8.9 Quake hits off coast of Japan! Live Updates.

Factbox: Aid and rescue offers for Japan quake

* U.S. President Barack Obama said the United States stood "ready to help the Japanese people in this time of great trial." The Defense Department said it was preparing American forces in the Pacific to provide earthquake and tsunami relief.

The U.S. Air Force also flew coolant to a nuclear plant to help deal with a potentially dangerous breakdown of the cooling system, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said.

The next few hours will bring to light much more devastation as daylight comes to Japan.

For those without TV atm here is a good BBC live feed covering the situation in Japan . www.bbc.co.uk...

ok fox finially reported the leak but only for 2 sec then on to old news wow !

If radiation leaks occur, long term health problems associated with this quake will go on for decades.




God bless you the people of Japan.

Several members have asked if the large number of aftershocks in Japan after the magnitude 8.9 quake is normal. Unfortunately, yes: it is normal to have many aftershocks after such a huge event. Even smaller quakes often produce aftershocks, but huge megathrust (subduction) events like this one are known to produce them, and they can in fact go on for many weeks and in some cases even longer.

Here is an image from EMSC (the European and Mediterranean Seismic Centre) of the quake area:


As you can see, there are a large number of aftershocks mapped. Also, if you note the purple line that runs from lower left up to top right on the map, that shows the subduction zone boundary. This is the place where one plate is colliding with another and sliding under it. The quakes don't have to occur right on that line, but can be some kilometres (miles) either side of it.

The energies involved in megathrust quakes like this one are so enormous that it takes the crust in the region a long time to "settle down" again, and as part of that "settling" process, there are aftershocks.

Here's another map. This one is from USGS (the United States Geological Survey). The format is slightly different but it still gives you a very good idea of how these aftershocks appear:


Please note that the time given on the map is for when I took the screenshot. It's not the time of the original quake.

You can access the main USGS world quake map page here, and the main map page for EMSC is here.

If you would like to read a little about aftershocks from a previous large megathrust quake, a good example is the magnitude 8.8 quake in Chile on Feb 27, 2010. There are even threads here on ATS about that quake, with members who live in that region who posted to tell us what it was like to live through the quake and all of the nerve-wracking aftershocks.

Here's hoping that there will not be too many very large aftershocks in Japan. It is not uncommon to have a few aftershocks around 1 to 2 magnitudes less than the main shock, and as there has already been a 7.1 and some in the mag 6 range, with some good fortune most of the others will not be beyond magnitude 5. However, as the people in Japan know very well, nothing is guaranteed. All we can do on their behalf is hope for the best.

Mike

Could it be HAARP? I mean it would make sense and everything, with the Japanese economy booming, its a simple and non-tracable way to get rid of competition...

edition.cnn.com...

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Originally posted by defenestrator

Originally posted by NeoAstra
im watching foxnews right now, and they just said the cooling system failed.
sooo. turn on your tv?

I don't have an antenna, and you don't really have an excuse, it is standard procedure on this board to provide a reference. I wasn't rude to you, please be more mature.

Then use the internet. There's plenty of online new sources to look up and yes the cooling system of one of the nuclear plants have failed.
You shouldn't have to be spoon fed

Originally posted by bluemooone2
For those without TV atm here is a good BBC live feed covering the situation in Japan . www.bbc.co.uk...

Thank you very kindly indeed!

reply to post by defenestrator


i wasn't being rude either.
sorry i didnt say it was from fox, i figured it would have been common knowledge momentarily..

reports on cresent city officials say 8FT waves 25 boats destroyed
also homes destroyed

KGO Radio tweets: "Crescent City OES: All docks are gone after first surge, 35 boats crushed, water starting to fill harbor parking lot."

Did you all totally miss that there are also volcanoes now erupting???

www.theweatherspace.com...

www.abovetopsecret.com...

And let's not forget the dead fish in California just a couple of days ago or the ginormous solar flare...

~Namaste

Then use the internet. There's plenty of online new sources to look up and yes the cooling system of one of the nuclear plants have failed.
You shouldn't have to be spoon fed

Maybe you should actually read the thread. FYI, everyone knows that there are issues at the nuclear plant. However said member said that "the" cooling system "just" failed implying a new development at the plant regarding the battery powered system that has or had been cooling the reactor for the previous 10 hours or so.

CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) News host reported that there are unconfirmed reports of a bullet train & a ship missing. Does any one have any reports regarding this.

radioactive vapor reported leaking .risk of major accident small says
fox, but build up of gases bad, thats why they are venting the vapor
so it is a leak on purpose if i understand this right

reply to post by C0bzz



No this was new news to the station and the board.
the systems have failed.
not they might fail
they have.

Wow... just, wow...

My friend in coastal Washington (directly on a beach just south of the Canadian border) has reported extremely high waves.

My heart goes to the people in Japan.

I'm watching a Japanese feed through CNN...the crawl on the bottom is saying 350 now dead, over 550 missing.

More POSSIBLE tsunamis of up to 10 meters...

The keep showing night videos of Sendai, and it looks like most of it is on fire.

reply to post by lordvader


I don't think it was a bullet train missing, but it seems 2 trains are not accounted for, preumed washed away. also, 1 vessel with about 100 people on board also missing.