Strong earthquake in Kyushu

[bikkuri bahn]

And also a dam has collapsed, assuming somewhere in eastern Kyushu.

 

apparently Oogiribata Dam, and earth dam in Kumamoto Prefecture.  

http://damnet.or.jp/cgi-bin/binranA/All.cgi?db4=2669

 

http://www.fnn-news.com/news/headlines/articles/CONN00321931.html

[katoftw]

[katoftw]

Regular Lines currently with stoppages.  Other not listed are open.

 

路線 区間 Line Section

鹿児島本線 荒尾～八代 Kagoshima Line Arao ～ Yatsushiro

日豊本線 行橋～延岡 Nippo Line Yukuhashi ～ Nobeoka

筑豊本線（原田線） 桂川～原田 Chiｋuho Line(Haruda Line) Keisen ～ Haruda

日田彦山線 添田～夜明 Hitahikosan Line Soeda ～ Yoake

大村線 早岐～諌早 Omura Line Haiki ～ Isahaya

久大本線 久留米～大分 Kyudai Line Kurume ～ Oita

豊肥本線 熊本～大分 Hohi Line Kumamoto ～ Oita

三角線 宇土～三角 Misumi Line Uto ～ Misumi

肥薩線 八代～吉松 Hisatsu Line Yatsushiro ～ Yoshimatsu

[railsquid]

JR Kyushu not giving any date for reinstating the Shinkansen. Heavy rain and wind expected, which may effect other railway lines as it will increase the risk of landslides and further damage.

[Eurostar25]

That certainly got us out of bed last night, boy it was like some of the New Zealand earthquakes I've felt, short sharp jolts that got stronger and stronger, all at 1:30am too.

It's quite a strange feeling when your cellphone goes off with the alarm warning you that an earthquake is imminent, it builds the tension while you wait the few seconds for it to hit.

We got alarms at 1:30am, 4:00am and 4:30am from memory this morning in Tokuyama, (the times might be a bit off)

We were very fortunate our shrine didn't suffer any damage for our wedding ceremony yesterday but certainly felt the ground tremble occasionally during the day.

We flew from Iwakuni to Haneda today as planned but our thoughts very much with those in Kyushu

[railsquid]

Congrats!

 

Spare a thought for people in the Kumamoto area, the quakes had stopped earlier this evening but have picked up again in the last couple of hours.

 

The boffins reckon the main quake last night release more energy than the 1995 Kobe one, which makes it the largest *inland* quake for quite a while.

[Sacto1985]

I wonder will priority be given to re-opening the Kyushu Shinkansen line as soon as possible. They'll have to remove that derailed train first, and then do a lot of line inspection--especially the tracks and tunnels--south of Kurume Station all the way to Kagoshima-Chuo Station before resumption of service. It could be probably late this fall before service resumes.

[railsquid]

I wonder where you pulled that timescale from?

 

No evidence of actual infrastructure damage so far (unlike the Tohoku Shinkansen in 2011), apart from some superficial damage at Kumamoto.

[katoftw]

I wonder will priority be given to re-opening the Kyushu Shinkansen line as soon as possible. They'll have to remove that derailed train first, and then do a lot of line inspection--especially the tracks and tunnels--south of Kurume Station all the way to Kagoshima-Chuo Station before resumption of service. It could be probably late this fall before service resumes.

Dunno about Shinkansen.  But like all these things.  There can be no time frame given until inspections are done.  And with local lines increasing coming back into service.  I'd assume inspections are on-going for both regular and shinkansen trains.

 

The Misumi Line was out of services after Thurday night's big one.  Then all good with services running again by lunch the following.  Then the second big one closed it again.  And it says closed for now.

 

The Kyudai Line has been closed since Thurday.  But looking at JRKs 19:30 update, Kurume to Hita section is open again.

 

http://www.jrkyushu.co.jp/english/news/news_list.jsp

 

The above link is JRKs english updates.  AS time goes on.  More and more lines become operational.

 

Earthquakes aren't anything new to the Japanese people.  They'll get on with the job of rebuilding quickly.  The landslide near Tateno on the Hohi Line will probably be the one line that takes months to fix.  It will be a engineering feat to rebuild both the rail , the roads and that wonderful bridge.  And if more rains hit as predicted, then the slip will get much worse.

Edited April 16, 2016 by katoftw

[katoftw]

JRK are getting on with it.  Seems Oita and surrounds are back in business.

