Large earthquake in Japan

We had a moderately large quake here years back, the Nisqually quake. No matter how many times I heard get under a table, don't try to get out, I still went for the exit. I did not want to be trapped under there if the building came down. I know it's the wrong thing but emotion overrode rational thinking.

I didn't have a lot of options during the Nisqually, I was living in a manufactured home, and it was shaking so badly I couldn't stand up. So I figured if the roof came down, at least it was probably flimsy enough to not kill me. I was living on Vashon Island at the time, so probably closer to the epicenter than Seattle was. Before that the biggest ones I experienced were the Morgan Hill quake when I lived in San Francisco, and technically the 1965 Puget Sound quake, though I was 5 years old and on the other side of the Cascades.

I hope all my Japanese friends & family are safe.
 
I didn't have a lot of options during the Nisqually, I was living in a manufactured home, and it was shaking so badly I couldn't stand up. So I figured if the roof came down, at least it was probably flimsy enough to not kill me. I was living on Vashon Island at the time, so probably closer to the epicenter than Seattle was. Before that the biggest ones I experienced were the Morgan Hill quake when I lived in San Francisco, and technically the 1965 Puget Sound quake, though I was 5 years old and on the other side of the Cascades.

I hope all my Japanese friends & family are safe.

Lol. Sorry, but that me giggle. Sympathetically though!
 
10 seconds would be an amazing warning time!!! For me, I get about 1-2 seconds warning because I can hear it coming...the there is a smaller movement that tells you you have another second to get where you need to go before the jolt starts. But they are all a bit unique.

I agree 10 seconds is a lot of time. But only if you act on reflex. If you have time to think maybe it's a false alarm....

But one real alarm and I'll bet reflex can kick in.
 
I agree 10 seconds is a lot of time. But only if you act on reflex. If you have time to think maybe it's a false alarm....

But one real alarm and I'll bet reflex can kick in.

Agree. I am actually surprised they can get as much as 10 seconds. Just trying to imagine what they are measuring.

Probably something obvious, I am missing.
 
I agree 10 seconds is a lot of time. But only if you act on reflex. If you have time to think maybe it's a false alarm....

But one real alarm and I'll bet reflex can kick in.

I can't really explain how I know but likely from living here all this time. You are right that somet hings are learned like a reflex so a warning would be like that too.
There are earthquakes I know are coming but I dont bother to get out of bed, and others where I would dive under something.

I have about 100 trains that come by and some shake the house. My brain totally ignores all of that (unless they blare a horn because someone is on the track :mad:). But a coming earthquake has the same sound as a train to my ear...except the rumble is different...then you'll hear the windows make noises. But all of them all at once. And then the primary wave, a small movement. then the jolt. The last one was 2 decent jolts and it was done. Just 5 or 6 seconds of any decent shaking.

So even without a warning, there are a couple seconds. 10 seconds is a lot of time to get into a safer space , away from windows.

My daughter has no clue about them yet even when they hit, but she hasnt had the larger ones yet. She needs to develop the earthquake mojo.
 
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I can't really explain how I know but likely from living here all this time.
There are earthquakes I know are coming but I dont bother to get out of bed, and others where I would dive under something.

I have about 100 trains that come by and some shake the house. My brain totally ignores all of that (unless they blare a horn because someone is on the track :mad:). But a coming earthquake has the same sound as a train to my ear...except the rumble is different...then you'll hear the windows make noises. But all of them all at once. And then the primary wave, a small movement. then the jolt.

So even without a warning, there are a couple seconds. 10 seconds is a lot of time to get into a safer space , away from windows.

My daughter has no clue about them yet even when they hit, but she hasnt had the larger ones yet. She needs to develop the earthquake mojo.

I live about 500 meters from one of the worst fault lines on the globe.

Do you mind lending me this power for a few years?

I will give it back, promise!

;)
 
I was disappointed with a selection of Arduino sensors I'd purchased recently. Five seismic related devices and not a single one can actually trigger an earthquake. Fifty projects for the evil genius indeed!
 
Graphic here.

7.1 - how strong is that?

Pretty damn strong. I speak from being in the San Francisco Bat Area during the 1989 quake, which was 7.1. Caused part of the Bay Bridge and a Highway overpass to collapse. Not fun.
 
Just noticed if you scroll in it still has the numbers where houses were.

:(

Bit of a bummer.

Shouldn't have looked
 
I live about 500 meters from one of the worst fault lines on the globe.

Do you mind lending me this power for a few years?

I will give it back, promise!

;)

Wish I could but...well, we are kind of in the same boat as our cabin in the LA mountains sits just to one side of a major fault line. It is obvious where the line is because you can actually SEE it. Especially noting the adjacent "sag pond" which is created by a big strike/slip movement in the water table from the last large earthquake there over 200 years ago.

