Fun facts, Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant was built beyond the warning limit of the tsunami stones.
If those people that setup the tsunami stones are still alive during the incident they will have a kahuna of "I told you" moment.
aaronax · 28s ago
"Beyond" is completely ambiguous in this case. Do you mean above or below?
bumbledraven · 42m ago
Do you have a citation for this? The most Gemini could say is: "While research has not identified a specific tsunami stone located at the Fukushima Daiichi site that was directly violated, the spirit of these ancient warnings was undeniably ignored." (https://aistudio.google.com/app/prompts?state=%7B%22ids%22:%...)
mytailorisrich · 31m ago
I don't know if there are "Tsunami stones" in the area but the nuclear power plant is built at sea level [1] so would most probably be below them.
The issue is the height of the seawalls that was not sufficient (and perhaps where historical warnings, if any, were ignored):
"The subsequent destructive tsunami with waves of up to 14 metres (46 ft) that over-topped the station, which had seawalls" [1]
Reminds me of the forest inscriptions in the mountains of Lebanon which date from the time of the Roman Emperor Hadrian (~100 AD): Lebanese cedar wood was prized for shipbuilding and forests were decimated due to heavy logging. Nice to see that nature conservancy was alive and well, even 2000 years ago.
porphyra · 1h ago
1896 is pretty recent actually I thought they were like thousands of years old
muyuu · 32m ago
Oldest known stones date back to the early 1400s but there must have been older stones. Already those stones are mostly unreadable because of erosion and they are dated by secondary sources.
mytailorisrich · 12m ago
You can put warnings everytime there is a tsunami, which is "often" in Japan, but the issue is that a massive one like the 2011 earthquake and tsunami is a once in a millenium event so would indeed need to rely on very old warnings:
"The 2011 Tōhoku earthquake occurred in exactly the same area as the 869 earthquake, fulfilling the earlier prediction and causing major flooding in the Sendai area. [1]
Modern society is not good at this sort of very long term consideration and planning.
This is a deeper dive on the stones and their locations. Please note that 317 stone tablets were built after the 2 tsunamis, 125 (40%) of them were washed away or destroyed by the 2011 tsunami. https://thefunambulist.net/magazine/cartography-power/incomp...
MarkusQ · 49m ago
That suggests a possibly better strategy (though very long term): pepper the portion of the landscape believed to be safe with "it is safe to build here" monoliths, each as stable as a typical building, and over time only the ones that speak truly will remain.
Would work for volcanoes and earthquakes as well.
penneyd · 26m ago
They just do the same thing with regular homes :)
MarkusQ · 1m ago
Sadly, that's at least partially true. But rebuilding on a sight where a home was destroyed eliminates the information value (that this site isn't safe from tsunami) and the coverage is far from uniform/regular (so you can't tell if there are no buildings in an area because it was previously undeveloped or is unsafe).
Mistletoe · 1h ago
I've always been fascinated by these because I love long term thinking. What current "tsunami stone" would you leave to future generations to prevent catastrophe?
thinkingtoilet · 1h ago
I think the obvious answer in the modern world would not be a phsyical one, but some sort of measure of wealth inequality. At some point, if too few have too much it destroys a country from the inside out over the long run. It does far more damage than any tsunami ever could. I don't have a number or exact measure in mind, but that would be the warning I would leave to future generations.
NilMostChill · 1h ago
Depends on how metaphorical and/or political you want to get.
Arguably books could be considered warning waystones, but that's a stretch in this context.
Physical monuments though, we have loads, lots of war memorials are/were intended as warning about the cost of war.
Auschwitz-Birkenau being left as as it is could be considered another.
If you want to get really close to similar intentions there are the long term nuclear waste warnings:
A bit more esoteric (and less warningy) and you get the signals we send in to space intentionally as a time-capsule/marker for potential alien contact.
If those people that setup the tsunami stones are still alive during the incident they will have a kahuna of "I told you" moment.
The issue is the height of the seawalls that was not sufficient (and perhaps where historical warnings, if any, were ignored):
"The subsequent destructive tsunami with waves of up to 14 metres (46 ft) that over-topped the station, which had seawalls" [1]
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fukushima_Daiichi_Nuclear_Powe...
https://archive.is/20161221102801/http://www.nytimes.com/201...
"The 2011 Tōhoku earthquake occurred in exactly the same area as the 869 earthquake, fulfilling the earlier prediction and causing major flooding in the Sendai area. [1]
Modern society is not good at this sort of very long term consideration and planning.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/869_J%C5%8Dgan_earthquake
Would work for volcanoes and earthquakes as well.
Arguably books could be considered warning waystones, but that's a stretch in this context.
Physical monuments though, we have loads, lots of war memorials are/were intended as warning about the cost of war.
Auschwitz-Birkenau being left as as it is could be considered another.
If you want to get really close to similar intentions there are the long term nuclear waste warnings:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-term_nuclear_waste_warnin...
A bit more esoteric (and less warningy) and you get the signals we send in to space intentionally as a time-capsule/marker for potential alien contact.