Japan earthquake

March 15, 2010
By Editor

The news of a Japan earthquake has once again spread shock and fear across Asia and the world. The earthquake hit just off the coast of Japan, with a large number of towns and cities across the country feeling the effects of the seismic shift.

Japan earthquake

The gravity of the earthquake was 6.6 on the Richter scale – which in some places would have caused widespread devastation. In the largely ‘earthquake-proof’ country of Japan, however, there was very little damage and no reports of injuries.

Fukushima Prefecture was the area of the country where the effects of the quake were felt the strongest, which is some 210km away from Tokyo. The actual center of the earth momvement was estimated at 80km off the coast of the country, reported the Japan Meteorlogical Agency.

There were fears that the quake could cause a tsunami, but this was quickly assuaged by the government – however they did report that a small amount of ocean level change could occur.

The Japan earthquake is sure to bring back memories of a recent disaster in Kobe. It was in 1995 that a magnitude 7.2 earthquake shook the coastal city, killing more than 6000 people in one of the world’s most earthquake-prone countries.

Are you in Japan? Let us know if you experienced the Japan earthquake – leave a note below.

Tags: , , , , ,

6 Responses to “ Japan earthquake ”

  1. Tim on March 15, 2010 at 9:29 am
    6.6!!!??? What’s up with that? In Japan on the Earthquake Emergency News report they listed the earthquake as a low end 5 which is what it felt like. I live in Tokyo and our house was bouncing a bit but nothing major (Tokyo area was a low 4). If it had been 6.6 we WOULD have had widespread devastation, regardless how “earthquake-proof” Japan is.
  2. Rick Campbell on March 15, 2010 at 10:27 am
    “The Japan earthquake is sure to bring back memories of a recent disaster in Kobe. It was in 1995 that a magnitude 7.2 earthquake shook the coastal city, killing more than 6000 people ”

    If you look you will see that the 1995 quake happened Jan 16th. That was a full moon. At the same time the sun conjoined Uranus in the sky.

    Tomorrow the sun conjoins Uranus at a new moon, with Mercury behind the sun. In 1980, Mt St Helen’s erupted May 18th, four days after the sun conjoined Uranus at a new moon that year.

  3. Anon on March 15, 2010 at 10:37 am
    It was a 6.6 on the RICHTER scale. The scale used on television and news in Japan is the SHINDO scale, which is more to tell people how the effects felt. There is a description on the JMA website. They tend to use Richter at the source of the quake and Shindo elsewhere.

    In Nakadori, it was quite strong. Some stuff fell in my kitchen, and the apartment swayed enough to cause my lights to almost hit the ceiling. There had been a smaller quake the night before (a 5.4, near the source of the 6.6), which lasted a bit longer, I think. It was an interesting weekend for Tohoku :)

  4. sathiya on March 15, 2010 at 12:08 pm
    In Tokyo I felt the shock. I was sleeping that time. I felt like moving of earth. I felt longer time. But no damage no problem.
  5. James Sebastian on March 15, 2010 at 1:14 pm
    rick campbell space cadet i salute you!
  6. Rasmus on March 15, 2010 at 2:18 pm
    I was in my apartment on 11th floor in Yokohama. First it felt like to wind was shaking the building, which of course it was not. Then the building was swaying a good deal for maybe a minute or more. I looked out and the lightning rods on the neighboring building were vibrating like mad.

Leave a Reply