Strong Earthquake Hits Hokkaido, Japan

[VolcanoJen]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-3192169,00.html


TOKYO (AP) - A strong earthquake struck Japan's northern Hokkaido area early Friday, news reports said.

The quake hit southern Hokkaido at about 4:50 a.m. and was felt in central Hidaka and eastern Tokatsu, the Japan Meteorological Agency said, according to the Kyodo news agency.

Under the Japanese seismic classification, the earthquake was strong enough to damage homes and trigger landslides, the agency said.

[Cha]

1. Poor babies! I'd much rather have a hurricane if I had my

druthers.

[rabid_nerd]

2. MSNBC: Estimated 8.0

.

[Dookus]

3. There's a Tsunami watch for Alaska

http://wcatwc.arh.noaa.gov/message.txt

[Ediacara]

6. aparently from Baja California to Kodiak AK

[hatrack]

4. We have NHK on dish TV at work

They're showing a tank farm in Hokkaido with at least one tank in flames.

[Ediacara]

5. MAGNITUDE 8.0 - USGS

33 km depth (rather shallow)

The USGS's page

[TahitiNut]

14. 33 km is the default assigned to shallow quakes whose accurate depth are

unknown. It's shallow.

[hatrack]

7. NHK showing epicenter well out to sea - maybe 60-80 miles

Tsunami warnings are up, but I haven't seen any major damage in the bits and pieces of coverage I've been able to see.

[MadHound]

8. Just heard on NPR, there's a nuclear plant on Hokkaido.

No word on whether or not it is damaged. If you live on the west coast, you can try a little experiment in a couple of days, if you have access to a geiger counter. Go out and swipe your car a couple of times with Kleenex or a coffee filter. Then take it in to your geiger counter. If it goes off, well you know not to drink the milk or eat the beef, for this is fallout from the Hokkaido plant.

I do pray for the safety of all in Japan. This doesn't sound good, I pray it is just property damage, buildings can be rebuilt.

[Character Assassin]

9. Here's the Tsunami warning info.

http://wcatwc.arh.noaa.gov/message.txt

COASTAL AREAS FROM KODIAK, AK. TO ATTU, AK., INCLUSIVE.

...A TSUNAMI WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR THE COASTAL AREAS FROM KODIAK, AK. TO ATTU, AK., INCLUSIVE...

ESTIMATED TIMES OF INITIAL WAVE ARRIVAL...
SHEMYA, AK 1507 ADT SEP 25
ADAK, AK 1607 ADT SEP 25
DUTCH HARBOR, AK 1717 ADT SEP 25
SAND PT., AK 1758 ADT SEP 25
COLD BAY, AK 1825 ADT SEP 25
KODIAK, AK 1846 ADT SEP 25

COASTAL AREAS FROM THE CALIFORNIA-MEXICO BORDER TO KODIAK, AK.

...NO - REPEAT NO - TSUNAMI WATCH OR WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR THE COASTAL AREAS FROM THE CALIFORNIA-MEXICO BORDER TO KODIAK, AK...

FOR INFORMATION ONLY - ESTIMATED TIMES OF INITIAL WAVE ARRIVAL...
SEWARD, AK 1913 ADT SEP 25
YAKUTAT, AK 1925 ADT SEP 25
SITKA, AK 1927 ADT SEP 25
LANGARA, BC 2033 PDT SEP 25
VALDEZ, AK 1935 ADT SEP 25
CORDOVA, AK 1945 ADT SEP 25
HOMER, AK 2009 ADT SEP 25
KETCHIKAN, AK 2046 ADT SEP 25
JUNEAU, AK 2048 ADT SEP 25
TOFINO, BC 2200 PDT SEP 25
NEAH BAY, WA 2211 PDT SEP 25
CHARLESTON, OR 2215 PDT SEP 25
CRESCENT CITY,CA 2222 PDT SEP 25
SEASIDE, OR 2223 PDT SEP 25
ASTORIA, OR 2246 PDT SEP 25
SAN FRANCISCO,CA 2306 PDT SEP 25
SAN PEDRO, CA 2327 PDT SEP 25
LA JOLLA, CA 2336 PDT SEP 25

[travisleit01]

12. So what does this mean

for people in California? It says "For Information Only" - but then gives times for wave arrival? Is there going to be any effect felt there? A tsunami?

[Dookus]

15. I'm tryin' to figure that out myself...

since I live a few blocks from the beach in central california...