And that fault line would be the San Andreas!

eta: Interesting article on our our sag ponds--->
https://www.sbsun.com/2019/09/11/how-those-little-lakes-along-the-san-andreas-fault-came-to-be/
 
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Wish I could but...well, we are kind of in the same boat as our cabin in the LA mountains sits just to one side of a major fault line. It is obvious where the line is because you can actually SEE it. Especially noting the adjacent "sag pond" which is created by a big strike/slip movement in the water table from the last large earthquake there over 200 years ago.

And that fault line would be the San Andreas!

eta: Interesting article on our our sag ponds--->
https://www.sbsun.com/2019/09/11/how-those-little-lakes-along-the-san-andreas-fault-came-to-be/

I think personally it comes down to a if it happens it happens kind of thing.

I have to say my in laws from the UK were a bit iffy about their daughter moving here, but you could be hit by a bus tomorrow and all that.
 
Those of us in the Pacific Northwest have the big Cascadia Subduction Zone to worry about, as well as all the "regular" faults and volcanos. The last time that one slipped is well-documented by the tsunami it caused in Japan, in January 1700. They expect it will be about a 9 next time it goes, and will affect the west coast as far south as Mendocino and as far north as the north end of Vancouver Island in Canada. The worst will be western Washington though, which will affect transport and communications for the entire Pacific Rim.
 
Those of us in the Pacific Northwest have the big Cascadia Subduction Zone to worry about, as well as all the "regular" faults and volcanos. The last time that one slipped is well-documented by the tsunami it caused in Japan, in January 1700. They expect it will be about a 9 next time it goes, and will affect the west coast as far south as Mendocino and as far north as the north end of Vancouver Island in Canada. The worst will be western Washington though, which will affect transport and communications for the entire Pacific Rim.

I'm hoping that my 200 feet altitude will be sufficient to avoid the tsunami coming down the Strait!
 
Well that will teach me to go looking for the tsunami prediction map for the Juan de Fuca Straight to see if 200 feet was safe from a Cascadia Fault Slip. Probably because it only says > 10 feet the wave will whisk by you and I think if it was much greater they'd have had some more colors in the simulation.

But then I stumbled onto this site: Strange Sounds Blog

OK lets see, we've known about the periodic slow slip under the Olympic Peninsula for years. It starts in Southern OR and slowly works its way up to Vancouver Is. It recurs every ~14 months. I liken it to breathing because the affected area actually rides up and down, or at least that's how I remember it.

It's not directly connected to the Cascadia Fault. Then I see this on the blog: "Another intense slow slip earthquake event is starting much too early along the Pacific Northwest, prompting fears of the next Cascadia rupture"
The problem is that the last slow slip event along the Cascadia Subduction Zone took place in October 2020. That’s THREE months and not fourteen!

So why are these giant swarms of earthquakes suddenly taking place at higher pace? Why are they increasing in magnitude? Is Cascadia waking up?
The answer, no one knows.:eek:

And more on the blog: Mt St Helens is stirring, not a big deal. If it erupts it won't be like the massive 1980 eruption.

And I delve further: Cumbre Vieja is going to erupt shortly: Second earthquake swarm within a month hits beneath the volcano on the Canary Islands prompting fears of a cataclysmic tsunami

There was a special on the mega-tsunami that was caused by this volcano before after the slope breaks free and slips into the Atlantic Ocean. It's in the geologic record. There is already a huge crack where the next break will occur.
In the last few years, the Cumbre Vieja volcano in La Palma / Canary Islands was hit by several earthquake swarms. The first major series occurred in October 2017. It was followed by another seismic event in February 2018 and five in 2020, the latest end of December 2020.

Meanwhile, a new seismic unrest has started beneath the volcanic peak since January 31, 2021. The magnitudes of the earthquakes are between 1,2 and 2,5 (MbLg) and their depths range between 10 and 29 km right under the western slope of the Cumbre Vieja volcano.
The volcano has erupted twice before in the last 70 years without causing a massive landslide.
There are concerns that if Cumbre Vieja blows, the massive slab of rock could smash into the Atlantic Ocean causing a killer tidal wave.

This gigantic tsunami could travel thousands of miles and wash out coastal areas of Britain and even parts of the eastern seaboard of America.
In past eruptions the huge slab fell 13 feet and stopped. You can walk in the crack it's so big.

The current quake swarm signifying magma movement and an eruption would affect the slide risk area.

You have to watch the video to get all that detail.


I don't want to hijack the thread into volcanos and tsunamis so I just leave that link for people to peruse. Looks like you're safe at 200 feet Treb if your parch of the cliff doesn't break off in the shaking. :p
 
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Word of caution about the blog I linked to, it might not be such a good source.

I found a reference to space weather affecting earthquakes so.... never mind. :p


Aaaannnd it turns out other sources don't report the Cumbre earthquakes indicate an impending eruption.

:blush:
 
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