8.9 magnitude earthquake in Japan

[brandonx76]

This is horrible news, and I hope for the best for them.I can't even imagine... We have a friend named Saichiko there too, who flew in from Japan to see the Vegas show. It was her 20th Journey show in 30 years of being a fan. Really cool person., and I hope she is ok.

I heard about the issue first from a friend on Facebook who just started a trip to Japan - crazy!!

[bluejeangirl76]

My friend in Tokyo is ok. She said that the city is gridlocked and that very few trains are running. She said there have been many aftershocks, and that some of them have been pretty strong. Hope the people on the West coast heed the warnings and stay away from the beaches.

I read that the aftershocks were 6.0+ Scary stuff. Glad your friend is ok, JM

[artist4perry]

On the West coast in the U.S. and everyone in this tidal waves path, I am hoping you all will be safe! I am watching the devastation in Japan, those poor people!

[Don]

Lots of Power and water outages, even places away from the epicenter and coast. Our friends are fine though I'm sure it was nerve racking. Can't get the kids from school because their locked down and family members couldn't get home because of the trains being stopped in certain places. Initial estimates of damage are well over 100 billion dollars already. As Japan's economy has been in trouble for awhile, will rebuilding after all of this stimulate their economy or bankrupt the country?

[artist4perry]

Lots of Power and water outages, even places away from the epicenter and coast. Our friends are fine though I'm sure it was nerve racking. Can't get the kids from school because their locked down and family members couldn't get home because of the trains being stopped in certain places. Initial estimates of damage are well over 100 billion dollars already. As Japan's economy has been in trouble for awhile, will rebuilding after all of this stimulate their economy or bankrupt the country?

What I am seeing, I think that estimation may be really low! I am sure it will hit their economy, and have a tidal wave effect through many countries economies.

It is kind of the butterfly effect isn't it?
A Tsunami in Japan, and prices skyrocket everywhere around the globe. I think it is naive of some people to think we are in a vacuum, to think it doesn't affect us. Don you are not one of those people I know. But it does affect many people and many countries.

Right now I am sure everyone with sense is bracing for not only the damage of the storm, but the total global cost in its wake.

[Don]

Lots of Power and water outages, even places away from the epicenter and coast. Our friends are fine though I'm sure it was nerve racking. Can't get the kids from school because their locked down and family members couldn't get home because of the trains being stopped in certain places. Initial estimates of damage are well over 100 billion dollars already. As Japan's economy has been in trouble for awhile, will rebuilding after all of this stimulate their economy or bankrupt the country?

What I am seeing, I think that estimation may be really low! I am sure it will hit their economy, and have a tidal wave effect through many countries economies.

It is kind of the butterfly effect isn't it?
A Tsunami in Japan, and prices skyrocket everywhere around the globe. I think it is naive of some people to think we are in a vacuum, to think it doesn't affect us. Don you are not one of those people I know. But it does affect many people and many countries.

Right now I am sure everyone with sense is bracing for not only the damage of the storm, but the total global cost in its wake.

On a small scale, my friend is an architect who owns his own construction company. His business has been slow but this will probably be beneficial to him. In the big picture though, there is a lot of industry along the east coast of Japan that has been damaged. Ports, factories, airports, etc.

One big thing that will probably come to light later is the fate of elderly people that live along Japan's coast. There are millions of them, many living alone so it might a while before it's known what's happened to many of those people.

[Arkansas]

This will bankrupt America.
We'll send billions we don't have.
Gas prices will hit $10/gal. (The oil companies will spin this catastrophe to their favor.)
This will somehow damage China, which will affect America's dependence on their manufacturing.
Any other conspiracy theories out there?

Btw, every knows that the world ends May 21, right?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110103/ap_ ... lypse_soon
http://www.familyradio.com/index2.html


later~

[Michigan Girl]

This will bankrupt America.
We'll send billions we don't have.
Gas prices will hit $10/gal. (The oil companies will spin this catastrophe to their favor.)
This will somehow damage China, which will affect America's dependence on their manufacturing.
Any other conspiracy theories out there?

