Earthquakes jolt Japan's tsunami-hit region, Tokyo

AP

A 9.0-magnitude earthquake triggers a tsunami, causing enormous damage and killing thousands.

Updated at 9:41 a.m. ET: TOKYO --  A series of earthquakes rattled Tokyo and northeast Japan late Wednesday evening but caused no apparent damage or injury in the same region hit by last year's devastating tsunami.

The strongest tremor, off Hokkaido island, was 6.9 magnitude and caused tidal changes that prompted some communities to issue evacuation orders or tsunami advisories to residents nearest the coast.


A swelling of 8 inches was observed in the port of Hachinohe in Aomori, northern Japan, about one hour later. Smaller changes were reported in several locations on Hokkaido island and Aomori prefecture.

The Japan Meteorological Agency lifted all tsunami advisories about an hour and half later.

The earthquake felt in Tokyo was magnitude 6.1 and centered just off the coast of Chiba, east of Tokyo, at a rather shallow 6 miles below the sea surface.

The town of Otsuchi in Iwate prefecture, where more than 800 died in last year's tsunami, issued an evacuation order to coastal households as a precaution after the 6.8 quake, said prefectural disaster management official Shinichi Motoyama. No damage or injury was reported, he said.

Nearly a year after an earthquake and tsunami devastated Japan, Fukushima City residents fear the radiation is spreading outside of the government mandated exclusion zone. The government has asked residents to bury radiated soil in their own backyards, but how dangerous is the dirt and where should it go? NBC News Chief Foreign Correspondent Richard Engel reports.

Iwate was heavily damaged by last year's earthquake and tsunami. Thousands of aftershocks have shaken the region since then, nearly all of them of minor or moderate strength.

Silence, rallies mark Japan quake anniversary

The magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011 left some 19,000 people dead or missing.

That earthquake, Japan's strongest on record, and a massive tsunami, triggered the world's worst nuclear crisis in 25 years.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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Discuss this post

Jump to discussion page: 1 2

Here's how the simulate the earthquake.

Open this link

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2c/Japan_sea_map.png

And hold F11

  • 8 votes
Reply#1 - Wed Mar 14, 2012 8:53 AM EDT

Cute, very cute, lol.

  • 2 votes
#1.1 - Wed Mar 14, 2012 10:45 AM EDT

hahahah, now thats what we all needed.....some humor

  • 1 vote
#1.2 - Wed Mar 14, 2012 11:31 AM EDT
Reply

My thoughts are with the people of Japan, and I sincerely hope that the damage from these earthquakes is very mild near the anniversary of last year's devestating earthquakes and tsunami.

  • 4 votes
Reply#2 - Wed Mar 14, 2012 8:54 AM EDT

Round 2, anyone????

  • 1 vote
Reply#3 - Wed Mar 14, 2012 8:56 AM EDT

Be well Japan.

    Reply#4 - Wed Mar 14, 2012 8:56 AM EDT

    I hope this is not a precursor of things to come......I hope this will be it for a while. These people have worked so hard to get back to some sense of normality.

    • 5 votes
    Reply#5 - Wed Mar 14, 2012 8:56 AM EDT

    Well, unless we treat our planet as we should it will get worse. We are ruining our nest and its rebelling.

      #5.1 - Wed Mar 14, 2012 9:09 AM EDT

      Well, unless we treat our planet as we should it will get worse. We are ruining our nest and its rebelling.

      Nature made us the way we are. Anything that happens to it as a result is it's fault.

      • 2 votes
      #5.2 - Wed Mar 14, 2012 9:18 AM EDT

      Lee, techtonic shifts have nothing to do with how we're treating the planet. What happens in the climate and what happens in the crust are unrelated.

      • 10 votes
      #5.3 - Wed Mar 14, 2012 9:25 AM EDT

      Lee, the Earth has been around for billions of years before human life and will exist for billions of years after human life. Maybe it's time to accept the fact that there are forces in this world greater than the ones that we control.

      • 11 votes
      #5.4 - Wed Mar 14, 2012 10:00 AM EDT

      Sensible, it's a waste of time trying to bring logic to some people. ANYTHING that happens on this earth it's OUR FAULT. They seem to forget that the earth has been around a LOT longer than we have, and has gone through many changes in those years that we had absolutely nothing to do with.

      I pray for those in Japan. I hope they don't have any severe damage.

      • 2 votes
      #5.5 - Wed Mar 14, 2012 10:51 AM EDT

      So many people claim we will destroy the earth. I think it is much more likely the earth will destroy us.

      • 1 vote
      #5.6 - Wed Mar 14, 2012 11:21 AM EDT
      Reply

      Bad weather is happening all over the world it seems. Hope everyone is ok.

        Reply#6 - Wed Mar 14, 2012 8:57 AM EDT

        Earthquakes and and weather are not connected in any way ,shape or form. Maybe you meant to say that natural disasters are happening all over the world.

