At 2:46 P.M. a magnitude 8.9 earthquake struck Japan. This quake was easily the largest quake to hit the small island country since seismologists began keeping records of earthquakes in the early 1800’s. Leading up to the large quake on Friday morning several other foreshocks could be felt. One of which was a 7.3 just days prior that luckily caused no damage. For a country that is somewhat used to this type of disaster and has in place immense safety planning, this disaster came as a surprise not because of the actual earthquake, but because of the tsunami that followed. So far many hundreds of people are missing, around 400 are already confirmed dead and over 500 have been reported injured. The epicenter of the earthquake was about 80 miles off the eastern coast, and was around 240 northeast of Tokyo.
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| This picture shows the estimated times of arrival for the tsunami as it spreads through the Pacific |
The article points out that a tsunami warning was issued for a number of areas in the Pacific, Southeast Asian and Latin American nations, including Japan, Russia, Indonesia, New Zealand and Chile. However, as waves arrive in these destinations, little has been reported in damage. In fact, in Indonesia predictions of a 6 foot tsunami wave were reported, only 4 inches of water struck the land mass. It is still very early to tell the true extent of damage of this disaster. Though despite it being the worst magnitude to strike Japan, it is already showing signs that their preplanned safety designs took effect. The death toll for this quake is extremely low, which is obviously a very good thing. “Japan's worst previous quake was in 1923 in Kanto, an 8.3-magnitude temblor that killed 143,000 people, according to USGS. A 7.2-magnitude quake in Kobe city in 1996 killed 6,400 people.”
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| The Tsunami crashes into Japan's coastline |
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110311/ap_on_re_as/as_japan_earthquake
