Looks like the Hōhi Main Line will be out of use for a while.

>>132792
Wait a sec, what am I looking at here? The track is flipped over onto the road, and a guard rail looks flattened, and streaks of mud suggesting a flood...?

There have been mudslides all over Kumamoto Prefecture because of the earthquakes and rains battering the area. This image is from Minami-Aso. Mind, I am only assuming this is the Hōhi Main Line rather than the Takamori line, but both lines are closed now, their ja.wikipedia pages say.

Hōhi Main Line:
http://translate.google.com/translate?u=https%3A%2F%2Fja.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2F%E8%B1%8A%E8%82%A5%E6%9C%AC%E7%B7%9A&hl=en&ie=UTF8&sl=ja&tl=en

Takamori line:
http://translate.google.com/translate?u=https%3A%2F%2Fja.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2F%E8%B1%8A%E8%82%A5%E6%9C%AC%E7%B7%9A&hl=en&ie=UTF8&sl=ja&tl=en

It's pretty fucked up all round. The 6.4 (which is somewhat bearable by Japanese standards) was just to soften them up so the 7.3 could mince everything.
Then again, the 6.4 was pretty bad on the Japanese scale too - 6 strong or 7 which in terms of damage potential.

On the upside, the number of soon to be funerals is still relatively low for now.

http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201604170046.html -- My assumption was entirely correct. It is Hōhi track that's flipped over.

>>132796 -- The image shows a section just outside a huge landslide that completely lespaulverised the entire bloody hillside.

>>132799 -- One seismologist (at least) thinks Mashiki town was hit by two 7-shindo tremors.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan_Meteorological_Agency_seismic_intensity_scale

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20160417_24/ reports that damage has been found in 100 places already on the Kyushu shinkansen line.

I wonder how fast it was going when the quake hit?

Doesn't look like that bad of a derailment all things considered.

>>132810 -- The one estimate I have found says 80 km/h (ca. 50 mph).

http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0002877662

Another source said it had been a total derailment - all twelve bogies/trucks left the track.

http://en.rocketnews24.com/2016/04/20/as-earthquakes-rock-the-region-kyushu-shinkansen-commercial-is-more-poignant-than-ever%e3%80%90video%e3%80%91/

>>132833
If I remember correctly, the celebration and original video was dated march 9 2011 - 2 days before the 3/11 incident which had an amusing storm of comments in the years after. Almost like it was bad luck.

>cry everytime

http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201604220057.html

http://tetsudo-shimbun.com/headline/entry-710.html
If google translate is interpreting this right, the whole line is reopening tomorrow?

Looks like Giggle Translate is right. I checked with NHK World, and they said the same thing.

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20160427_28/

Seems the Tsubame all-station service will be the only one operating to begin with.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0W-DELFawCU -- "Journey to the stars" News clips from the shooting of the JRK shinkansen commercial.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Va2brxKGP3g -- 25-min marathon "Boom!" play.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rw8qrUfWmLI -- A wedding vid styled as the JRK ad.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyBXUwkSKFo

"The Express Three-Nine
will take you on a journey,
a never-ending journey.

A journey to the stars."

>>132966 -- s/The Express/The Galaxy Express/