Monster earthquake off of Japanese coast: 8.9, Tsunami strikes, massive damage, thousands of deaths likely

Best wishes to our friends in the Sendai bay region. As tsunamis go it is the perfect storm configuration.

The usgs shows it as mag 8.8! Wow. What is local time?

Wait for the “Moon at its Perigee” disaster comments in the MSN!

Tsunami advisory web site at the Japan Meteorological Agency:
http://www.jma.go.jp/en/tsunami/
Tsunami Warning/Advisory
Issued at 14:49 JST 11 Mar 2011
******************Headline******************
Major Tsunami and Tsunami have been issued.
PACIFIC COAST OF TOHOKU
CENTRAL PART OF PACIFIC COAST OF HOKKAIDO
IBARAKI PREF.
KUJUKURI AND SOTOBO AREA, CHIBA PREF.
IZU ISLANDS
Evacuate from the seashore immediately to the safe places near the above coasts.
Tsunami attentions are in effect at some of the other coasts now.

Ryan. Can you tell us what time zone you are in?
Pacific — both Anthony and I live in california

(note that the worse earthquake ever recorded was 9.6 in chile, 1960, and #2 was a 9.2 in Anchorage Alaska in 1964. # 3 Sumatra in 2004 was a 9.1.)
So 7.9 is significant and its epicenter is underwater.
Anyone you love in Hawaii tonight?
BULLETIN
TSUNAMI MESSAGE NUMBER 1
NWS PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER EWA BEACH HI
756 PM HST THU MAR 10 2011
TO – CIVIL DEFENSE IN THE STATE OF HAWAII
SUBJECT – TSUNAMI WATCH
A TSUNAMI WATCH IS ISSUED FOR THE STATE OF HAWAII EFFECTIVE AT
0756 PM HST.
AN EARTHQUAKE HAS OCCURRED WITH THESE PRELIMINARY PARAMETERS
ORIGIN TIME – 0746 PM HST 10 MAR 2011
COORDINATES – 38.0 NORTH 142.9 EAST
LOCATION – NEAR EAST COAST OF HONSHU JAPAN
MAGNITUDE – 7.9 MOMENT
EVALUATION
BASED ON ALL AVAILABLE DATA A TSUNAMI MAY HAVE BEEN GENERATED BY
THIS EARTHQUAKE THAT COULD BE DESTRUCTIVE ON COASTAL AREAS EVEN
FAR FROM THE EPICENTER. AN INVESTIGATION IS UNDERWAY TO DETERMINE
IF THERE IS A TSUNAMI THREAT TO HAWAII.
IF TSUNAMI WAVES IMPACT HAWAII THE ESTIMATED EARLIEST ARRIVAL OF
THE FIRST TSUNAMI WAVE IS
0259 AM HST FRI 11 MAR 2011
MESSAGES WILL BE ISSUED HOURLY OR SOONER AS CONDITIONS WARRANT.
http://www.weather.gov/ptwc/text.php…1.03.11.055747
http://www.weather.gov/ptwc/?region=…1.03.11.055747

Report from the SMH 6 minutes ago…….
Japan tsunami warning follows 7.9 earthquake
March 11, 2011 – 5:34PM
Japan has issued its top tsunami warning in response to a major offshore earthquake measuring 7.9, which strongly swayed buildings 400 kilometres away in Tokyo and sent people fleeing onto the streets.
The meteorological agency issued its top-level evacuation alerts for the entire Japanese coast, Russia and the Mariana Islands, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said.
It warned of a tsunami of up to six metres. Smaller tsunamis of up to 50cm reached some coastal communities, the agency said.
Advertisement: Story continues below
The quake struck about 382km northeast of Tokyo, offshore, the US Geological Survey reported.
Smoke could be seen rising from a building in Tokyo port.
Shinkansen bullet trains stopped when the quake struck.
Japan’s meteorological agency said the quake struck at 2.46pm (4.46pm AEDST) local time at a depth of 10km, 125km off the eastern coast.
Several quakes had hit the same region in recent days, including a 7.3 magnitude one on Wednesday.
The Joint Australian Tsunami Warning Centre said there was no tsunami threat to Australia.
Hawaii is on Tsunami alert.

Oh dear God.
Massive and deadly.
We can but wait and see.
And we are told mankind can control the climate. Dream on.
Kindest Regards

Why wait several people have been predicting it coming for months now. General increased tectonic and quake activity on the Pacific Rim, clear down to New Zealand.

Tokyo cam with audio:
http://www.earthcam.com/japan/tokyo/

Link to the Hawaii alert.

The first reports on the USGS site were of a 7.9 quake. That would have been bad enough. 8.8 is a monster. It reminds me of the Indian Ocean quake off Sumatra in 2004 – it kept getting revised upwards over first few hours. Local time of the quake was 14:45hrs.

There is no doubt in my mind now that the tectonic activity eruptions volcanoes in last 2-3 years due to solar minimum activity

Pete H says:
March 10, 2011 at 10:29 pm
Wait for the “Moon at its Perigee” disaster comments in the MSN!
_____________________________________________________________
Not to mention Jupiter……
Let’s all hope the tsunami doesn’t manifest, and everybody stays safe.

Watching CNBC World with some pretty good coverage.
Wars, rumors of wars, earthquakes in diverse places, monetary system about to collapse. Sounds like a story I once read.

I think it is the third one in as many days now.

Here is a Link to the Japanese station NHK’s English language world broagcast via the internet:
http://wwitv.com/tv_channels/6810.htm

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

On shore Mag 6.8 only 67ks away from Tokyo. Quake is under a built up area.
depth is 30km.
Expect some damage here.
Tsunamis can travel across the Pacific to the eastern coast of the U.S.

Well, it’s official we have a tsunami.
I called friends in Auckland to let them know, even though they aren’t in the threat zone officialyl listed in tsunami alert 2. They hadn’t heard a thing about it.
Might not hurt to call love ones along pacific coast about now. You know, just to say hi.
http://www.weather.gov/ptwc/text.php?id=pacific.2011.03.11.064306

Catastrophic tsunami ongoing in Sendai/Miyagi area. Streaming video at jibtv.com – awesome and horrific.

Wow, lots of waves coming in!

I am so glad it was 380 km from Tokyo. A close earthquake of 8.8 power would crunch even state-of-the-art buildings.

I am on a slow connection as others may be, and cannot stream video, here is an up- date with static images 10 minutes old from the SMH, again.
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/tsunami-surges-across-japan-following-89-earthquake-20110311-1bqym.html

Drudge is linking in this site as having a video link to the wave. It’s not currently loading for me.
http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Video-Japan-Earthquake-Tokyo-Tsunami-Fears-After-89-Magnitude-Quake-Rocks-Buildings-In-Capital/Article/201103215950160?lpos=World_News_Carousel_Region_0&lid=ARTICLE_15950160_Video%3A_Japan_Earthquake%3A_Tokyo_Tsunami_Fears_After_8.9_Magnitude_Quake_Rocks_Buildings_In_Capital

can any one tell me if chiba is affectd??

I live in the dead center of the island of Oahu, so while I’m safe from the waves here (about 700 feet above sea level), depending on the level of damage we could lose power, utilities and communications. Last time, we were lucky. I’ve got a bad feeling about this one though.

Even in Tokyo at 4:50 pm local time now, almost all the public transport lines are halted.
Damages including several fires appear to have happened.
Report of casualty is still limited to one person, but may be increasing.
How can I get home this evening?…….