        • 8 votes
        #6.1 - Wed Mar 14, 2012 9:02 AM EDT

        Thanks for the correction....you are correct. I can't imagine my home and life being destroyed by earthquakes, tornados, flooding, etc.

        • 3 votes
        #6.2 - Wed Mar 14, 2012 9:05 AM EDT
        Reply

        Whatever can be shaken will be shaken, I didn't say this.....

          Reply#7 - Wed Mar 14, 2012 8:58 AM EDT

          Ok, I thought you had to take basic English to work at a news agency. "and a massive tsunami, triggering the world's."

          The world's WHAT????

          • 1 vote
          Reply#8 - Wed Mar 14, 2012 8:58 AM EDT

          first true sighting of Godzilla

          • 5 votes
          #8.1 - Wed Mar 14, 2012 9:01 AM EDT

          "That earthquake, Japan's strongest on record, and a massive tsunami, triggered the world's worst nuclear crisis in 25 years." Was your article text cut off? This is the entire quote from the article.

          • 1 vote
          #8.2 - Wed Mar 14, 2012 9:43 AM EDT
          Reply

          They'll be going through this for some time to come. The hope is stresses around the fault near Tokyo will be abated, the fear is it hasn't been.

          This is an interesting video of last March.

          http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=M7pSz6nWEIk

            Reply#9 - Wed Mar 14, 2012 8:59 AM EDT

            I live in Tokyo and not far from where the quake started and my home is on the 11th floor and so it rocks and yes was here for last year's big one.

            My native homeland is Canada but have made home here for the past 18 years here in Japan and this past year has been a tough one for sure and that is not only for me but my neighbors, friends and my students. My prayer, is that these shakers will stop and soon we all need a break from them.

              Reply#10 - Wed Mar 14, 2012 9:00 AM EDT

              Seems like the whole world is falling apart. One year later and it happens again.Hold on to your jock strap peoples!

                Reply#11 - Wed Mar 14, 2012 9:01 AM EDT

                HARRP in action again.... youtube.. can see it in action.. harp lights in jap sky before quake search it

                  Reply#12 - Wed Mar 14, 2012 9:10 AM EDT

                  It's HAARP....and we have auroras going on from the CME's the sun has been experiencing.

                    #12.1 - Wed Mar 14, 2012 10:39 AM EDT

                    haarptards are out again denying nature and science and putting blame on NWO earthquake machines in the one of the most sesmic regions on earth where no doctor doom is needed to explain why an earthquake hits this region

                    • 1 vote
                    #12.2 - Wed Mar 14, 2012 11:07 AM EDT
                    Reply

                    about an hour and a half from Tokyo myself. Not the slightest movment in these parts. Strange as we usally feel tremors from quakes that close and size.

                      Reply#13 - Wed Mar 14, 2012 9:10 AM EDT

                      That happens sometimes Frank. I live in MA, and a year or so ago there was big news about an earthquake here. We don't get them often. It was felt in the Boston area, and also down around Cape Cod. I'm between the two, and we didn't feel a thing here.

                        #13.1 - Wed Mar 14, 2012 10:55 AM EDT
                        Reply

                        how did anyone translate the word 'prefecture' into english? i mean, japanese words don't sound like english at all, so whoever did the translation could have easily used 'county' or 'area' or anything... but why prefecture? did they guy ask a japanese person what that word meant in english?

                          Reply#14 - Wed Mar 14, 2012 9:12 AM EDT

                          "Prefecture" is the usual (and official, so far as I know) translation into English of "県・けん・ken."

                          • 2 votes
                          #14.1 - Wed Mar 14, 2012 9:21 AM EDT

                          yup, i get that (and thanks for the info... i didn't know what the japanese version of the word was), but HOW did they tranlsate that into 'prefecture'? looking at that, if i were doing the translation, my version would probably end in '-ken'. that doesn't look like it'd sound like 'prefecture' at all.

                          just out of curiosity, can you write what the japanese word SOUNDS like? i mean, if i walked up to someone and they said 'prefecture' in japanese, what would i hear?

                            #14.2 - Wed Mar 14, 2012 9:36 AM EDT

                            You would hear (or not) "ken". That's the Japanese word of for "prefecture". And it's a common term for an administrative unit, just like it is used in France or Italy for example.

                            Just because you call a similar unit here in the USA a "county", that doesn't mean that everybody else has to do the same, specially considering the fact that this word stems from the not-so-democratic use as the term to describe the realm of a count (English noble, Lord)... ;-)

                            In Germany for example, it will be translated into the word "Prefektur" as well and not the word for a similar administrative unit in Germany itself, which is "Kreis". And the Swiss will also call it "Prefektur", "Préfecture" or "Prefettura" (depending on if they are German, French or Italian speaking) and not a "Kanton", which is the roughly equivalent unit in Switzerland...

