UPDATE: 00:00 PST 3/13/11 Japanese Met Agency has upgraded the magnitude of the quake to 9.0 — up from 8.8, their previous estimate.
UPDATE: 14:20 PST 3/11/11 Additional graphs and data added to end of post h/t Eco Tretas
UPDATE: 4:05 am PST Tsunami Warning continues for much of the US Pacific Coast and British Columbia.
UPDATE: Compared to quakes since 1900, this appears to be the sixth largest on record, see table added below from USGS data.
Tsunami Warning for the entire Pacific basin coastline including California, impact at 7:42 -8:15 AM local time e.g. San Francisco.
UPDATE: One of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded. Hawaii under Tsunami Warning. Pacific Tsunami Warning Center Updates / Warning Website Link. Aftershocks continuing. Tsunami Watch issued for California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Canada…
UPDATE: Here’s a screencap from live streaming from Japan via news helicopter showing the Tsunami as it strike s the north coast:
UPDATE: NHK TV in Japan reports Tsunami hit. Massive damage, reports below.
8.9 quake at Friday, March 11, 2011 at 05:46:00 UTC. Preliminary estimate was 7.9 and was upgraded to 8.8, now 8.9. Current details from USGS. Tsunami warning issued.
We’ll have more on this as it develops.
If you know of webcams in the area in Japan, leave a comment.
(AP) – JAPAN’S METEOROLOGICAL AGENCY NOW WARNS THAT A TSUNAMI AS HIGH AS 20 FEET (6 METERS) COULD STRIKE THE COAST NEAR MIYAGI PREFECTURE, CLOSEST TO THE EPICENTER.
WEHW40 PHEB 110557
TSUHWX
HIZ001>003-005>009-012>014-016>021-023>026-110757-
/O.NEW.PHEB.TS.A.0001.110311T0557Z-000000T0000Z/
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.
From Fox News :
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii said a tsunami warning was in effect for Japan, Russia, Marcus Island and the Northern Marianas. A tsunami watch has been issued for Guam, Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia and U.S. state of Hawaii.
The quake struck at 2:46 p.m. at a depth of 10 kilometers, about 80 miles (125 kilometers) off the eastern coast, the meteorological agency said. The area is 240 miles (380 kilometers) northeast of Tokyo.
In downtown Tokyo, large buildings shook violently and workers poured into the street for safety. TV footage showed a large building on fire and bellowing smoke in the Odaiba district of Tokyo.
From CBS News:
Japanese television showed video of serious damage caused by a tsunami along the nation’s northern coast. Public broadcaster NHK showed cars, trucks, houses and buildings being swept away by the tsunami in Onahama city, Fukushima prefecture.
A tsunami warning was in effect for Japan, Russia, Marcus Island and the Northern Marianas. A tsunami watch has been issued for Guam, Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia and U.S. state of Hawaii.
There were reports that evacuations were underway along the Russian coast.
===================================================================
| Rank Location | Date | Magnitude2 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Chile | May 22, 1960 | 9.5 |
| 2. | Prince William Sound, Alaska | March 28, 19643 | 9.2 |
| 3. | Andreanof Islands, Aleutian Islands | March 9, 1957 | 9.1 |
| 4. | Kamchatka | Nov. 4, 1952 | 9.0 |
| 5. | Off western coast of Sumatra, Indonesia | Dec. 26, 2004 | 9.0 |
| 6. | Off the coast of Ecuador | Jan. 31, 1906 | 8.8 |
| 7. | Offshore Maule, Chile | Feb. 27, 2010 | 8.8 |
| 8. | Rat Islands, Aleutian Islands | Feb. 4, 1965 | 8.7 |
| 9. | Northern Sumatra, Indonesia | March 28, 2005 | 8.7 |
| 10. | India-China border | Aug. 15, 1950 | 8.6 |
http://www.ioc-sealevelmonitoring.org/station.php?code=ofun
Hanasaki (almost also 4 meters max variation)
http://www.ioc-sealevelmonitoring.org/station.php?code=hana
Omaezaki
http://www.ioc-sealevelmonitoring.org/station.php?code=omae
Wake Island (little variation)
http://www.ioc-sealevelmonitoring.org/station.php?code=wake
Guam (little variation)
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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).
Pete H says:
March 10, 2011 at 10:29 pm
Wait for the “Moon at its Perigee” disaster comments in the MSN!
Coincidentally, I posted a new thread yesterday about ‘MoonMan’ Ken Ring’s forecast for another quake in Christchurch on the 19th of this month, based on the fact that the Lunar perigee then will be exactly coincident with the full moon, and the closest perigee for 18 years. Jupiter’s solar perigee occurs at the same time.
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!!!
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.