I was sitting in my apartment here in Tokyo when it happened. It started out small and became gradually larger to the point where I decided to drop everything and run outside. Lots of buildings were swaying and people were screaming. Very scary…. the 7-11 had broken booze bottles littering the floor and it smelled like a mixed cocktail from hell.
The aftershocks have been non-stop and keep coming. There is one happening as I type this. It feels like one of those old “magic fingers” bed.

helicopter video of tsunami carrying debris, autos, inland

Tsunami alarm/caution map:
http://disaster.yahoo.co.jp/1299828966/meteo.yahoo.co.jp/weather/jp/tsunami/index.html

I just tried for 10 minutes to phone our offices in Tokyo and Fukushima area on the coast. I cannot get through to them.
Will keep trying and let you know what I find.
I am neart the northern coast of Taiwan, so will look for news on Taiwan TV of potential Tsunami here.
Best of wishes to all my dear friends in Japan, especially those at the coastal area of Fukushima prefecture.
John

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10711642
Earthquake hit Southern China an hour beforehand as well

more tsunami video

Refinery fires. One airport shown totally under water with people safe on the roof. One sequence shows a wave coming in and with houses, cars trucks etc being swept inlane. More after shows being reported as I watch on BBC

I hope all people around the pacific rim can get away from the coast.
There are reports of waves 10 metres high.
All the best to anyone reading this blog who will be effected in the next 24 hours, we’ll keep you in are prayers 🙁
As I’m typing sirens are going off in hawaii 🙁

tokyoboy
Be careful tokyoboy, i’m praying for you

Tsunami warnings issued for Chile, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand.
I wouldn’t be surprised if one is issued for US [West] coast shortly.
Damage is massive. Reports of Tsunamis up to 7.3 metres on land.

tokyoboy says:
March 10, 2011 at 11:51 pm
Even in Tokyo at 4:50 pm local time now, almost all the public transport lines are halted.
Damages including several fires appear to have happened.
Report of casualty is still limited to one person, but may be increasing.
How can I get home this evening?…….

– – – – – –
tokyoboy,
Hope all is well with you and your family and friends.
Are the local landline phones and cellphones working in Tokyo area? I have not been able to reach Fukushima Prefecture nor Tokyo from where I am in Taiwan.
Best Wishes,
John

Simply mind boggling helicopter shots of these waves, and how they pushed inshore. When carrying loads of debris it looked like lava, and sometimes there were burning buidlings being carried on top of it. Totally surreal. Horrendous destruction of obviously meticulously kept farms and greenhouses and lives. Real tragedy for the people there. And who knows what else has happened, or will happen.
Anyone know what time this buoy system will know if there are serious waves headed to Hawaii or the West Coast?

Supermoon?

low quality, but raw footage of tsunami, unbelievable

Not sure if it is related, but my internet connection just flaked out for about 5 minutes.

GAUGE LOCATION LAT LON TIME AMPL PER
DART 21413 30.5N 152.1E 0659Z 0.76M / 2.5FT 32MIN
HANASAKI HOKKAIDO J 43.3N 145.6E 0657Z 2.79M / 9.2FT 76MIN
DART 21401 42.6N 152.6E 0643Z 0.67M / 2.2FT 40MIN
DART 21418 38.7N 148.7E 0619Z 1.08M / 3.5FT 06MIN
http://www.weather.gov/ptwc/text.php?id=hawaii.2011.03.11.073148

John Whitman says: March 11, 2011 at 12:03 am
[……] Are the local landline phones and cellphones working in Tokyo area?[….]
Until about 30 minutes ago both landline and cell phones were not working and I was unable to call my wife;
It’s OK now at least in the Metropolitan area where I am.

R John says:
March 11, 2011 at 12:07 am
Not sure if it is related, but my internet connection just flaked out for about 5 minutes.
—————————————————————————————-
That’s funny, mine did too,

One of the most noticeable things from the helicopter videos, is the amount of sea water caught behind sea walls that were way to short, to stop the tsunami but did a real good job of preventing the sea water return to the Pacific, leaving a set depth of flooding equal to the height of the sea walls.

Aftershocks, strong and weak, still attack the Tokyo area, and I feel ike seasickness at my desk.

The tsunamis look even worse than the 2004 ones from those vids 🙁 This sucks beyond description, hope casualty rates will not go into tens or hundreds of thousands.
Sad sad day.

Amino Acids in Meteorites says:
March 11, 2011 at 12:14 am
R John says:
March 11, 2011 at 12:07 am
Not sure if it is related, but my internet connection just flaked out for about 5 minutes.
—————————————————————————————-
That’s funny, mine did too,
I’m on an oil rig offshore Indonesia. Our satellite internet connnection has been coming and going since the exact moment the quake hit.

live video feed from Breitbart tv,
click play button on video player at link, an advertisement will play first,
then is continuous feed starts
extensive damage, many missing
http://www.breitbart.tv/live-stream-8-9-earthquake-and-tsunami-hit-japan/

Byz says:
March 10, 2011 at 11:59 pm
I hope all people around the pacific rim can get away from the coast.
There are reports of waves 10 metres high.
——————————————————————
preliminary report is it was 33 feet high

Japan earthquake occurred at the end of the latest geomagnetic storm, the longest and strongest in the latest series, still going on 23 hours after it started.
http://www.vukcevic.talktalk.net/gms.htm

video, so many cars caught in tsunami

I hope this is the last big quake.
My thoughts and prayers are with everyone in the effected areas.

I am unable to contact my friends in Asia via internet texting. I am wondering how tokyoboy still has connection

Pete H says: Wait for the “Moon at its Perigee” disaster comments in the MSN!
This article came to fruition just minutes before the quake hit, which places them ahead of the news cycle.
http://www.smh.com.au/technology/sci-tech/i-see-a-supermoon-rising-but-do-i-see-trouble-on-the-way-20110311-1bqrw.html

From a book I read some 40 years ago, it seems that earthquakes are clustered around solar minima, maybe some link between now increasing solar activity and geomagnetic events, which may influence tectonic plate movements?

Terrible. It wasn’t even on the news when I got up this morning, then wham. I’m following the aftershocks with xearth, and note that quite a few of those have been over 6.0 – bad enough in their own right. Best of luck to eneryone there.
> Pete H says:
> March 10, 2011 at 10:29 pm
> Wait for the “Moon at its Perigee” disaster comments in the MSN!
Hold your horses, Pete – perigee is next weekend … wonder what’s lined up for then.

Les Francis:
Which coast?

New Zealand, Alaska and Chili are now included in tsnmami danger

Jimmy Haigh said on March 11, 2011 at 12:20 am

I’m on an oil rig offshore Indonesia. Our satellite internet connnection has been coming and going since the exact moment the quake hit.

Do you have found an explanation for this? Is the satellite antenna signal itself fading? Or is it simply a traffic spike jamming the line somewhere else?

The trains are a real mess. Nothing is running. People are flooding into the streets because the sidewalks are full of commuters trying to walk home. Total chaos. I was supposed to go into the office for a meeting this evening but my manager emailed me to say not to come in and that he’s going to head home. He said he has a 3.5 hour walk ahead of him!
I noticed that during the quake many of the big, modern, ‘eco-friendly’ buildings were swaying the most violently. Maybe they dissipate seismic energy more efficiently.

I read somewhere in a posting on a UK based site someone predicted earthquakes this weekend because the moon was so close.
I’ll try and dig it out

Terrible to watch, I hope that people manage to get awat, although it looks like it could end up with tens of thousands dead. A sad day.

