Magnitude 9 earthquake hits Japan

[gary]

Story here -
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/environment/japan-tsunami-damage-follows-88-earthquake-20110311-1bqym.html

Originally reported as mag 7.9 but upgraded to 8.8.
Tsunami has hit and TV images from NHK show vehicles and buildings being swept away.

Footnote:

Later upgraded to 9.0

[mozzie]

yes gary it was on the early news this arvo !!!!!

there's been some quakes over the past several months

[renormalised]

Nasty quake, this one. Going to upset everything for awhile!!!.

[MrB]

Not nice for the residents.. but the live footage of tsunami's rolling in on ABC24 is amazing.
The NHK newsreader is very annoying.

[renormalised]

Today, Japan has had the 8.8/8.9 quake and 5 aftershocks ranging between 6.3 and 7.1

The last two (6.3 and 7.1) hit in the last hour.

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/quakes_all.php

[MrB]

Tsunami warning for Australia now

[ballaratdragons]

Updated to 8.9

Many parts of Tokyo are on fire including a Petrol refinery.
1 million buildings without power, whole cites under water from 5m Tsunami.

This is horrific!

Countries on immediate alert for Tsunami:
Hawaii, Russia, Indonesia, Malaysia.

No warning for Australia or New Zealand yet.

[ballaratdragons]

OK thanks, Must have come in in the last minute or so.

[supernova1965]

But Bom say's no threat to australia at 5.16pm:confused2:

http://www.bom.gov.au/tsunami/index.shtml

[renormalised]

Just checked the Met....no tsunami warnings.

[MrB]

Yeah, NHK was saying there was warning for Oz and NZ.. ABC now has text on screen that BOM will not issue warning.

[AdrianF]

Ch7 news said tsunami warning issued by BOM for Australia but nothing on BOM site

Adrian

[supernova1965]

Nice to know where we stand isn't it:screwy:

[AdrianF]

Well just in case everyone near the coast be careful and safe.

Adrian

[Steve Heaton]

Another quake predicted for Christchurch around 16th or 17th. What is going on around the world

[ballaratdragons]

Now official. Australia on Tsunami alert for all of Northern Australia.

Darwin approx 6 hours,

QLD approx 8 hours.

Warnings are for people living at or near coastal areas and low lying areas to move to higher ground.

No Tsunami Threat yet, just an Official Alert.

[supernova1965]

Official from who I believe you but bom still says no threat

[ballaratdragons]

Because there is no official threat yet.

So far it is an official alert :thumbsup:

Given by Government Meteorologist being interviewed on Channel 7.

[supernova1965]

US warning for virtually the entire pacific coast including Australia and South America. But Bom has no warning or even a watch:question:

http://www.bom.gov.au/tsunami/index.shtml

Who are we supposed to listen too or who has the better information:confused2:

[MrB]

EDIT: Director of the Australian Tsunami Warning Centre interviewed on ABC, says the tsunami WILL reach Australia but is not significant. It will show up on tidal guages, not much else.

Apparently this is 160x larger than the quake in Christchurch.

The warning that the NHK has been giving in coverage on ABC is from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre (http://www.weather.gov/ptwc/index.php?region=1)

Warning: http://www.weather.gov/ptwc/text.php?id=pacific.2011.03.11.0830 04

Included in this warning:
"THIS BULLETIN IS ISSUED AS ADVICE TO GOVERNMENT AGENCIES. ONLY
NATIONAL AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT AGENCIES HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO MAKE
DECISIONS REGARDING THE OFFICIAL STATE OF ALERT IN THEIR AREA AND
ANY ACTIONS TO BE TAKEN IN RESPONSE."

It's not likely to get here, and if it does, it may just be a ripple, but warnings are still out:

"ESTIMATED INITIAL TSUNAMI WAVE ARRIVAL TIMES AT FORECAST POINTS
WITHIN THE WARNING AND WATCH AREAS ARE GIVEN BELOW. ACTUAL
ARRIVAL TIMES MAY DIFFER AND THE INITIAL WAVE MAY NOT BE THE
LARGEST. A TSUNAMI IS A SERIES OF WAVES AND THE TIME BETWEEN
SUCCESSIVE WAVES CAN BE FIVE MINUTES TO ONE HOUR.

AUSTRALIA
CAIRNS 16.7S 145.8E 1535Z 11 MAR
BRISBANE 27.2S 153.3E 1627Z 11 MAR
SYDNEY 33.9S 151.4E 1658Z 11 MAR
GLADSTONE 23.8S 151.4E 1737Z 11 MAR
MACKAY 21.1S 149.3E 1818Z 11 MAR
HOBART 43.3S 147.6E 1833Z 11 MAR"

[supernova1965]

Giant whirlpool somewhere of the coast of ebaraki in Japan

[DavidU]

This one is not good at all. I have been trying to contact friends in Ibaraki.
It's not looking too flash for our friends.

