And frightening for the rest of countries around the Pacific Ring of Fire - I hope a quake of this magnitude doesn’t set off a chain of shifts.
<snort>, mixing science and vapid journalism is like trying to create an immiscible alloy, it’s possible, but…
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?
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.
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.
That’s…reassuring?
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.
Yeah, that was the same guy I heard. He sounded quite certain to me on that particular question, though.
But yeah, who knows.
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
You wanna see skyscrapers move and twist–link.
I should think that should be reassuring actually.
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.
Anyone heard anything from Autolycus yet?
Good luck, everyone.
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.
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
the math in mr rex’s link made my brain melt. a great link and fantastic explanation.
Ah, the local newspaper has at the top of their website “Tsunami Unsettling for USC Golfers”. Thanks, The State.
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!).
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.
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, 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).
:eek:
I suddenly want to avoid skyscrapers. Permanently.