Btw, every knows that the world ends May 21, right?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110103/ap_ ... lypse_soon
http://www.familyradio.com/index2.html


later~

Oh geez, I thought we had until '12 ...I better get livin' it up!!

It's awful, I hope friends, family and loved ones in
the devastated areas remain safe ...Andrew, KIT w/us!!
FF, keep us updated too!!

[Behshad]

Btw, every knows that the world ends May 21, right?

later~

Don't tell Neal. This will really have a huge impact on "Eclipse" sales He may change the release date to May 17th

[Maui Tom]

boy I slept like shit last night....

[Behshad]

boy I slept like shit last night....

Glad youre ok buddy!

[Don]

Santa Cruz is reporting about 2 million dollars in damage. A few dozen boats were destroyed in it's harbor as the water level dropped 9 feet and then filled back up.

A 6.6 quake has now hit in central Japan, it may be a separate quake altogether.

[slucero]

Really sad what is happening in Japan... they will probably fare much better than the folks in Indonesia did in the their 2004 tsunami.. that one killed over 230,000 people in fourteen countries. The thought of it is mind-boggling.. imagine that happening off the coast of Florida..

[Arkansas]

...The thought of it is mind-boggling.. imagine ...

What's always bothered me a little is that in the densely populated & somewhat ancient regions where catastrophes have hit, there are probably many undocumented people...born & raised in remote villages. And these people will be missing, even though we never knew they existed.


later~

[bluejeangirl76]

boy I slept like shit last night....

well, at least you didn't get swept off of your volcano! good that you're safe!

[Don]

This was the sixth largest earthquake in the world since 1900, when seismological records began. The most devastating earthquake to strike Japan was in 1923, when a magnitude 7.9 tremor devastated Tokyo and Yokohama and killed an estimated 142,800 people. The Kobe earthquake in 1995 was a magnitude 6.9 and caused more than 5,000 deaths and injured 36,000 others. The earthquake that wrecked Christchurch in New Zealand last month was a magnitude 6.3 event. Around 30 times more energy is released as the magnitude of an earthquake increases one unit, for example from magnitude 8 to 9.

The quake that hit Japan was around 8000 times more powerful than the one that struck New Zealand last month.

[Clasicrockldy]

Here is more news of the earthquake and tsunami from PBS NewsHour.


http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2011/03/89-magnitude-earthquake-triggers-tsunami-in-japan-kills-at-least-40.html

[Michigan Girl]

boy I slept like shit last night....

Oh geez, Maui~T ...so glad all is well!! Stay safe!!

[Clasicrockldy]

Here is an article from the LA Times about the damage/death in Crescent City, California.

http://www.latimes.com/news/la-me-crescent-city-harbor-destroyed-20110311,0,1559190.story

[Clasicrockldy]

Here are some You Tube video's from Crescent City. This first one shows the Smith River flowing backwards.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyWySXVFL2g


Crescent City Tsunami, March 11th, 2011

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ielQwKji0AA


Also on YouTube is a tsunami warning for Humboldt County.

[RocknRoll]

This was the sixth largest earthquake in the world since 1900, when seismological records began. The most devastating earthquake to strike Japan was in 1923, when a magnitude 7.9 tremor devastated Tokyo and Yokohama and killed an estimated 142,800 people. The Kobe earthquake in 1995 was a magnitude 6.9 and caused more than 5,000 deaths and injured 36,000 others. The earthquake that wrecked Christchurch in New Zealand last month was a magnitude 6.3 event. Around 30 times more energy is released as the magnitude of an earthquake increases one unit, for example from magnitude 8 to 9.

The quake that hit Japan was around 8000 times more powerful than the one that struck New Zealand last month.

These events are so tragic and my heart goes out to all that are affected.

