Earthquake List for Map of Asia Region - USGS
The Japan quake was the fifth-largest recorded in the world since 1900. The quake was an estimated 299 kilometres long and 150 kilometres wide, and occurred where the North American and Pacific tectonic plates intersect, in the northwest region of the "Ring of Fire."
March 13th: Satellite Photos of Japan, Before and After the Quake and Tsunami
Japan Earthquakes Continues with Hundreds of Major Aftershocks - March 12, 2011 - Terror from the Japan earthquake continues today as hundred of major earthquake aftershocks strike Japan's east coast near Honshu. Now within the last twenty four hours, Japan's earthquake aftershocks, of 5.0 magnitude or greater, are numbering into the hundreds. Today alone there have been several earthquake aftershocks in excess of 6.0 magnitude and many even more severe. Japan suffered a 6.8 magnitude earthquake shortly before noon local time Saturday. The quake had a shallow depth of fifteen miles below the earth's surface. It registered one hundred miles east of Honshu, one hundred miles east of Sendai, and two hundred miles from Tokyo. This aftershock registered in the same location as the countless other aftershocks today. Two hours earlier, Japan shortly after 10 am local time Saturday suffered a 6.4 earthquake as well.
The location of the mainshock and 228 aftershocks are seen off the eastern coast of Japan in this graphic courtesy the U.S. Geological Survey, Saturday, March 12, 2011.
March 13 - Meltdown
Caused Nuke Plant Explosion: Safety Body
TOKYO (Nikkei)--The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) said Saturday
afternoon the explosion at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant could only
have been caused by a meltdown of the reactor core. The same day, Tokyo
Electric Power Co. (9501), which runs the plant, began to flood the damaged
reactor with seawater to cool it down, resorting to measures that could
rust the reactor and force the utility to scrap it. Cesium and iodine, by-products
of nuclear fission, were detected around the plant, which would make the
explosion the worst accident in the roughly 50-year history of Japanese
nuclear power generation.
An explosion was heard near the plant's No. 1 reactor about 3:30 p.m. and plumes of white smoke went up 10 minutes later. The ceiling of the building housing the reactor collapsed, according to information obtained by Fukushima prefectural authorities. At a news conference Saturday night, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano discounted the possibility of a significant leak of radioactive material from the accident. "The walls of the building containing the reactor were destroyed, meaning that the metal container encasing the reactor did not explode," Edano said. The amount of radiation detected inside the plant after 4:00 p.m. slightly exceeded the dose people can safely receive in a year, according to information obtained by the Fukushima prefectural government.
Indonesian Volcano Erupts, Sends Lava and Gas - One of Indonesia's most active volcanoes, Mount Karangetang, erupted Friday, March 11th, sending lava and searing gas clouds down its slopes. The 1 784-meter mountain is located on Siau, part of the Sulawesi island chain. It last erupted in August, killing four people.The eruption occurred hours after a devastating 8.9-magnitude earthquake hit Japan and triggered a Pacific-wide tsunami.
Japan Earthquake Triggered Volcano Eruption In Russia? - In the Russian Far East, there has been a strong volcanic eruption. The air got a great cloud of volcanic dust, which can pose a threat to air traffic in the region.
March 12, 2011 - Japan pre-dawn quakes cause landslides in Niigata - A strong 6.7-magnitude earthquake hit Japan's mountainous Niigata prefecture northwest of Tokyo before dawn Saturday, causing landslides and avalanches and destroying some wooden houses. The quakes struck in the west of the main Honshu island, on the Sea of Japan coast and far from the offshore Pacific Ocean tremor that triggered a mammoth tsunami Friday that is feared to have killed more than 1,000 people.
Quake shifted island, sped up Earth's rotation - The 8.9-magnitude quake moved Japan's main island by 2.4 metres, in addition to shifting Earth on its axis and briefly speeding up its rotation. Late Friday, scientists at NASA revealed the quake shaved more than a microsecond from the day. The quake, which lasted about two minutes, sped up the earth's rotation by about 1.6 microseconds. While the speed change was only slightly more than what was caused by last year's earthquake in Chile, it was considerably less than the quake in Sumatra in 2004. That quake sped up the Earth's rotation by 6.8 microseconds. A report from Italy's National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology suggested Friday's quake shifted the Earth on its axis by an estimated 10 centimetres.
Seabed split; quake tilted Earth's axis 10 cm - The massive quake, estimated to be nearly 1,000 times more powerful than the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake that killed more than 6,000 people, was caused by a rupture near the boundary between the Pacific and North American tectonic plates. The quake was created when the Pacific plate slipped under Japan at the Japan Trench, causing tsunami as high as 10 meters to slam the east coast. Experts estimate the impact of the world's fifth-largest quake caused a displacement of about 20 meters and a fault a few hundred kilometers long.
On Saturday an Italian geological institute said Japan's strongest earthquake probably shifted the Earth's axis by about 10 cm. The institute said the impact the earthquake had on the Earth's axis was far larger than the impact of the Sumatra quake. The report also quoted experts as saying last year's earthquake in Chile probably shifted the Earth's axis by 7.6 cm.
