9.0 Earthquake strikes Japan

[Coach McGuirk]

yes, I know... I'm just surprised at the amount of aftershocks still taking place.

I'm not. Hence the name, aftershock.

[TheTrials]

I'm not. Hence the name, aftershock.

yeah, especially after this size quake.

[bronxx]

These situations always make me think about what would happen if the same thing were to happen here. So being on Long Island, sure there are evacuation routes.....leading to NYC then out. I'm about an hour east of the city, so I travel for an hour (with no traffic) and then I guess I'd be able to fly right through the city?

I just ran my cursor over the Long Island area in Google Earth. Once you get west of the eastern third of Long Island, the elevation along the middle of the island ranges from 30-60 ft; and in the western 3rd of the island 40-130+ feet. In Calverton the elevation is 40 ft; Medford 85 ft, Ronkonkoma 113 ft, Dix Hills 158 ft, Hicksville 150 ft.,and the center of Brooklyn 50 ft.

Why try to evacuate to the mainland; in what will be the biggest parking lots on earth: the LI Expressway, Union Turnpike, etc. On a typical Sunday night in the summer, at 11 pm, there is bumper to bumper on the LI Expressway. I would guess during a tsunami warning it might be a little packed.

[ArtRosen]

Now im terrified of earthquakes.japans buildings are well built and this is what happened. Im terrified of tsunamis too. Wish all these weather disasters would come to an end. I know I have never been affected by any disaster or had any weather related damage, but is so sad just to watch all that occur and then you know it could be you one day. Let me stop cause now im tearing up at this catastrophe.

Imagine how much worse this would've been if this magnitude earthquake hit Haiti.

[mappy]

I'm not. Hence the name, aftershock.

yeah, especially after this size quake.

Cool stories guys.

[Coach McGuirk]

Imagine how much worse this would've been if this magnitude earthquake hit Haiti.

We'd be saying "What Haiti?"

[A-L-E-X]

Lol, I'd probably take option C. Hijack a nice size boat at the marina and give the finger to the guy filming me on youtube

Well, you're out by the east end.... did you feel the quake that hit that region last November?

http://www.wnyc.org/articles/wnyc-news/2010/nov/30/biggest-earthquake-18-years-shakes-lond-island/

It was a 3.9 and the strongest since a 4.7 hit NYC in 1992. The area gets hit by a 5 once every 100 years, and the last time we had one was the 5.5 (MM scale 7) back in 1884.

[Coach McGuirk]

Well, you're out by the east end.... did you feel the quake that hit that region last November?

http://www.wnyc.org/...es-lond-island/

It was a 3.9 and the strongest since a 4.7 hit NYC in 1992. The area gets hit by a 5 once every 100 years, and the last time we had one was the 5.5 (MM scale 7) back in 1884.

A few years ago I watched some dooms day program on the history channel. They spent an hour detailing how a volcano in the canary islands could erupt and create a massive landslide. This resulting in a massive tsunami for the east coast of the US.

[ArtRosen]

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2011/03/cooling-fails-at-3-reactors-at-another-japanese-nuke-plant/1

Update at 6:36 p.m. ET: The Japanese government has declared a nuclear emergency at the Fukushima No. 2 power plant. An emergency also exists at plant No. 1.

[JoMo]

Evacuation order issued in 3-km radius of Fukushima No. 2 nuke plant

This is in addition to the 10-km radius of Fukushima No. 1

[Derecho!]

A few years ago I watched some dooms day program on the history channel. They spent an hour detailing how a volcano in the canary islands could erupt and create a massive landslide. This resulting in a massive tsunami for the east coast of the US.

As it turns out landslide tsunami can be very large relatively close to the source, but they're not coherent enough to propagate well.

The documentaries are all one sided, only showing that Simon-whatshisface guy excitedly describing how the East Coast gets destroyed, and ignore the numerous tsunami scientists that have debunked his claims.

http://www.lapalma-tsunami.com/tsunami.html

[ArtRosen]

Evacuation order issued in 3-km radius of Fukushima No. 2 nuke plant

This is in addition to the 10-km radius of Fukushima No. 1

Please post a link.

[JoMo]

Please post a link.

http://english.kyodonews.jp/

And the BBC is still live blogging here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12307698

[Coach McGuirk]

As it turns out landslide tsunami can be very large relatively close to the source, but they're not coherent enough to propagate well.

