Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Large Earthquake Rocks Japan:Magnitude 6.8 Quake Prompts No Tsunami Warnings

TOKYO-A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.8 struck off the northern Japanese coast early Thursday but prompted no immediate reports of injuries or other damage, the nation's weather agency said.The Meteorological Agency said there was no danger of a tsunami, or seismic waves, from the 12:26 a.m. (11:26 a.m. EDT Wednesday) quake, which occurred about 75 miles below the ocean's surface off the coast of Iwate.The offshore earthquake caused strong shaking in northern Japan, but no tsunami alert was issued by the agency.The quake was believed to have lasted about 30-40 seconds. Railway operators said that they had already stopped trains so that tracks could be inspected.No abnormalities had been detected at the nearest nuclear power plant in the area, which continued controlled operations, according to local media reports.Tomio Kudo, a grocery shop owner in the town of Hirono, where the shaking was most violently felt, told an interview with public broadcaster NHK."Everything has fallen off the shelves, scattered all over the floor," he said. "Even a big refrigerator has moved about 30 centimeters (1 foot)."Koji Yoshida, an official for Morioka Fire Department in nearby Aomori prefecture (state), said the tremor was strong but nothing fell off shelves."So far we have not received any reports of damage or casualties," he said.Japan is one of the world's most earthquake-prone countries.Last month, a 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck sparsely populated rural areas in northern Japan, killing at least 12 people, leaving 10 others missing and injuring more than 300.
http://fox40.trb.com/news/ktxl-072308japan,0,6708308.story
As in the days of Noah....

1 comment:

C.Peter Davis said...

I have been tracking earthquakes since the Indonesian quake and subsequent devastating tsunami. I have observed that the number of quakes is increasing drastically as are the variety of locales these quakes are occuring in. They seem to be mainly hitting just off or very near coastlines. There seems to be nowhere in the world immune to them. There was one recently near the North Pole and one today in Antarctica. Ground movement has increased in Australia, Asia, the Mediteranean, into Europe, Africa, South America, Central America, the Caribbean, The Eastern U.S., Central U.S. and especially the Western U.S. A sudden increase in ground movement by my observations seems to pre-sage a signifigant earthquake. The Pacific Rim has come alive with quakes since I began my obsevations. They seem to be building in intensity and number. Could earth's mantle be starting to shift as it has in the distant past? Either way things don't look good for many areas of earth. C.P. Davis, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada