased volcanic activity is likely as well.
I’m in California, and while I am far enough from the seaboard and on high enough ground not to be too concerned about the effects of a tsunami, I am following the situation in Japan as a kind of warning of what could come. I feel a strong sense of sympathy, being in an earthquake-prone region, and think about all the things I could do to be better prepared. But I wonder how many victims in Japan felt that they were prepared, only to be overcome by the enormity of the catastrophe. One can personally survive where others perish, but when one’s whole societal infrastructure is simply and literally swept away, that is when one realizes how dependent one is on the others around for one’s livelihood. It’s chilling.
My Prayers are with the Japanese people. We are with you!