Strong earthquake hits Japan

[CountAllVotes]

Source: CNN Wire Staff

Tokyo (CNN) -- A 6.8-magnitude earthquake shook northeastern Japan on Wednesday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The Japanese Meteorological Agency issued a brief tsunami advisory, warning of a half-meter wave. The tsunami advisory was called off a short time after the agency issued it.

The quake was centered about 270 kilometers (170 miles) off the east coast.

There were no immediate reports of damage, police said.



Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/14/world/asia/japan-earthquake/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

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Stay safe people of Japan!!

[dipsydoodle]

1. Oh dear

Hope they all stay safe over there.

[Art_from_Ark]

2. Actually, there have been two earthquakes of M6.1 or greater today in Japan

The first one, the 6.8, occurred a little after 6:00 p.m. local (Japan) time, and was centered about 150 miles off the coasts of Hokkaido and northeastern Honshu. There was apparently no damage from that one, as the highest Japanese intentity value was only a 4. The second one occurred about 3 hours later, several hundred miles toward the south, just off the coast of Ibaraki/Chiba prefectures. It was a 6.1, but was closer to land and there was greater intensity (5+ at Kamisu Town, Ibaraki, and across the Tone River at Choshi City, Chiba, meaning there could have been some minor damage).

[suffragette]

4. Glad to hear all is ok, Art

[Art_from_Ark]

5. Thanks for the kind words

I felt both of today's earthquakes, especially the second one since it was much closer to home. We've had some major rattling here in Ibaraki in the past week-- I've counted at least 3 earthquakes in this area that have registered a Magnitude 5 or greater, and their epicenters have been in different parts of the prefecture-- north, east, and west. But so far, things are still holding together.

[suffragette]

8. That sounds nervewracking

especially given the timing.
to you from across the Pacific.

[Art_from_Ark]

9. We just had another earthquake this morning

Around 4:20, >5.0 magnitude. Looks like the epicenter was about 30-40 miles from my house. These early morning earthquakes are getting to be a semi-regular occurrence. Who needs alarm clocks when Mother Nature can shake you out of bed?

http://typhoon.yahoo.co.jp/weather/jp/earthquake/20120316042000.html?c=3

[suffragette]

10. I remember some morning ones from California

and how my cat would race back and forth before finally hiding under the bed.

That's a lot of blue dots on that graphic!

[Art_from_Ark]

11. Fortunately, they are only blue dots

Blue dots in Japanese earthquake graphics indicate that the seismic intensity at those locations was noticeable but within a safe range. It's the orange and red dots that are cause for concern, like with Wednesday's 9 p.m. earthquake (noted below). The cities that had the most shaking from that one, Kamisu and Choshi, experienced liquefaction in some areas.

http://typhoon.yahoo.co.jp/weather/jp/earthquake/20120314210500.html?c=3

By the way, ever since last year's Really Big One, my cat heads for a safe place under a table whenever the house starts shaking

[suffragette]

12. Yikes - liquefaction is scary stuff

Some areas in Seattle are prone to that.

I miss my kitty. She passed away a few years ago.

[Art_from_Ark]

13. Liquefaction was a big problem near Tokyo Disneyland last year

Much of the city of Urayasu, where Tokyo Disneyland is located, is built on reclaimed land that underwent some really awful liquefaction during the Big One. There was someone from that area who was posting pictures here on DU about the damage around that time, and you're right, it can be scary stuff.

Oh, and sorry about your cat. My mom just lost a K9. It's pretty sad when that happens

[suffragette]

14. We have many old brick buildings in areas prone to liquefaction here

Last edited Sat Mar 17, 2012, 11:50 AM - Edit history (1)

Even the deep Nisqually quake we had awhile back affected some of those areas more than had been anticipated.

On another note, did you know that part of the evidence for the Cascadia subduction earthquake here in 1700 comes from Japanese records of the tsunami it caused in Japan?
http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=5098

Thanks for the hug and kind thoughts. And the same back for your mom

[Art_from_Ark]

15. I mentioned the recent earthquakes here in Ibaraki last night

with a long-time friend, and before he could reply, voila! We had yet another earthquake! Fortunately, there are just blue and white dots on the map for this latest one

http://typhoon.yahoo.co.jp/weather/jp/earthquake/20120317202400.html?c=3

My friend is convinced we are going to have a big one down here before too long. I hope he's wrong. However, this area has become a little too active since last year's big one, with *lots* of earthquakes occurring recently off the coast of Chiba Prefecture (Ibaraki's neighbor to the south), as can be seen here. Chiba is denoted as 千葉県 in the data. Ibaraki is denoted as 茨城県.

http://typhoon.yahoo.co.jp/weather/jp/earthquake/list/

[MiniMe]

3. Almost exactly 1 year since "the big one"

I think the 1 year anniversery was Sunday.

[FourScore]

6. It's quaking quite a bit over there right now.

You can have a better picture of what is happening at the link below. At the link, click on the tab for the last 9 hours, otherwise the map starts with all the quakes over the past year and, although interesting, takes a while to watch. This map only shows the quakes of strong intensity.

http://www.japanquakemap.com/

Here is a more comprehensive list with all recent seismic activity:

http://www.jma.go.jp/en/quake/quake_local_index.html

It should be noted that these quakes could either be viewed as "more of the same", since it's always rattling over there. Or, the increased quantity and intensity of the quakes could be seen as the before-shocks to a larger quake. The real danger in this scenario, no matter what, is the Fukushima Daichi nuclear power plant, which is in a very precarious state. Further seismic activity could potentially create a situation for recriticality. Let's hope that does not happen.

[eyewall]

7. Those poor people

they must be a country of shattered nerves at this point.