Massive Earthquake Off The Japanese Coast

[brvheart 1,752]

An energy map provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shows the intensity of the tsunami caused by the magnitude 8.9 earthquake which struck Japan on March 11, 2011. A tsunami warning has been issued for the entire Pacific basin except mainland United States and Canada following a huge earthquake that hit Japan on Friday, the U.S. Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said. The warning includes Hawaii and extends from Mexico down to South American countries on the Pacific, the center said. (NOAA/Tsunami Warning Center/)#This is so bad-ass. I can't believe we have this technology.

[DinkDonk 1]

Fuuuuuck.

[LongLiveYorke 38]

This is so bad-ass. I can't believe we have this technology.

I imagine it's satellites measuring the maximum ocean hight during the window that the tsunami was passing through minus the average ocean height of that area (in centimeters). Yeah, it's pretty awesome.

[El Guapo 8]

Scientists said the quake ranked as the fifth-largest earthquake in the world since 1900 and was nearly 8,000 times stronger than one that devastated Christchurch, New Zealand, last month.

Much like our national deficit, these numbers are so large, we really cannot comprehend them.

[LongLiveYorke 38]

Much like our national deficit, these numbers are so large, we really cannot comprehend them.

I disagree. These numbers are difficult to interpret not because of how large they are, but rather because they are several levels of abstraction away from anything tangible that we can understand.Though our national debt is very large, it is inherently measured in dollars, and everybody understands what a dollar is. Earthquakes, on the other hand, are measured in several ways. The Richter scale measures the amputate of the shake, but there's also the amount of time that the shaking took place, the total energy released into the earth, the location of the quake's epicenter (was it near a population, was it underwater and cause a tsunami, etc). Even if all these numbers were given and they were reasonably sized, one would still have a difficult time imagining the effect on people who lived through them or people who suffer in the aftermath.Incidentally, one should also remember that the Richter scale is logarithmic. This means that an earthquake of scale 9.0 is ten times as strong as one of 8.0, and 100 times as strong as one of 7.0. So, this quake was big...

[SBriand 4]

Nagano just had a 6.6 earthquake. Not an aftershock, but another earthquake.The island of Honshu moved 8 feet after the earlier earthquake. That is amazing.

[Skeleton Jelly 2]

I disagree.

I think Guapo's point is that we don't fully appreciate just how large either number really is.

[GeneralGeeWhiz 0]

An energy map provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shows the intensity of the tsunami caused by the magnitude 8.9 earthquake which struck Japan on March 11, 2011. A tsunami warning has been issued for the entire Pacific basin except mainland United States and Canada following a huge earthquake that hit Japan on Friday, the U.S. Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said. The warning includes Hawaii and extends from Mexico down to South American countries on the Pacific, the center said. (NOAA/Tsunami Warning Center/)#This is so bad-ass. I can't believe we have this technology.

holy shhhhhhhhit.

[Mercury69 3]

After-shocks: They're saying that one AS was over 7 and another 6.6. Tsunami warnings still very much in effect

[Fubar The Sperm 1]

I'm in Indonesia on vacation. Just left japan a few days ago. Thankfully just missed it. We didn't even here about it until we turned on BBC last night. Hopefully for everyone this is the extent of it.

[custom36 4]

Video of a giant whirlpool, with a boat caught in it/Awesome picture of a tsunami taking over a town. And of course, I mean awesome in the awe-inspiring way.Edit - I can't like directly to the picture, but it's the 4th picture in.

[AmScray 355]

So, this morning, they were reporting the death toll as "rising to 60". I laughed out loud.I don't know what it's up to now, but can we learn a fucking lesson for once and just not bother to report death tolls until some sort of a preliminary assesment has been done? Every time we report death tolls when the fires are still burning, they are DRASTICALLY underestimated. It's like how after every major hurricane, there's some idiot reporter who waits it out in a hotel somewhere then does a live report within minutes of the storms bulk passing, talking about how it 'wasn't as bad as originally expected..." It was this way with Andrew, it was this way with Katrina... Then, once we get some planes in the air and the reports start coming in, we know that isn't the case.The over/under is set at 1000. I'll take the over. If this were in China or India, it would've been in the hundreds of thousands.

[FCP Bob 1,312]

Obviously people trying to get a darwin award...

http://abcnews.go.com/US/california-man-sw...ory?id=13112901A man who went to the California coast to photograph the tsunami wave spawned by the Japanese earthquake was washed out to sea today and the Coast Guard has mounted a search for him. The missing man was the only reported casualty of the wave that raced across the Pacific at 500 mph threatening to strike with waves as high as 9 feet high

[AmScray 355]

A man who went to the California coast to photograph the tsunami wave spawned by the Japanese earthquake was washed out to sea today and the Coast Guard has mounted a search for him.

No one should be wasting energy searching for that man.

