# Big earthquake in Japan
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-earthquake-in-japan/397380
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [March 25, 2007, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-earthquake-in-japan/397380 "2007-03-25T00:51:51Z")
**Posts on this page:** 11
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)
#### Post date: [March 25, 2007, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-earthquake-in-japan/397380/1 "2007-03-25T00:51:51Z")
Our apartment started rocking back and forth for about a minute at so I turned on the news to see who got hit. Apparently it was a 6+ in Ishikawa Prefecture on the Japan Sea at 9:42. It was only a 2 in Tokyo and a 3 in Kyoto.
[http://www.tenki.jp/qua/index.html](http://www.tenki.jp/qua/index.html)
No word yet on what the magnitude was.
All the other J-Dopers doing ok?
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### Author:  [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)
#### Post date: [March 25, 2007, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-earthquake-in-japan/397380/2 "2007-03-25T00:56:35Z")
Update: magnitude 7.1, centered just off the coast of Ishikawa.
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### Author:  [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)
#### Post date: [March 25, 2007, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-earthquake-in-japan/397380/3 "2007-03-25T01:00:08Z")
whoa! that’s a big shake.
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### Author:  [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)
#### Post date: [March 25, 2007, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-earthquake-in-japan/397380/4 "2007-03-25T01:07:17Z")
[QUOTE=Sublight]
No word yet on what the magnitude was.
[/QUOTE]
[6.2 according to USGS](http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Quakes/us2007aiae.php)
There’s also just been a [7.3 at Vanuatu](http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Quakes/at00141360.php)
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### Author:  [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)
#### Post date: [March 25, 2007, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-earthquake-in-japan/397380/5 "2007-03-25T04:30:03Z")
Reuters reports 7.1
[http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUST13784020070325](http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUST13784020070325)
> [@](#):
>
> TOKYO (Reuters) - A strong earthquake with a magnitude of 7.1 jolted the coastal area of central Japan on Sunday, killing at least one person and injuring around 85, Japanese officials and media said.
>
> At least nine houses collapsed, landslides were triggered and roads buckled when the quake struck at 9:42 a.m. (0042 GMT), public broadcaster NHK and Kyodo news agency said.
>
> NHK said about 30 troops were to head for the site of the quake to give assistance.
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### Author:  [@jovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jovan)
#### Post date: [March 25, 2007, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-earthquake-in-japan/397380/6 "2007-03-25T04:35:11Z")
[QUOTE=Sublight]
All the other J-Dopers doing ok?
[/QUOTE]
Yeah, though I have to say we got out of bed somewhat, uh… abruptly this morning. So much for our plans to stay in bed late. It was around 3 on the seismic intensity scale around here.
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### Author:  [@nikonikosuru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nikonikosuru)
#### Post date: [March 25, 2007, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-earthquake-in-japan/397380/7 "2007-03-25T05:15:13Z")
[QUOTE=Sublight]
Our apartment started rocking back and forth for about a minute at so I turned on the news to see who got hit. Apparently it was a 6+ in Ishikawa Prefecture on the Japan Sea at 9:42. It was only a 2 in Tokyo and a 3 in Kyoto.
[http://www.tenki.jp/qua/index.html](http://www.tenki.jp/qua/index.html)
No word yet on what the magnitude was.
All the other J-Dopers doing ok?
[/QUOTE]
Didn’t feel it here in Kyoto.
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### Author:  [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)
#### Post date: [March 25, 2007, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-earthquake-in-japan/397380/8 "2007-03-25T06:29:37Z")
I don’t think I noticed it. Most likely I was asleep. (Tokyo)
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### Author:  [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)
#### Post date: [March 25, 2007, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-earthquake-in-japan/397380/9 "2007-03-25T06:51:06Z")
My girlfriend and everyone else I know in Japan is OK. According to the latest report I’ve read, the quake caused 1 death and 40 injuries. The damage to property is probably astronomical, but so far the loss of life seems minimal thank God.
To those worried about loved ones, the northern coast of Ishigawa-ken, the red part of [the picture from this article](http://news.livedoor.com/article/image_detail/3091000/?img_id=154616), is where all the major damage is.
I hope everyone is safe ☹
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### Author:  [@nikonikosuru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nikonikosuru)
#### Post date: [March 25, 2007, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-earthquake-in-japan/397380/10 "2007-03-25T09:16:23Z")
From what the news says, 1 person has died and around 137 are injured. The woman who died was crushed by a statue in her garden. ☹
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### Author:  [@jovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jovan)
#### Post date: [March 25, 2007, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-earthquake-in-japan/397380/11 "2007-03-25T09:43:23Z")
[QUOTE=Autolycus]
The damage to property is probably astronomical
[/QUOTE]
That’s probably an overstatement. Noto peninsula is not very densely populated (thank god). From what I last read about 100 houses are either totally or partially down. Considering that, it’s almost a miracle that there aren’t more deaths. The same earthquake, hitting closer to a major urban center _would_ have caused astronomical damage. The Kobe earthquake had a magnitude of 7.2.
The woman who died wasn’t crushed by a statue, but, more accurately, a [stone lantern](http://www.biwa.ne.jp/~skk/167-1.JPG). That’s unbelievably and tragically unlucky.