Hugo M says:
March 11, 2011 at 1:12 am
Jimmy Haigh said on March 11, 2011 at 12:20 am
I’m on an oil rig offshore Indonesia. Our satellite internet connnection has been coming and going since the exact moment the quake hit.
Do you have found an explanation for this? Is the satellite antenna signal itself fading? Or is it simply a traffic spike jamming the line somewhere else?
_______________________________________________
I can’t think of one. I contacted the IT guy in town shortly after we started losing the signal. I’ll get in touch with him later and see what the cause was.
I’m pretty sure about the timing as a mate of mine is in Kuala Lumpur and he sent me a picture he had taken of him with his hands on the European Champions League trophy which is on exhibition there. He sent the e-mail at 14:52, , about 5 minutes after the quake. I remember the internet had been down for about 10 minutes when it came back on again at about 14:55. Interesting…
All out comms have been back on for about an hour now – local time here is now 18:26 – same as Japan.

Here’s my link on the quakes.

I’m just waiting for them to say it’s because the ice melted and it tipped the plate again, they started that last time after Iceland erupted last year !

Lynn Clark says: March 11, 2011 at 1:01 am
Les Francis: Which coast?

At this stage Oregon and Alaska

http://english.samaylive.com/nation-news/676483755/super-moon-caused-japan-quake.html
Here they come

Damn, that’s not good. The Ring of Fire seems to be waking up, and with global cooling already setting in….
Best wishes to the people of Japan, and everywhere that the tsunamis hit.

Let’s pray that as little life is lost as possible, & that the Japanese authorities were on the ball with this one, which I expect they were! Awesome pictures.
Now, just how are we going to regulate nature’s temperatures again?

It is disasters such as this that scientists should be looking at to increase warning time of earthquakes and mitigation of damage and threat to life not some invented climate problem. This has put all climate alarmism where it should be, in the bin.
I wish everyone in Japan, and the Pacific rim and islands, the very best of luck.

The Tsunami on the northern tip of Taiwan appear to have been less that~1 meter, but communication on the TV networks suggest addition Tsunami may occur from the 6.0 aftershocks.
John

I was working for Honda in Swindon, England, when the Kobe quake struck in 1995. But this, this is just devastating!

The uncontrollable power of nature. Ahuge amount of energy has been released and it sure can be devastating. My thoughts, prayers and best wishes go out to all those people in and around the area.

AlBoeNEWS: Japan Meteorological Agency: Town of Kurihara has been completely destroyed

Here is a live stream:
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/foxtokimekitonight

this is terrable i’m so sorry japan

From here in Tokyo I have seen nothing in the Japanese media today suggesting that Kurihara, a town clearly well inland, has been destroyed. I have been to Sendai a number of times and cannot imagine that a city clearly well above sea level and well to the west of Sendai would be destroyed by the tsunami. Such reports are nonsense.

Just watching the pictures and it’s like you are watching a disater movie. In reality your are except this one is real. Aftershocks must be a worry now in Japan, as for the rest of the Pacific it will be a few hours till the rising water levels hit many places.
It puts a few millimeters per decade of sea level rises into context, the Pacific is rimmed by active tectonic plates, this will happen again and again.
Oddly enough I wasn’t pondering on the moon being behind this but rather the quiet sun. I don’t know how or why but is the solar cycle related to changes in seismic activity?

Webcam.
http://219.118.247.53/view/view.shtml
Combined views, 4 cameras. Currently dark (nighttime). Looks like wave of water visible on Camera 3 (view from high above handrails onto big area with a line of barriers, grainy image). Water in other 3 views. Pictures not automatically updating, no noticeable changes over 5 minutes of page reloads, then views didn’t load for 5 min, just reloaded again with no noticeable changes.
Identification (Googled result using webcam URL):

Office of River and National Highway Ministry of Land, Infra
Location: Kurayoshi (San-In district, Honshu islan
Site: http://219.118.247.53/view/view.shtml

Source of Identification:
List of “Japan live webcams” (note duplicates)
http://www.watvon.com/webcams/countries/country/Japan
And here I was, complaining about the seasonal spring flooding here in central Pennsylvania and about needing to take a detour Friday…
Stay safe.

From here in Tokyo, this was the most frightening earthquake I have experienced in nearly two decades living here. While much of the damage has occurred in the Sendai area, major fires took place in a building in the Tokyo Telecomm Center here in Tokyo’s Koto Ward as well as in oil installations in Chiba prefecture just east of Tokyo. The entire rail system here is shut down here in the capital. My wife will not be able to return home this evening.

http://wcatwc.arh.noaa.gov/2011/03/11/lhvpd9/06/messagelhvpd9-06.htm
The Tsunami Warning continues in effect for the coastal areas of California and Oregon from Point Concepcion, California to the Oregon-Washington border.
The Tsunami Warning continues in effect for the coastal areas of Alaska from Amchitka Pass, Alaska (125 miles W of Adak) to Attu, Alaska.
The Tsunami Advisory continues in effect for the coastal areas of California from the California-Mexico border to Point Concepcion, California.
The Tsunami Advisory continues in effect for the coastal areas of Washington, British Columbia and Alaska from the Oregon-Washington border to Amchitka Pass, Alaska (125 miles W of Adak).

BBC just had an earthquake scientist from a UK university on, refusing to say that quakes were predictable or that the magnitude of aftershocks could be foretold.
He said that the science was not at a point where they could say that they understood enough to evaluate even the immediate aftermath shocks and that although they could and were modelling outcomes, there was very little confidence in the forecasts.
Humility in that branch of science yet none in climate change!

Posted here under the handle aerology;
http://www.climatepatrol.com/forum/53/4804/pg1/index.php
Subject: Extreme Super (Full) Moon to Cause Chaos?
posted on 3/10/2011 at 05:49 PM
All part of the 18.03 year Saros cycle of lunar phase, declinational, and perigee / apogee repeating patterns, due to the repeating of the inner planets coming into the same harmonic synchrony due to billions of years gravitational and tidal interacting till in phase.
The years1955,1974,1992 are the analog years I use in my weather forecast, because the influences of these combined effects cause a repeating of the basic global circulation patterns. I see no reason why they would not show an affect on the tectonic movement and resultant earthquakes produced by the magnetic jerks inducted into the system.
X class flare and CME back on the 9th, is a symptom or an effect?
activity already going above 200 take a look at the animation of the last 7 days.
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsanim/world/

crosspatch says:
March 11, 2011 at 2:19 am
AlBoeNEWS: Japan Meteorological Agency: Town of Kurihara has been completely destroyed
According to Google Earth Kurihara is 45 miles inland so obviously must have been destroyed by the earthquake itself. There may be many more cities/towns which have also been destroyed.

NHK has reported that one of the Nuke plants in Fukushima Prefecture has lost it’s emergency power and no longer is able to cool down the scrammed reactor and an Nuke emergency has been declared.

Yer just got to love the precautionary principles of mass media, scared of Gas.
Piss ants dont even tread on ground.
Clear real and present danger . Nothing could have stopped it. But money where it counted may have helped predict it.
Gas, and not gravitation, not real energy.

Going to be a long night. My thoughts with all our friends in Japan.

They would not know a constant in the universe if they tripped over it while gas got blown out to space.
They like talking about stuff they know nothing about.

Fools are more deadly than evil people.

NZ > Japan > clockwise round the ring > San Francisco?

Japan now faces “nuclear emergency” as attempts to cool reactor at northern plant “are not going as planned”
Prime Minister Naoto Kan will issue a nuclear emergency statement at 6:30 pm local time (0930 GMT)

vukcevic says:
Japan earthquake occurred at the end of the latest geomagnetic storm, the longest and strongest in the latest series, still going on 23 hours after it started.
Comment; The graph looks the same as the New Zealand Quake
Ferdinand Engelbeen says:
March 11, 2011 at 12:54 am
From a book I read some 40 years ago, it seems that earthquakes are clustered around solar minima, maybe some link between now increasing solar activity and geomagnetic events, which may influence tectonic plate movements?
Comment: I,ve read many similar statements hear at WUWT.

