Earthquake in Japan - Again

[Beer Baron]

Just got word of another 'quake in Japan. full story below:

"A moderate earthquake shook northern Japan late last night. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.

The quake, which hit at about 10pm (0000 Friday AEDT), had a preliminary magnitude of 5.2 and was centred off the Pacific coast of Aomori prefecture at a depth of about 70 kilometres beneath the ocean floor, the Meteorological Agency said.

There was no threat of a tsunami, the potentially destructive waves triggered by seismic activity or underwater landslides, the agency said.

The tremor was most strongly felt in the area around the Shimokita peninsula about 580 kilometres north-east of Tokyo, it said.

A magnitude 5 earthquake can cause damage to homes if it occurs in a residential area.

Japan, which rests atop several tectonic plates, is among the world's most quake-hit countries.

Nations around the Indian Ocean were devastated by a tsunami triggered by a magnitude-9 underwater earthquake off the west coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra on December 26.

On October 23, a magnitude-6.8 earthquake struck Niigata, about 260 kilometres north-west of Tokyo, killing 40 people and damaging more than 6000 homes.

The jolt was the deadliest to hit Japan since 1995, when a magnitude-7.2 quake killed 6433 people in the western city of Kobe.

AP"

Good that no-one was hurt but 5.2 is still a pretty decent shake. anyone over there in the area?

Richard

[Rezz]

Pffft 5.2? No offence, but hardly worth mentioning...

[Rezz]

^^^as you can see, I didn't feel anything down here in Ashiya... as most of the other JP residents didn't.

[InspectorGadget]

5.2 is bugger all. They start to get worrying here when they reach about 5.8 and above. But then that all depends on the distance underground, distance from the epicentre etc. We had a 5.4 within 100km of my home a week ago, and all that did was scare my goldfish into hiding under his log for a couple of days. However, that quake wasn't widely reported in the papers.

Remember that the Japanese have been dealing with earthquakes since the dawn of time, so a fair portion of the houses and buildings have some kind of earthquake strengthening in them.

[akeenan]

pfft, walk in the park

[DaiOni]

www.tenki.jp

good site for tracking quakes (and weather)

[DaiOni]

地震情報 - look for that kanji on the left side (top, blue section) 'earthquake info'