[supernova1965]

Thats no good I hope that you get good news:prey:

[hotspur]

Just got word from my brother in Japan,He is ok,but a bit shaken-He said the house was shaking.That's all I've heard from him.

[supernova1965]

Thats great news

[Saturnine]

The scale of this quake and sunami disaster is, on top of the disasters we've suffered this year is difficult to imagine. The pictures from Japan
are mind boggleing as to the amount of water moving inland, carrying ships and houses and trucks and cars and no doubt bodies.
My heart is heavy with sadness for the plight of the people of Japan and I fear for the inhabitants of many pacific islands who may be inundated.
The power of mother nature humbles us once again.

Jeff

[ballaratdragons]

Well said Jeff.

I usually watch all these disasters live on TV to keep up with what is happening.
The QLD floods and the NZ earthquake are a few recent examples. I watch them hour after hour, all night.

But this time I find this catastrophe is even too much for me, so I turned it off a couple of hours ago and have gone back to normal TV shows.

This one has really affected me and saddened me beyond belief!

I will pop back to the news channel later, but I find I can't sit glued to this one. It is just too profound!

[Octane]

You're right, Ken. This is just too horrific. I was watching some tsunami videos on YouTube the other night, of the recent destruction in Hawaii, and, thought that was bad.

This is something else altogether.

With the utmost respect, when I saw some of the news snippets tonight, I thought "Cloverfield".

H

[TrevorW]

Natural disasters are common on our Earth just look what happened last year around our planet. Japan is constantly being hit by earthquakes, if it's not somewhere in the world someone will be affected by either floods,fire,tornardo's or volcanoes.

We should be greatful that we live in Australia where we are rarely affected by the worst of these natural disasters.

But what really pees me off is the way the media again have hyped up a possible tsunami for the North, they should be taken to task by the broadcating commission for their wanton scare mongering.

[Suzy]

Just in- their showing the footage showing Hawaii's ocean receded (the prelude before Tsunami hits) - what a strange looking site. :scared2: People are taking picturies right on the shore line, aye! :screwy: According to Sky News, their saying at this stage it seems that the waves should only reach 6ft to 2m.

[wavelandscott]

As many of you know, I work for a large Japanese Company. Fortunately I am currently in New York (but was in Japan just a week or so ago).

The reports coming in are scary indeed. Although there has been no official statement made it sounds like all of our folks are safe and well. Some minor damage appears to have occured at one of our facilities but otherwise everything is still operational.

Our employees based in HQ in Tokyo have been unable to go home as much of the transportation system (largely train) has been impacted. They are camping out at the office where the canteen has been opened to provide food and some comfort to those spending the night at the office.

[wavelandscott]

I should add and no, I do not think that this is related to the upcoming "super full moon"...unfortunately sometimes bad stuff happens.

[astroron]

Hi Scott, I am glad all your companies workers are safe :)
It is a terrible disaster:sadeyes:
Cheers

[Kal]

Interesting to read this article titled 'Moonageddon' (http://www.news.com.au/technology/moonageddon-on-march-19-our-nearest-neighbour-will-be-biggest-and-closest-since-1993/story-e6frfro0-1226015795421) from a few days ago.


In a fortnight Earth will experience the biggest moon it has seen in nearly two decades.
As well as providing some unique photo opportunities, some astronomers - well, one - are already predicting it may bring more worrying disruptions to the Earth’s climate patterns.
Earthquakes are not out of the question.

Dr Victor Gostin, Planetary and Environmental Geoscientist at Adelaide University.He told news.com.au the predictions of weather and earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other natural disasters based on planetary configurations have not been successful, but there may be some correlation between near-equatorial large scale earthquakes and new and full moon situations.
“This is because the Earth-tides (analogous to ocean tides) may be the final trigger that sets off the earthquake,” he said.]Dr Victor Gostin, Planetary and Environmental Geoscientist at Adelaide University.
He told news.com.au the predictions of weather and earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other natural disasters based on planetary configurations have not been successful, but there may be some correlation between near-equatorial large scale earthquakes and new and full moon situations.
“This is because the Earth-tides (analogous to ocean tides) may be the final trigger that sets off the earthquake,” he said.







In terms of energy release, an 8.8 magnitude releases over 5500x as much energy as a 6.3 magnitude earthquake.

