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http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,165818,00.html

Japan Tsunami Warning After 7.2-Mag Quake
Monday, August 15, 2005


TOKYO — A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.8 struck the northeast coast of Japan (search) on Tuesday, triggering a tsunami (search) warning and shaking buildings nearly 200 miles away in Tokyo, the nation's Meteorological Agency said.

Eighty people were injured when the roof of an indoor pool collapsed in the coastal city of Sendai (search), the national broadcaster NHK reported. None of the injuries was critical, according to the Kyodo News Agency, which also reported two people injured in the neighboring prefecture of Iwata.

A 4-inch tsunami reached the Japanese shore about 15 minutes after the quake struck, NHK said, with no major damage immediately reported. While a tsunami can rise to great heights when it arrives at the shore, such waves are often barely noticeable in the ocean.

The U.S. Geological Survey registered the quake with a 7.2 magnitude.

The quake was centered nearly 13 miles beneath the ocean off the coast of Miyagi prefecture in northeastern Japan, NHK said, citing the nation's Meteorological Agency. The quake hit around 11:46 a.m. local time.

Japan sits at the juncture of four tectonic plates — or moving slabs of the earth's outer crust — and is one of the world's most quake-prone regions.

Earlier in the day, a 4.9 magnitude earthquake shook Japan's northern island of Hokkaido. There was no danger of a tsunami in that one.

A magnitude-6.0 quake shook the Tokyo area on July 23, injuring more than two dozen people and suspending flights and trains for hours. A magnitude-5 quake can damage homes and other buildings if it is centered in a heavily populated area.

A Dec. 26 earthquake with a magnitude estimated at 9.1 to 9.3 and the subsequent tsunami killed more than 131,000 people in Indonesia and left half a million homeless. Three months later, another strong temblor left more than 900 dead on Nias and smaller surrounding islands.

whoa

 

[Blackace]

yeah in Sendai there was a pretty big quake... and here in Yokohama is was about a 4...

 

[DCharlie]

"A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.8"

... fucking gamespot...

 

[XMonkey]

Can a 4-inch "tsunami" even be called a tsunami?

 

[fugimax]

... fucking gamespot...

Soon after typing this, DCharlie was found dead in his apartment -- a PSX shaken off a top shelf landed on his head and killed him instantly.

 

[Blackace]

Can a 4-inch "tsunami" even be called a tsunami?

hmm... have you seen this 4 inch tsunami? or is that your pet nickname for your....

 

[rareside]

Yay my plane leaves for Japan at 10am tomorrow!

 

[Troidal]

Yeah it shook hard in the Tokyo area too.

Sucks to be those traveling back from the obon break today!

 

[Miroku]

I was playing ESPGaluda when the quake hit. It was pretty wobbly here in Omori

 

[KingGondo]

I was in class near Shinjuku when it hit--definitely longer than the previous couple we've had, and it felt stronger. Then again, I'm not sure how much being on the fifth floor of a building has to do with that, either.

 

[Jonnyram]

I'm on the 8th floor of a tower building in Tokyo and it was scary enough. I dread to think what it was like higher up. 4 inch tsunami though? Surely that's an oxymoron.

 

[DCharlie]

i was at the bank on the 3rd floor of the same building, i'm usually on the 12th.

I was stood at the cash machine when everything thing started wobbling - i thought it was just me.

the tanoy announcing "there is an earthquake in progress" was highly amusing...

 

[-=DoAvl=-]

i was at work chattin on MSN and do shit all when the quake it. I was in melbourne though.

 

[Hurricane_Chris]

I was on the train. We were just pulling into one of the station stops when it started. The train started shaking violently and the side of it actually scraped the platform a little as we were pulling in. Scary as hell. I'm glad we weren't on the suspended bridge part of the tracks that was a few meters up.

This is the first time I've been on the train during an earthquake. It's actually really freaky. The sounds and the potential scraping against the platform is not a good feeling.

So far here are the places I've experienced an earthquake( but train is the only time I've ever been freaked out by one):

1. My home - 3rd floor and slightly old so it sways a whole bunch and creaks. Luckily usually the earthquakes are late at night so I don't really notice them unless they wake me up.
2. My old office in Gotanda. I was on the 8th floor of a REALLY old rickety ass building. That thing felt like it was going to shake apart when even the smallest earthquake happened. That and the elevators always stopped working at least 15 minutes after a quake..which was really freaky
3. New office in Osaki. I'm on the 11th floor here bu thte building is pretty new and constructed well so I can feel the gentle swaying but its really not all that bad.
4. Train -- holy hell. Actually scary.
5. Movie theatre in Shibuya - this is actually a good place for a quake to happen. Hint -- watch a slightly scary/eerie movie with a girl and have an earthquake occur during a tense part...

 

[Ghost]

Am i right it thinking Earthquakes dont actually cause Tsunamis but rather they can cause some movement in the sea (like dumping huge amount of sediment off a ridge, or something) and it's that movement that creates a tsunami?

 

[Drozmight]

Am i right it thinking Earthquakes dont actually cause Tsunamis but rather they can cause some movement in the sea (like dumping huge amount of sediment off a ridge, or something) and it's that movement that creates a tsunami?