The video out of Japan is absolutely amazing. It shows the power of a tsunami even better than the home videos of the massive tsunami after the Indonesia quake a few years ago.
If the same magnitude quake hit California the damage would be incredible. Japan is MUCH more prepared than we are for both large quakes and tsunami waves.
7th largest quake ever recorded. Amazing.
I felt the 7.2 “Easter Sunday Quake” here in San Diego and it was by far the strongest and longest quake I’ve ever felt. I have no desire to experience a stronger quake than that!

Hawaii Surf Cams… Expected time to hit is about an hour and a half from now, roughly 8am eastern.
http://livesurfcamhawaii.com/

I have many Japanese friends. This is a horrible day. In Christchurch we are struggling after our quake, but this one in Japan is huge. Just horrible.

That didn’t take long. I claim first detection of the phrase “Global Warming” in the Tsunami story
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12709856
“Those Pacific Islands already threatened by GW”

They also projected waves of up to 1 meter high in the western coasts of the Philippines about 6 hrs after the earthquake. These areas are far from Manila as we’re near the South China Sea side. Seems the waves there were not high.

Terrifying vision.
Kinda puts all the manufactured panic about a few mm/year sea level rise or fractions of a degree of temperature in perspective.
My thoughts and sympathies to all those affected.

These videos, especially of the tsunami in Sendai sweeping all before it, are totally stunning. I pray that there won’t be so many casualties because Japan has an excellent record in coping with such earthquakes. Still, the ferocity of earthquake and tsunami is stunning to watch.
Hopefully it might dawn on some people that efforts to ‘deal’ with climate change is pure hybris.

I google mapped kurihara, there’s no way that it is destroyed.

Blame the moon, says the Daily Wail (UK)!!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1365225/Lunar-perigee-Is-Japanese-earthquake-latest-natural-disaster-caused-supermoon.html

“Green investment bank ‘must operate commercially’
Green economy is at risk if the bank cannot attract private sector investors, a cross-party committee of MPs have warned”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/mar/11/greeen-investment-bank
http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2010/1/13/1263383639173/Offshore-wind-farm-001.jpg

My thoughts are with all our friends in Japan and all other areas that may be hit by this.
David A. Evans.

First numbers about victims
“12:59 Uhr: Erstmals werden offizielle Opferzahlen genannt: Danach sind bei dem Erdbeben mindestens 40 Menschen ums Leben gekommen. Weitere 39 Menschen würden vermisst, teilt die japanische Polizei in Tokio mit. ”
Translation: The quake killed a minimum of 40 people, a further 39 are missing.
These are very low numbers for such a huge quake. Victims from the Tsunami are not included, hope it won’t get too bad… At least for now it doesn’t look as devastating as the Kobe earthquake in 1995… My best wishes to all people in Japan!

I should have mentioned the link for my comment (which seems to be lingering in the spam bin, hint, hint, mods and thank you in advance…)
http://www.welt.de/vermischtes/weltgeschehen/article12770727/Japanische-Polizei-nennt-erstmals-Opferzahlen.html

Strange. I had not thought large buildings could be completely ablaze while being carried by rushing water.

roger says:
March 11, 2011 at 2:53 am
Humility in that branch of science yet none in climate change!
That’s because their heads will be on a platter when they get it wrong, its a imminent danger, is now and not in a few decades or centuries into the future.
Having said that, everyone i now in Japan has been accounted for, execpt two, but i guess that they are safe because they live south of Tokyo.
And thanks to a family member who felt this quake in Osaka i knew of this earthquake before it started to hit the news or reached the Seismographs here in the Netherlands.

Les Francis says:
March 10, 2011 at 11:06 pm
On shore Mag 6.8 only 67ks away from Tokyo. Quake is under a built up area.
depth is 30km.
Expect some damage here.
Tsunamis can travel across the Pacific to the eastern coast of the U.S.

That I would like to see, well not really, because that must be one massive tsunami to pull off that.
West coast, west coast, west coast.

http://www.ndtv.com/article/world/indonesian-volcano-erupts-hours-after-japan-earthquake-91063
Eruption in Indonesia

Should only use Thorium reactors, these are too dangerous!

Mount Karangetang erupts
One of Indonesia’s most active volcanos has erupted, sending lava and searing gas clouds tumbling down its slopes.
Volcanology official Agus Budianto said today that authorities were still trying to evacuate residents living along the slopes of Mount Karangetang.
There were no immediate reports of injuries or serious damage.
The 1,784-metre mountain is located on Siau, part of the Sulawesi island chain. It last erupted in August, killing four people.
Indonesia, the world’s largest archipelago, is located on the so-called Pacific “Ring of Fire,” an arc of volcanos and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.
The eruption happened hours after a massive earthquake in Japan that triggered a Pacific-wide tsunami.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/indonesia-volcano-erupts-2239167.html

From a friend of mine who lives in Hiroshima, it appears that the Sendai region has been struck by 5 earthquakes with the 8.9 lasting for 3 minutes.

How long before global warming is blamed?

Damn that Global Warming! It finds new ways to torment us daily!!!
oh yes, and All The Models Predicted This!!!
/sarc

This is truly a sad day for Japan. My thoughts are with Japanese people and all other areas that may be hit by this.

While watching the BBC special coverage this morning I heard one of the announcers say that low lying islands in the Pacific were in danger from the tsunami “ever more so because of rising sea levels due to global warming.”
!!!ACK!!!

Japanese police have now confirmed that between 200 and 300 bodies have been found on the beach near Sendai, the closest city to the epicentre. NHK television said the victims appeared to have drowned.

I have been watching Japanese television and have seen nothing about any special damage in Kurihari, Miyagi Prefecture. All of the damage in Miyagi Prefecture appears to have occurred in coastal areas. This is also the case in Iwake Prefecture where towns along the coast have experienced devastating damage. Many of these towns along the coast there are personally familiar thorough my travels on the slow train through this lovely, lovely region within the past year. To see the destruction they have experienced is heartbreaking.

According to the SMH Richard Holle is an astrologist! However, they also misspelt his name! Can’t even laugh at that at the moment.
David A. Evans.

I can’t wait for the hysterical ACC alarmist community to claim that Japan’s earthquake was caused by ACC. It’s coming, you know its coming. It will represent the final desperate scream as the green movement implodes, ending once and for all one of the most bizarre periods in human history. It will start within the next few days. I can’t wait. I just can’t wait!!!

[snip off color humor – not needed here in the face of this terrible disaster – Anthony]

Google has launched a People-Finder app
http://japan.person-finder.appspot.com/?lang=en

I was gobsmacked watching the disaster footage a few hours ago. Commiserations to the Japanese. If there is one nation that’s well-prepared for an earthquake, it is Japan.
And congrats to WUWT for giving this natural disaster the due and timely coverage.

I am now getting images on my video-stream that show cities by night. Do you remember those old WWII movies of cities being bombed during the night with large part of the cities on fire. Well this is just like it. And again as in Kobe, fire will be a major killer.

US President Obama is scheduled to address the nation at 11:15AM EST.
He will give thanks as the damage in Hawaii could have much worse, while noting the tragic loss of his original birth certificate.

Am continuing to watch Japanese television here in Japan. The number of missing in Fukushima prefecture was just listed as more than 330. The toll here is going to be terribly high.

