Strong earthquake hits northern Japan, shakes Tokyo

channelnewsasia.com ^ | 26 May 03 | none

[GATOR NAVY]

A strong earthquake hit northern Japan near Sendai city on Monday, causing house fires in the downtown area and rocking buildings as far away as Tokyo 302 kilometres to the south.

There was no immediate reports on casualties.

Seismologists said the quake measured seven on the open-ended Richter scale.

NHK said the quake was centred just off the northeast coast of Japan at a depth of 60 kilometres, but there was no danger of a tsunami, or giant wave.

Television footage showed pictures of at least two buildings on fire in central Sendai.

Sendai has a population of just over one million and is the largest city in the mostly agricultural northeastern Touhoku region.

In Tokyo, buildings swayed strongly. In supermarkets in the capital, products were shaken from shelves, although activity in the streets was normal.

The Cabinet Office in Tokyo said the government had set up an emergency task force.

East Japan Railway said it had stopped operations of bullet trains in the area and NHK said highways in the area has been closed. Tokyo's Haneda airport also suspended flights.

Telecoms firms Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp and NTT DoCoMo Inc said they were checking to see whether the earthquake has caused any disruption to the nation's telecommunications networks.

The strength of the quake, which lasted about a minute, was about the same as the one that hit the western city of Kobe in 1995 leaving 6,430 dead.

Copyright © 2003 MCN International Pte Ltd

[GATOR NAVY]

We're about 250 miles away from Sendai. I was surprised when I turned on the TV and saw how far away it was, because we felt it pretty good.

[sarcasm]

Yen slumps after Japan earthquake

[jimtorr]

Magnitude 6.9 NEAR EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
2003 May 26 09:24:31 UTC

Preliminary Earthquake Report
U.S. Geological Survey, National Earthquake Information Center

Magnitude 6.9
Date-Time Monday, May 26, 2003 at 09:24:31 (UTC), 06:24:31 PM local time at epicenter
Location: 38.93N 141.51E
Depth: 52.8 kilometers
Region : NEAR EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN

Reference
95 km (60 miles) NE of Sendai, Honshu, Japan
95 km (60 miles) SSE of Morioka, Honshu, Japan
155 km (95 miles) SE of Akita, Honshu, Japan
395 km (245 miles) NNE of TOKYO, Japan

[snippy_about_it]

I saw the headline and thought of you immediately, click on the story and here you are, the poster of the story!

I'm glad you're okay.

[DB]

There's nothing on the US cables news networks so far...

[snippy_about_it]

You okay?

[AmericanInTokyo]

damn that was a good one. blotting up the urine right now

[petuniasevan]

PMSNBC website has a story:

http://www.msnbc.com/news/918195.asp?0sl=-22&cp1=1

Strong earthquake shakes Japan

Magnitude 7.0 trembler strikes northeast, felt in Tokyo


ASSOCIATED PRESS

TOKYO, May 26 — A powerful earthquake rocked northeastern Japan on Monday, causing blackouts in several cities and the closure of highways and railways. Buildings swayed in Tokyo, more than 260 miles away, and the capital’s Narita airport was briefly shutdown. There were no immediate reports of injuries.


THE QUAKE HAD a preliminary magnitude of 7.0 and was centered 40 miles below the sea floor off the coast of northeastern Miyagi prefecture (state), Japan’s Meteorological Agency said. It struck at 6:24 p.m. (5:24 a.m. ET).

Local officials quoted by public service broadcaster NHK said some areas were suffering electricity and water outages immediately after the quake but had no further details. Major highways and railways were also closed as officials checked for damage.

The Tohoku Electric Power Company said that its 825,000 kilowatt nuclear reactor, the Onagawa No. 3 unit — located in the quake hit Miyagi prefecture — automatically shut itself due to the earthquake. Tohoku’s two other nuclear reactors at the same plant were already shut due to regular maintenance checks, a spokesman said.

A road buckled in the northeastern city of Ishinomaki and a house in the city caught fire, said local disaster official Norio Kumagai.


NHK also reported that the earthquake was strong enough to knock people over in the city of Sendai. A fire was reported in Sendai, but it was not clear if it was related to the quake.

The quake was strong enough to shake items off shelves in several towns near the epicenter and cause tall buildings to sway.

In Tokyo, 260 miles to the south. Authorities at downtown Haneda airport briefly suspended takeoffs and landings to check the condition of runways, and bullet train service to northeastern Japan was also stopped.

The Meteorological Agency said there was no danger of tsunami, powerful waves that can be stirred up by seismic activity.

[petuniasevan]

Also this AP article at Yahoo Asia:

http://asia.news.yahoo.com/030526/ap/d7r8v3380.html

Monday May 26, 6:50 PM
Strong Earthquake Shakes North Japan
A powerful earthquake rocked northeastern Japan on Monday, causing blackouts and forcing authorities to temporarily shut down highways, railways and even Tokyo's main airport, more than 250 miles away.

There were no immediate reports of injuries.

The quake had a preliminary magnitude of 7.0 and was centered 40 miles below the sea floor off the coast of northeastern Miyagi prefecture, Japan's Meteorological Agency said.

It struck at 6:24 p.m. (5:24 a.m. EDT).

Felt across a broad area of the northern part of Japan's main island, the quake sent shoppers at a mall in one northern town rushing out into the streets.

Some areas were suffering electricity and water outages immediately after the quake, local officials told public service broadcaster NHK said, but had no further details. Major highways and railways were also closed as officials checked for damage.