The documentaries are all one sided, only showing that Simon-whatshisface guy excitedly describing how the East Coast gets destroyed, and ignore the numerous tsunami scientists that have debunked his claims.

http://www.lapalma-t...om/tsunami.html

Oh yeah, I know. The history channel is crazy when it comes to apocalyptic scenarios, aliens and modern marvels.

[Southland Wx]

Aftershocks still taking place..

Aftershocks are going to continue to take place probably for months, if not years. There are still aftershocks occurring on the CA/MX border in the wake of last Easter's large quake there. Not sure if the aftershock sequence is much different in a subduction zone quake, but I imagine it's not too dissimilar.

Now im terrified of earthquakes.japans buildings are well built and this is what happened. Im terrified of tsunamis too. Wish all these weather disasters would come to an end. I know I have never been affected by any disaster or had any weather related damage, but is so sad just to watch all that occur and then you know it could be you one day. Let me stop cause now im tearing up at this catastrophe.

You shouldn't be terrified of earthquakes. Honestly, there's no building code that could possibly save you in a magnitude 8.9 quake. In most places (outside of the obvious areas that can experience massive earthquakes), California/Japan building codes will do well enough. Obviously there are some exceptions (certain types/depths of quakes)...I think Christchurch is a good example of this (I thought I read a lot of newer building code structures suffered). But again, that was a strong earthquake and the city just happened to be pretty much at the epicenter. There are others that know more about this than me, but my take is to not be terrified. Be learned about them. The more you know...

[A-L-E-X]

As it turns out landslide tsunami can be very large relatively close to the source, but they're not coherent enough to propagate well.

The documentaries are all one sided, only showing that Simon-whatshisface guy excitedly describing how the East Coast gets destroyed, and ignore the numerous tsunami scientists that have debunked his claims.

http://www.lapalma-t...om/tsunami.html

This would probably also apply to the megatsunami scenarios souped up by the media regarding an asteroid strike into the ocean wouldn't it? Landslides and asteroid strikes are the two most often mentioned catastrophes in that regard. The documentaries are definitely extreme and biased.

Just looked up MM 7 and it's considered "very strong" : Difficult to stand; furniture broken; damage negligible in building of good design and construction; slight to moderate in well-built ordinary structures; considerable damage in poorly built or badly designed structures; some chimneys broken. Noticed by people driving motor cars.

[A-L-E-X]

Aftershocks are going to continue to take place probably for months, if not years. There are still aftershocks occurring on the CA/MX border in the wake of last Easter's large quake there. Not sure if the aftershock sequence is much different in a subduction zone quake, but I imagine it's not too dissimilar.

You shouldn't be terrified of earthquakes. Honestly, there's no building code that could possibly save you in a magnitude 8.9 quake. In most places (outside of the obvious areas that can experience massive earthquakes), California/Japan building codes will do well enough. Obviously there are some exceptions (certain types/depths of quakes)...I think Christchurch is a good example of this (I thought I read a lot of newer building code structures suffered). But again, that was a strong earthquake and the city just happened to be pretty much at the epicenter. There are others that know more about this than me, but my take is to not be terrified. Be learned about them. The more you know...

I agree, no amount of technology is going to save you if you're in the epicenter of a monster like that-- any more than if you're near the eye of a Cat 5 hurricane or an EF 5 tornado. The difference being (with the hurricane) you have much more time to evacuate. No such luck with the tornado or earthquake.

[Mallow]

Imagine how much worse this would've been if this magnitude earthquake hit Haiti.

The magnitude of the shaking was actually stronger near the epicenter of the Haiti 'quake. Haiti was more analogous to the recent New Zealand 'quake, while the Japanese 'quake is more analogous to the Chilean or Indonesian quakes.

[aslkahuna]

Imagine how much worse this would've been if this magnitude earthquake hit Haiti.

There have been earthquake related tsunamis in the Caribbean.

Steve

[Southland Wx]

Best video I've seen yet from California.

[Analog96]

Lol, I'd probably take option C. Hijack a nice size boat at the marina and give the finger to the guy filming me on youtube

Really though, at the right hours the Belt Pkwy to SI Expwy is not that bad.

[Ginx snewx]

Seismologists now say 9.1 on CNN

[dan11295]

They may need some amphibious assets to get into these areas as so much land is still submerged. The Sendai airport is completely useless as is still partly underwater and you couldn't drive anywhere out of there even if you could land.

[ArtRosen]

Seismologists now say 9.1 on CNN

Seismologists that work for the USGS?

