Japan just had a mega earthquake (8.5) but we were lucky because it was VERY deep underground.

[Bonobo]

It hit by the Ogasawara islands off Tokyo and there will be no tsunami.

I heard it was a really bad rocking feeling. I felt nothing since I am way out in Western Japan, but the size of this one is scary.

I really hope hope hope hope that nothing worse will come.

Art, you feeling okay, pal?

[MineralMan]

1. Wow! That's huge.

I hope there was little damage where you are.

[Bonobo]

3. Zero damage where I am. We didn't feel it in Kansai.

But frankly, the size scares me. What if it hadn't been several hundred kilometers deep?

[MineralMan]

5. Apparently, it has been downgraded to a 7.8.

Really deep-focus quakes generally cause less damage than shallower ones. Still, it shook up Tokyo, apparently. The overview link I posted has a lot of info about the area where the quake happened. I think it's unlikely that a shallow quake will come from that particular area.

[Bonobo]

6. Yeah, I see that.

I feel bad for people in Tokyo.

When I lived there 20 years ago, the earthquakes scared me a lot. They are so frequent and when one starts, you never know how how long it will last.

[MineralMan]

8. I lived in California most of my life, and felt all of the major quakes

since about 1950. You never really get used to it, I think. My first one was when I was about five years old, a major one in the Bakersfield, CA area. It rolled me out of my bed onto the floor. Every quake stirs up the same primal fears, though. The earth is not supposed to move under you. Scary stuff.

[Art_from_Ark]

11. The Japan Meteorological Agency is still calling it an 8.5

http://www.jma.go.jp/jp/quake/

[MineralMan]

13. OK. Magnitudes get adjusted over time, as

more data is available. It's a big quake, all the same, either way.

[MineralMan]

2. Here's an overview from the USGS on that quake:

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us20002ki3#general_summary

[Bonobo]

4. Thanks for that. nt

[AC_Mem]

7. My best to our friends in Tokyo

There has been an uptick in activity over the last week or two....

Shine on,
Annette

[Jesus Malverde]

9. Power is out in some areas and Shinkansen stopped.

No reports of injuries. We had a good quake in Kyushu last week. Between SF and JP I'm always thinking about the big ones.

[malaise]

10. Stay safe

[Art_from_Ark]

12. Yeah, I'm OK

I tell about my experience with the quake in this other thread

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10141105762