March 12, 2011 - An explosion shattered a building housing a nuclear reactor Saturday, amid fears of a meltdown, while across wide swaths of northeastern Japan. Saturdya's explosion was caused by vented hydrogen gas and destroyed the exterior walls of the building where the reactor is, but not the actual metal housing enveloping the reactor. Edano said the radiation around the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant had not risen after the blast, but had in fact decreased. Authorities have also evacuated people from a 12-mile (20-kilometer) radius around the reactor. The explosion was caused by hydrogen interacting with oxygen outside the reactor. The hydrogen was formed when the superheated fuel rods came in contact with water being poured over it to prevent a meltdown. Officials have said that radiation levels were elevated before the blast: At one point, the plant was releasing each hour the amount of radiation a person normally absorbs from the environment each year. Read more...
Japanese quake's epicenter located near Marian apparition site - The epicenter of the earthquake is located near the site of an apparition in which Mary warned about a worldwide disaster that could afflict humanity. In 1973, the Virgin Mary was said to have predicted a number of future events - including natural disasters even more serious than Friday's earthquake and tsunami - during three appearances to a Japanese religious sister, Sr. Agnes Sasagawa. Japanese church officials have confirmed that the Diocese of Sendai, in the north of the country, was hit hardest by the 8.8 magnitude earthquake - the worst in Japanese history - and the resulting 23-foot waves.
Recent major earthquakes to hit Japan
Following are dates of some major recent quakes. Tokyo, with a population of 12 million, sits on the junction of four tectonic plates: the Eurasian, North American, Philippine and Pacific.
Aug. 16, 2005 - A major quake with a magnitude of 7.2 rocked a region about 300 km (190 miles) north of Tokyo, injuring more than 80 people.
Oct. 23, 2004 - A 6.8 magnitude quake hit the Niigata region, about 250 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo, killing 65 people and injuring 3,000.
Jan. 17, 1995 - A quake of 7.3 magnitude struck, killing more than 6,400 in the western city of Kobe in 1995. It caused $100 billion in damage and was the costliest natural disaster in history.
The Great Kanto earthquake on Sept. 1, 1923, had a magnitude of 7.9. It killed more than 140,000 people in the Tokyo area and seismologists have said another such quake could hit the city any time.
The Japan Earthquake series is continuing with this map of the Asia area on March 11, 2011:
Magnitude 8.9 - Near The East Coast Of Honshu, Japan at a depth of 24.4 km (15.2 miles). Many large aftershocks are occurring.
2011 March 11 05:46:23 UTCFor a listing of the 186 earthquakes on this map, click here
March 11, 2011 -Crescent City, Santa Cruz hit hard by tsunami from Japan quake
Tsunami alert sparks evacuations from Hawaii to Easter Island.
Earthquake Magnitude 7.2 - Near The East Coast Of Honshu, Japan
2011 March 09 02:45:18 UTC - (Tuesday, March 08, 2011 at 07:45:18 PM (MST) - Mountain Standard (Calgary, Denver, Phoenix)
Depth 14.1 km (8.8 miles)
Location 38.510°N, 142.792°E
7.2 quake off Japan triggers small tsunami - March 9, 2011 - The tremor struck about 10 kilometres below the Pacific sea floor, about 160 kilometres off Japan's main island of Honshu. The earthquake lasted for more than 30 seconds, swaying buildings in the capital, shutting down bullet train operations and triggering a tsunami warning. A 60-centimetre surge was later recorded along coastal areas. The worlds seimic monitors are showing Mother Earth is "ringing like a bell" on all the monitors.
Tectonic Summary
The 03/09/2011 earthquake near the east coast of Honshu, Japan, occurred as a result of thrust faulting on or near the subduction zone interface plate boundary between the Pacific and North America plates. At the latitude of this earthquake, the Pacific plate moves approximately westwards with respect to the North America plate at a velocity of 83 mm/yr. The Pacific plate thrusts underneath the North America plate at the Japan Trench, and dips to the west. The location, depth, and focal mechanism of the March 9 earthquake are consistent with the event having occurred as thrust faulting associated with subduction along this plate boundary.
The Japan Trench subduction zone experiences reasonably frequent large earthquakes, and has hosted 9 events of magnitude 7 or greater since 1973. The largest of these was an M 7.8 earthquake approximately 230 km to the north of the March 9 event, in December 1994, which caused 3 fatalities and almost 700 injuries. In June of 1978, an M 7.7 earthquake 75 km to the southwest caused 22 fatalities and over 400 injuries. In December of 2008, a sequence of 4 strong earthquakes (M 5.3-5.8) occurred within 20 km of the March 9 event. In the first 12 hours following the March 9 earthquake, the region has experienced over a dozen aftershocks of M 5 or greater, the largest being M 5.7.
Aftershocks: 18 aftershock quakes with one at 6.0 and another at 6.1 magnitude as of 18:44 UTC on March 9, 2011.
The U.S Geological Survey is reporting that a magnitude 6.3 earthquake has hit off the coast of Honshu, Japan's main island. The earthquake hit at a depth of about 1 mile below sea level. Honshu is the largest island of Japan, and is home to both Tokyo and Yokohama. According to Reuters, the quake was centered 126 miles from the city of Sendai.
Worldwide Seismic Maps "Ringing Like A Bell":
Seismic Station - Waverly, Tennessee, USA
Sierra la Laguna Baja California Sur, Mexico
Matsushiro, Japan
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