[aslkahuna]

This would probably also apply to the megatsunami scenarios souped up by the media regarding an asteroid strike into the ocean wouldn't it?

Not quite. For two reasons-the energy released in the impact of a 10 km diameter asteroid (an extinction event) is way far and away greater than that released in a landslide of any size (estimated Moment Magnitude equivalent about a 12.6 or about 629000X stronger than a 9.0). Furthermore a landslide involves a small area compared to earthquakes or impacts. Also, the asteroid will not only bottom in ocean but blast out a fairly large sized chunk of the crust resulting a true full depthe tsunami of large size even at sea. The dinosaur killer asteroid sent a tsunami as far up as Denver and sediment studies show that it had pretty healthy height as it ran up. We know pretty much what impacts have done but landslides like the Canaries or in Hawai'i while catastrophic locally don't seem to have shown up much distance from their origin. The Lituya Bay AK debris flow avalanche which was massive and caused a HUGE (1000+ft high) wave did not seem to have caused much fuss in HI.

Steve

[Coach McGuirk]

Best video I've seen yet from California.

Those two guys were about 5 seconds from dying.

[aslkahuna]

Major land subsidence also occurred in Chile in 1960 and AK in 1964.

Steve

[Derecho!]

Those two guys were about 5 seconds from dying.

They were all too close, really. Those two clowns were some epic morons, though.

I mean Oregon isn't the Eastern Shore of Maryland or something. There are plenty of places 50-100 feet ASL where you're perfectly safe, right next to the coast, where you can get some great pics and video.

[downeastnc]

They were all too close, really. Those two clowns were some epic morons, though.

I mean Oregon isn't the Eastern Shore of Maryland or something. There are plenty of places 50-100 feet ASL where you're perfectly safe, right next to the coast, where you can get some great pics and video.

No doubt this helps a lot, had this event hit the east coast fo the US instead things would have been much different with lots of places heavily damaged.

[A-L-E-X]

Not quite. For two reasons-the energy released in the impact of a 10 km diameter asteroid (an extinction event) is way far and away greater than that released in a landslide of any size (estimated Moment Magnitude equivalent about a 12.6 or about 629000X stronger than a 9.0). Furthermore a landslide involves a small area compared to earthquakes or impacts. Also, the asteroid will not only bottom in ocean but blast out a fairly large sized chunk of the crust resulting a true full depthe tsunami of large size even at sea. The dinosaur killer asteroid sent a tsunami as far up as Denver and sediment studies show that it had pretty healthy height as it ran up. We know pretty much what impacts have done but landslides like the Canaries or in Hawai'i while catastrophic locally don't seem to have shown up much distance from their origin. The Lituya Bay AK debris flow avalanche which was massive and caused a HUGE (1000+ft high) wave did not seem to have caused much fuss in HI.

Steve

Wow, that's crazy Steve... and the K-T impactor wasn't even the largest impact event that has occurred. I believe that impactor actually split into several pieces (like Shoemaker-Levy), because other craters have been dated to around the same period (in the UK, Ukraine and India). One of the most recent large impact that I can find any information for was the Kaali Crater in Estonia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaali_crater

Here is another one which hit NZ around 1443 AD

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahuika_crater

Mahuika crater is a proposed submarine bolide impact crater, 20 ± 2 kilometers wide and over 153 meters deep, on the New Zealand continental shelf named after the Māori god of fire. It was discovered by Dallas Abbott and her colleagues from the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of the Columbia University.

Around the year 1400, the natives of New Zealand abandoned their southern coastal settlements. New Zealand tsunami expert Professor James Goff attributes coastal abandonment in New Zealand at 1500 AD to an earthquake-induced tsunami event. However, the largest historical earthquakes produced maximum tsunami runups of 40 to 60 meters. On Stewart Island, New Zealand, beach sand is present ~220 meters above sea level at Hellfire Hut and ~150 meters above sea level at Mason Bay. In eastern Australia, there are megatsunami deposits with maximum run-ups of over 130 meters and a C-14 age of ~1500 AD[2]. Megatsunami deposits occur on the eastern side of Lord Howe Island in the middle of the Tasman Sea, implying a source crater for the tsunami further east. Abbott et al. (2003) suggests that a bolide impact would explain both the geological and anthropological evidence better than an earthquake.

Based on elemental anomalies, fossils, and minerals, which are interpreted to be derived from the impact, found in an ice core from the Siple Dome in Antarctica, Abbott et al. (2005) argues that the impact, which created the Mahuika crater occurred around 1443 AD.