 

Service suspended on the following lines:-

Shinkansen Line, Hakata～Kagoshima-Chuo

Kagoshima Line, Arao～Yatsushiro

Kyudai Line, Hita～Mukainoharu

Hohi Line, Kumamoto～Bungo-Taketa

Misumi Line, Uto～Misumi

Hisatsu Line, Yatsushiro～Yoshimatsu

 

*As of 07:50am 17/04/2016

[Sacto1985]

So the Nippo Main Line between Kokura and Kagoshima is open again. Mind you, Kagoshima to Hakata using limited express trains on this like will take a long time to travel, though.

[katoftw]

Yes - but at limited capacity around Oita.

[railsquid]

Distortion of some segments of rail has been discovered on the Shinkansen route, according to the TV news.

 

Extra flights are being laid on to provide additional capacity between locations served by it.

Edited April 17, 2016 by railsquid

[Sacto1985]

Distortion of some segments of rail has been discovered on the Shinkansen route, according to the TV news.

 

That's why I said it may not be until this fall that the Kyushu Shinkansen restarts service. Not only will they have to inspect and replace possibly a LOT of rails, but also do major inspections and repairs to the many tunnels on the line south of Kurume Station.

[railsquid]

Well yes, but one of us is posting information (admittedly "citation needed", but available), the other is just speculating. Until some information is available to the actual extent of the damage and timeline for repairs, I don't see any point in throwing out random dates.

[katoftw]

If google translate is somehow working properly, then it looks like JRK will have the Kagoshima Mainline open at a reduced capacity this afternoon between Arao and Kumamoto.

 

Kyudai Line completely opened mid to late yesterday afternoon.

 

I found myself somehow obsessed with the recovery process and checking for updates every 30-60 minutes yesterday. Sad! haha

 

I hope the people of Kumamoto can also recovery quickly.  I saw some drone footage yesterday, and it wasn't pretty.

[railsquid]

reopened then closed again after structursl issues noticed at Kumamoto stn.

 

 

Shinkansem rerailing avtivity: http://news.yahoo.co.jp/pickup/6198250

[katoftw]

Noticed that.  Trains only went as far as Tamana.  But seems the station building has been inspected and back up and running.

 

JRK have confirmed the Hohi Line will take a long time to become operational.

 

Has anyone got any links on how the people on the ground, ie locals and businesses are recovering?

Edited April 18, 2016 by katoftw

[railsquid]

And another biggie, M5.8 / Shindo 5+ in the Aso area.

 

 

Apparently this series of inland earthquakes is unprecedented since they started methodically recording earthquake data a century or so ago.

[railsquid]

Has anyone got any links on how the people on the ground, ie locals and businesses are recovering?

 

No links, but at the moment stuff is being patched together as fast as possible; a lot of people in temporary shelters or even their cars, with the inevitable supply problems; knock-on economic effects due to factories being shut down (e.g. a parts supplier for Toyota and Mitsubishi). Lots of uncertaintly still with the ongoing quakes, which is a very different situation to previous inland earthquakes.

[kvp]

Isn't the geometrical center spot on Mount Aso? Considering the last large scale eruption was 90000 years ago, it's understandable that no records exist. (large scale = effecting the whole caldera, not just the inner one)

[Sacto1985]

Kumamoto is very close to the fault that is the Japan Median Tectonic Line (中央構造線). As such, to some scientists it's not a surprise that earthquakes happen there--and why Mount Aso is part of the MTL. 

 

I think right now is all these earthquakes could be--in the view of some volcanologists-- a precursor to a MAJOR eruption of Mount Aso itself--and given the size of the caldera on Mount Aso (probably the largest in Japan's home islands), such a major eruption could have catastrophic effects, to say the least.

[railsquid]

I'm sure that would be fun to watch live on TV.

[railsquid]

Meanwhile, some concrete (hah) figures on Shinkansen damage - ca. 130 locations with damage discovered so far, including segments of concrete sound barrier wall which have fallen down and cracks in supporting columns.

[Sacto1985]

Meanwhile, some concrete (hah) figures on Shinkansen damage - ca. 130 locations with damage discovered so far, including segments of concrete sound barrier wall which have fallen down and cracks in supporting columns.

 

That's why I personally said it would be this fall before Kyushu Shinkansen reopens. They'll not only to repair the rails and sound walls, but also inspect and repair all those long tunnels between Kurume and Kagoshima-Chuo Stations.