3 minutes from quake to wide spread warning in Japan? Good as that is I doubt that left enough time. Any reports on casualties?

Looks like this is the worst to strike Japan since the 1923 earthquake.

We are having another aftershock here in Tokyo.

Referring to your earlier story, this is why hams have field day and use the 440 band.

Hrm, that map shows a pink area covering West Los Angeles County, but AFAIK, there is no tsunami warning for this area, only an advisory.

This earthquake is clearly due to increasing levels of CO2 /sarc

With all that energy being released, I wonder how much of it will be converted into heat in the ocean?
Also will the tsunami have any effects upon Pacific Ocean currents?

Huge fires are being reported by Japanese TV in the Sendai region of Kasenuma. (we are having another aftershock here, very good one).

Has George W. Bush been blamed yet? Or was the earthquake merely caused by global warming / climate change?

and another big aftershock again right now

Emergency efforts underway in the the UK to send emergency survival supplies to replace those being sent from Phillipines and Australia. Search and rescue teams on standby to fly as soon as Japanese government can direct them.
We must all help!!!

Beesaman says:
March 11, 2011 at 7:13 am
With all that energy being released, I wonder how much of it will be converted into heat in the ocean?
Also will the tsunami have any effects upon Pacific Ocean currents?

1) Not much.
2) doubtful.
A tsunami is a wave in the medium of water. Ask yourself if anyone ever tries to heat up the air with sound waves, and you’re starting to get the idea. Air molecules transfer sound well enough that there isn’t much energy left over in the medium from the passing of the compression waves. Water actually does a better job at this. Likewise, ask if anyone ever tries to stop the winds with large amounts of sound? Wind is the transfer of air molecules from one point to another because of pressure differences, sound is a wave of energy where the molecules transfer energy from one to another and the energy moves along, but not the air molecules themselves.
Likewise, ocean currents are the wholesale movement of water molecules from one location to another due to pressure gradients, you can’t affect a pressure gradient with an energy wave very much.

Has the quake been blamed on Global warming yet?

tokyoboy:
March 11, 2011 at 12:17 am
I sure hope you and family are OK. Sounds like you got caught at the office.
If you can, get us some updates. Prayers out for everyone there.

I hope the problem reported with the nuc plant in Japan does not turn into a reason for them not to be used here. Also the LNG plant fire.

Absolutely appalling pictures and reports coming out of Japan. I have a friend who lives in Shiga – well inland. This is what he said:
“When it started this afternoon. It was a gentle swaying that did not stop ! A few pictures fell over but then it just continued swaying gently and just would not stop ! It was getting scarey so Junko and I went into the garden and it was a feeling of being drunk and becoming dizzy ! It gradually lessened but as I say not for a 10 minutes or so. Then it would stop and come again, many small gentle swayings. That went on for well over an hour ! Just unbelievable, I was keeping it together , but I was shaking slightly with excitement and fear probably. I think the adrenaline was flowing ~!”
Going on for over an hour!
My thoughts are with you, Japan.

Gary says:
March 11, 2011 at 6:01 am
While watching the BBC special coverage this morning I heard one of the announcers say that low lying islands in the Pacific were in danger from the tsunami “ever more so because of rising sea levels due to global warming.”
!!!ACK!!!
I saw that too. How utterly tasteless of the BBC in the wake of this tragedy. No acknowledgement that the islands might just possibly be sinking, rather than the sea rising.
I feel so very sorry for the Japanese people affected by this tragedy..you are in my thoughts and prayers.

Best wishes to the folks in Japan. Wow, what a cluster of big ones in the late 50’s.
Anthony don’t go to the beach today 🙂

“I hope the problem reported with the nuc plant in Japan does not turn into a reason for them not to be used here.”
Report is the situation is now under control.
They should have bought one of these:
http://www.ap1000.westinghousenuclear.com/ap1000_safety_psrs.html
Passive cooling systems don’t need external power or pumps.

The CNN footage I saw of the wave coming ashore showed moving vehicles on a road trying to turn onto a street to avoid the incoming water. A few of them didn’t make it and were hit by the water. The CNN anchors made no mention of this, which I found extremely cold. Yes, report facts dispassionately, but don’t ignore what is happening right in front of your face. To those CNN blind people: those were moving vehicles you were looking at, and I know Japan is the best at robotics, but I don’t think they train their robots to run from disasters.

These modeled energy plots are always somewhat fascinating to me:
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/03/11/article-1365225-0D91D4F9000005DC-437_634x757.jpg
This explains to me why the west coast of Washington through most of western Canada isn’t under a warning, the Aleutian ridge shielded them from much of the energy.

Would you believe it, BBC commentator on one of their video’s managed to metion global warming as an obvious cause!!!
DB

Gary says:
March 11, 2011 at 6:01 am
While watching the BBC special coverage this morning I heard one of the announcers say that low lying islands in the Pacific were in danger from the tsunami “ever more so because of rising sea levels due to global warming.”
Well, it’s not like they’ve got Bush to blame anymore…

“Japanese authorities ordered the precautionary evacuation of the area around a nuclear plant affected by the earthquake, saying that while there was no immediate danger, crews were having trouble cooling the reactor”
You wouldn’t need to do that with wind turbines of course.
Having trouble cooling the reactor is not the worlds most assuring statement if you live next door.
Andy

“Hundreds dead in Japanese quake-tsunami disaster
Sydney Morning Herald – Miwa Suzuki – ‎47 minutes ago‎
“We were shaken so strongly for a while that we needed to hold on to something in order not to fall,” said an official at the local government of the hardest-hit city of Kurihara in Miyagi prefecture.” http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/hundreds-dead-in-japanese-quaketsunami-disaster-20110312-1brof.html
So early reports (keeping in mind that they are often wrong) suggest that Kurihara was indeed hit hard by the earthquake. Hopes and prayers go out to them and anyone else caught up in this maelstrom.
Some musings: I click on the link on NOAA’s homepage for their tsunami warning and got a “page not found” for several minutes. If you can’t depend on them during a potential emergency, then their value is substantially diminished (IMHO).
Also, I was reading an article concerning CFLs last night. Japan if often the trend setter in technology, including CFLs. I wonder how much mercury has been released into the air and ocean from tens of thousands of CFLs breaking at the same time? It would be interesting to know if it poses any more of a threat than the other toxic stuff now being washed around the islands of Japan. Reports are that a nuclear plant and petrochemical complex are ablaze. Those may or may not create a massive problems, but you know those CFLs are history.

NASA may need to correct the orbital calculations, Earth-moon distance laser monitoring etc, since the Italian national institute for geophysics and vulcanology is reporting that the Earth axis has moved by 10 cm.
http://www.corriere.it/esteri/11_marzo_11/sisma-spostamento-asse-terrestre_5ff04ca0-4bea-11e0-b2c2-62530996aa7c.shtml
L’impatto del terremoto che ha colpito il Giappone stamattina avrebbe spostato l’asse di rotazione terrestre di quasi 10 centimetri. È il risultato preliminare di studi effettuati dall’Ingv, l’istituto nazionale di geofisica e vulcanologia.

