We’ve written about earthquakes a ton in the past month or two, as well as before that. So, when a friend shared this new infographic with me on “the energy of earthquakes,” I immediately thought it might be an interesting one to put on Planetsave. Quite a fun and interesting infographic — check it out…
The level of soil liquefaction that took place as a result of the Japanese earthquake has surprised researchers who have been studying the damage.
The Tokyo Electric Power Company has released new images from Fukushima, depicting the current problem and photos of the day of the tsunami.
Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency announced that they would be raising the rating of the Fukushima nuclear crisis to a level 7.
Despite the huge loss of life following the Tonoku earthquake and consequent tsunami, the losses would have been even greater were it not for an earthquake early warning system set in place by the government of Japan following the devastating Kobe quake in the mid 1990’s.
A similar early warning system has been underway for nearly ten years in California, but remains incomplete.
Case Western Reserve University researchers have detected small amounts of Iodine 131 in the rainwater collected on the roof of a campus building. The radiation is believed to have come all the way from Japan in the wake of the near-nuclear meltdown following the massive magnitude-9 earthquake that struck the Sendai region.
Radioactive materials have been detected in seawater south of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station according to a press release from the Tokyo Electric Power Company. The radioactive materials were found from seawater around the discharge canal, which runs south from the nuclear plant which was damaged by the earthquake on March 11.
NASA has been providing a lot of photos and satellite imagery of Japan over the past week, focusing on the devastation that has affected the region surrounding the Sendai region after the magnitude-9 earthquake and subsequent tsunami that hit. Below are three more images that each show a different picture of the impact the earthquake and tsunami had on the country.
All of Japan’s wind farms are unscathed by the 9.0 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown.
The earthquake which has devastated Japan has been the focus of many this past week, not the least of which are the scientists who are studying the quake and its subsequent tsunami. Geophysicist Joachim Saul from the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences (Helmholtz Association) created an animation which shows the sequence of quakes since March 9.
The Laboratory of Applied Bioacoustics (LAB), a unit of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), directed by Professor Michel André, recorded the sound of the earthquake that hit Japan on Friday, March 11, and that recording is now available online to listen to: it is, without a doubt, a unique opportunity.
Apparently, Rush Limbaugh lacks all compassion for the people of Japan. On his show, he was laughing about the fact that Japanese are recycling even after the tremendous disasters that hit the country (video below). Not only does he mock the Japanese, but he completely mocks ABC’s Diane Sawyer. He also goes on to laugh at the fact that the Japanese, despite being very environmentally friendly, were so harmed by Mother Nature, and draws ridiculous conclusions from it.
Japan’s Emperor, in his first public appearance since Japan was struck by the 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami, stated that he was “deeply concerned” about the nuclear energy situation there and said, “I am deeply hurt by the grievous situation in the affected areas.”
Following the devastating earthquake which struck Japan and the resulting tsunami, flood waters have submerged crop lands and settlements along the affected east coast.
However one thing seems to be clear: some 40 to 70 nuclear engineers have not been evacuated from the power plant, choosing instead to stay behind in potentially fatal conditions in an attempt to prevent a nuclear meltdown which could plausibly harm thousands.
Japan was struck by what is now known as a magnitude-9 level earthquake, which took place on March 11, 2011, at 2:46 p.m. local time (05:46 UTC) off the east coast of Japan. The epicenter was 130 kilometers (80 miles) east of Sendai, and 373 kilometers (231 miles) northeast of Tokyo, and has been labeled
Following in the steps of Japan’s Meteorological Agency, the U.S. Geological Survey have agreed in upgrading the shattering earthquake that hit Japan on March 11 to a magnitude 9. This means that the earthquake was approximately 1.5 times stronger than originally thought.
astrologer has also predicted that such a close perigee would/must somehow perturb the earth’s (tectonic) integrity so much that it will trigger major earthquakes and even volcanoes (not simply severe storms). Although he is not clear on the exact lunar-geo-mechanisms that would produce these quakes, never-the-less this lunar-induced disaster scenario quickly set the Web abuzz with yet another wave of doom-and-gloom “apocalypticism.”
Timing is everything.
The catastrophic earthquake that rocked Japan on March 11, 2011, has taken a devastating toll on human life in the country. The strength of the quake though has also had massive geological consequences for the region, and planet Earth as a whole.
Coastal flooding from the March 11, 2011 tsunami triggered by a magnitude 8.9 earthquake off Japan’s northeast coast can be seen in this before/after image pair from the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) instrument on NASA’s Terra spacecraft.
The Japanese earthquake which measured 8.9 is being called one of the largest earthquakes ever recorded, but Robert Yeats, a professor emeritus of geology at Oregon State University, said that “this is our wake up call.”
The U.S. Seventh Fleet said Monday it had moved its ships and aircraft away from a quake-stricken Japanese nuclear power plant after discovering low-level radioactive contamination.
After a devastating earthquake struck Japan, leaving its citizens searching for family members and loved ones. A tsunami emerged and added to the devastation. Now, Japan has initiated a Nuclear Emergency after several of their nuclear reactor cooling systems failed.
A ship carrying about 100 people was swept away by the huge tsunami that hit Japan on Friday and its fate was unknown, public broadcaster NHK reported, citing Miyagi prefecture police.
