Earthquake off Japan

[cosmicalstorm]

The biggest quake in 300 years in Japan according to the Earth observatory guys

[Xisiqomelir]

TV hasn't been so horrible for me to watch for a very long time. If you watch on the loop, you can see a woman waving a towel for help from her 2nd floor window with a giant wave of mud right behind her house. So awful.

[FSTargetDrone]

CNN Vid of the waves

The dead are going to be in the thousands, and for an added bonus there's a few nuclear plants on that coast.

Absolutely horrifying. There were dozens of vehicles on the road which were driving along and they are simply being swept away in the roiling water and mud. It's unreal.

EDIT:

Latest video is showing burning piles of debris being carried along with the wave. I've never seen anything like this.

[Xisiqomelir]

JPN stream: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/foxtokimekitonight

[FSTargetDrone]

May have missed it (watching CNN and live web coverage at the same time), but are there any estimations of how fast that wave is moving along inland?

[Sea Skimmer]

None that I've seen, but the water is clearly moving faster then people could flee from it over any significant distance.

[Ilya Muromets]

Hawaii tsunami impact forecast for 0259 HST

Any impact forecasts for the Philippines? Local news here has no clue (at least the local radio news).

[CaptainChewbacca]

May have missed it (watching CNN and live web coverage at the same time), but are there any estimations of how fast that wave is moving along inland?

When the wave makes landfall like that its moving at 30-40 mph, much slower than its' ocean propagation speed.

[Todeswind]

Yeah. It hasn't been particularly fun, I've spent most of the day checking if friends of mine were hurt or killed. Not very fun.

[Sea Skimmer]

Any impact forecasts for the Philippines? Local news here has no clue (at least the local radio news).

From here
http://www.weather.gov/ptwc/text.php?id ... .11.083004


PHILIPPINES PALANAN 17.1N 122.6E 1002Z 11 MAR
LEGASPI 13.2N 123.8E 1033Z 11 MAR
DAVAO 6.8N 125.7E 1100Z 11 MAR

The times are Zulu times, which is the same as GMT. These arrival times are only 1-2 hours away as of now.

[CaptainChewbacca]

Four MILLION buildings without power in Japan. Jesus fuck this is bad.

[Xisiqomelir]

Any impact forecasts for the Philippines? Local news here has no clue (at least the local radio news).

From here
http://www.weather.gov/ptwc/text.php?id ... .11.083004


PHILIPPINES PALANAN 17.1N 122.6E 1002Z 11 MAR
LEGASPI 13.2N 123.8E 1033Z 11 MAR
DAVAO 6.8N 125.7E 1100Z 11 MAR

The times are Zulu times, which is the same as GMT. These arrival times are only 1-2 hours away as of now.

MANILA, Philippines (AP) - Philippine officials are ordering an evacuation of coastal communities along the country's eastern seaboard in expectation of a tsunami following a 8.9-magnitude earthquake in Japan.

Philippine Volcanology and Seismology Institute director Renato Solidum says the first 3-foot (1-meter) high waves are expected to hit the northernmost Batanes islands by 5 p.m. (09:00 GMT) Friday.

Disaster management officials in Albay province southeast of Manila say they have ordered residents to move to designated evacuation sites that are at least 15 feet (5 meters) above sea level.

Be safe Ilya (and all our regional posters).

[Sea Skimmer]

Reading that report further, here are the actual reports from the tide gauges. The dart gauges are ones floating at sea in deep water, I plotted them and they are spread in an arc 300-700 miles from the epicenter north east to south east of Japan in the Pacific ocean.

GAUGE LOCATION LAT LON TIME AMPL PER
------------------- ----- ------ ----- --------------- -----
TOSASHIMIZU SHIKOKU 32.8N 133.0E 0752Z 0.94M / 3.1FT 72MIN
DART 21413 30.5N 152.1E 0659Z 0.76M / 2.5FT 32MIN
HANASAKI HOKKAIDO J 43.3N 145.6E 0657Z 2.79M / 9.2FT 76MIN
DART 21401 42.6N 152.6E 0643Z 0.67M / 2.2FT 40MIN
DART 21418 38.7N 148.7E 0619Z 1.08M / 3.5FT 06MIN

[Ilya Muromets]

Be safe Ilya (and all our regional posters).

Me and Shroom should be fine.

