One of the largest earthquakes ever recorded slammed Japan’s eastern coast Friday, triggering a devastating tsunami. The quake was followed by more than 20 aftershocks that lasted for hours, most of them of more than magnitude 6.0
CTV
Hundreds of Bodies
Live Sky
* Tsunami warning for entire Pacific … including Canada. Fault caused strongest tsunamis in a Westerly direction so Eastern Pacific should only experience small waves.
I am on Vancouver Island right now – the Alert is being described as precautionary only – the prediction is for a very small ripple that you may be able to see if you look carefully.
But it will come at high tide so . . .
6 to 7 feet reported in Oregon.
Anybody know some good relief orgs that won’t -steal- the money I might donate? Red Cross’s rep ain’t the greatest these days…
Note of comparison the Indonesian tsunami quake was 7.7 on the Richter scale.
Today’s quake of 8.9 on the Richter scale would put it as approximately 10 times more powerful given it is a logarithmic scale.
The waves that have been shown are on the order of 7 meters in the video clips some may have seen.
Some of the nuclear reactors are on emergency cooling.
Condolences to those who have lost family…
Looks like as least 3 to 6 months of clean up and longer for rebuilding of some structures.
After the Christchurch quake in NZ it appears the “Ring of Fire” is a little more active in terms of magnitude this year.
Cheers
Hans-Christian Georg Rupprecht, Commander in Chief
1st Saint Nicolaas Army
Army Group “True North”
Buy something Japanese!
Sweet Jesus. The videos from the air while it was still daylight show destruction like they haven’t seen since being nuked. Many of the town at the heads of bays were just wiped off as the tsunami was funneled by the land. Average wave heights they said were 13 feet but I watched waves washing right over 4 story building. Clips of waves racing across farmland and eating village after village and then the shots of the coast near one city. Just FIRE as far as the camera panned. They will be VERY lucky if their death toll doesn’t climb higher than the Bandah Ace quake. The waves are receding … back to the ocean now, so thousands of bodies in that water will never be recovered. Incredibly tragic.
On another note the stock markets haven’t flinched. Don’t people realize the Japs are going to try to / have to cash in all their US bonds to pay for the reconstruction. I hear a toilet flushing ….
My heart goes out to my friends in Japan and also those in Hawaii. I just watched this. I can’t even imagine what it would be like here in Vancouver if/when we’re hit by something similar.
It seems a scientist, ostracized for disputing AGW, noted 2 solar flares in the 10M class 18 hours earlier and predicted something like this.
He has also predicted, since the Japan quake, that the shock wave could disturb the Juan De Fuca plate…which is under stress….triggering a force 9 quake…..
If that occurs, a Psunami will be the least of the left coasts troubles.
ln response to the best charity. The Salvation Army is by far the best. The are on the ground feeding people as I type, you can count on it.
Agree with Pat!
Watching that was surreal, as the water washed up over the land, and you couldn’t see anybody, anywhere. But there will be a great loss of life. Makes my stop and pray!
nothing here in Qualicum . . I walked the beach and it was/is very calm.
Keep your flippers and wet suit handy Fred…
When you see the tide suddenly move out quickly its time to head inland quickly!
Cheers
Hans-Christian Georg Rupprecht, Commander in Chief
1st Saint Nicolaas Army
Army Group “True North”
Damn, those pictures could be mistaken for WWII pics.
And not even one peep out of Obama yet. I swear. Both of our Carriers from the West Coast should be there, or well on their way.
As for the earthquake and all the destruction as a result, I hope the opposition has a “little heart/compassion” for the loss of life in Japan, and could at least for ONE DAY forget about attacking the Government of Canada; as the government seeks to see how Canada can help. I would put this almost equal to 9/11 towers.
There but for the grace of G-d…..
Just goes to show how puny man is. Politicians take heed and stop the arrogance and conceit that you alone control the earth’s thermostat. Just for a change, have some humility.
My sincere condolences to the victims and their families.
Exactly CP.
Days like this bring how great life is in Canada into perspective.
I’m very sad for the Japanese people. I hope we can assist them with the same vigor that we’ve help others in similar situations.
Ratt: “And not even one peep out of Obama yet. I swear.”
Your Obama Derangement Syndrome is strong: whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/03/11/statement-president-earthquake-japan-and-resulting-tsunami-warning-throu
I understand a US Navy command ship is on its way from Singapore to support the humanitarian aid effort.
