MASSIVE 8.9 magnitude earthquake just hit Japan, some 80 miles offshore and ~240 miles northeast of Tokyo. Massive 13ft tsunami railed the eastern coast of Japan and has done incredible damage. No nuclear power plants destroyed and apparently this was the 7th largest earthquake in modern times. Tsunami sirens sounding in Hawaii right now and evacuations are in effect. Tsunami arrival time is 3:00am local time with up to a 3meter wave. Tsunami watch in effect on the Pacific coast of the U.S. right now. Arrival time is 8-9:00am on the west coast with ~3-5foot tsunami expected. They just said Kurihara, Japan, was completely destroyed and over 20 million building in Tokyo are without power. Waves of up to 10m were reported from Sendai. There are still damaging aftershocks occurring. http://earthquake-report.com/2011/03/11/massive-earthquake-out-of-the-honshu-coast-japan/ Good luck to all who will/have been affected.
If anyone is on the west coast (Zach) sees this before 9am, it'd be sweet to see some videos or pictures of the wave coming in in a few hours. Hopefully, when I wake up later today, you guys will have updated this thread with more information. Be safe.
Crazy...hopefully it doesn't hit Hawaii or the West Coast of the US, but with an earthquake that big it seems pretty likely that something will reach Hawaii. Hoping for the best...
i understand the sentiment in which this was posted, but one of the things i got to see while in the maldives this summer was a photo exhibit on one of the islands of the aftermath of the 2004 tsunami on that island...& it was one of the scariest things i've ever seen in a photograph. the islands there are low, no more than 3 or 4 feet above sea level, so the waves just washed right over it, barely slowing down. most of the buildings were leveled, there were still jagged, half destroyed homes lining some of the streets of the town, waiting to be repaired or pulled down entirely. a neighboring atoll was washed completely away...destroyed as if by the hand of god, no trace it had ever existed. & b/c of the way the atolls there developed, & how the reefs wrap around the islands, the waves refracted entirely around the islands, coming at the people from all sides. it was like being surrounded by a massive wall of water traveling at 300mph. i would die a happy man if i never saw anything like that again.
<object width="460" height="370"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.guardian.co.uk/video/embed"></param> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param> <param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param> <param name="flashvars" value="endpoint=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2011/mar/11/japan-earthquake-tsunami-video/json"></param> <embed src="http://www.guardian.co.uk/video/embed" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="460" height="370" flashvars="endpoint=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2011/mar/11/japan-earthquake-tsunami-video/json"></embed> </object> Wow, that is crazy - hope they were prepared. otherwise the people in the coastal towns are ****ed! Say a prayer. Maybe the earth really is ending on May 21. Biggest quake to hit New Zealand, Now this...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2011/mar/11/japan-earthquake-tsunami-video Wow, that is crazy - hope they were prepared. otherwise the people in the coastal towns are ****ed! Say a prayer. Maybe the earth really is ending on May 21. Biggest quake to hit New Zealand, Now this...
I have a cousin who works in Japan, said they're still getting aftershocks in the 6's... crazy stuff.
Japan ... total disaster. The tsunami passed through the FSM 3 hours ago to be honest I didn't even notice. Granted it is dark but I live above the beach on the side of the Island facing Japan which makes me wonder... either the super shallow reefs around the island (can't hold over DOH) and a negative tide late this evening broke up the tsunami.... or hate to say it but the tsunami headed across the Pacific is way over-hyped (I hope it is the later).
"Massive 13ft tsunami railed the eastern coast of Japan and has done incredible damage."?? This is what I read: The magnitude 8.9 offshore quake unleashed a 23-foot (7-meter) tsunami and was followed by more than 50 aftershocks for hours, many of them of more than magnitude 6.0. Sad situation for anyone!!!!!!!!!!!
Yeah I just read the same thinng 23ft wave ,this is said to be the largest Tsunami in recorded Japan history and 5th largest in the world . Definatly sad and my thought and prayers go out to all my friends in Japan , Hawaii , and California
This is brutal and reminds us how much power natural can yield. Hopefully not much human life will be lost in its path. It think the west coast will be ok though.
hawaiian and west coasters still need to be on caution.... if you are in a vulnerable area, do what is necessary for worst case scnearios.
ummm?? so are tsunamis messured different? a 13ft wave or even a 23ft wave is far from a city crusher?? they must be measured different? can anyone explain??
I'm really not positive but I believe the wave height that Matt's referring to is in open water. That height will increase considerably once it becomes a breaking wave, as it approaches shallower water.
its really the speed its moving at . The wave gains great speed in open water. a 4ft wave hitting the Califonia cost and pick up speeds of up too 400mph. they move so fast they destroy everything in its path
Yeah, a normal 13 ft or a 23 ft wave def have power, but with a tsunami, there is a lot more speed and a lot more behind it!!!!!! Just a lot greater mass of water / power! I was looking through some of the pics on line, VERY SAD to see how much destruction there is!
you have to think of it as an extremely fast moving tide, so just imagine a high tide 23 ft. above normal moving at 200 to 300 mph. the cross section of waves we think of are like this: _/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\ Tsunami is like this: _/TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT\_
