The Black Vault

A powerful earthquake has struck off Japan's north-eastern coast, shaking buildings in Tokyo and forcing people out of their homes, witnesses said.

Japan issued its most serious tsunami warning, saying a wave as high as 6m (20ft) could strike the coast near Miyagi prefecture.

US officials said the 8.8-magnitude quake struck about 250 miles (400km) from Tokyo at a depth of 20 miles.

TV pictures showed a wave crashing into the Pacific coast.

The surge of water carried cars and ships as it surged through a coastal town.


Japanese television has shown major tsunami damage in northern Japan, following an earthquake that has been upgraded to 8.8.

Public broadcaster NHK showed cars, trucks, houses and buildings being swept away by the tsunami in Onahama city in Fukushima prefecture.

Scores of cars were seen floating in Iwate prefecture harbour, local TV said.

Japan earlier issued its top tsunami warning in response to the major offshore earthquake, which strongly swayed buildings 400 kilometres away in Tokyo and sent people fleeing onto the streets.

The meteorological agency issued its top-level evacuation alerts for the entire Japanese coast, Russia and the Mariana Islands, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said.

The quake was initially measured as a magnitude 7.9 but was upgraded.

It warned of a tsunami of up to six metres. Smaller tsunamis of up to 50cm reached some coastal communities, the agency said.

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The quake struck about 382km northeast of Tokyo, offshore, the US Geological Survey reported.

Smoke could be seen rising from a building in Tokyo port.

Shinkansen bullet trains stopped when the quake struck, while Tokyo port has shut all 19 of its water gates as it prepares for the tsunami.

Japan’s Coast Guard is halting ships on their way to entering Tokyo’s port,said Takashi Mifune, spokesman for the Bureau of Port and Harbor of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.

Japan’s meteorological agency said the quake struck at 2.46pm (4.46pm AEDST) local time at a depth of 10km, 125km off the eastern coast.

Footage on national broadcaster NHK from their Sendai office showed employees stumbling around and books and papers crashing from desks.

Police and coast guard officials said they were assessing possible damage from the quake.

The yen tumbled against the dollar after the quake, falling to 83.30 against the dollar from 82.81 before the quake struck.

Several quakes had hit the same region in recent days, including a 7.3 magnitude one on Wednesday.

The Joint Australian Tsunami Warning Centre said there was no tsunami threat to Australia.

TV of the waves coming in were unbelievable. All we could think of as dozens of cars washed away was they all had people in them. No airplanes could be seen at the totally flooded airport, they were probably all washed away. You could see quite a few of the walk out tunnels they put up to the doors, so it as a big terminal. I could not believe the wall of water going over the fields, must have devoured a dozen houses, than went right over dozens of these long plastic growing structures. The water was higher than the 2nd story of the homes.

I was thinking, where does our friend Mael live? Hope he was not affected or his family hurt.

Richard, if you read this, please check in a let us know you are alright. John Sr.

Yes, all OK here.

Just a few small tsunamis.

This coincides with recent massive solar activity. Much more solar activity on the cards.

The plates over the planet are stressed right now. It might be a good time to check your B.O.B. and mentally go over what you might do if things start wobbling where you are.

Keep your tinfoil hats handy just in case.

Thanks.

Glad you are safe Mael!!

Yeah I haven't slept all night, too much energy.

Been reading articles and what not, must have been a shock to the
system over there. Thats a high dose an 8.8 or 8.9 my goodness.

It was nice you stopped in mael...

There might be alot more coming from this huh.

Spooky stuff. I hope any and all affected are as well as can possibly be given the circumstance. Stay safe everyone. The best to everyone in Japan.

Cole

Just getting out in front of this a bit: Based on what I've seen and read thus far--this is a disaster beyond the scope of anything seen in modern time. One entire town had completely burned, others simply washed away--gas leaks everywhere---the death toll will be huge, some never to be found.

THIS is a very very serious event with far reaching affects. Very scary indeed.

Video:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/

Cole

Mael, I'm glad you are Okay, the images of this were just horrify to imagine. We are just getting the waves in the Southern California area, but they are very disapated, no real danger to us. They have closed beach areas and piers, marina areas as a precaution. SAnta Barbara where we drive up to for lunch on the pier is getting some large waves according to the news right now. A few boats in San Francisco piled up on each other in a harbor. Quite amazing that these waves can travel so far.

8.8 is something nobody could really imagine, which I think would be 100 times greater than our Northridge quake, which was 6.8. I'm sure that the earthquake people will be studing if the solar flares can affect these things Mael. The night before the Northridge quake, a total eclipse of the moon occured, which would have been a maxinmum gravitational pull on the earth, high tides, etc. Must be a real balancing act of nature, and one more feather on the side of the scale that makes things give way.

Glad you and your family are safe, the aftermath of this is going to be of epic porportions, I;m sure. Hopefully your warning systems and readyness for these things, saved many many lives.

Moon san is at apogee on the 15th of this month.

... So it looks like it's about time I moved a few things out of harm's way.

Some people collect fancy liqueurs. Some collect fine jewellery while others collect old socks or used colostomy bags. I like collecting things too.

I like chemicals. I've got all kinds of exotic acids, solvents and oxidisers ... the trouble is that they are all on the highest shelf. It really is about time I moved them down and put them into boxes or something at least.

* And I would like to warn you that you Americans are next on the list for a quake if you believe anything in rumours suggesting big EQs take a clockwise route. *hint* NZ is at 7 o'clock and the hands are clicking along and round ... .

Ki wo sukette ne.

The way the Richter scale works, an increase in 1 is ten times more energy (if I recall). An almost 9 earthquake is then about a hundred times more energy than the Loma Preata earthquake in San Francisco in 1989 which measured around 7. I forget if that's a hundred times more energy per cubic foot or a hundred times total energy. At any rate, it is a hell of a lot more powerful than an already devastating earthquake. Just to give you some idea.

The world will remember this one for decades, I'm sure. And it's not over, with aftershocks and tsunamis that are impacting even the United States.

Good to see you're still around mael.

And I would like to warn you that you Americans are next on the list for a quake if you believe anything in rumours suggesting big EQs take a clockwise route.

I've never heard that theory about earthquakes moving clockwise. If true, look to Alaska next. They have a ton of earthquakes that nobody pays attention to. I live in the ring of fire too. If Mt. Rainier blew or any of our other mountains, it would wipe out whole cities. Then again, they've been warning about the "big one" around here for years. We're supposed to be long over due.

What concerns me more about Japan is the nuclear site that they can't cool off.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z1GIY9J2N2