Earthquake!

[GomiGirl]

Just a rockin' and a rollin' in Mori Tower......

Oh.. That wasn' bad.. A 4.8..

GJ

What were you doing at work at this hour????

[GuyJean]

What were you doing at work at this hour????

Good question!.. Actually, I was watching World Cup hi-lites.. And preparing for the day.. Early bird gets the worm!..

GJ

[gomichild]

Um being woken up by an earthquake?

[GomiGirl]

initially it woke me up too but it was so long a rolly that it lulled me back to sleep.. is that a sign that one has been in Japan too long????

[gomichild]

No it's a sign you love your sleep too much....

[ichigo partygirl]

my motto - unless stuff is falling off the shelves i aint moving. Of course that logic may eventually come to bite me in the ass, but up untill now has given me more time to sleep

[gomichild]

that one was a 3 in Tokyo, 4 in Kanagawa.

No tsunami expected.

[GomiGirl]

It felt bigger. It was a HUGE bang here. My assistant is still running around like a mad chook. She was squealing and hiding in the door frame. Our elevator stopped working and everything!!

[Yorik]

I am in Jimbocho and that was my first Quake experience.. I thank you all for being here while my cherry was busted wide open.. It was more of a slow shake here.. But I guess we are a little way off of the centre..

Enjoy!

[Yorik]

It felt bigger. It was a HUGE bang here. My assistant is still running around like a mad chook. She was squealing and hiding in the door frame. Our elevator stopped working and everything!!

I saw 4.8 on the news, but I couldn't understand the other stuff, so I guess it was expected 4.8 at the centre..

[gomichild]

Welcome Yorik to the earthquake experience!

GG - it was bigger here than where you are! Tell M to calm down .

[ichigo partygirl]

Yorik if you read back a few pages you will be able to read about me freaking out about my first couple of earthquakes. You get used to them...ganbare~

[Yorik]

I live in Cyclone alley in Australia, so natural disasters and phenomenon aren't foregin to me.. I really liked it, I know it might sound bad, but I am kind of dissappointed that it wasn't bigger..

[ichigo partygirl]

I live in Cyclone alley in Australia, so natural disasters and phenomenon aren't foregin to me.. I really liked it, I know it might sound bad, but I am kind of dissappointed that it wasn't bigger..

hehe im sure you wont have to wait too long for a bigger one - although they are more of a pain than anything (delaying trains etc)
Just out of interest which part of WA are you from???

[akatsuka]

[ichigo partygirl]

[cstaylor]

It felt bigger. It was a HUGE bang here. My assistant is still running around like a mad chook. She was squealing and hiding in the door frame. Our elevator stopped working and everything!!

That could have been the building giving way under the weight of all your old mac equipment.

[Iraira]

I got friends from LA (Ring Of Fire people unite!) visiting Tokyo next week, and I want to send them a, "We had an earthquake of magnitude ??? today, see yah next week." mail. The J-magnitude system is different from the one used in the US, so 4.8 doesn't do it justice. Any seismology fetish people got the conversion formula handy?

[Iraira]

Disregard the previous post....I am the jishin otaku king!

Earthquake Details
Magnitude 4.9 (Light)
Date-Time Thursday, August 31, 2006 at 08:18:18 (UTC)
= Coordinated Universal Time
Thursday, August 31, 2006 at 5:18:18 PM
= local time at epicenter Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones

Location 35.536°N, 139.964°E
Depth 63.1 km (39.2 miles)
Region NEAR THE SOUTH COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
Distances 25 km (15 miles) SE of TOKYO, Japan
105 km (65 miles) SSW of Mito, Honshu, Japan
125 km (80 miles) SE of Maebashi, Honshu, Japan
130 km (80 miles) E of Kofu, Honshu, Japan

Location Uncertainty horizontal +/- 9.1 km (5.7 miles); depth +/- 14.4 km (8.9 miles)
Parameters Nst= 39, Nph= 39, Dmin=193.7 km, Rmss=0.89 sec, Gp=108°,
M-type=body magnitude (Mb), Version=6
Source USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)

Event ID ussbak

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Quakes/ussbak.php

[GomiGirl]

[Kuang_Grade]

Any seismology fetish people got the conversion formula handy?