[ShakeZuma 585]

Why are Japanese people so weird? I mean, like 40% of the people carry around surgical masks? Really?

I noticed that too, but I also notice that they are all just fuck all impeccably dressed. like every single person who wasn't an emergency worker was decked out in a suit and tie or some other really nice outfit. jesus, how much of a fag am I? god damn earthquake leads to a tsunami and I'm like "oh nice suit!"

The over/under is set at 1000. I'll take the over. If this were in China or India, it would've been in the hundreds of thousands.

yeah this is the last number I've heard too. and while I'd have to take the over too, I have to say, if the death toll for this thing stays even remotely close to 1,000, then you really have to give the japanese government and people a HUGE amount of credit for disaster preparedness and whatnot. 8.9? like you said, ANYWHERE else and that's 100k easy.

[ShakeZuma 585]

yeah, this could be a problem

[brvheart 1,752]

So, this morning, they were reporting the death toll as "rising to 60". I laughed out loud.I don't know what it's up to now, but can we learn a fucking lesson for once and just not bother to report death tolls until some sort of a preliminary assesment has been done? Every time we report death tolls when the fires are still burning, they are DRASTICALLY underestimated. It's like how after every major hurricane, there's some idiot reporter who waits it out in a hotel somewhere then does a live report within minutes of the storms bulk passing, talking about how it 'wasn't as bad as originally expected..." It was this way with Andrew, it was this way with Katrina... Then, once we get some planes in the air and the reports start coming in, we know that isn't the case.The over/under is set at 1000. I'll take the over. If this were in China or India, it would've been in the hundreds of thousands.

I would take the over on 10,000. Is there some information I don't know? These videos show people driving on roads and then being washed away instantly. I know they were warning people, but it sure seems like everyone was still in the path. I have to believe most of those houses floating down the river had people in them.

[hblask 1]

I would take the over on 10,000. Is there some information I don't know? These videos show people driving on roads and then being washed away instantly. I know they were warning people, but it sure seems like everyone was still in the path. I have to believe most of those houses float down the river had people in them.

That was my thought, but the initial toll was low...so maybe.

[Balloon guy 158]

Really surprised if it stays below 1,000Terrible terrible happening for Japan.

[AmScray 355]

Apparently the guy in California was found dead.

[5:15 p.m. ET, 7:15 a.m. Tokyo] A 25-year-old man who was washed out to sea while trying to photograph the tsunami in northern California was confirmed dead Friday, according to Del Norte, California, authorities.

2011 Darwin Award Frontrunner.

[AmScray 355]

I would take the over on 10,000.

I'll take the under on 10K, although it now seems that 1K is guaranteed and will probably run deep once the recovery efforts are underway. I remember right after the Indian Ocean Tsunami, the early 'predictions' were up to 10,000 people killed. That turned out to be, what... Hundreds of thousands?Still, being Japan, with all things considered, I'll take the under on 10K, but wouldn't be shocked if it got really high.

[vbnautilus 48]

I'll take the under on 10K, although it now seems that 1K is guaranteed and will probably run deep once the recovery efforts are underway. I remember right after the Indian Ocean Tsunami, the early 'predictions' were up to 10,000 people killed. That turned out to be, what... Hundreds of thousands?Still, being Japan, with all things considered, I'll take the under on 10K, but wouldn't be shocked if it got really high.

Deadliest natural disastersRank Death toll (estimate) Event Location Date1. 1,000,000–2,500,000 1931 China floods China July, November, 19312. 900,000–2,000,000 1887 Yellow River flood China September, October, 18873. 830,000 1556 Shaanxi earthquake Shaanxi Province, China January 23, 15564. 500,000 1970 Bhola cyclone East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) November 13, 19705. 316,000 2010 Haiti earthquake Port-au-Prince, Haiti January 12, 20106. 300,000 1839 India Cyclone India November 25, 18397. 250,000–300,000 526 Antioch earthquake Antioch, Turkey May 5268. 242,419 (the death toll has been estimated to be as high as 665,000) 1976 Tangshan earthquake Tangshan, Hebei, China July 28, 19769. 234,117 1920 Haiyuan earthquake Haiyuan, Ningxia-Gansu, China December 16, 192010. 230,210 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami Sumatra, Indonesia December 26, 2004

[chrozzo 19]

very tragic

[TwstdWrstr 10]

You can use Google earth to live track any earthquake anywhere in the world. I snapped this screen shot about half an hour ago.Google-USGS earthquake map

[brvheart 1,752]

I'll take the under on 10K, although it now seems that 1K is guaranteed and will probably run deep once the recovery efforts are underway. I remember right after the Indian Ocean Tsunami, the early 'predictions' were up to 10,000 people killed. That turned out to be, what... Hundreds of thousands?Still, being Japan, with all things considered, I'll take the under on 10K, but wouldn't be shocked if it got really high.

http://www.france24.com/en/20110311-live-c...arthquake-japan