[Character Assassin]

17. Get out of here! So do I.

But I'm about 200 ft. up the hill in Monterey.

[Dookus]

18. TSUNAMI WARNING CANCELED!

The latest alert:

TO ALL TSUNAMI WARNING SYSTEM PARTICIPANTS
SUBJECT: TSUNAMI WARNING BULLETIN - FINAL
BULLETIN NUMBER 3
WEST COAST AND ALASKA TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER/NOAA/NWS
ISSUED 09/25/2003 AT 2217 UTC

...THE TSUNAMI WARNING AND WATCH STATUS IS CANCELLED FOR
BRITISH COLUMBIA AND ALASKA...

EARTHQUAKE DATA:
PRELIMINARY MAGNITUDE: 8.0
LOCATION: 42.1N 143.6E - HOKKAIDO, JAPAN REGION
TIME: 1150 ADT 09/25/2003
1250 PDT 09/25/2003
1950 UTC 09/25/2003

A REGIONAL TSUNAMI WAS OBSERVED AT THE FOLLOWING SITES:
HANASAKI JAPAN 213CM/7.0FT
URAKAWA JAPAN 150CM/4.9FT
OFUNATO JAPAN 50CM/1.64FT
KAMAISHI JAPAN 100CM/3.3FT

EVALUATION:
NO TSUNAMI DANGER EXISTS FOR ALASKA, BRITISH COLUMBIA,
WASHINGTON, OREGON, OR CALIFORNIA. HOWEVER, SOME AREAS MAY
EXPERIENCE SMALL SEA LEVEL CHANGES. AS LOCAL CONDITIONS
CAN CAUSE A WIDE VARIATION IN TSUNAMI WAVE ACTION, THE ALL
CLEAR DETERMINATIONS MUST BE MADE BY LOCAL AUTHORITIES.

[Dookus]

19. Santa Cruz, here

[Mari333]

10. Just called my sleeping son in Seattle

he didnt even know there was an Earthquake or warning about Tsunamis..now he does...

[Nottingham]

11. OMG! 8.0 that is Freakin Huge! Those poor People!

I have friends in Alaska! DANG! :bounce:

[TahitiNut]

13. Indeed! And the shallow depth is remarkable, too.

That's very destructive locally.

[goobergunch]

16. That's GIGANTIC!

One of the biggest earthquakes recently. The people in Hokkaido are definitely feeling some pretty bad effects...hope it wasn't too bad for them, but a shallow 8.0 is going to cause some pretty major damage...

[demnan]

20. That is so awful, what a powerful earthquake!!!

it drawfs the problems we've been having in the East, it really does.

[Demobrat]

21. 8.0. Shit. This is the second time today the news made me want to cry.

First the UN pulling out of Iraq, and now this. I'm a Californian who went through our big one, the Loma Prieta. And this one was twice that strength. Those poor people.

[Art_from_Ark]

22. Watching Japanese news reports live now

Fire at Idemitsu oil refinery in Tomakomai, seems to be contained now.

Nuclear plant shut down as a precaution

Sleeper train derailed, one injury reported

Reports of injuries trickling in, mostly minor

Tsunami warning issued for Pacific coast of Hokkaido
tusnami watch issued for Pacific coast down to Iwaki

Magnitude 7.0 aftershock reported

[Art_from_Ark]

23. A word about tsunamis

Although a tsunami warning/watch has been issued for a large section of the Japan's northern Pacific coast, "tsunami" in today's modern Japanese meaning is little more than a sea wave generated by an earthquake, and can be quite indistingishable from a normal wave. The tsunami watch for the Sendai area, for example, cautions about waves that may reach 50 centimeters/ 20 inches in height.

[dArKeR]

24. 7-foot tsunami, major damage reported in north - MSGOP

http://msnbc.com/news/971921.asp?0cv=CB10

[Art_from_Ark]

25. Some tsunamis, damage reported

But it's nowhere near as bad as what happened the last time an 8.0 magnitude earthquake hit Japan. That was in July 1993, when the island of Okushiri, on the other side of Hokkaido, was not only hit by an M8.0 earthquake, but also a massive tidal wave and a huge fire. More than 200 people lost their lives in that disaster.



(Scene from the aftermath of the 1993 Okushiri earthquake)

In today's quake, no fatalities directly attributed to the quake are being reported, although one man was hit by a car and killed as he was picking up bottles that had been scattered in the street by the quake.