Powerful Earthquake Shakes Japan

[Gaffey Duck]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3946957.stm

[jus_the_facts]

1. They've really been pounded by Mother Nature as o'late.....

Powerful earthquakes shake Japan


At least one person has died and more than 70 have been injured in earthquakes in northern Japan, which rocked buildings for up to one minute. The first quake measured 6.8, according to preliminary reports, and was centred in Niigata state, 160 miles (260 kilometres) north of Tokyo.

It is reported to have caused landslides and blackouts and cut water and telephone services. Emergency services fear some buildings might have collapsed causing injuries. The only victim reported so far died after being hit by falling rocks.

The first quake struck at 1756 local time (0856 GMT). Aftershocks included a 5.9 quake which hit 16 minutes later.
Tremors continued intermittently for more than two hours.

"Strong aftershocks are continuing," an official from the Meteorological Agency, Masahiro Yamamoto, told a televised news conference


The quake comes days after Japan was hit by its deadliest typhoon for a decade, which killed about 75 people. Japan has been hit by 10 typhoons so far this year

[Arioch]

2. People are starting to get worn out in Japan

One mess after another and it is not letting up...perfectly timed with the Japan release of the Day After Tommorrow...

I was on vaca there visiting my relatives in August and we almost got swatted out of the sky by typhoon 18.

Even Tokyo is getting flooded with all the rains...there is simply no letting up...

But if Bush should win ( and I KNOW he will not ) that's where I am moving back to!!!

[Blogd]

6. Ummm.... "The Day After Tomorrow"...

...finished its run here long ago. But the quakes do come on the tail of a string of typhoons that have loosened up the soil as well as two or three other semi-powerful quakes that have hit central Japan in the last several months.

This event was notable for the sheer persistence: the quakes came, one after another, for over an hour. I felt four here in Tokyo very strongly, lamps swinging and doors swaying, time after time, with the epicenter 160 miles to the north. 3 of the quakes were over 6, and several more were over 5 on the Richter scale. The three strongest hit within half and hour.

Now five people are reported dead, including an 80-year-old woman and a 2-month-old baby. 500+ reported injured. Houses collapsed, mudslides triggered, some roads obliterated, some fires started, the list goes on. As we go into the night, the television news shows more and more damage from the area.

[newyawker99]

8. Hi Blogd!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Art_from_Ark]

3. I was in the Tokyo area when it struck

and it was quite a jolt, even this far away. There were big aftershocks for about 30 minutes after that. There was another aftershock about 5 minutes ago.
This has been some year for natural disasters in Japan. :scared:

[reprobate]

4. Nature's responce to their PM's support of bush.

[indigobusiness]

5. Some info --- sounds bad

TOKYO (AP) - Several powerful earthquakes shook northwestern Japan within minutes on Saturday, toppling homes, causing blackouts, cutting water and gas and derailing a bullet train. Media reported at least two people died and more than 90 were injured.
The quakes - the first of which measured magnitude 6.8 and struck at 5:56 p.m. - were centered near the city of Ojiya about 12 miles beneath the earth's surface, the Meteorological Agency said. Ojiya is 160 miles northwest of Tokyo.

The other tremors, the strongest of which hit intermittently over two hours, also included magnitude-6.2 and 5.9 quakes. Aftershocks followed, some just as forceful, the agency said.

Media reports said the shaking in some parts of Niigata was so severe that people had difficulty standing. Buildings in Tokyo swayed several times for up to a minute.

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGBHP3GPN0E.html

[Oreegone]

7. Want to keep up on whats going on?

I have signed up for this email alert that lets you know when and where any earthquake happens in the world a 5.5 or more. Just got this alert, it is the smallest of 5 alerts I got today in the same place. These were HUGE earthquakes I all over 6 points I don't see how they could be called aftershocks.

2004/10/23 14:34 M 5.5 WEST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN Z= 17km 37.27N 138.67E

This information is provided by the USGS
National Earthquake Information Center.
(Address problems to: [e-mail])

These parameters are preliminary and subject to revision.

A magnitude 5.5 earthquake NEAR THE WEST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN has occurred at:
37.27N 138.67E Depth 17km Sat Oct 23 14:34:46 2004 UTC

Time: Universal Time (UTC) Sat Oct 23 14:34:46 2004
Time Near Epicenter Sat Oct 23 23:34:46 2004
Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) Sat Oct 23 10:34:46 2004
Central Daylight Time (CDT) Sat Oct 23 09:34:46 2004
Mountain Daylight Time (MDT) Sat Oct 23 08:34:46 2004
Pacific Daylight Time (PDT) Sat Oct 23 07:34:46 2004
Alaska Daylight Time (ADT) Sat Oct 23 06:34:46 2004
Hawaii Standard Time (HST) Sat Oct 23 04:34:46 2004

Location with respect to nearby cities:
80 km (50 miles) SSW of Niigata, Honshu, Japan (pop 494,000)
80 km (50 miles) NNE of Nagano, Honshu, Japan (pop 358,000)
105 km (65 miles) NNW of Maebashi, Honshu, Japan (pop 284,000)
200 km (125 miles) NNW of TOKYO, Japan

For maps, additional information, and subsequent updates,
please consult: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/

Flinn-Engdahl Region Number = 226

For the most significant earthquakes, information may also be
available from the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program home page at
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/ and the USGS home page at
http://www.usgs.gov/ .

You will continue to receive messages like this when
earthquakes occur that have magnitude 5.5 or greater
anywhere in the world OR 4.5 or greater in the contiguous
US, Hawaii, and Alaska (excluding the Aleutian Islands).

The subscription form for this service is located at:

[Lydia Leftcoast]

9. Niigata had a bad earthquake in the 1960s

Lots of buildings toppled by liquefying soil.

But this has been a terrible year for Japan: the hottest summer on record lasting unusually late into the fall, typhoon after typhoon, now this string of earthquakes.

[Art_from_Ark]

10. Death toll has risen to 16

Three or four people are missing, and nearly 900 have been injured.

http://www.excite.co.jp/News/society/20041024093337/Kyodo_20041024a483010s20041024093347.html

[Art_from_Ark]

11. 330+ aftershocks in 2 days

NHK radio has reported that there have been more than 330 aftershocks since the first earthquake struck Saturday evening Japan time. A few of them have been felt in the Tokyo area, 100+ miles away.

[THUNDER HANDS]

12. boy I bet they long for the days when Godzilla was their biggest worry

[Art_from_Ark]

13. Earthquakes have long been a part of the Japanese landscape

The worst one by far occurred on September 1, 1923 in the Tokyo-Yokohama area. The "Great Kanto Earthquake", as it is often referred to in English, was responsible for the deaths of 143,000 people. The Fukui quake of 1948 killed more than 5000 people, as did the Kobe ("Hanshin-Awajishima") quake of 1995.