I think it can force a section of the ocean floor upward. Then the water goes up... The december tsunami was I think a huge land slide under water.

 

[Blackace]

Am i right it thinking Earthquakes dont actually cause Tsunamis but rather they can cause some movement in the sea (like dumping huge amount of sediment off a ridge, or something) and it's that movement that creates a tsunami?

Depends where the earthquake is... if it is in the sea...then yes it will cause a Tsunami.. the poor people of Thailand can tell you that..

 

[tetsuoxb]

I was in my office on the 16th floor in downtown Osaka and it put a decent sway on the building. Kinda induced a feeling like nausea, and we all looked at each other with this woozy look until we figured out it was an earthquake.

 

[Ruzbeh]

It sucks that there are so many earthquakes in Japan. Are the buildings in Tokyo these special buildings that can wistand earthquakes better than most buildings?

 

[Blackace]

It sucks that there are so many earthquakes in Japan. Are the buildings in Tokyo these special buildings that can wistand earthquakes better than most buildings?

of course! they use robotic buildings that hover 4 inches above the ground when they sense an earthquake

 

[Pudding Tame]

I was in my office on the 16th floor in downtown Osaka and it put a decent sway on the building. Kinda induced a feeling like nausea, and we all looked at each other with this woozy look until we figured out it was an earthquake.

Yeah, the same thing happend to me in my first floor apartment in Gunma. I felt the earth shake, but this time it was making me somewhat dizzy. I noticed my clothes almost shook off the clothes bar, how violently they were shaking and the length of it told me how decent it was.

 

[Ruzbeh]

of course! they use robotic buildings that hover 4 inches above the ground when they sense an earthquake

Very funny.

I'm serious. I saw it once on Discovery how certain Japanese buildings could sway or something and how new buildings were being built and stuff. But I can't really remember.

 

[Blackace]

Very funny.

I'm serious. I saw it once on Discovery how certain Japanese buildings could sway or something and how new buildings were being built and stuff. But I can't really remember.

really the foundations are not as deep... and the are bulit different than buildings from the west... also now they are making houses at least, that sit on balls... so they can roll..back and forth.. and no I am not making that up

 

[tetsuoxb]

One of the technologies is to sit the pillars of the building on rubber balls, another one they have been looking into for super skyscrapers is to counterweight the building at the top so that it doesnt crack in the middle when it sways.

This is a video of the home version of the rubber ball tech: http://www.sekisuihouse.co.jp/cm/movies/medium/016/index.html

 

[warabi-mochi]

Heh, I was on the 19th floor of my building in Chiba when that 6.0 earthquake hit in July. The epicenter was nice and close in Funabashi. Of course, that was really the first decently large quake I've ever experienced, so I found the whole thing to be rather interesting. My students of course think I'm crazy when I mention I wasn't frightened.

Barely noticed the quake today. Although, walking outside with no visual point of reference tends to do that I guess.

 

[Blackace]

One of the technologies is to sit the pillars of the building on rubber balls, another one they have been looking into for super skyscrapers is to counterweight the building at the top so that it doesnt crack in the middle when it sways.

This is a video of the home version of the rubber ball tech: http://www.sekisuihouse.co.jp/cm/movies/medium/016/index.html

thanks.. that was what I was just talking about!

 

[Blackace]

Heh, I was on the 19th floor of my building in Chiba when that 6.0 earthquake hit in July. The epicenter was nice and close in Funabashi. Of course, that was really the first decently large quake I've ever experienced, so I found the whole thing to be rather interesting. My students of course think I'm crazy when I mention I wasn't frightened.

Barely noticed the quake today. Although, walking outside with no visual point of reference tends to do that I guess.

shit I was in yokohama and almost crapped my pants... hate big earthquakes...

 

[tetsuoxb]

I'm on the 8th floor of a tower building in Tokyo and it was scary enough. I dread to think what it was like higher up. 4 inch tsunami though? Surely that's an oxymoron.

I think when they rate tsunami height, they are not thinking about the wave above the waters surface as much as they are thinking of rise in water level (kinda like storm surge on a tropical cyclone)...

 

[tetsuoxb]

Here is another video where you can see a mock up house as it rolls, versus a house without the ball technology.

http://www.sekisuihouse.co.jp/cm/movies/medium/007/index.html

 

[acidviper]

... fucking gamespot...

made my day
:lol :lol :lol

 

[Ruzbeh]

This is a video of the home version of the rubber ball tech: http://www.sekisuihouse.co.jp/cm/movies/medium/016/index.html

Wow. Just wow. For the sake of the Japanese I hope it's not expensive. >

 

[Blackace]

Wow. Just wow. For the sake of the Japanese I hope it's not expensive. >

Well they have been fine for over 2000 years... I don't think Rubber Balls will make or break the Japanese..

 

[Pudding Tame]

Well they have been fine for over 2000 years... I don't think Rubber Balls will make or break the Japanese..

But would Asimo be less of a man without them?

 

[Blackace]

But would Asimo be less of a man without them?

he is upgrading to steel balls baby...