I was complaining about having to shovel snow early this morning, then I turned on the news. Watching that mountain of rubble sweep across farmland is very humbling. I just hope their nuclear reactors don’t crash. That would be the ultimate insult.
sasq
do you have a link for the ‘solar flare’ comment?
Watched the “One’s” address on SKY news a few minutes ago, about two minutes of standard stock address with the assurance of assistance then a jump into the cost of gas at which point SKY news cut the release. The last time the “One” screwed a live press release was after the Fort Hood massacre, I thought maybe the WH press gang would have learned from that but for all their ‘intellectual superiority’ they just can’t learn from past mistakes.
Has Obama not yet found a way to pin this earthquake on greedy capitalist? He needs to restaff, I think.
The Americans apparently have landed extra nuclear power plant coolant (heavy water?) in Japan in case some of those reactors don’t scram properly. I guess they maybe had some extra for the Navy or something and delivered it toute suite. Nothing like a nice meltdown to go with your tsunami disaster, eh?
If I were Obama I would be telling the US Geological Survey to keep an extra eye on the San Andreas fault seeing that this quake is the 5th largest on record ever…
For anybody who has even a passing interest in subduction zones, I would be looking for some tectonic adjustments in the Pacific plate, perhaps in the near term. Not to get overly alarmist…like the AGW crowd.
This would make Kate’s “Oh Sweet San Andreas hear my prayer” posts take on a whole new meaning…
Cheers
Hans-Christian Georg Rupprecht, Commander in Chief
1st Saint Nicolaas Army
Army Group “True North”
Looks like the EAST COAST of Canada is at greatest risk, at least according to your Weather Office:
http://www.weatheroffice.gc.ca/warnings/warnings_e.html
}:-]
How did W., Sarah and the Israelis ever manage to put this together???
Who will be the first to blame this on Man? It’ll be the Japanese overfishing that made the oceans weigh less that caused this earthquake, or too much drilling for oil on the other side of the world, or vibrations from those smoke-belching auto plants in Japan…
Buy something Japanese!
They paid us back for rebuilding their country by not allowing our products into the country. They can go whistle.
Or the low cut blouses and near exposed breasts and all those short hem lines on those western skirts that the mullahs keep wailing about!
Tsunami warnings for the Pacific coast of the Americas: totally ridiculous. And CTV’s suspension of it’s regular news broadcast to cover the event is equally ridiculous.
By the time the tsunami reached Hawaii this morning the waves were only three (3) feet max — zero damage. By the time they reach the Pacific coast of the Americas they will be eight (8) INCHES max. Not even high enough to take the little ones down to the beach for a bit of body surfing. “Daddy, let’s go home — the waves are too small today!”
The idea that a tsunami near Japan can cross nearly ten thousand (10,000) kilometres of ocean and present any threat to the Americas is absurd.
Disaster hypochondria.
Ricardo: The reason this tsunami was small on the West coast of NA is because of the way the fault-line runs where the earthquake occured. The West coast of NA has in the past been hit by massive tsunamis triggers by quakes in Japan. Enire low-lying forests were destroyed; there is an entire study of these events.
Nagano now reporting a 6.6 tremor…
The shake, rattle, and roll isn’t over yet.
Cheers
Hans-Christian Georg Rupprecht, Commander in Chief
1st Saint Nicolaas Army
Army Group “True North”
CJunk: yup. IIRC there was one in the 1600s that did a lot of damage on the BC coast. I’d have to look deeper to find the specifics.
Cjunk,
Maybe you’re right and I’m out of the loop, but I’ve honestly never heard of such thing — ever. Certainly not originating as far away as Japan anyway.
Can you give me an example?
OK, I guess “Another Calgary Marc” at March 11, 2011 2:23 PM answered it. But I would wonder what sort of seismology equipment they would have in the 1600’s — a lot of people still believed the earth was flat!
And you don’t get earthquakes much larger than in the 9 richter range such as the one in Japan (I think modern seismographs only measure to 10 max). If this one doesn’t produce much effect on the American pacific, then it’s hard to imagine anything else that would either.
G&M reader QOTD
westend
1:06 PM on March 11, 2011
The earth quake are caused by the melting of the polar ice caps, all of the extra water that was frozen is now adding wait to the sea floor. And it’s pushing the floor out of shape and then we get earth quakes, as we get warmer there is going to be a lot more earth quakes. Just think about it it’s just a transfer of wait from one place to another.