I’ve read several comments here dissing astrometeorology, which really are ill-informed. Mundane astrologers – who are of course also astronomers – have been predicting this magnitude of natural calamity at just this moment (as Uranus passes over the Aries point – 00.0˚ Aries in conjunction with a perigree moon) for a long time.
Only yesterday the most talented of them (imo) Theo White wrote a long entry on his blog http://globalastrologyblog.blogspot.com/ which included this, and remember it was posted approx 24 hrs before yesterday’s earthquake struck:
” During the entire month of March 2011 we can expect to hear of powerful earthquakes along the ‘Ring of Fire.’
In March, look first to Asia for seismic action in the northern hemisphere – China and Japan, then to the Philippines, along to the Aleutian Islands, Alaska, to British Columbia, Canada, then to California in the United States, stretching down to Mexico and into South America.
With the global transits at hand, there are sure to be powerful, large magnitude earthquakes in the months of March and April.
My astrological calculations show a 88.9% rating for significant seismic activity between 6.6 to 7.9+ in magnitude.
There are additional planetary configuration signals I’ve interpreted that show even stronger quakes by scale – 8.9 to 9.2 in magnitude. Some people will not believe me, but transits are well within astrological red-zone warning range. ”
Remember, this was written and posted before the earthquake struck. He also wrote a long defence of astrometeorology which all of you would be well advised to read; it explains that this branch (like others) when PROPERLY studied and practiced, is a science.
Theo White has a link to WUWT on his website. He has written there often in refutation of AGW, and has detailed climate predictions for the future based on geophysical reactions to planetary movements.
Anthony would be doing the world and science a favour if he would invite Theo to write a guest post on this science. His record is impeccable in predicting weather events which both the ‘climate scientists’ and conventional meteorologists have missed entirely.
Please don’t scoff until you have done the research: Theo has, and his accuracy is awesome. Do yourselves the favour of reading him: you might learn something.

This is horrible — I hope International assistance is already in route or being delivered.
Given recent quakes in New Zealand and China, does anyone know if someone predicted the probability of a large quake in Japan?
Pacific Plate hot spots appear to be well documented and Japan intersects 2 fault lines; see the link below. It seems logical with plate movement in New Zealand countered by movement along the China fault (assuming that was the cause of the recent China quake) and the magnitude of the recent quakes that the intersection of the 2 fault lines in Japan would next.
Maybe I’m being too simplistic but I’m in Southern California and hope to never see an 8.9 quake.
The Euler pole for the Pacific Plate is just to the right and down a bit from New Zealand (South east).
http://nzphoto.tripod.com/volcano/PlateMotion.htm

“You wouldn’t need to do that with wind turbines of course. ”
You wouldn’t need to do it with a modern reactor having passive emergency cooling either.
http://www.ap1000.westinghousenuclear.com/ap1000_safety_psrs.html

“1708UTC: Nuclear physicist Dr Walt Patterson tells the BBC it sounds like there is a “serious problem” at the Fukushima-Daiichi plant. “It’s the sort of thing that nuclear engineers have nightmares about,” he says. “If it is not resolved in the next few hours it will get serious. If the core is uncovered, then those rods at the top may get hot enough to melt themselves.”
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12307698

Horrifying tsunami surge wave destroying town.

And so the nonsense begins:
“(Grist) — So far, today’s tsunami has mainly affected Japan — there are reports of up to 300 dead in the coastal city of Sendai — but future tsunamis could strike the U.S. and virtually any other coastal area of the world with equal or greater force, say scientists. In a little-heeded warning issued at a 2009 conference on the subject, experts outlined a range of mechanisms by which climate change could already be causing more earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic activity. . . .
Scientists have known for some time that climate change affects not just the atmosphere and the oceans but the earth’s crust, but these effects are not widely understood by the public.”
http://www.climatechangedispatch.com/Latest-News/climate-change-fanatics-blame-japan-earthquakes-tsunamis-on-global-warming.html
To make matters worse, we are going to have to listen to many “experts” with no data, making statements, on nuclear power plants. Without clear information, nothing can really can be said about Japan’s nuclear situation. GK

100 aftershocks of Magnitude 5.0 or greater, and counting……..
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/quakes_big.php
Holy Toledo!

Didn’t take too long for the BBC to link that to Global Warming…

G. Karst says:
March 11, 2011 at 9:28 am
And so the nonsense begins:
[idiots linking GW to earthquakes]
Please, let them make these inane comments. Someone should then compile these comments and their sources together to show the public how the heartless and demented CAGW crowd seeks to profit politically from the death and destruction in Japan.

Astrologers predicted this… LMAO
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1365225/Japan-earthquake-tsunami-Did-supermoon-cause-todays-natural-disaster.html

Now on ABC News (US), 12:30PM EST:
Esteemed Theoretical Physicist Michio Kaku warned of true “China Syndrome” in Japan.
Presidential news conference started (I swear Good Morning America had said 11:15. Rescheduled until after the waves hit?).
The earthquake and tsunami rated two minutes of Presidential sympathy and indicators of US Presidential Leadership In The Face Of Crisis.
Then Obama went off about gasoline prices, finishing with Green Energy (like electric cars) and all the Green Jobs created.
About 12:43, Q&A started. First Libya, on the budget right now.
Global tragedy, emergency Presidential news conference, brief mention of tragedy, followed by the stuff that people have stopped watching when it’s a scheduled conference at night.
Never let a serious crisis go to waste.
–Rahm Emanuel
As to the rest of the news conference, I shall follow the fine example of this fine President, and tune out.

Huge devestation from this earthquake, most from tsunami, but heard reports a dam burst, and a nuclear reactor is in danger as well.
I also saw that report on the pacific islands too. Couldn’t believe the poor taste the BBC showed just to hammer their agenda forward. It’s such disasters that define people by how they act. I am not surprised by anything the BBC say anymore, but that still caught me off guard.

More news from the BBC that the situation at the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear plant is very serious, with the core starting to heat.
Fingers crossed that the can contain the problem and this reactor doesn’t become a long-term problem.

It is total speculation on my part, but I am wondering if there is a link between quakes Down Under and ones further north in SE Asia.
The Boxer Day 9.2 quake in 2004 was preceded by about a week by an 8.3 quake off the coast of Macquarie Island south of Tasmania. This one was preceded by the Christchurch quake.
It is probably a coincidence, but it makes one wonder. . .

Quoted by G. Karst on March 11, 2011 at 9:28 am:

Scientists have known for some time that climate change affects not just the atmosphere and the oceans but the earth’s crust, but these effects are not widely understood by the public.

This is true.
It is well known in science that climate change affects the Earth’s crust. Namely in geology, as in the climate changes of this planet’s glaciation cycles, when the weight of those many tons of miles-thick ice built up on land can cause whole continents to sink and tilt. Even now, this long into the current interglacial, various land masses are still moving around since the weight of the ice was removed.
That in this report they neglected to mention that any “climate change” from right before the Industrial Revolution until now, when evil mankind was pumping out unprecedented levels of the evil atmospheric pollutant CO2, has done virtually absolutely nothing to affect the Earth’s crust, obviously must have been a mere oversight. As we’ve come to expect.

Japan’s quake updated to magnitude 9.0
http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/shortsharpscience/2011/03/powerful-japan-quake-sparks-ts.html

@ Ray: It really is silly to dismiss information or skills you clearly don’t understand in such a cavalier manner. See my post at 09.01 am above.
Astrometeorology is an established science which has an enviable record in the prediction of weather events and earthquakes, unlike mainstream ‘climate science’.
See http://globalastrologyblog.blogspot.com/ where the earthquake was predicted in detail many hours before it happened.
Just because something appears in the DM doesn’t mean it can automatically be dismissed. On the contrary they have have a good record of publishing stuff which the broadsheets prefer to ignore (eg research on the murder of Dr David Kelly).

Sam the First says:
March 11, 2011 at 9:01 am
I’ve read several comments here dissing astrometeorology, which really are ill-informed. Mundane astrologers – who are of course also astronomers –

I stopped reading there.
You are wrong.

