# Large earthquake in Northeast Japan **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 11, 2011, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279 "2011-03-11T06:10:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/201 "2011-03-11T22:18:20Z")
> [@rocking\_chair](#): > > user hostile, not long at all for the areas closest to the epicenter. minutes really for sendai 80ish miles away, the wave (s) move very quickly. > > sunspace, 6 is considered a major shake. it isn’t considered a major quake in this case because it followed the larger one, but the aftershocks do quite a bit of damage. not to mention the damage to people’s nerves who are feeling them for days. > [@Ogre](#): > > Did I really hear a geologist on NPR saying that they estimate as much as 50 feet of sudden plate movement? That’s incredible. And frightening for the rest of countries around the Pacific [Ring of Fire](http://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Pacific_Ring_of_Fire.png) - I hope a quake of this magnitude doesn’t set off a chain of shifts. ---
**Author:** ![user\_hostile](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/user_hostile/32/474_2.png) [@user\_hostile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/user_hostile)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/202 "2011-03-11T22:19:45Z")
> [@Hal\_Briston](#): > > They’re no better on CNN. One of their vapid talking heads gave this brilliant bit this morning: > > “…which is 400 kilometers from the epicenter. That’s nearly _fifty miles_.” > > Yeah, you’re only off by about 200 miles. > > And nothing new on **Auto** ’s facebook. \, mixing science and vapid journalism is like trying to create an immiscible alloy, it’s possible, but… ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/203 "2011-03-11T22:19:53Z")
> [@Yeticus\_Rex](#): > > [Probably the best explanation of tsunami speed that I have seen.](http://plus.maths.org/content/tsunami-1) Your link states, “Indeed, the deep ocean is one of the safest places you can hang out when tsunamis are around, as long as you are well away from the site of the earthquake.” What would it have been like directly above the earthquake site? Did the ocean floor abruptly rise or drop, or was it jerked sideways, or both, or what? ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/204 "2011-03-11T22:22:01Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > And frightening for the rest of countries around the Pacific [Ring of Fire](http://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Pacific_Ring_of_Fire.png) - I hope a quake of this magnitude doesn’t set off a chain of shifts. The geologist on NPR said that wouldn’t happen, that a quake in one place isn’t going to affect places on the opposite side of the Ring of Fire. Although he said it could cause more earthquakes in Japan. Nevertheless, if the people in my office are any indication, there is an unsettled feeling here in La California that our turn is coming. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/205 "2011-03-11T22:26:56Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > The geologist on NPR said that wouldn’t happen, that a quake in one place isn’t going to affect places on the opposite side of the Ring of Fire. Although he said it could cause more earthquakes in Japan. > > Nevertheless, if the people in my office are any indication, there is an unsettled feeling here in La California that our turn is coming. If you’re talking about the same guy I heard, he really said something like, “We would normally expect that there would be no communication over that long a distance,” but he peppered it liberally with “but we really don’t know, and if you want to feel smug and self-assured, go into aa different field than earthquake prediction” - type stuff. ETA: I was going to edit the “aa” mistake above, but in light of the fact that we’re talking about seismic events, it amuses me. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/206 "2011-03-11T22:28:07Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > Nevertheless, if the people in my office are any indication, there is an unsettled feeling here in La California that our turn is coming. Agreed. Lots of people in my office today (we’re on the 40th floor of a downtown highrise) are discussing how the rollers on the bottom of the buildings work. I think our building management told us that this particular structure is designed to withstand a hit from a 7.4 earthquake. They don’t think the faults that run through downtown can generate much beyond that. But I really don’t want to be here to find out the hard way, either. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/207 "2011-03-11T22:28:24Z")
That’s…reassuring? ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/208 "2011-03-11T22:28:53Z")
> [@user\_hostile](#): > > I’m arguing from ignorance here–how long between the quake and the first tsunami wave hitting the closest shore in Japan? Would they have felt the quake and said, “been there, done that” and continue doing whatever they were doing, only to get wiped out, or would an alarm sounded warning them to move to higher ground? I’ve always had the impression that Japan has some sort of coastal warning system? Is that true? > > I would presume the time of quake vs. warning vs. the tsunami was so short that most people never had a chance–but more importantly, the height and distance of the tsunami surge was never anticipated. IIRC I’ve heard that mentioned, somewhere in all this coverage/discussion. They did have a warning system set up, but the waves arrived too fast for it to do much good. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/209 "2011-03-11T22:28:57Z")
> [@Ogre](#): > > If you’re talking about the same guy I heard, he really said something like, “We would normally expect that there would be no communication over that long a distance,” but he peppered it liberally with “but we really don’t know, and if you want to feel smug and self-assured, go into aa different field than earthquake prediction” - type stuff. > > ETA: I was going to edit the “aa” mistake above, but in light of the fact that we’re talking about seismic events, it amuses me. Yeah, that was the same guy I heard. He sounded quite certain to me on that particular question, though. But yeah, who knows. ---