*Sigh*
Great line Glenn!
And all this time I thought that higher temperatures caused evaporation and that the water then becomes air-borne…who knew!
Posted by: Glenn at March 11, 2011 2:49 PM,
Hilarious!
Japan is the place with the most regularly-occuring earthquakes in the world — always has been. Which is why Japanese engineers are the world-renowned experts in designing earthquake-proof buildings and sky-scrapers. I don’t know if anybody noticed but I don’t think too many people were killed in the actual quake — if it happened anywhere but Japan a 9 range quake would have killed thousands (the tsunami side-effect is different — not much you can do but evacuate the coast or you die). But Japan’s earthquakes have nothing to do with global warming.
Japanese engineers have designed buildings to rest on giant rollers in the foundations, which allow the building to rock back and forth in an earthquake without cracking, or destroying the foundation and come crashing down.
Oh just in time:
http://wcatwc.arh.noaa.gov/pdf/PACIFEX11Final.pdf
Exercise
PACIFEX 11
Participant Handbook
National Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program
Warning Coordination Subcommittee
A Pacific tsunami warning exercise:
March 23, 2011
Obviously coming sooner than you thought…
Cheers
Hans-Christian Georg Rupprecht, Commander in Chief
1st Saint Nicolaas Army
Army Group “True North”
Saskatchewan is the place to be. Manitoba has too many mosquitoes.
http://earthquakescanada.nrcan.gc.ca/recent/maps-cartes/index-eng.php?maptype=5y&tpl_region=canada
ricardo: I think this was the one I was thinking of: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cascadia_earthquake
It was inferred in reverse, and I was mis-remembering the direction of the tsunami. My bad. There’s also the 1965 Alaska earthquake, which did some damage on northern Vancouver Island, but it only had to travel about 1000 miles or so.
And here it is, don’t have to wait for long before someone comes up with the link between the imaginary AGW and real life earthquake in Japan.
“Today’s tsunami: This is what climate change looks like”
“When the ice is lost, the earth’s crust bounces back up again and that triggers earthquakes, which trigger submarine landslides, which cause tsunamis,” Bill McGuire……
http://www.grist.org/article/2011-03-11-todays-tsunami-this-is-what-climate-change-looks-like/
I recently downloaded and burned a BBC documentary about the tsunamis formed by landslides both next to and under the water.
ever see a tidal wave 1/2 km. high? they do happen. and it WILL happen some time in the future along the american east coast due to a precarious mass of earth located in the Canary Islands.
I never caught Mo Bama’s presser. Just wondering…who did he give a shout out to today?
1/2 km. high? Good God. I grew up 40 km. from the Atlantic Ocean, and the elevation was about 35 meters. A wave 500 meters high would sweep over a lot of people.
beagle: “ever see a tidal wave 1/2 km. high? they do happen. ”
Landslides sometimes cause giant “splashes”. But methinks my friend that you have watched too many high-tech disaster fictions at your local IMAX theatre (surround sound is great — coming soon: 3D!)
Lev: guess you missed the part where he said that in 2009.
sasquatch: solar flares cause earthquakes, huh? Love it. You get my nomination for the next Nobel prize in physics.
Looks like Kate’s “Saint of San Andreas” is answering some of her prayers:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/03/11/BAEU1I9993.DTL&tsp=1
Ricardo, tsunamis are very different from ordinary ocean waves, The entire depth of the water body is in motion, not just the surface. When a tsunami encounters a shelving shoreline, or a funnel-shaped inlet, the energy in the wave is increasingly forced into the surface waters, and a towering wave can be formed. Port Alberni, B.C. suffered severe damage from a tsunami spawned by the 1964 Alaska earthquake.
And all earthquakes are not created equal when it comes to generating tsunamis. Leaving the matter of magnitude aside, it makes a difference whether the relative motion on the fault is lateral or vertical, and if vertical, which side is downthrown, and which is upthrown. Because all these factors may not be known when an earthquake is first detected, it is only prudent to issue tsunami warnings in all areas that might potentially be affected.
As I cruise blogs today I am seeing a lot of *Oh My GAWD, poor Japan* posts… I have one thing to say about Japan and this disaster…
REMEMBER PEARL HARBOR, The Bataan Death March and every other atrocity they committed…