On another note, I can't help but wonder about the effects of things like sunspots on weather and now they're talking about the correlation between SuperMoons and earthquakes. Here's an interesting unbiased article. I just find this very intriguing and something to think about.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/capita ... an_ea.html

The "SuperMoon" and the Japan earthquake
By Jason Samenow
On March 19, the moon's orbit will make its closest approach to Earth in 18 years while at the same time be in full phase. Such a coincidence has been named a "SuperMoon" by astrologer Richard Nolle. As entertainingly chronicled by John Metcalfe over at TBD, Nolle predicts all kinds of weather and natural hazard mayhem, including strong earthquakes, around the time of the Supermoon.

So the questions that emerge are: 1) Is there any legitimate science linking the Supermoon and extreme natural hazards? and, 2) Did the upcoming Supermoon play a role in this morning's horrific earthquake in Japan, the fifth most powerful on record?

AccuWeather's Astronomy blogger Mark Paquette, in a post on March 1, stopped short of rejecting the idea Supermoons and natural hazards are linked, writing:

There were SuperMoons in 1955, 1974, 1992 and 2005. These years had their share of extreme weather and other natural events. Is the Super Moon and these natural occurences a coincidence? Some would say yes; some would say no. I'm not here to pick sides and say I'm a believer or non-believer in subjects like this...
He noted that one of his readers pointed out that the last extreme supermoon occurred on January 10, 2005, right around the time of the 9.0 Indonesia earthquake.

Metcalfe's TBD piece documents all sorts of coinciding extreme weather events that have occurred around past Supermoons.

Hurricane Katrina made land on the Gulf Coast on Aug. 29, 2005, which was 10 days after the SuperMoon for that month. The 1938 New England hurricane happened on Sept. 21, three weeks after a SuperMoon. Australia's Hunter River experienced mass flooding and property destruction in February 1955, two whole months before and after bookending SuperMoons
Surely appreciating that correlation does not equal causation and the pitfalls of developing theories on anecdotal evidence, Metcalfe then mocks the notion of making too much of these coincidences, sarcastically commenting: "I could just pick harmless events that happened around SuperMoons and use them to formulate a theory stating that nobody should ever pay astrologers for readings again."

He also cites a news article from Australia on the impending "Moonageddon" which quotes astronomist Pete Wheeler as follows:

"There will be no earthquakes or volcanoes," Mr Wheeler told news.com.au, "unless they are to happen anyway".
"(The Earth will experience) just a lower than usual low tide and a higher than usual high tide around the time of the event, but nothing to get excited about."
For the record, I've never encountered any legitimate science that shows any credible causal link between moon proximity and phase and meteorological or geological events.

Nevertheless, here we are just eight days away from the SuperMoon witnessing one of the worst natural calamity's in decades.

AccuWeather's Paquette, whereas he was agnostic in his March 1 blog, writes today "I am starting to believe!"

"I believe that the Earth may have already felt some of the supermoon's effects. It could be a huge coincidence that this earthquake was not influenced by the supermoon. But in my totally unscientific opinion, having no hard evidence to back it up, it doesn't seem like just coincidence to me."

But the Bad Astronomy blog, which aims to debunk scientific misconceptions, completely rejects any link between the SuperMoon and the Japan quake. Author Phil Plait, an astronomer, states emphatically:

I do hope I can help mitigate the panic and worry that can happen due to people blaming this earthquake on the so-called "supermoon" -- a date when the Moon is especially close to the Earth at the same time it's full. So let me be extremely clear:
Despite what a lot of people are saying, there is no way this earthquake was caused by the Moon.
The idea of the Moon affecting us on Earth isn't total nonsense, but it cannot be behind this earthquake, and almost certainly won't have any actual, measurable affect on us on March 19, when the full Moon is at its closest.
The post then walks through very well laid out scientific arguments for why the Supermoon and the Japan earthquake are not related. It also explains why the Supermoon is highly unlikely to cause extreme weather, stating: "[Weather] is caused by an incredibly complex interaction between the Earth's rotation, the heat input from the Sun, the way the oceans and seas absorb and radiate heat, and a million other factors. If the Moon contributes in any way, it is very, very small compared to these other massive factors."