Jeremey I was not primarily thinking about the conversion from motion to heat in the water. Rather upon the actual driver of the earth quake and subsequent tsunami. That is the movement of the subducted plate. That must have created a lot of friction and in turn heat. It has got to go somewhere.
Of course some of it will be transferred to the rock but I wonder how much is picked up by the water?
As for energy waves effecting pressure gradients, well I guess we see some evidence of that with our daily weather when it is windy or in the movement of jet streams.

9 hours of warnings and people in Santa Cruz lose boats!!! Insane!
Oh well, those stupid people have not lost relatives! After watching the horrific scenes this a.m. here in Cyprus I asked my son up at Tahoe doing his snowboarding to call his friends to alert his mates down in San Fran at 10:29 pm. WUWT time!
The sad thing to see tonight is the loss of life going up and up and this is a country that practices month in, month out in preparation! To be fair, no amount of building codes or civil defence can prepare anyone for the speed or height of those waves or the huge size of the quake. The sight those waves was truly astonishing to me and made the ones from Indonesia look small!
The Richter scale is a mind boggling thing! A guy on BBC just said at 8.9 this was 1000 times bigger than the Kiwi one a few weeks ago! Can anyone do the math for me and confirm it?

The anti-nuke and anti-oil crowd is going to go ballistic as a result of this, because of the very slight damage to one or 2 nuke plants with one having a potential small radiation leak and possible damage to the core cooling system, and the refinery fire.

KD Knoebel: OBEY THE TELEPROMPTER.

Beesaman says:
March 11, 2011 at 10:52 am
Jeremey I was not primarily thinking about the conversion from motion to heat in the water. Rather upon the actual driver of the earth quake and subsequent tsunami. That is the movement of the subducted plate. That must have created a lot of friction and in turn heat. It has got to go somewhere.

Ah I see. That is different and yes that would be real heating. Though it would be fairly localized I should think.

I’ve put together a collection of links and news items over at Paths To Knowledge dot net:
http://pathstoknowledge.wordpress.com/2011/03/11/devastating-earthquake-and-tsunami-surge-waves-in-japan

Some of the latest news regarding the reactor-
US delivers coolant to reactor
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110311/pl_nm/us_japan_quake_nuclear_clinton
Emergency declared at reactor.
“The plant is designed to shut down safely after an earthquake, but its emergency diesel generators, needed to run water pumps, were not working. ”
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/12/world/asia/12nuclear.html?_r=1
Some venting to take place.
http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2011/03/11/nuke_plant_trouble_after_japan_quake_3k_evacuated/

@ Jeremy: how very foolish. It’s precisely because people are so stuck in their own little groove and refuse to think outside the box, or to respect the mathematical etc skills of others working in parallel disciplines, that ‘science’ is in such a dire state.
I woudl like to think that those who read WUWT are open to other opinions and disciplines, in the expectation they might learn something. This especially, when the discipline is thousands of years old.
When someone can predict weather events over many years with a startling degree of accuracy, why not examine how he does it? Why pronounce I am ‘wrong’ when you refuse to examine the evidence? You sound like the AGW gang.

I wonder about the strength of the quake. It is now listed as sixth strongest since 1900. But from the beginning it was measured as weaker. Are the measurements comparable? This one is probably 8.9 as it is measured with modern tools, and measurements have been updated from earlier estimates in the high 7.
But the older ones, is there a risk that those where left with values more similar to the earlier estimates of this one, since there was not enough good tools available to improve on the original figures to comparable values as for the later estimates of this one?
— Mats —

“Crescent City, Santa Cruz hit hard by tsunami from Japan quake.
Crescent City, site of a deadly tsunami four decades ago, appears to be particularly hard hit”
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-me-crescent-city-california-20110311,0,3043382.story

“reason” said on March 11, 2011 at 11:00 am:

KD Knoebel: OBEY THE TELEPROMPTER.

TelePrompter, obey the baseball bat.

Unlike all the other aftershocks which have been centered around the main quake on the east coast, Japan just recently got a 6.2 quake on the west coast of the Island of Honshu:
Magnitude
6.2
Date-Time
Friday, March 11, 2011 at 18:59:15 UTC
Saturday, March 12, 2011 at 03:59:15 AM at epicenter
Location
37.037°N, 138.355°E
Depth
1 km (~0.6 mile)
Region
NEAR THE WEST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
Distances
46 km (28 miles) NNE of Nagano, Honshu, Japan
96 km (59 miles) NNE of Matsumoto, Honshu, Japan
96 km (59 miles) NW of Maebashi, Honshu, Japan
195 km (121 miles) NW of TOKYO, Japan
Location Uncertainty
horizontal +/- 12.9 km (8.0 miles); depth +/- 0.2 km (0.1 miles)
Parameters
NST=409, Nph=415, Dmin=55.7 km, Rmss=1.16 sec, Gp= 29°,
M-type=teleseismic moment magnitude (Mw), Version=9
Source
USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)
Event ID
usc0001z2a

Sam the First says:
March 11, 2011 at 11:14 am
@ Jeremy: how very foolish. It’s precisely because people are so stuck in their own little groove and refuse to think outside the box, or to respect the mathematical etc skills of others working in parallel disciplines, that ‘science’ is in such a dire state.

Not really no. In order for me to accept your definition of astrologers and astronomers as being equivalent, please demonstrate for me a few things.
1) Please show me an astrologer who has discovered an extrasolar planet.
2) Please show me an astrologer who has helped discover the life cycle of stars.
3) Please show me an astrologer who has discovered new galaxies.
4) Please show me an astrologer who has found the locations of invisible mass due to the motions of what is visible.
These are the things Astronomers do. I do not see astrologers doing these things, in fact what they really do is tell me to watch my horoscope and sell me books.
You want to say that Astrologers are Astronomers. You are flatly wrong. This is not about thinking outside the box, this is not about people cubby-holing themselves into one way of thinking about anything. This has nothing to do with human creativity or lack thereof. Your definition is flatly wrong. Astronomers investigate the universe. Astrologers try to predict the universe. There’s a huge difference. You will not see me budging on this issue in my lifetime.
You may have some point to make, but you’re not making it. In fact what you are stating is plain falsehood.

“The tsunami capital of the continental United States is Crescent City, Calif. (population 7,542), an economically depressed logging and fishing town just south of the Oregon border. Crescent City is predicted to be the California location hit hardest by the Japanese tsunami; one forecast predicts 7-foot waves, though so far the observed effect has been minimal. [Update, 2:28 p.m. ET: The Los Angeles Times reports 6.5-foot waves in Crescent City causing “significant damage” to boats in the harbor and “most of the docks” and flooding an inland creek. No reports yet of injuries or deaths. Larger surges may follow.]
They’ve seen it before. Since 1933, 31 tsunamis have been observed in Crescent City. Four of those caused damage, and one of them, in March 1964, remains the “largest and most destructive recorded tsunami to ever strike the United States Pacific Coast,” according to the University of Southern California’s Tsunami Research Center. The 1964 tsunami killed 17 people on the West Coast, 11 of them in Crescent City. ”
http://www.slate.com/id/2288020

Pete H says:
March 11, 2011 at 10:55 am
The Richter scale is a mind boggling thing! A guy on BBC just said at 8.9 this was 1000 times bigger than the Kiwi one a few weeks ago! Can anyone do the math for me and confirm it?
“energy release of an earthquake, which closely correlates to its destructive power, scales with the 3⁄2 power of the shaking amplitude. Thus, a difference in magnitude of 1.0 is equivalent to a factor of 31.6 ( = (101.0)(3 / 2)) in the energy released; a difference in magnitude of 2.0 is equivalent to a factor of 1000 ( = (102.0)(3 / 2) ) in the energy released.[2]” wiki

An “energy map” provided by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shows the intensity of the tsunami caused by the earthquake which struck Japan.
http://wcatwc.arh.noaa.gov/2011/03/11/lhvpd9/energylhvpd9-05.jpg

The 8.9-magnitude earthquake which struck Japan on Friday was the strongest in the area in nearly 1,200 years, David Applegate, a senior science adviser at the US Geological Survey, tells the Associated Press. He says the quake ruptured a patch of the earth’s crust 240km (150 miles) long and 80km (50 miles) across.
Copied from BBC live-feed at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/

This is getting a bit wierd. A short geomagnetic disturbance again followed within minutes by two 6+ magnitude quakes;
http://www.vukcevic.talktalk.net/J2.gif
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/quakes_all.php

New Zealand ==> China ==> Japan is there a pattern here that is predictive of where the next quake will happen ?

