Earthquake!

[AssKissinger]

News said it was in Nara and Aichi and our apartment was shaking in Hiroshima!

[omae mona]

Hit Tokyo pretty darn good too. I was stopped in my driveway on the way home 5 minutes ago and thought "shit.. looks like the engine needs some work" since the whole car was shaking. Glad to hear there's an alternative explanation.

[gkanai]

yep that was was pretty long here in Tokyo too... trains didnt stop though... I saw the Yamanote moving while the earth was...

[AssKissinger]

Kansai was the epicenter. Tsunami warning for Mie and Wakayama.

[Caustic Saint]

Yay! My third full day in Japan and I get an earthquake!

[djgizmoe]

Was pretty minor here in Shizuoka, but my wife and I still scrambled outside just in case it turned nasty...

[Big Booger]

I and my wife had just taken a seat at ASUKA restaurant, when the quake it... it lasted what seemed like 1 minute or more. Whole lotta shakin' going on... Didn't get any aftershocks from what we could tell...

[yakinoumiso]

http://mdn.mainichi.co.jp/news/20040905p2a00m0dm013000c.html

A strong earthquake hit western Japan and surrounding areas Sunday evening, with weather officials issuing tsunami warnings to Mie and Wakayama prefectures.


The earthquake hit shortly after 7 p.m., and its intensity was lower-5 on the 7-point Japanese scale in Shimokitayama, Nara Prefecture and Shingu, Wakayama Prefectures, on the Kii Peninsula, Meteorological Agency officials said.


They warned Mie and Wakayama prefecture residents of tsunami up to 50 centimeters high.


The tremor's magnitude is estimated to be 6.8 on the Richter scale.


The center of the earthquake was some 10 kilometers deep and located off the Kii Peninsula in the Pacific Ocean.


The quake registered 4 on the Japanese scale in other parts of Nara and Wakayama, Shiga, Gifu, and Osaka prefectures. (Mainichi and wire reports, Japan, Sept. 5, 2004)

A 6.8 quake is nothing to sneeze at...

[yakinoumiso]

Another quake just (ca. 12:00 am) hit the Izu area, probably an aftershock of the one that struck off of Aichi-ken. It was strong enough to make wind chimes tinkle, though not much more than that. But it did seem pretty long, at least longer than the one that hit earlier...

[amdg]

Oh yeah,... on the 13th floor in Kobe, I felt that one. Not one to usually get seasick, but ...

[Mulboyne]

Just watching NHK. Tsunami warnings for virtually the whole Pacific side. Up to 2 metres high around Mie Prefecture - south of Ise Bay, Wakayama Pref. and Aiichi Pref. Coastal areas there are recommended for evacuation.

[Taro Toporific]

Just watching NHK. Tsunami warnings for virtually the whole Pacific side... Coastal areas there are recommended for evacuation.

COWBUNGA!
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[aquamarine]

For what it's worth, we just shook twice in about 15 minutes out here in Yokohama (Tama Plaza). That was quite fun, sitting here wondering why the hell the neighbors are running into the wall (which is what I'm leaning against) before I realized that I was feeling REAL dizzy. Go figure.

[Oradea]

there were two, one at 7pm and the other at 11.57.
tsunami warnings issued, 50cm - 1m, along mie, wakayama, izu, and shikoku.
the second quake succeeded in de-alphabetising my cd collection,and scaring the two of us out our apart. it lasted between 60 and 90 seconds.

[mr. sparkle]

For what it's worth, we just shook twice in about 15 minutes out here in Yokohama (Tama Plaza). That was quite fun, sitting here wondering why the hell the neighbors are running into the wall (which is what I'm leaning against) before I realized that I was feeling REAL dizzy. Go figure.

I used to think earthquakes were fun -- until the Oct. 7, 1989 Loma Prieta quake here in SF, which was 7.1 on the Richter scale and caused 63 deaths and 3.757 injuries.

That scared the pants off of ol' Mr. Sparkle and German Girl Pongi. Believe me, I did not want to suck my last breath underneath a pile of Gap store rubble.

The highest concentration of fatalities occurred in the collapse of the Cypress structure on the Nimitz Highway (Interstate 880), where a double-decker portion of the freeway collapsed, crushing the cars on the lower deck. One 50-foot section of the Bay Bridge also collapsed, causing one car to fall to the deck below and the only casualty on the bridge. The bridge was closed for repairs for a month and one day, reopening on November 18. While the bridge was closed, ridership on BART soared.