[Ric]

I recieve USGS earthquake alerts in my email for anything over mag 4.5.

Since the initial alert of mag 8.8 I have received another 50 alerts for the same area ranging from 5.1 to 7.1. A lot of them are within minutes of each other.

Those poor people must be at their wits end with constant rumbling like that.

[mithrandir]

USGS still has it listed as 8.9. This morning ABC24 are talking 9.1. Now they are reporting tsunamis hitting the US west coast, wrecking moored boats.

The energy is proportional to (10^1.5)^magnitude. (From USGS.)

8.9 is 1.4 times the energy of 8.8

9.1 is 2.8 times the energy of 8.8

The Feb 22 Christchurch one was 6.3, so 9.1 is around 16000 times the energy.

The Sep 4 Christchurch one was 7.0, 11 times that of 6.3, but time and location meant it caused less damage.

[gary]

According to the US Geological survey, the March 11th earthquake was the
largest ever recorded to hit Japan and the seventh largest recorded in the world.

Article in Sydney Morning Herald here -
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/list-japan-quake-seventh-largest-in-history-20110311-1brew.html

It certainly has wrought terrible devastation.

[snowyskiesau]

Saw this posted (http://www.abc.net.au/news/infographics/japan-quake-2011/tsunami-intensity.htm) on the ABC news site illustrating the power of the tsunami as it spread across the pacific.

[gary]

Amazing both in its spread and our current ability to model, forecast, track and then
distribute information such as this around the world.

[renormalised]

That's right...the difference of 1 magnitude in the size of an earthquake means approximately 32 times the amount of energy between each successive magnitude.

[ballaratdragons]

Among the many thousands of buildings (and probably people too), a whole passenger train full of people has vanished off the face of the Earth!

Watching the footage on TV you can see houses, boats, cars, etc being carried away by water, but how do you hide a whole passenger train?
I think we will be hearing a lot of strange stories as reporters get closer to Sendai.

Only a few pics have escaped from the Sendai area, and reporters are finding it hard to get into the area as all Highways are shut.

Video from 100 k's from Sendai are bad enough.

But a whole Train?

[renormalised]

That would be nothing unusual....trains, especially modern ones, are rather flimsy. They're basically aluminium cans on wheels. A tsunami would literally tear a train apart. If it hit with any sort of force, especially carrying all that debris, there'd be very little left of the train to find.

[ballaratdragons]

Good point. Thanks Carl.

[gary]

The Fukushima No. 1 nuclear reactor has apparently exploded and there is
now a real fear that the fuel rods may be exposed and that a melt down could occur.

Story in Sydney Morning Herald here -
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/blast-smoke-at-japanese-nuclear-plant-20110312-1brv1.html

[Ric]

That's a real worry

[rcheshire]

Several friends and colleagues living in the low lying areas with young families. Bears no resemblance to the Sendai I knew. Flattened. Imagine the CBD is fairly intact though. The housing density is high in the coastal areas, and there appears to be very little standing. I know how long it takes to get to high ground and how much traffic there is on a normal day. Clearly from the footage there were a few who took no heed of the Tsunami siren - a familiar sound after an earthquake. We lived through a few - quite an experience - I think the biggest was 7.4 at the origin (some 40km seaward and 20km below the surface) - 6.5 in Sendai. I fear the worse for some people I know.

[gary]

World Nuclear News has a report entitled "Battle to stabilize earthquake reactors".
See http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/RS_Battle_to_stabilise_earthquake_r eactors_1203111.html

They report -



In a separate article, World Nuclear News report that Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco)


See http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/RS_Venting_at_Fukushima_Daiichi_3_1 303111.html

BBC Environment correspondent, Richard Black, has this story entitled -
"Problems for second Japan reactor".
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-12723092

Spare a thought for the workers at the front line involved in trying to stabilize
the reactors. At least one has been killed, two more missing and several others
injured.

[CraigS]

Thanks for the update Gary .. scary stuff ..

Take a look at this .. an aerial view of the tsunami moving inland (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ydnv2xo9Ndw&feature=player_embedded#at=130), taking with it buildings on fire .. and everything … it just goes on and on and on !!!

Just horrendous !!

Rgds

[ballaratdragons]

They just announced on CNN that the Japanese Earthquake has shifted the Earths rotational angle of axis by 10 cm

That's something I would like 'officially' authenticated before I believe it, rather than take CNN's word for it.

That's pretty major!

[DavidU]

I have been emailing a friend in the Ibaraki prefecture today, he says it's a mess, no money and no job. His home was damaged.
I don't know how Japan can get over this one.