One of Indonesia’s most active volcano’s has erupted, sending lava and searing gas clouds tumbling down its slopes.
The major earthquake that just hit Japan, may have just triggered the some volcanoes in Russia. While reports are still vague on the incident there is a strong correlation between the two incidents. In Russia there are reports that earthquakes where felt during the eruption.
Top videos of Japan earthquake and tsunami
Top news & resources on Japan earthquake & tsunami
Update (3:20am EST on Monday, March 14): A number of people commenting on here in the last day or so have confirmed that everything is OK in Okinawa — it didn’t get hit very hard. Thanks to all the people sharing info in the comments below! Okinawa, Japan is home to 14 large U.S. military
Update (9:20 EST): a 6-foot surge has been reported in Kahului Harbor Waves are now pushing higher and higher up the beaches of Hawaii. No damage has been reported yet. A few minutes ago, Khon2 News from Hawaii reported: The wave surges at Waikiki Beach on Oahu were noticed shortly after 3:20 a.m. Friday. It
UPDATE: It appears that the 7.2 quake on March 9 was a foreshock for an 8.8/8.9 megaquake in roughly the same area. More coverage on the top news and top resources regarding the Japan earthquake and tsunami here. Read on for a description of the 7.2 foreshock, originally published on March 9th. A magnitude 7.2
Coming up later this month (March 19 to be exact) the moon will make its closest approach to Earth (called lunar perigee) in 18 years. A new or full moon at 90% or greater of its closest perigee to Earth has been named a “SuperMoon” by astrologer Richard Nolle. This term has recently been picked
Arkansas has been rocked with earthquakes and now scientists are investigating their relationship to earthquakes, as two natural gas companies have agreed to temporarily suspend use of injection wells in central Arkansas where earthquakes keep occurring. The high-pressure wells are used to dispose of waste water from natural gas drilling. The two drilling operations are Chesapeake Energy and
A day after a powerful magnitude 6.3 earthquake rocked Christchurch, a city of 377,000 on New Zealand’s South Island, on Feb. 22, 2011, the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) instrument on NASA’s Terra spacecraft imaged the Christchurch region. The imaging was done at the request of the International Charter, Space and Major
Earthquakes are one of those phenomenon that occur and immediately elicit sympathy and empathy from those watching on TV. But they seem like they’re a semi-irregular occurrence, taking place maybe twice a year. At least, that would appear to be the situation if we were directed solely by TV news. In New Zealand, earthquakes are
Russia Today, on their YouTube channel, has posted footage taken of the Christchurch in the aftermath of the 6.3-magnitude earthquake that hit on Tuesday.
With the scale of just how hard and damaging the recent 6.3-magnitude quake quickly increasing with each hour that passes, with each revision of the dead and missing, Australia has increased the number of rescue experts they are sending in to help. Attorney-General Robert McClelland announced on Tuesday that Australia would be sending a total
I’ve already covered the earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand from a human perspective, including sharing a number of photos from the disaster, and covered the tremendous 30 million tons of ice the earthquake knocked off Tasman Glacier, the country’s largest glacier. Now, here’s a little more detail on the earthquake from the U.S. Geological Survey
In addition to the horrible human catastrophe that is currently unfolding from the 6.3 magnitude earthquake that just struck Christchurch, New Zealand earlier today, the quake has apparently caused 30 million tons of ice to fall off the Tasman Glacier, New Zealand’s largest glacier. Passengers of two explorer boats were reportedly hit with waves of
The Chinese have been recording and describing the earthquakes that rumble underneath their country for the past two-thousand years. Using this data, University of Missouri researcher Mian Liu, professor of geological sciences in the College of Arts and Science, has theorized that mid-continent earthquakes tend to move among fault systems, rather than along the same
Jeremy Bloom of our sister site Red, Green, and Blue has a great follow-up to the mass bird death story that gets into the very likely possibility that the deaths are related to hydraulic fracking (the top possibility in my mind) as well as other interesting topics. Here’s the intro: Alfred Hitchcock must be smiling.
Thankfully, our recent story on 3,000-5,000 blackbirds falling from the sky and dying in Arkansas on New Year’s Eve has gotten quite a few comments and brought up some additional potential explanations. In addition to these, I’ve gone searching for more potential answers and have found a few worth sharing. But before getting into these,
I know, you are extremely curious to find out which posts on Planetsave got the most views in 2010. I was too. Here they are, the top 30. Did you read them all? 30. Amazon River (10 Friday Photos) People love pretty pictures, (especially of the Amazon). 29. Top Environmental Organizations in the United States (7 Green
It has been six years since the devastating Earthquake that rocked Indonesia on Boxing Day of 2004, but in that time scientists have not been idle. The German-Indonesian Tsunami Early Warning System for the Indian Ocean, tidily known as GITEWS, has been completed and will end on the 31 of March before being handed over
A multi-disciplinary team of researchers have presented the most up to date and advanced simulation of earthquake shaking yet, at the Supercomputing 2010 conference held this week in New Orleans. The “M8” simulation depicts a magnitude 8.0 earthquake on the southern San Andreas Fault in much greater detail than has ever been seen before in
