First pictures of Fukushima building before and after explosion HERE:

[Poll_Blind]

Video of explosion http://www.twitvid.com/LICNU">HERE (thx Coyote!)

BBC has more detailed video, streaming HERE

Before (top) & After (bottom) explosion split screen:

Closeup of after blast:

PB

[Electric Monk]

1. Is this supposed to be a joke?

You're easily confused?

[Poll_Blind]

3. No, it's not a joke.

PB

[Electric Monk]

5. What is it you see there? Describe it to me.

[Poll_Blind]

The facing which is white and blue tiles has blown off leaving the internal structure of the...

..building showing.

PB

[snagglepuss]

4. I don't understand your post. What is confusing?

[Electric Monk]

9. 2nd pic is a zoom of the lower oval in the 1st pic (later), not of the top oval.

[Bosonic]

15. first pic looks like a split screen before and after itself

You can see a straight horizontal color discontinuity halfway down image

[Mariana]

29. I see that, too.

I'll grant that it's not very clear in that particular screenshot, and someone not looking closely could think it's one picture of eight buildings rather than two pictures of the same four buildings.

[Bosonic]

7. possibly not...

... The walls and roof at Fukushima Number 1 nuclear power plant have been destroyed in the blast according to reports, with radioactivity at 20 times the normal level....

From http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Video-Japan-Quake-Nuclear-Power-Plant-Emergencies-After-Japan-Earthquake-And-Tsunami/Article/201103215950844?lpos=World_News_Carousel_Region_0&lid=ARTICLE_15950844_Video%3A_Japan_Quake%3A_Nuclear_Power_Plant_Emergencies_After_Japan_Earthquake_And_Tsunami

[nadinbrzezinski]

10. No, there is no joke, there was an explosion

four people hurt, Nuclear emergency response too

[Electric Monk]

11. I know that, which is why I think the OP is meant as a bad joke. nt

[Mariana]

22. Look closely at the TV screenshot, the top picture in the post.

It's TWO pictures they're showing on the screen, not one. They're showing the before and after at the same time on the TV. The BEFORE is at top, and the AFTER is at bottom from a somewhat different angle. It's two pictures of (the same) four buildings, not one picture of eight buildings. Do you see? It's not terribly clear but you can see it if you look carefully.

[Electric Monk]

30. Thank you, that's exactly the part I wasn't getting. Sorry to all for seeming obtuse.

This is not a good thing :(

[snagglepuss]

2. This is sickening to watch. I can't imagine how the Japanese feel

watching this unfold.

[eppur_se_muova]

6. Hmm ... looks like the steel framework is OK ... what blew off, vinyl siding?

:shrug:

[slay]

16. The roof and the walls were blown off in the explosion

not good for a reactor i wouldn't think.

[eppur_se_muova]

28. It looks like that structure was basically a shell, like a radar dome.

Explosions are seldom good news, but this one appears to have blown off a thin outer shell, leaving the skeleton (and hopefully a lot of other stuff) intact. Need more info, but it may very well look a lot worse than it is.

[coyote]

8. Was that the containment building that just disappeared? n/t

[nadinbrzezinski]

14. Trying to figure that out

one out of four walls of the plant has collapsed... they fear the cooling system is gone. Coolant water in the system the temp is over 100 degree centigrade (212 F) and it does not work anymore. The government has evacuated 3 km radius and they have fall out,

Radiation are 20 times higher, western agencies, 1000 times higher

Just transcribed from RT News

[Skip_In_Boulder]

12. On Twitter

BreakingNews Breaking News
by maddow
Japan nuclear plant update: Walls and roof of a building at site destroyed by blast - NHK via Sky News

Also on Reuters

Fukushima prefecture says Tepco's no.1 reactor ceiling has collapsed - Jiji

http://live.reuters.com/Event/Japan_earthquake2

[pokerfan]

13. video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bz1RmANx9WA

[Skip_In_Boulder]

17. Clicked on Link and got this message

This video has been removed as a violation of YouTube's policy against spam, scams, and commercially deceptive content.
Sorry about that.

[pokerfan]

18. You're sorry about what?

It's not like you had it pulled.

[Skip_In_Boulder]

23. I'm not sorry about anything

That was just the message that appeared. I didn't add any text.

[pokerfan]

27. ah, never mind

:hi:

[Skip_In_Boulder]

32. LOL

:toast:

[AllenVanAllen]

19. The video is gone.

Things move fast around here.

[pokerfan]

21. I should have saved it

but really nothing more than the before and after pics upthread. It was Japanese TV. I'm sure it will resurface.

[coyote]

20. VIDEO of Explosion

http://www.twitvid.com/LICNU

[Poll_Blind]

24. Wow, that was a bigger blast than I thought it'd be.

Ugh.

PB

[snagglepuss]

33. Well from the first reports it sounded as if it were a small unseen explosion

so I thought the same thing. It might be an indication that Japanese govt is not as open with info as reported on DU because the BBC is describing the explosion as massive and the photos show smoke billowing out.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12720219

[Poll_Blind]

34. Yeah, the BBC had super high quality video of the explosion and it was massive.

They had a major zoom in and you could see the shockwave expanding from the building before it exploded. I'm amazed the superstructure appears to have held- or has appeared to have held, anyway.

PB

[Maru Kitteh]

25. oh god

[pokerfan]

26. That looks like the one that was pulled from Youtube

[Electric Monk]

31. That building exploded. Thanks for posting that link. nt