[gary]

Hi Rowland,

We can only hope that your friends and their families who were in Sendai
are OK. Please let us all know when you get word.



The scale is staggering!



Hi Ken,

A similar phenomena was reported during the large Chilean earthquake last year.
See IceInSpace thread here -
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=57763

One of the major observatories for measuring these types of shifts, named TIGO, happens
to be located in Chile and was ironically damaged in the Chilean earthquake.
See this IceInSpace thread -
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=57771

So an authoritative reference for the CNN report might pop up soon that can
verify the magnitude of the shift. Incredible to think about.

[DavidU]

Some heavy weight scientists are confirming it.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-sci-japan-quake-science-20110313,0,5782113.story?track=rss

[renormalised]

Yes, very bad....but in the scheme of things it was just an average sized tsunami....10-30 feet high. It could've been much worse, especially if the quake had occurred closer to the face of the trench. If the face of the trench along the rupture had sloughed off, the wave could've been 100-300 metres high (the rupture was 500km long) on the coast there. There'd be nothing left of that part of Japan.

[DavidU]

Here is a hi-res picture gallery, scary stuff.
http://framework.latimes.com/2011/03/12/scenes-of-destruction-in-aftermath-of-8-9-earthquake-in-japan/#/45

[ballaratdragons]

Thanks Davo and Gary :thumbsup:

[renormalised]

That shift in the axis would have to be confirmed, but it would be nothing out of the ordinary for a quake of this size. Large quakes (7 or greater) regularly speed up or slow down the rotation of the planet and very large ones can change the axial tilt. In actual fact, the planet rings like a bell when one of these large quakes happens.

[gary]

Hi Dave,

Thanks to the link to the LA Times article.

Sorry to hear of the plight of your friend. I hope he gets back on his feet soon.

Not to detract from the terrible plight for all those involved, the stoic and resourceful Japanese have this amazing
ability to take setbacks in their stride and to rebuild. Though the personal losses for some will last a lifetime.

[ballaratdragons]

A new Tsunami alert has been given, so those folks searching for lost family and friends amongst the rubble have had to run for higher ground again.

This is going to be a loooong event.

[CraigS]

Don't know about the axis shift, but they're also calculating (http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-03-japan-quake-day-wee-bit.html) that the Earth's rotation speed has sped up by 1.6 microseconds .. slightly more than that caused by last year's Chile earthquake. Sumatra's 2004 quake caused a 6.8 microsecond shortening of the day !

Cheers

[MrB]

Edit: Japan Meteorological Agency (http://www.jma.go.jp/jma/en/News/2011_Earthquake_01.html) has upgraded the magnitude to 9.0



Next photo (http://framework.latimes.com/2011/03/12/scenes-of-destruction-in-aftermath-of-8-9-earthquake-in-japan/#/46) on from your link..
The ground split and then slumped, exactly along the centre-line of the road... amazing.

[ballaratdragons]

You can keep track of all the aftershocks here.

Red ones are in the last hour: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Maps/10/145_35.php

If you mouse over the squares it will give magnitudes.

[ballaratdragons]

6.5 in Indonesia, 6.5 in Papua, and a 4.0 near Innisfail QLD.

Nothing major.
4.0 is fairly common, it has just created more than normal attention because of Japan.

http://www.ga.gov.au/earthquakes/

http://www.news.com.au/national/small-earthquake-detected-off-the-coast-of-innisfail/story-e6frfkvr-1226022089941

Also, the USGA has officially upgraded Japan's Earthquake to mag 9.0
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/usc0001xgp.php

[ballaratdragons]

Things just seem to be getting worse with more bad news!

We already know it is recorded that Japan moved approx 2.5 metres from where it was due to the quake.

Well, they have now discovered that the East Coast has also dropped in elevation and much of the coastal towns and coast that were at or just above sea level are now flooding due to being below sea level at high tide!

As an example, one of the towns affected, Ishinomaki, has it's central business district and much of its suburbs permanently under water, and it gets deeper as the tide rises, and it is 6 kilometres inland!!!

[OICURMT]

I don't know if this was posted in another section, but.... one of the most effective websites I've seen on the destruction in Japan.

Hover your mouse over the photos and sweep left and right.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/events/japan-quake-2011/beforeafter.htm

My "favorite" is "Kashima in Minamisoma"

[ballaratdragons]

:eyepop:

:sadeyes: so damn sad!

[OICURMT]

I agree...

Terra Firma should not be called Mother Earth, but rather "Earth's a Mother..."

She's absolutely unforgiving... :help: