Rescue ettils conteinaes in Japan efter the yirdquake an tsunami at chappit the nor-eist o Japan on Fryday. Tho at 8.8 on the Richter scale the quake wis yae o the lairgest at haes ivver bene recordit bi scientists, the shouggilin o the grunn an the destruccioun o biggins an infrastructure didnae create muckle loss o lyfe. Japan haes the maist strick biggin codes in the warld, an the laich daith toll frae the yirdquake hitsel is a testiment ti the airts o Japanese engineers.
Houever nae biggin code cud proteck Japan frae the pouer an micht o the tsunami at follaed the quake. A tsunami is creatit whan the fluir o the sea is mudged up or doun bi the yirdquake. Whan this happens the hail buddie o watter abuin the quake-zone is liftit up or drappit doun, makin a wave-front at traivels out frae the epicenter. Whan this wave-front wins tae shallae watters neir ti land, hit bings up on hitsel makin waves at kin grow monie meters heich. Onlyke waves creatit bi the wind, at haes a gey short distance atween ilka wave crest, tsunami waves haes a gey lang distance atwein ilka wave crest, producin frichtsome waves at haes the pouer an strenth fur tae redd awaa biggins an conteinae spreidin deip inlaund.
Hit is nou feirt at mair nor 10,000 fowk haes lost thair lyfes in the disaster. In the noreist province o Sendai on the main Japanese eyland o Honshu, hail touns an cities haes bene reddit aff the map. In some airts, the waves wis ower seiven meter (22 fuit) heich an wun tae monie kilometers inlaund. In the toun o Minami Sanriku, 9,500 fowk is missin, mair nor hauf the toun’s 18,000 indwallers. The Japanese news agencie NHK reportit at local polis in Miyagi prefecture trews at the nummer o deid in Miyagi prefecture alane “wull be in the tens o thousans”. Last nicht, reports frae Reuters News Agencie sayed at mair nor 2,000 deid buddies haed bene funn washt up on the strands o Miyagi.
Offeicial figures haes as yit no bene gied out fur the nummer of fowk made hameless bi the tsunami, but hit is expectit tae be monie tens o thousans. Lairge pairts o the kintra haes bene left wiout electric o pouer, an transportacioun haes bene disruptit, makin hit haurd fur rescuers an releif supplies tae win tae the warst affectit zones. The Japanese government haes sent mair nor 100,000 sodgers, an ships an planes frae the Japanese Defence Forces tae help in the rescue.
The nuclear reactour at Fukushima wis sair daimisht whan the tsunami gart hits cuilin seistem tae misgae. Ther wis ane explosioun at the reactour at luit radiacioun escape intae the atmosphere, an gart the Japanese government tae order the evacuacioun o local indwallers amangst feirs o a nuclear meltdoun in the reactour core. Last nicht ther wis anither explosioun at the reactour. Japanese authorities claims the radiacioun laik is containable.
Yistreen, Kyodo News Agencie reportit the dramatic rescue o a saxtie yeir auld man, Hiromitsu Shinkawa frae the toun o Minami Soma. Mr Shinkawa wis discovert bi a Japanese navie destroyer, nine myle out tae sea. He wis flotin on the ruif o his hous, at haed bene destroyed bi the force o the tsunami. Whan the watter stertit tae gang back ti the sea, hit tuik Mr Shinkawa wi hit. He wis mair nor 24 hours out in the watter afore bein rescued.
Scotland haes a gey laich risk o tsunamis, but thae kin happen in onie kintra wi a lang costsyde sic as ours. A whein yeir syne scientists discovert evidence o a devastatin tsunami at chappit the eist and north o Scotland aroun 6000 BC. Cryed the Storegga Tsunami, hit wis creatit bi a muckle gret laundslyde aff the costsyde o Norrawey. Scientists estimates at waves in the Storegga Tsunami raucht mair nor 10 meter in heicht.
Thaim o us at bydes in kintras at kens the pitieless pouer o the sea wull pairteiclar mak mane fur the plicht o the Japanese fowk the day. The chairitie Sauf the Bairns (Save the Children) hae stertit ane appeal tae raise £1 mullion fur tae help faimlies at haes lost thair hames kis o the tsunami an tae help bairns at haes lost thair faimlies. The chairitie is preparin a rescue teim tae gang ti the warst affectit areas o Sendai province.
Save the Children Japan Appeal – Click here
The Breitish Rid Cross haes stertit ane appeal an aa, ye kin donate onlyne via the Amazon wabsteid, or gang straucht ti the wabsteid o the Rid Cross Appeal hitsel.
Breitish Rid Cross Appeal – Click here
Wurds ye mibie no ken
chap – to hammer; to knock at a door
laich – low
airt – skill, ability; direction, district
redd – to clear
indwaller – inhabitant
mudge – to shift, to move
win tae – to reach
misage – to fail, to go wrong
daimish – damage
trew – to believe
bing – to pile, a pile
strand – beach, shore
laik – leak
raucht – past tense of reik to reach
mak mane fur – be sympathetic to
costsyde – coastline
Norrawey – Norway
Spelling note: The symbol ui represents a vowel pronounced differently in different parts of Scotland. It can be pronounced i, uh, ö, ai or ee according to dialect or its position in a word. In Shetland it is usually ö as in Swedish or German ö. In other Scots dialects it is usually i or uh before most consonant sounds, but before the sounds r, z, v, th (as in this, then, not as in thin, think) it is often ee in North East Scots but in Central Scots it is usually ai. In West Central Scots (Glasgow) it is pronounced e before r. Eg. Fluir is pronounced flerr, flair, flör, or fleer according to dialect. Wuid ‘wood’ is pronounced wid, wöd or wud. There is no “correct pronunciation”, pronounce this sound according to your own dialect.
In some words, ui can also be written u-consonant-e – eg. wuid or wude. The i spelling is preferable in order to avoid confusion with words like produce where u-consonant-e represents the sound ‘yoo’.