Ocean researchers say the March 11 earthquake off the coast of north east Honshu, believe the quake was more powerful than 9.0.
The Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, studied the sea floor at the epicenter of the March 11 quake, using a deep sea research vessel named “Kairei”. They determined that the sea floor rose 7 meters (23 feet), and moved 50 meters (164 feet).
The scientists say that the earthquake had to be more powerful than 9.0, in order to raise the sea floor 23 feet.
The Japanese Coordinating Committee for Earthquake Prediction, said seismic activities started to increase off eastern prefectures, from Miyagi to Ibaraki, three years before the massive 9.0 quake.
Professor Koshun Yamaoka added that research shows that the focus of small quakes two days before March 11, moved closer to what became the epicenter of the massive earthquake.
Japan’s Geospatial Information Authority of Japan says not only did coastal areas of Miyagi and Chiba prefectures sink during the quake, but some rose five to eight centimeters after the quake. This is a sign the tectonic plates are still shifting.
Officials at the meeting stated that while “big” earthquakes are always predicted for Japan, no one expected a 9.0 quake.
Haiti was hit by a 7.0 quake in January 2010, which devastated several cities. Donations came in, officially anyway, but according to the UN (United Nations) only a fraction has gotten through.
Donations to Japan, after their catastrophic disasters on March 11, still lag behind the official donation numbers reported for Haiti. Japanese media is already reporting problems getting aid to their people.
“Tanks, armored vehicles and soldiers should have given way to bulldozers, engineers, more police instructors, experts in support to justice and to the penitentiary system.”-President René Préval
Outgoing Haitian President René Préval has pleaded with countries, and charities, to hurry up and get the aid out. President Préval is the only Haitian president to complete two terms without being jailed or exiled.
“Now that we’ve had this election, and the international community has accepted the results and verified and participated in the oversight of it, I think greater donor disbursements are important.”-Bill Clinton, UN Secretary General’s special envoy for Haiti
This is not a good sign for the people of Japan. Haiti got more aid money than Japan, so far, and yet, more than a year later, Haiti is still waiting to see it. I don’t think Japan, with its catastrophic disasters, can rely on any help from the world community.
In one north eastern Honshu coastal town, a city employee manned the emergency loudspeaker system, right up to the very end.
In video from NHK you can hear the woman’s voice echoing through the city (it’s truly haunting when you realize what is going on) even as the tsunami sweeps over all the buildings, including the 3 story town hall. Miki Endo told residents to get to higher ground, over and over, with an intensity that caused some residents to think twice about going back home. One woman said if it wasn’t for Miki’s announcements she would not have realized the severity of the situation, and would have returned home instead of seeking higher ground.
Here’s a Spanish language news report that has the haunting NHK video. I had a link to the original NHK report but apparently it’s been removed from the internet.
The 3 story steel I-beam framed town hall is nothing but a skeleton now. The walls, floor and roof are gone. Workers in the building rushed to the roof when they realized the tsunami was taller than the top floor. The roof was still not tall enough, and most lost their lives, the survivors said they held on to exposed pylons for dear life. The whole time Miki Endo, still inside the town hall, stayed at her post telling the towns people to get to higher ground, telling them they must go higher.
From left to right: The top of the 3 story Disaster Center (where people had fled thinking it was safe) completely covered by water, the water begins to recede, in just a few seconds the tsunami had totally striped the 3 story building killing almost everybody.
To update the story, and since so many people continue to read it, it turns out that Miki was not the only one who stayed at her post. Miki’s boss stayed by her side, he also urged residents to get to higher ground, he was lost as well.
Miki has not been seen since, and her parents refuse to leave the devastated town, hoping to find her.
Several Prefectures reporting aftershocks of 3 to 6 on the Japanese quake scale.
At least 5 prefectures were mentioned, including Fukushima, Miyagi, Ibaraki and Tokai.
People in Fukushima say two quakes hit, and they were sharp upward jolts. In another prefecture they reported an upward jolt. In yet another prefecture a sideways jolt followed by an upward jolt.
In another prefecture the recently restored rail service was shut down.
Since the turn of the 20th Century there have been only 5 monster quakes registering 9.0 or higher.
1952 Soviet Kamchatka 9.0
1960 Chile 9.5
1964 Alaska 9.4
2004 Sumatra/Indonesia 9.1
2011 Japan 9.0
They are all related; they are all on, or connected to, the Pacific Ring of Fire.
The time between each quake is not equally spaced so it’s not possible to predict when the next one will hit (using that method). 8 years between Kamchatka & Chile, 4 years between Chile & Alaska, 40 years between Alaska & Sumatra, 7 years between Sumatra & Japan.
NHK reporting that the Japanese government is warning of strong earthquakes. Asking people to prepare. They named at least 4 prefectures including Chiba.
NHK interviewed a geology professor. He says all three major tectonic plates, under Japan, acted to create the quake/tsunamis. Professor Kato also says the numerous and powerful aftershocks are due to the Pacific, Philippine and Eurasian plates continuing to move violently.
Professor Kato explained that not all earthquakes are the same.
France 24 reporters, in Japan, are reporting that tens of thousands of bodies have been found.
The reporters say at least 2000 bodies have been found on beaches and along the coast line.
Another reporter said that in one city local police are keeping people out of one part of the city. The reporter asked why and was told that they found at least 13,000 bodies piled in that part of the city.
Currently, the official Japanese government report of dead is at 1800. It’s clear that the Japanese officials are masters of understatement.
