March 2011 Tohoku Earthquake

[bikkuri bahn]

Northern Japan.  Alot of aftershocks.  Tsunami warnings of up to 6m now.  Don't want to be in a building now...

[bikkuri bahn]

7.9 on the richter scale.  Pretty big

 

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/03/11/massive-7-magnitude-earthquake-strikes-japan/#

 

Gmat, did you feel it in Tokyo?  Because I certainly did this far up north.

[westfalen]

TV here in Brisbane at the moment is showing video footage of Sendai airport surrounded by tsunami waters and what they say is an oil refinery in Chiba Prefecture well and truly ablaze. Earthquakes in Japan usually don't rate much time on the news here because they are so common but they are showing a bit more of this one. ABC news is feeding live coverage from NHK World.

 

Hope all the forum members in Japan are safe and sound.

[kevinrandell]

It was pretty wild. It started pretty slow and just built up and up. At the peak I was starting to feel a bit sea sick. They stopped all the trains and shut off the phones and gas as well.

 

Kev

[Guest JRF-1935]

I hope all the forum members and all the Japanese people are well - 2 "Big" ones in the last couple of days

The latest news from Philly,Pa

http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-general/20110309/AS.Japan.Earthquake/

God Bless to all in Japan

[ToniBabelony]

I hope everyone I know is okay in Japan. The tsunami looks mighty scary.

 

Just received messages that most I know are allright, as well as my girlfriend. Still... I remain cautious.

[lordwinslow2]

Too all our members in Japan, please be safe.  I just heard on the news Hawaii and the Pacific Northwest are under Tsunami watch. 

 

Winslow

[Tenorikuma]

Felt it down here in Nagoya. It lasted at least two minutes, and there were a few aftershocks.

 

I'm hearing that the city of Kurihara in Miyagi has been completely destroyed.

[Tecchan]

Here is a video of the Tohoku tsunami...

Horrifying... Look at the small cars trying to escape and the building on fire moving with the wave!! *_*

 

If you have friends and family in Japan, I really hope they are safe and sound!!

 

[SONIC883_de]

M8.9 ...

 

Over the years we get many, many japanese friends. Some of them leaves germany and go back to japan. One couple which is back for 'working holidays' for two years is living in Kawaramachi, Sendai.

Only pictures of this make me sad. To know that friends and family are there ...

[ToniBabelony]

What worries me most are those small islands in the Pacific Ocean. I think quite a lot of 'em will be swept away or at least have their surface cleaned out.

[disturbman]

Brrrr... frightening. It seems like the whole of Japan shook on this one and the epicenter was not even located on earth. After Christchurch not so long ago the Pacific rim seems to be on the move. Good luck to everyone in Japan. Saddly it's only the beggining.

[Tenorikuma]

8.9 ... it boggles the mind.

 

Any other country, and an earthquake of that magnitude would cause tens of thousands of deaths, instead of a few hundred (which I suspect will be the final toll here).

[Guest ___]

USGS reports 8.8 JMS 8.9 Tsunami that struck is reported at 10m that slammed sendai. Government figures right now at AP are 17 dead. That number is surely to rise. An earthquake of that size would normally be a much larger wave if not for the close proximity top the shoreline. Until more images come in, I have to admit, the fact that Sendai was not leveled by this quake is a testimonial to Japan's earthquake building ability.

[disturbman]

The thing is. There is going be more earthquake in the upcoming weeks or month, like what happened at Christchurch where the last earthquake that razed the city was a replica of one that happened some months ago. I'm not sure Japan's building ability is going to sustain over big earthquakes. Anyway, the real problem seems to be the tsunamis and the associated disruptive after effects. Like those 4 million housing units without electricity in Tokyo.

[bikkuri bahn]

All JR Lines in the Tokyo area are stopped, and will not run for the rest of the evening.  Private railways are similarly affected, however, there may be a possibility they will resume operations later tonight.  Countless numbers of people are stranded in central Tokyo, unable to get home- TV stations are advising people to spend the night at their places of employment.  All JR East shinkansen lines are shut down.  Tokaido Shinkansen service between Tokyo and Odawara is suspended indefinitely.

 

I hope all Tokyo-area forumers are safe, and hopefully able to get home tonight.

[Guest ___]

Question is Vince, is this the main quake and everything thereafter just aftershocks. Most folks would have assumed that the 7.9 that hit Wednesday was the main event. The Quake at Christchurch was a bit further away when it's Tsunami hit. That is the one thing that helps a bit in Japan's case is that the quake is relatively close.

 

The further the quake is out to sea, the greater the potential becomes. I'm hearing from folks in Kansai that they felt it in Osaka and Kyoto.

[disturbman]

I'm not sure it's really a question to know if this was the main or not. For sure the ground is going to shake a lot from now on. When I hear that Japan shook from Hokkaïdo to at least Fukuoka I kind of worry.

[Guest ___]

Just over the wire, a 4.5 just struck, Hawaii, supposedly unrelated.

[bikkuri bahn]

Apparently the following week has the potential for large aftershocks.  I'm worried about the numerous nuke plants that line the coast up in Ibaraki and Fukushima- all of them automatically shut down, but apparently Fukushima Nuclear Plant #1 can't run its auxiliary diesel generators, which are essential for cooling water.  The prime minister's office issued a notice of the possibility of radiation being released, though that report on the news was already about 2 hours ago.  I don't know about updates.

[Guest ___]

Hawaii is bracing for a six foot Tsunami. I know that's not big, but when they move at 500mph it's pretty major.  Not only is my wire connection going mad, but so is my inbox for the US Coast Guard. FEMA has been activated. USCG has ICS in operation.  New counts coming in from the wire on Japan faster than I can keep up on it. US Media on the east coast as of this post seems relative uninterested aside from CNN and FOX. CNN is downplaying it right now and FOX is overly zealous in it's reporting as expected. CN is making it look like a normal day and FOX you'd think the entire country was devastated.

[cumber_s]

Just recieved the news, and contacted my japan based friends -> thier fine.

but the "news"  are disturbing hope everyone is fine.

 

And I especially hope that Fuji-sama will stay put,this would be the ultimate armageddon...

 

Well i am camping in front of tthe telly

[keitaro]

my wifes brother was there just 2 days ago. All i can say is lucky.

[bikkuri bahn]

CNN is downplaying it right now and FOX is overly zealous in it's reporting as expected. CN is making it look like a normal day and FOX you'd think the entire country was devastated.

 

Yeah, I noticed it was fox news that had the first reports on the net (about 30 min.) after the first tremors.  Could it be that alot of service member families rely on Fox for info?

[disturbman]

AAron, you are forgeting about Aso-san and Sakurajima wich, unless Fuji-san, are actives. But I will discard that option myself, this is too Hollywoodian catastrofic scenario for me to want to take this into consideration.