Big Earth Quake!

saw th@, crazy

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...pan_earthquake


7.8


Strong Earthquake Strikes Northern Japan
14 minutes ago Add Top Stories - AP to My Yahoo!


By ERIC TALMADGE, Associated Press Writer

TOKYO - A strong quake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.8 rocked the northern Japan island of Hokkaido early Friday morning, knocking out power, derailing a train and touching off an industrial fire. Two people were reported injured.


AFP Photo



The government warned local residents to avoid coastal areas due to the possibility of tsunami, or ocean waves caused by seismic activity.


The quake was strong enough to rock buildings on the island and shake books and other objects off shelves. Japan's public broadcaster NHK reported that at least several people had been injured and a fire had broken out in the city of Tomakomai.


Black plumes of smoke and flames could be seen leaping from the site in an industrial area. Streams of water were aimed at the flames.


Television footage showed an office in which books were knocked off shelves, and desks and computers swayed back and forth.


Japan's Meteorological agency warned that waves of up to 3 feet were expected to hit coastal areas. The quake, which hit just before dawn, was focused off Hokkaido's eastern shore.


Tsunami of up to 1 foot were observed in some coastal cities, NHK reported.


"We are now trying to collect information on the extent of the damage," city official Sadayuki Kano said. "There are no reports of other major damage."


NHK also reported that a local train derailed, injuring two people.


The meteorological agency said the earthquake (news - web sites) had a magnitude of 7.8 and was focused 36 miles under the seabed.


The U.S. Geological Survey (news - web sites) in Golden, Colo., said the temblor had a preliminary magnitude of 8.


The quake struck in the Pacific Ocean, about 65 miles south-southwest of Kushiro and 495 miles north-northeast of Tokyo, said John Minsch, a USGS (news - web sites) geophysicist. The quake was shallow.


"That makes it more likely to be a tsunami, and there's most likely to be a great amount of damage," Minsch said.


Hokkaido is the northernmost and most sparsely populated of Japan's major islands. Sapporo is the prefecture's capital.


Geophysicist Doug Given in Pasadena, Calif., said the region is "part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, the zone of very large earthquakes (news - web sites) and volcanoes that rings the Pacific Rim."


The USGS had no immediate reports of casualties.


A tsunami advisory was issued for Hawaii and a warning was issued for parts of Alaska.

holy fuck! Surf's up baby!!!

Alarms going off in Hawaii yet?

not yet, but they probably will be soon.... if Maui gets hit with a tsunami on the leeward, I'm fucking owned. I live right across the street from the beach.

most likely it'll be north shore though... which means Jaws is gonna be going fucking OFF. Big wave riders are probably already catching flights in.

weird, no reports yet from cnn.com and foxnews.com.

omg

MSNBC

bad day for fishing...

I am guessing jaws 30-60 feet


7x Over head!!!!!!!

hell yeah... she's gonna blow big...

I heard this was the cause, can anyone confirm

watch out

uh? 3 feet waves? 1 foot Tsunami?

run for the hills

Lou Dobbs just interviewed guy from Earthquake Central saying there could be a Tsunami with 50 to 60 feet waves! SHEEET!
And it could hit anywhere from the Aluetian Islands to Hawaii.

It was centered like 20 miles offshore in the ocean they are now saying.

I think my ears are bad or the guy mispoke..cuz now this lady is on from their Tokyo bureau (CNN) that the waves could be as high as SIX feet. Saying things are very confusing as to what is going on. People are being told to evacuate off the coast of Japan.

TSUNAMI BULLETIN NUMBER 003
PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER
1111 AM HST 25 SEP 2003

TO - CIVIL DEFENSE IN THE STATE OF HAWAII

SUBJECT - TSUNAMI WATCH BULLETIN

A TSUNAMI WATCH IS ISSUED FOR THE STATE OF HAWAII EFFECTIVE AT
1111 AM HST.

AN EARTHQUAKE HAS OCCURRED WITH THESE PRELIMINARY PARAMETERS

ORIGIN TIME - 0950 AM HST 25 SEP 2003
COORDINATES - 42.1 NORTH 143.6 EAST
LOCATION - EASTERN HONSHU JAPAN
MAGNITUDE - 8.1 MOMENT
MAGNITUDE - 7.9 RICHTER

EVALUATION

BASED ON ALL AVAILABLE DATA A TSUNAMI MAY HAVE BEEN GENERATED BY
THIS EARTHQUAKE THAT COULD BE DESTRUCTIVE ON COASTAL AREAS EVEN
FAR FROM THE EPICENTER. AN INVESTIGATION IS UNDERWAY TO DETERMINE
IF THERE IS A TSUNAMI THREAT TO HAWAII.

IF TSUNAMI WAVES IMPACT HAWAII THE ESTIMATED EARLIEST ARRIVAL OF
THE FIRST TSUNAMI WAVE IS

0501 PM HST 25 SEP 2003

BULLETINS WILL BE ISSUED HOURLY OR SOONER AS CONDITIONS WARRANT.

whoops.... just updated. Looks like it's cancelled.


TSUNAMI BULLETIN NUMBER 004
PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER
1214 PM HST 25 SEP 2003

TO - CIVIL DEFENSE IN THE STATE OF HAWAII

SUBJECT - TSUNAMI WATCH CANCELLATION BULLETIN

THE TSUNAMI WATCH IS CANCELLED FOR THE STATE OF HAWAII EFFECTIVE
AT 1214 PM HST.

AN EARTHQUAKE HAS OCCURRED WITH THESE PRELIMINARY PARAMETERS

ORIGIN TIME - 0950 AM HST 25 SEP 2003
COORDINATES - 42.1 NORTH 143.6 EAST
LOCATION - EASTERN HONSHU JAPAN
MAGNITUDE - 8.1 MOMENT
MAGNITUDE - 7.9 RICHTER

EVALUATION

BASED ON ALL AVAILABLE DATA THERE IS NO DESTRUCTIVE TSUNAMI
THREAT TO THE STATE OF HAWAII. THEREFORE THE TSUNAMI WATCH FOR
HAWAII IS CANCELLED.

HOWEVER SOME COASTAL AREAS IN HAWAII COULD EXPERIENCE SMALL SEA
LEVEL CHANGES AND STRONG OR UNUSUAL CURRENTS LASTING UP TO
SEVERAL HOURS. THE ESTIMATED TIME SUCH EFFECTS MIGHT BEGIN IS

0501 PM HST 25 SEP 2003

THIS WILL BE THE FINAL BULLETIN ISSUED FOR THIS EVENT UNLESS
ADDITIONAL DATA ARE RECEIVED.

No surf for you!

Get pics and video. We need new owned stuff around here.

In the deep ocean, their length from wave crest to wave crest may be a hundred miles or more but with a wave height of only a few feet or less. But as the tsunami approaches shore, friction with the continental shelf in shallow water slows the tsunami's front. Trailing waves pile up, pushing the height of the onrushing wave to 30 feet or more. Although slowed, a tsunami plows onto land at freeway speeds, with enough momentum to flatten buildings and trees and to carry ships miles inland.

Tsunamis can savagely attack coastlines, causing devastating property damage and loss of life. On July 17, 1998, a tsunami engulfed several towns in Papua New Guinea, killing 2,000 people. The largest recorded tsunami to hit American shores occured on April 1, 1946 when waves over 50 feet high hit the Hawaiian Islands killing 159 people. The source of the Hawaiian incident was a 7.1 earthquake centered in the Aleutian Islands off Alaska.

Thank you Bill Nye.

wow... I didn't know Tokyo had a 5.5 just last Saturday...

wtf? God got no love for Japan or something?