Because this quake occurred during the evening rush hour, there could have been a large number of cars on the freeways at the time, which on the Cypress structure could have endangered many hundreds of commuters. Very fortunately, and in an unusual convergence of events, the two local major league baseball teams (the Oakland Athletics and the San Francisco Giants) were about to start their third game of the World Series. Many people had left work early or were participating in early after-work group viewings and parties. As a consequence, the usually crowded highways were experiencing exceptionally light traffic at the time.

Extensive damage also occurred in San Francisco's Marina District, where many expensive homes built on filled ground collapsed. Fires raged in some sections of the city as water mains broke. San Francisco's fireboat (the Phoenix) was used to pump salt water from San Francisco Bay through hoses dragged through streets by citizen volunteers. Power was cut to most of San Francisco and was not fully restored for several days.

Deaths in Santa Cruz occurred when brick storefronts and sidewalls in the historic downtown (what was then called the Pacific Garden Mall) tumbled down on people exiting the buildings.

The quake also caused an estimated $6 billion in property damage, the most costly natural disaster in U.S. history at the time. It was the largest earthquake to occur on the San Andreas Fault since the great San Francisco earthquake in April 1906. Private donations poured in to aid relief efforts and on October 26, President Bush signed a $3.45 billion earthquake relief package for California.

Back home I found my TV set on the floor, broken stuff everywhere and the interruption of the bay bridge world series. We found that "drinking helped". Darkened Liquor stores stayed open late cleaning up bottles and selling cans of beer. It's true that we didn't get any power for about a week.

I hope everyone is safe and that no nasty aftershocks kick in. Hey Rob, you may want to hand out your spare Pongi helmets for safety and identification.

Was anyone in Kobe for their semi-big one? BTW, Loma Prieta was only a warmup for "the big one" - I am sure we'll see a catostrophic quake here in the Bay Area at some point - like Tokyo, it's not a matter of "if" it's only a matter of when - as it certainly will happen.

[japslapper]

[AssKissinger]

I used to think earthquakes were fun -- until the Oct. 7, 1989 Loma Prieta quake here in SF, which was 7.1 on the Richter scale and caused 63 deaths and 3.757 injuries.

Oh I remember that one. I was living in Salt Lake then. It was during an all Bay Area World Series between San Francisco and Oakland.

As the Candlestick Park throng awaited introduction of the lineups, an earthquake measuring 7.1 on the Richter scale rocked the Bay Area. The Candlestick press box swayed, the ballpark shook and electric power stopped. Amazingly, fans, players and the media remained generally calm and even exhibited some lightheartedness. But when reports of death and destruction around the area became known -- many fans had portable radios and television sets at the park -- the mood turned somber.

A friend of mine died in San Francisco that night but it was just a coincidence. He died from a herion overdose.

[gomichild]

Day off do you think?

I reckon matey. Kick back and be happy about the disappointment.

[Caustic Saint]

Just felt another shaker. Seemed about as strong as the last two. Same faultline maybe?

[djgizmoe]

Me 2. Geez no earthquakes since I came back last March, and now 3 in 3 days...

[Steve Bildermann]

Hmm - fairly strong here in beautiful downtown sango, nagoya. Lamp fell off TV and cup of coffee fell of the desk.

...three in a row now, gee I hope God rehearsing for THE BIG ONE

[Oradea]

yeah its a little unsettling, but it wouldnt be if the news reports werent out to scare the shit out of you.....

[Hana_Mizu]

...three in a row now, gee I hope God rehearsing for THE BIG ONE

I hope he/she is not!!

[Caustic Saint]

Nooper mail says it was a Shindo 4, Richter 6.4, 10km deep and came from the same epicenter as the late night one on Sunday.

[Hana_Mizu]

Although it's Richter 6.4 and came from the same epicenter as the second one on Sunday, it's good thing that it was less intense right? I'm in Shizuoka, and the last quake gave this place a pretty good shake.

[Caustic Saint]

That was a good one! Anybody got stats on it yet?

[Mini_B]

Earthquake felt in Saitama just a minute ago - 5 on the J-Scale. What does that equal on the Richter scale? Not cool.

[nullpointer]

My 10th Floor apartment in 'hama was shook up just 10 minutes go. Any stats yet....

[yakinoumiso]

http://www.mainichi-msn.co.jp/today/news/20041007k0000m040139000c.html

Mainichi's web site is reporting a magnitude of 5.8, and a bit under 5 on the J scale. The epicenter was in southern Ibaraki-ken.

Out here in the Izu area, it was a bit of a loping quake, maybe lasting a minute or so. Not so bad...

edit::just what Rob Pongi said above...

[sillygirl]

Tochigi was shakin' (for once )