September 9, Canada’s Vancouver Island felt a 6.7 quake, according to the USGS.
Many Canadians on the mainland said they didn’t notice. The epicenter was 175 miles (281.6 km) west of the city of Vancouver, and 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Port Alice, British Columbia.
In Japan some of the fastest selling books are how to books that show you how to get out’a town in case of a natural disaster.
The 9.0 quake of March 11 was the motivator for such books. Even though Tokyo was at least a hundred miles from the epicenter of the quake, the public transportation systems went down. About 6 million people walked or rode bikes home.
People who did well walking out had road maps, or had read the 2005 book Map for Walking Home in the Event of an Earthquake. The book was the result of experiences of the editors in a 2004 earthquake.
Amazingly the book was undergoing a revision when the March 11 quake hit. In fact one of the editors ended up walking home over the next two days, it proved to be useful in making the revisions: “For example, there were big advertising signs above the roads, which can break and fall on pedestrians, and such potentially dangerous sites we included on the maps.”-Tatsuya Nakajima, Shobunsha Publications
Since then 150,000 of the books have sold. Prior to that, 1 million copies had sold. Here’s one good reason such books are in demand, cell phones did not work on March 11: “People could not access online maps on their mobile phones right after the quake because telecom systems were overloaded. That’s probably why the demand for paper maps has increased and this book has sold well since.”-Tomoko Okawa, Shobunsha Publications
A subsidiary of Shobunsha Publications has recently solved that problem, at least if you have an iPhone, a downloadable app that does not require an active cell service to work.
“If there is drastic plate movement, there is no guarantee that the scale of the quake will be in line with the government’s prediction of up to magnitude 7.3.”-Hirata Naoshi, Earthquake Research Committee
The University of Tokyo’s Earthquake Research Institute believes that major earthquakes are in the near future for Tokyo city, and Ibaraki Prefecture, no thanks to the 11 March 2011 9.0 quake.
Even though the 11 March earthquake was at least a hundred miles north of Tokyo, it was so powerful that the tectonic plate under Tokyo has changed so dramatically, that scientists think a massive quake caused by action on two or more areas of the plate is highly likely. Since 11 March, the number of Tokyo quakes of magnitude 3 or greater has increased by fourfold.
Tokyo is subject to earthquakes that are located along plate boundaries, as well as quakes that happen along fault lines within a single plate.
Ibaraki Prefecture, just south of Fukushima Prefecture, is even worse off. Since 11 March, quakes of magnitude 3 or greater have increased by 20 times!
The high tectonic activity is on the coastline, inland quake activity has not increased, but it has changed.
Japanese scientists say that recent inland quakes are much more shallower that past earthquakes.
14 fault lines in Japan, which were thought to be ‘safe’ are now considered dangerous, potentially producing a 7.6 earthquake.
The other problem is that they all run near nuclear power plants.
A survey of the fault lines were undertaken by nuclear power plant operators, like Tokyo Electric Power Company. They concluded that the fault lines are a real threat.
Nine fault lines are near Japan Atomic Power Company’s Tokai Number 2 power plant, and the Japan Atomic Energy Agency’s Tokai reprocessing plant in Ibaraki Prefecture.
The other five faults are near Tokyo Electric Power Company’s Fukushima Number 1 (Daiichi) and Number 2 (Daini) nuclear power plants in Fukushima Prefecture.
The North Anna nuclear power plant, outside Richmond, Virginia, has shut down.
The plant is on the coastline, just seven miles from the epicenter of the 5.9 quake (earlier reports said it was 5.8).
Diesel generators are supplying power to basic systems at the plant.
Nine nuke plants from New Jersey, Virginia, Pennsylvania to Maryland have declared unusual events. They have not shut down.
A 5.8 quake hit Virginia, August 23.
It was felt in Pennsylvania, New York, and Washington DC. The Pentagon was evacuated.
July 10, a 7.3 quake hit the same area that experienced a 9.0 quake on March 11.
Two meter high (6.4 feet) waves were seen on the coasts of Miyagi and Iwate Prefectures.
Officials with Japan’s Meteorological Agency say this latest aftershock resulted from the Pacific Plate shifting horizontally. They believe more aftershocks in the 7 range could occur, into next year.
New Zealand was hit by yet another major earthquake, the third this year. The 7.6 quake hit July 7, but this time it was off the north end of the island country.
A tsunami warning was issued, 1 meter (3.2 feet) tall waves were seen off of Raoul Island.
An independent panel, investigating the Japanese government’s policies, regarding natural disasters, has found many faults that actually made things worse after the March 11 disasters.
Two primary faults were pointed out at a press conference.
One was the lack of an evacuation policy. It seems the government never expected to have to evacuate survivors. The panel said in the future, evacuation plans must be a pillar of dealing with natural disaster.
The second major fault (pun intended) was that the government ignored geographical evidence of 9.0 earthquakes, and hundred feet high tsunamis along Japan’s coastline. The result was that buildings and seawalls along the coastline were not built strong enough.
Also, the panel discovered that most of the government’s hazard maps and historical tsunami data are totally wrong.
The independent panel will now research ways for the Japanese government to come up with a functional natural disaster preparedness plan.
Reports say Alaska’s Aleutian Island have been hit by a 7.2 quake and a tsunami warning was issued by the Alaska Tsunami Warning Center. The tsunami warning was later canceled.