Well, I'm sure Charles will ring in at sometime, since I believe he's a seismology dungeon master, but at a simple level...the richter scale is an estimate of energy released by the earthquake...now that's fine to know but a higher richter scale earthquake deep in the earth might do zero damage while a lower richter scale earthquake close to the surface might do a fair bit of damage. The measurements they use in Japan are based on how "it feels" on the surface at that location...While it sounds imprecise, it gives a better idea of what people/property went through in various locations than just saying, well, it was a 4.7 on the richter scale

0: Imperceptible to people.
1: Felt by only some people in the building.
2: Felt by many people in the building. Some sleeping people awake.
3: Felt by most people in the building. Some people are frightened.
4: Many people are frightened. Some people try to escape from danger. Most sleeping people awake.
5-: Most people try to escape from danger, some finding it difficult to move.
5+: In many cases, unreinforced concrete-block walls collapse and tombstones overturn. Many automobiles stop due to difficulty in driving. Occasionally, poorly installed vending machines fall
6-: In some buildings, wall tiles and windowpanes are damaged and fall.
6+: In many buildings, wall tiles and windowpanes are damaged and fall. Most unreinforced concrete-block walls collapse
7: In most buildings, wall tiles and windowpanes are damaged and fall. In some cases, reinforced concrete-block walls collapse.


While in all in japanese, this site shows current earthquake activity in japan...use the scroll box with the date and time to see previous earthquake activity.

http://www.tenki.jp/qua/index.html

[Iraira]

5+:Occasionally, poorly installed vending machines fall

I like the idea of vending machines tipping over. This could prove quite lucrative. I suppose that if the machine tipped over, and it's contents became dislodged, it would be the honorable thing to attempt to save such beverages (particularly, if they were of the beer variety) from accidents that might occur with downed powerlines, etc. It is a senseless tragedy, when a beer is electrocuted by a downed powerline.

[GomiGirl]

While in all in japanese, this site shows current earthquake activity in japan...use the scroll box with the date and time to see previous earthquake activity.

http://www.tenki.jp/qua/index.html

I used to use tenki.jp all the time for weather and quakes etc but found it a bit unreliable - perhaps due to high traffic issues - then I found this site : Japan Meteorological Agency which is in English and seems to be as up to date as tenki.jp

[Charles]

Well, I'm sure Charles will ring in at sometime, since I believe he's a seismology dungeon master...

The Richter Scale is a logarithmic scale, and alas I've forgotten how to do log math formulas ever since I misplaced my slide rule a few years ago. Seriously. I was probably one of the last people on earth to regularly use a slide rule in my daily work.

Anyway, it's easiest just to look it up on the USGS Recent Quakes site and get their measurements. They're the authority, and their seismograph readings are more accurate. Ironically, seismometer readings close to the epicenter are considerably less accurate than readings taken from far away, and the true magnitude is only established once the world seismo network readings come in to the USGS. So if you want magnitude readings on a Japan quake, the early local Japanese data is less accurate.

[GuyJean]

Japan Meteorological Agency.

Great site. Thanks!

GJ

[Blah Pete]

I like the idea of vending machines tipping over. This could prove quite lucrative. I suppose that if the machine tipped over, and it's contents became dislodged, it would be the honorable thing to attempt to save such beverages (particularly, if they were of the beer variety) from accidents that might occur with downed powerlines, etc. It is a senseless tragedy, when a beer is electrocuted by a downed powerline.

OK, you have dibs on the vending machines.
I'll take the ATMs....

[Iraira]

OK, you have dibs on the vending machines.
I'll take the ATMs....

I think the Yakuza have dibs on those. Or at least they have dibs on stealing the the cranes and lifts that are used to steal the ATMs.

http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2006/01/28/1322701.htm
http://www.atmmarketplace.com/news_story.htm?i=16587

Additionally, be careful, some ATMs are apparently very tempermental and are liable to go off at the slightest hint of gunpowder.

http://www.atmmarketplace.com/news_story_12805.htm

[Yorik]

hehe im sure you wont have to wait too long for a bigger one - although they are more of a pain than anything (delaying trains etc)
Just out of interest which part of WA are you from???

I live in Karratha, about 1600kms north of Perth, about 800kms South of Broome.. We had quite a few big cyclones that crossed the coast near my town this year... We got 3 years worth of rain in 36 hours, my house leaked severely, lots of wet carpet, this happened three times in the Jan-Feb months.. The hottest place in Australia (unnofficially as it isn't a town, but a mining community) Pannawonica is only 125 kms away..

[IkemenTommy]

first

[Taro Toporific]

...The measurements they use in Japan are based on how "it feels" on the surface at that location...While it sounds imprecise, it gives a better idea of what people/property went through in various locations than just saying, well, it was a 4.7 on the richter scale

As Kuang_Grade said the Richter Scale cannot be "converted" to Japanese scale because the Richter is just a measurement of movement but the Japanese scale is the measurement of damage/feeling.

We just had a M4.4on the Richter Scale, but it was only a Japanese Maximum Seismic Intensity of 3.

11:00 JST 07 Sep 2006 10:57 JST 07 Sep --- 3 Maximum Seismic Intensity
(JMA Seismic Intensity)

11:00 JST 07 Sep 2006 10:57 JST 07 Sep 2006 CHIBAHOKUSEIBU --- M4.4 Richter Scale