A road buckled in the northeastern city of Ishinomaki and a house in the city caught fire, said local disaster official Norio Kumagai. At least two prefectures had established emergency disaster headquarters.

"The quake was felt over a very broad area," said Central Meteorological Agency official Noritake Nishibe. He said it was the strongest quake in Japan in about two years, and that aftershocks were expected.

He suggested the impact of the quake might have been mitigated by its depth.

NHK, which broke into regular programming immediately after the quake, reported that the earthquake was strong enough to knock people over in the city of Sendai. A fire was also reported in Sendai, but it was not clear if it was related to the quake.

The quake was strong enough to shake items off shelves in several towns near the epicenter and cause tall buildings to sway in Tokyo, 260 miles to the south. Authorities at downtown Haneda airport briefly suspended takeoffs and landings to check the condition of runways, and bullet train service to northeastern Japan was also stopped.

The Meteorological Agency said there was no danger of tsunami, powerful waves that can be stirred up by seismic activity.

Japan is one of the world's most earthquake-prone countries, puled by four tectonic plates, the huge slabs of land that cover the earth's crust.

A moderate earthquake also jolted northeastern Taiwan on Monday, but no damage or casualties were immediately reported.

The 4.9-magnitude tremor was centered about 1.8 miles south of the coastal city of Ilan, the Central Weather Bureau said.

Ilan is 70 miles southeast of the capital of Taipei.

[dsc]

Yeah, our building in Tokyo rocked and swayed for what seemed like *long* time.

Must have really been something in Sendai.

[4mycountry]

Sorry, you guys. Espacially you, AiT.

I'm in Texas, so no shaking here. Guess I'm lucky, huh? Aren't you jealous... ^_~

[firewalk]

.

[FreedomPoster]

>>There's nothing on the US cables news networks so far...

Nothing new about that. FreeRepublic regularly scoops the lamestream media.

[ErnBatavia]

How long until the tsunami wipes out Waikiki?

[JudgeAmint]

TSUNAMI BULLETIN NO. 001
PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER/NOAA/NWS
ISSUED AT 0945Z 26 MAY 2003

THIS BULLETIN IS FOR ALL AREAS OF THE PACIFIC BASIN EXCEPT
CALIFORNIA, OREGON, WASHINGTON, BRITISH COLUMBIA, AND ALASKA.

. . THIS IS A TSUNAMI INFORMATION MESSAGE, NO ACTION REQUIRED . . 

AN EARTHQUAKE, PRELIMINARY MAGNITUDE 6.6, OCCURRED AT 0925 UTC 
26 MAY 2003, LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 39.0N, LONGITUDE 141.4E
IN THE VICINITY OF NEAR EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN

EVALUATION:  NO DESTRUCTIVE PACIFIC-WIDE TSUNAMI THREAT EXISTS.
             HOWEVER, SOME AREAS MAY EXPERIENCE SMALL SEA LEVEL
             CHANGES.

THIS WILL BE THE ONLY BULLETIN ISSUED UNLESS ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION BECOMES AVAILABLE.

. . . NO PACIFIC-WIDE TSUNAMI WARNING IS IN EFFECT . . .

RECIPIENTS OF THIS MESSAGE LOCATED IN CALIFORNIA, OREGON,
WASHINGTON, BRITISH COLUMBIA, AND ALASKA SHOULD REFER ONLY
TO WEST COAST/ALASKA TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER MESSAGES FOR
INFORMATION ABOUT ANY TSUNAMI THREAT IN THOSE AREAS.

[heleny]

DB wrote:There's nothing on the US cables news networks so far...
You wrote: Nothing new about that. FreeRepublic regularly scoops the lamestream media.

I guess the cable networks were slower than the broadcast networks. FR sometimes scoops them all (like with the Columbia shuttle), but this was not the case this time. KNX's Drama Hour replay ran long, until 3:05AM, so they missed the CBS news, but they read a report about the earthquake right after the show ended, because that was the main news story. Other radio stations without hourlong oldtime radio shows may have reported the news sooner, especially in places like SoCal where they usually get earthquake news very quickly.

[bluefish]

Any earthquake experts on this thread? I'm wondering if the biggie there in Japan and a bunch of tiny ones all the way over here in CA could be related? Are earthquakes around the world connected in any way? I seem to recall a lot of quake reports lately.

See this map... Recent Quakes in CA & NV

The little one off to the West of the Golden Gate Bridge gave me a jolt, and the one up north in Santa Rosa yesterday (two days ago?) found its way to the Marina district here in SF too. For those not in Northern California, the Marina is built on landfill and tends to "wobble" a bit with all the little ones around the bay area.

Not being from CA, the first few were kind of neat to experience. Now, they are simply starting to bug me!

Hope everybody over there in Japan is ok.

[heleny]

[heleny]

Also today, but not near such densely populated areas:

Magnitude 7.0

Date-Time Monday, May 26, 2003 at 19:23:28 (UTC)
Tuesday, May 27, 2003 at 04:23:28 AM local time at epicenter

Region HALMAHERA, INDONESIA

Reference
240 km (150 miles) NE of Ternate, Moluccas, Indonesia
450 km (280 miles) ENE of Manado, Sulawesi, Indonesia
1590 km (990 miles) SSE of MANILA, Philippines
2625 km (1630 miles) ENE of JAKARTA, Java, Indonesia

[GATOR NAVY]

This was definately the longest quake I've felt in awhile, it seemed about 30 seconds. We were eating dinner, I thought at first I was getting dizzy for some reason. I really hate the feeling of helplessness during an earthquake.