                              #14.3 - Wed Mar 14, 2012 12:17 PM EDT

                              you're missing my point. i'm not looking for the definition, i'm looking for the path that the translation took. how do you from 'ken' to 'prefecture', and more importantly, why?

                                #14.4 - Wed Mar 14, 2012 1:48 PM EDT

                                Prefecture is the place (state) but in Japanese ken is added to differentiate between the prefecture or city/village. There is no direct translation between prefecture and ken. Example: there is a prefecture named Chiba and there is also a city named Chiba. If you are talking about the prefecture as a whole it is Chiba-ken while if you are talking about the city you could just say Chiba. I hope that answers your question.

                                  #14.5 - Wed Mar 14, 2012 4:49 PM EDT

                                  thanks, but no, not really. i do have more info than i did before, so that helps. but i guess i'm just not asking the question right. or maybe this just isn't the place to ask...

                                    #14.6 - Thu Mar 15, 2012 8:00 AM EDT
                                    Reply

                                    My prayers are with the people of Japan

                                    • 1 vote
                                    Reply#15 - Wed Mar 14, 2012 9:12 AM EDT

                                    It couldn't be because they dug up all that coal and didn't put anything back could it? I mean hell, you can't rip up real estate like we do and not expect consequences....

                                      Reply#16 - Wed Mar 14, 2012 9:17 AM EDT

                                      Give me a break!!!

                                        #16.1 - Wed Mar 14, 2012 10:12 AM EDT

                                        Ummm C.A. Powell. Mining for coal does NOT cause earthquakes. While it can cause caveins at times it will not disrupt the plates below the surface of the earth.

                                          #16.2 - Wed Mar 14, 2012 10:58 AM EDT
                                          Reply

                                          Shiyoo ga nai, tomodachi. Would to god I or anyone could help with what must come.

                                            Reply#17 - Wed Mar 14, 2012 9:20 AM EDT

                                            It is just beginning to dawn on the Japanese people that their homeland lies across the most active fault line in the world. And just maybe they shouldn't have built nuclear reactors for power. Duh!

                                              Reply#18 - Wed Mar 14, 2012 9:20 AM EDT

                                              Glad we in America would never knowingly build reactors and nuclear waste depositories on active fault lines. Oh - wait - duh, duh, duh...

                                              • 1 vote
                                              #18.1 - Wed Mar 14, 2012 9:57 AM EDT

                                              Most of the exposed land in the ring of fire area was created from earthquakes and volcanoes. As long as there is money to be made, the business world doesn't care about the consequences.

                                                #18.2 - Wed Mar 14, 2012 10:47 AM EDT
                                                Reply

                                                The biggest of the southern quakes was not particularly strong in Tokyo--an Olympic qualification soccer match was not halted--but it was long and (some?) trains have been stopped. We had to hold the computer monitor to keep it from falling over, but nothing ended up falling over or down in our home.

                                                  Reply#19 - Wed Mar 14, 2012 9:23 AM EDT

                                                  Too many bad and extreme weather happening around the world lately.

                                                  • 2 votes
                                                  Reply#20 - Wed Mar 14, 2012 9:40 AM EDT

                                                  All the best to our freinds in japan.

                                                  • 1 vote
                                                  Reply#21 - Wed Mar 14, 2012 9:52 AM EDT

                                                  Here is an article that explains the science behind Japan's frequent earthquakes and why it is unlikely that the March 11th, 2011 earthquake is a one-of-a-kind event:

                                                    Reply#22 - Wed Mar 14, 2012 9:55 AM EDT

                                                    Hope everyone is OK over there.

                                                      #22.1 - Thu Mar 15, 2012 2:08 AM EDT
                                                      Reply

                                                      Wondering about all this weird very odd weather/earthquakes.... dont forget the

                                                      secret H.A.A.R.P project.. type "H.A.A.R.P earthquake" in your browser and youll get bunch of links

                                                      for this secret gov't project being cause of much of our latest catastrophic weather and earthquakes

                                                        Reply#23 - Wed Mar 14, 2012 9:58 AM EDT

                                                        Conspiracy much?

                                                          #23.1 - Wed Mar 14, 2012 10:09 AM EDT

                                                          haarp is real but has nothing to do with earthquakes or severe weather- its for communication radar and military use!

                                                            #23.2 - Wed Mar 14, 2012 11:08 AM EDT
                                                            Reply

                                                            So if I try to build an ark and my love life is illegal I go to jail screw that noise.

                                                              Reply#24 - Wed Mar 14, 2012 10:40 AM EDT

                                                              Iknow a lot more about ark building than most and that the east coast is going to be under water once again sometime

                                                                Reply#25 - Wed Mar 14, 2012 10:42 AM EDT
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