I found the piece extremely convincing and highly recommend reading it. Suffice to say, I'm not on the SuperMoon causing natural chaos bandwagon.
By Jason Samenow | March 11, 2011; 1:45 PM ET

[Clasicrockldy]

I don't believe I would subscribe to the idea that Supermoons have some sort of effect on these past big earthquakes, Rock and Roll. I believe that the Pacific Ring of Fire is more active than it has been in the past. Tectonic plates are moving about at a rate that we haven't seen before. Since that December Indonesian quake and tsunami, which did affect the earth's rotation, we are seeing more of these huge earthquakes happening frequently.

[RocknRoll]

I don't believe I would subscribe to the idea that Supermoons have some sort of effect on these past big earthquakes, Rock and Roll. I believe that the Pacific Ring of Fire is more active than it has been in the past. Tectonic plates are moving about at a rate that we haven't seen before. Since that December Indonesian quake and tsunami, which did affect the earth's rotation, we are seeing more of these huge earthquakes happening frequently.

I'm not sure I agree with the concept of supermoons either, but it's just another idea to think about. The issue regarding the tectonic plates definitely makes more sense as these are always shifting. I'm just interested in different ideas on why things in nature happen the way they do. I don't think anyone truly understands!

[Clasicrockldy]

I don't believe I would subscribe to the idea that Supermoons have some sort of effect on these past big earthquakes, Rock and Roll. I believe that the Pacific Ring of Fire is more active than it has been in the past. Tectonic plates are moving about at a rate that we haven't seen before. Since that December Indonesian quake and tsunami, which did affect the earth's rotation, we are seeing more of these huge earthquakes happening frequently.

I'm not sure I agree with the concept of supermoons either, but it's just another idea to think about. The issue regarding the tectonic plates definitely makes more sense as these are always shifting. I'm just interested in different ideas on why things in nature happen the way they do. I don't think anyone truly understands!

Aye, I agree that we don't truly understand this planet we live on. We try though.

Until you posted that article on Supermoons, I didn't know they even existed!

[Clasicrockldy]

I don't believe I would subscribe to the idea that Supermoons have some sort of effect on these past big earthquakes, Rock and Roll. I believe that the Pacific Ring of Fire is more active than it has been in the past. Tectonic plates are moving about at a rate that we haven't seen before. Since that December Indonesian quake and tsunami, which did affect the earth's rotation, we are seeing more of these huge earthquakes happening frequently.

I'm not sure I agree with the concept of supermoons either, but it's just another idea to think about. The issue regarding the tectonic plates definitely makes more sense as these are always shifting. I'm just interested in different ideas on why things in nature happen the way they do. I don't think anyone truly understands!

Yet millions of people believe humans can heat and cool this planet just by being here and living like we do. What we saw today and in other natural disasters is that mother nature rules this roost we call home and there isn't a damned thing we humans can do about it.

I agree!

[Maui Tom]

when it was all said and done....the surge stopped about 30 feet from our front door....we are about 800 yards and 2 roads from the ocean...we hightailed up the crater last night....but when we came back and saw how close it came...well....we were incredibly lucky....living with my folks now...87 band 81...and they did pretty good thru it all.....yes...weird shit happening everywhere lately....kind of troubling...

[Behshad]

when it was all said and done....the surge stopped about 30 feet from our front door....we are about 800 yards and 2 roads from the ocean...we hightailed up the crater last night....but when we came back and saw how close it came...well....we were incredibly lucky....living with my folks now...87 band 81...and they did pretty good thru it all.....yes...weird shit happening everywhere lately....kind of troubling...

Glad to hear luck was with you and your family Tom p

[Clasicrockldy]

Here is footage of the earthquake as it happened... I don't know exactly where this is in Japan.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pkSKHPoEUs

It does get loud, and in the background, you can hear kitty howling..

[Clasicrockldy]

when it was all said and done....the surge stopped about 30 feet from our front door....we are about 800 yards and 2 roads from the ocean...we hightailed up the crater last night....but when we came back and saw how close it came...well....we were incredibly lucky....living with my folks now...87 band 81...and they did pretty good thru it all.....yes...weird shit happening everywhere lately....kind of troubling...

Glad to hear that you and your family are ok!

[TRAGChick]

See below.