Very detailed and up to date description of the current problems with the nuclear reactor cooling.
http://allthingsnuclear.org/post/3788886037/nuclear-crisis-at-fukushima

Interesting, been watching http://neic.usgs.gov/neis/qed/ for months and it seemed to me that things were increasing in activity. Does the sun waking up have any factor on this? (it may be a stupid question)
thanks,
Steve

And the award for the most crass example of disaster exploitation goes to:
*opens envelope*
Grist! For this shameful abomination:
http://www.grist.org/article/2011-03-11-todays-tsunami-this-is-what-climate-change-looks-like

Amazing video of the first waves as seen from a helicopter… and the devastation that follows.

DirkH says:
March 11, 2011 at 12:07 pm
“Very detailed and up to date description of the current problems with the nuclear reactor cooling.”
Ugh. Only now do i notice it’s from the “Union of concerned scientists”. Anyhow. This particular article looks rather sober and technical.

Folks should keep in mind that this is just about exactly the sort of EQ that is in store for the Pacific Northwest from Seattle to Portland. The last M9 range quake there was in January 1700 (dated from tsunami in Japan that it caused). This is almost exactly the same size and type of quake that is likely to happen there in the Cascade Subduction Zone.

More info with videos
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1365229/Japan-earthquake-tsunami-Fears-massive-death-toll.html

UPDATE 7: 7.00pm GMT
Nuclear reactors shut down during today’s massive earthquake in Japan. Official sources have reported no detected radioactive release but are still monitoring the situation, meanwhile work to establish adequate cooling at Fukushima Daiichi continues.
Pressure inside the containment of Unit 1 at Fukushima Daichi had been steadily increasing over the time that emergency core cooling systems have not been active. Tepco reported at 2am that pressure had increased beyond reference levels but was within engineered limits.
http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/RS_Massive_earthquake_hits_Japan_1103111.html?je

On a brief skim of the reporting, my first take was, “the Japanese know what they’re doing…this won’t be near the issue it was in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.” Seeing the more recent news reports, I’m not sure any level of preparation would have helped except not building by the coast. Anyone know how long it took for the tsunami to hit shore after the 9.0 earthquake? Particularly, how long after the warning system was engaged? I saw one video where this guy is watching boats and cars floating underneath the road/bridge he is on. I was thinking, man, I wouldn’t be hanging around on a bridge like that when a boat or other large object (and the water) could knock the supports right out from under me.

The Japanese sent a team to NZ to help in Christchurch, for which I am grateful. Now they endure the same, magnified terribly by the tsunami. I wish them strength.
HT to GK for his warning about nonsense, when he quotes: “Scientists have known for some time that climate change affects not just the atmosphere and the oceans but the earth’s crust, but these effects are not widely understood by the public.”
Yeah right. Also not widely understood by scientists, if they think it significant. Climate change has about as much influence over the drifting of tectonic plates as anthropogenic methane has on climate change.
To John from CA, seismologists have no evidence that the earthquakes on different parts of the Pacific rim are connected causally. And unlike climatologists, seismologists do not seem to confuse correlation with causation.

typical of nuclear disasters, no one killed, no one injured, no one diseased. Just a rellystupid media report. I think it may already be fixed.

From the AP:
HONOLULU – The deadly tsunami that ravaged Japan is taking a toll along the West Coast as authorities looked for at least one person missing at sea.
The Coast Guard is searching for a man who was swept out to sea while taking photos of waves with two friends near the mouth of the Klamath River in Del Norte County, Calif. His friends made it back to shore, and helicopters are searching for the missing man.
Sheriff’s officials in southern Oregon say one death was reported aboard a commercial vessel in the harbor at Brookings, Ore., but it appears to be from natural causes. Four people were swept off a beach north of Brookings, but were rescued.
The Curry County sheriff’s department says two were able to get out of the water on their own, and two were rescued by law enforcement and fire officials.
There’s a tsunami warning honey, let’s go to the beach and take pictures.” Can you say Darwin Award?

Short geomagnetic disturbance again followed within minutes by two 6+ magnitude quakes;
http://www.vukcevic.talktalk.net/J2.gif
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/quakes_all.php

It seems that the earthquake list is not the last one published online by USGS. Here is the last updated list of largest earthquakes :
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/world/10_largest_world.php
The rencent Honshu magnitude Mw 8.9-9 would thus rank as the 5th largest known worldwide event.
But more interestingly, it should be noted that this event is not the “big one” that was expected. The one that was and is still expected may occur south-west of Tokyo along the Nankai trench. There, the historical record shows repetitions of large M 8-8.5 events and the next one is probably overdue. With probably more consequences on the population of Tokyo and other southern cities of Honshu.
To the north of Tokyo, such event has never been recorded, neither instrumentally, nor historically. Even the geology does not seem to provide evidence of such large event (it is possible now that future investigation will find out more about such large past events). Despite the 9cm/yr convergence along the trench, scientists were explaining the absence of large event by the occurrence of slow-slipping events together with events of lower magnitude (still magnitude 8s). If indeed such large event has not occurred there since 800 to 1000 years, this event is rather puzzling. We will know soon in the next days from seismological analysis how much slip was indeed involved in this event.

Sam the First says:
March 11, 2011 at 11:14 Sam
Please take your pseudo scientific BS somewhere else, this is a science blog, and this is a serious disaster, not an opportunity for astrologers to peddle their snake oil

“TelePrompter, obey the baseball bat.”
As the kids these days say: Oh, snap!

@jtom \\I click on the link on NOAA’s homepage for their tsunami warning and got a “page not found” for several minutes //
I clicked on the NOAA Tsunami Warning page about 9:15 am CST from Mexico.
It showed GREEN, No Warnings at this Time. !! That was just about the time of the predicted arrival in Oregon. I got it on my iPhone camera for posterity sake with the computer clock showing.
A few minutes later the page switched to Red, Tsunami Warning.
Now, it could be a page caching issue. It could be something else. But clearly someone relying on a NOAA webpage would have been put into a false sense of security.

Daniel H, TokyoBoy, all my friends in Japan, stay safe. My thoughts and prayers are with you.

and this
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGBq6Z-qFxo&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3%5D

Ray says:
March 11, 2011 at 9:53 am
Astrologers predicted this… LMAO
The moon causes tides in the ocean. Does it create anything comparable, though of smaller amplitude, within the lava below earth’s crust ?

It was predictable; some brain dead lemming in London couldn’t wait to blame this disaster on global warming. He claims all the melting ice took the weight off the crust allowing the plates to shift. Always some a$$hole taking glee and comfort from disaster.