**Author:** ![user\_hostile](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/user_hostile/32/474_2.png) [@user\_hostile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/user_hostile)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/210 "2011-03-11T22:31:52Z")
> [@Yeticus\_Rex](#): > > It really depends on how much distance was deep water and how much was shallow water between the epicenter and the coast. > > Speed = sqaure root of (g\*d), where g is the gravity constant 9.81m/s(squared) and d is depth of ocean. > > [Probably the best explanation of tsunami speed that I have seen.](http://plus.maths.org/content/tsunami-1) > > Warning: [Multiple physics equations ahead.](http://oceanworld.tamu.edu/resources/ocng_textbook/chapter16/chapter16_01.htm) Excellent web page. The explanation provides enough information to understand the basics of just how colossal the energy release is with an incoming surge. Kudos, **Yeticus Rex** ---
**Author:** ![user\_hostile](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/user_hostile/32/474_2.png) [@user\_hostile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/user_hostile)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/211 "2011-03-11T22:34:50Z")
> [@Asimovian](#): > > Agreed. Lots of people in my office today (we’re on the 40th floor of a downtown highrise) are discussing how the rollers on the bottom of the buildings work. > > I think our building management told us that this particular structure is designed to withstand a hit from a 7.4 earthquake. They don’t think the faults that run through downtown can generate much beyond that. But I really don’t want to be here to find out the hard way, either. You wanna see skyscrapers move and twist–[link](http://www.gadling.com/2011/03/11/video-swaying-skyscrapers-in-tokyo/?ncid=&a_dgi=aolshare_twitter). I should think that should be reassuring actually. ---
**Author:** ![Hokkaido\_Brit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/d26b3c/32.png) [@Hokkaido\_Brit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hokkaido_Brit)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/212 "2011-03-11T22:36:06Z")
My husband has been given orders to go to help with the rescue. So far we only know that he’s going this morning, to somewhere in Northern Japan. Please keep them in your thoughts. I’m glad he’s going. Help is so very needed. But selfishly I’m worried for him. Right now my friend’s husband is missing and we haven’t heard from two families near the centre of the mess. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/213 "2011-03-11T22:43:36Z")
Anyone heard anything from **Autolycus** yet? ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/214 "2011-03-11T22:44:20Z")
Good luck, everyone. > [@user\_hostile](#): > > You wanna see skyscrapers move and twist–[link](http://www.gadling.com/2011/03/11/video-swaying-skyscrapers-in-tokyo/?ncid=&a_dgi=aolshare_twitter). > > I should think that should be reassuring actually. My best friend from university moved to California two weeks before the Loma Prieta quake. He said that the building he worked in twisted back and forth about its vertical concrete elevator core, but, since it was designed to do that, nothing was damaged structurally. Though they had to replace a lot of drywall. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/215 "2011-03-11T22:46:48Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > Your link states, “Indeed, the deep ocean is one of the safest places you can hang out when tsunamis are around, as long as you are well away from the site of the earthquake.” > > What would it have been like directly above the earthquake site? Did the ocean floor abruptly rise or drop, or was it jerked sideways, or both, or what? it usually goes up or down (up as one plate pushes over the other, or down if a big fissue opens up.) with major water displacement. don’t want to be there! also don’t want to be near the biggie whirlpool. [Japan earthquake and tsunami disrupts currents: Huge whirlpools form off coast | Daily Mail Online](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1365414/Huge-whirlpools-form-coast-Japan-devastating-tsunami-disrupts-currents.html) the math in mr rex’s link made my brain melt. a great link and fantastic explanation. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/216 "2011-03-11T22:51:42Z")
Ah, the local newspaper has at the top of their website “Tsunami Unsettling for USC Golfers”. Thanks, The State. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/217 "2011-03-11T22:51:45Z")
> [@Hokkaido\_Brit](#): > > My husband has been given orders to go to help with the rescue. So far we only know that he’s going this morning, to somewhere in Northern Japan. Please keep them in your thoughts. I’m glad he’s going. Help is so very needed. But selfishly I’m worried for him.\ Of course you are - I would be, too. I’ll keep both of you in my thoughts (and all the Japan Dopers - I wish **Auto** would come in and make a bad joke already!). ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/218 "2011-03-11T23:00:30Z")
> [@Hal\_Briston](#): > > They’re no better on CNN. One of their vapid talking heads gave this brilliant bit this morning: > > “…which is 400 kilometers from the epicenter. That’s nearly _fifty miles_.” > > Yeah, you’re only off by about 200 miles. > > And nothing new on **Auto** ’s facebook. I had to turn off CNN early this morning when I heard the governor of Hawaii talking about how difficult it is to evacuate all 900 million people people in Hawaii. ---
**Author:** ![Sakuma\_Drops](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Sakuma\_Drops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sakuma_Drops)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/219 "2011-03-11T23:09:33Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > By the way, does anyone know what this earthquake would read on the Richter scale? I’m curious, now. The magnitude would be roughly the same, but scientists like moment-magnitude for estimating the intensity of larger quakes because it’s a little more accurate at extremely high magnitudes. You can think of the Richter scale being a “ballpark” estimate of a quake’s intensity. Also, the M-M scale is more accurate for measuring earthquakes that are far away from wherever the seismograph readings were taken. Don’t know if anyone posted this yet, but the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center now [estimates the quake’s magnitude at 9.1](http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/breaking/Tsunami_warning_center_raises_magnitude_of_Japan_quake_to_91.html#), which would make it the 3rd or 4th strongest in recorded history (the 2004 Indian Ocean quake was 9.1 also, to give you an idea). ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279/220 "2011-03-11T23:15:22Z")
> [@user\_hostile](#): > > You wanna see skyscrapers move and twist–[link](http://www.gadling.com/2011/03/11/video-swaying-skyscrapers-in-tokyo/?ncid=&a_dgi=aolshare_twitter). > > I should think that should be reassuring actually. :eek: I suddenly want to avoid skyscrapers. Permanently. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-earthquake-in-northeast-japan/574279.md?page=12)