But, crap, I got an aunt and uncle in Legaspi.

[CaptainChewbacca]

A tsunami WATCH has been issued for all of the west coast of North America. Not a warning, but a watch.

[Terralthra]

Tsunami watch has been expanded to cover basically the entire Western seaboard of North America, from Point Concepcion to the OR/WA border for the warning, and an advisory north to Alaska and south to Baja California. I'm only 2 or so miles inland in SF, tomorrow could get interesting.

[Xisiqomelir]

Helpful definitions

Tsunami Warning - a tsunami warning is issued when a potential tsunami with significant widespread inundation is imminent or expected. Warnings alert the public that widespread, dangerous coastal flooding accompanied by powerful currents is possible and may continue for several hours after arrival of the initial wave. Warnings also alert emergency management officials to take action for the entire tsunami hazard zone. Appropriate actions to be taken by local officials may include the evacuation of low-lying coastal areas, and the repositioning of ships to deep waters when there is time to safely do so. Warnings may be updated, adjusted geographically, downgraded, or canceled. To provide the earliest possible alert, initial warnings are normally based only on seismic information. For an example of the National Weather Service (NWS) format tsunami warning CLICK HERE. For a warning cancellation, CLICK HERE.



Tsunami Advisory - a tsunami advisory is issued due to the threat of a potential tsunami which may produce strong currents or waves dangerous to those in or near the water. Coastal regions historically prone to damage due to strong currents induced by tsunamis are at the greatest risk. The threat may continue for several hours after the arrival of the initial wave, but significant widespread inundation is not expected for areas under an advisory. Appropriate actions to be taken by local officials may include closing beaches, evacuating harbors and marinas, and the repositioning of ships to deep waters when there is time to safely do so. Advisories are normally updated to continue the advisory, expand/contract affected areas, upgrade to a warning, or cancel the advisory. For an example of the NWS format tsunami advisory CLICK HERE.



Tsunami Watch - a tsunami watch is issued to alert emergency management officials and the public of an event which may later impact the watch area. The watch area may be upgraded to a warning or advisory - or canceled - based on updated information and analysis. Therefore, emergency management officials and the public should prepare to take action. Watches are normally issued based on seismic information without confirmation that a destructive tsunami is underway. For an example of the NWS format tsunami watch CLICK HERE.



Tsunami Information Statement - a tsunami information statement is issued to inform emergency management officials and the public that an earthquake has occurred, or that a tsunami warning, watch or advisory has been issued for another section of the ocean. In most cases, information statements are issued to indicate there is no threat of a destructive tsunami and to prevent unnecessary evacuations as the earthquake may have been felt in coastal areas. An information statement may, in appropriate situations, caution about the possibility of destructive local tsunamis. Information statements may be re-issued with additional information, though normally these messages are not updated. However, a watch, advisory or warning may be issued for the area, if necessary, after analysis and/or updated information becomes available. For an example of the NWS format information statement CLICK HERE.

US/Canada posters: Use the West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center -> http://wcatwc.arh.noaa.gov/
Other Pacific posters: Use the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center -> http://www.weather.gov/ptwc/

And one new escalated status for the West Coast:

To: U.S. West Coast, Alaska, and British Columbia coastal regions
From: NOAA/NWS/West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center
Subject: Tsunami Warning and Advisory #4 issued 03/11/2011 at 12:51AM PST

The warning and advisory status regions have changed in this message.

The Tsunami Warning continues in effect for the coastal areas of California and Oregon from Point Concepcion, California to the Oregon-Washington border.

The Tsunami Warning continues in effect for the coastal areas of Alaska from Amchitka Pass, Alaska (125 miles W of Adak) to Attu, Alaska.

The Tsunami Advisory continues in effect for the coastal areas of California from the California-Mexico border to Point Concepcion, California.

The Tsunami Advisory continues in effect for the coastal areas of Washington, British Columbia and Alaska from the Oregon-Washington border to Amchitka Pass, Alaska (125 miles W of Adak).

[thejester]

The water's pretty obviously outran the warnings, too - live footage of people driving perpendicular to the course of the water, driving onto bridges that have already have been half washed away, etc.

[Todeswind]

Can someone watching news in English please tell me how bad the damage is in Aomori prefecture? I have a friend living there and the Japanese news is a bit frantic at the moment. They've started using vocabulary I don't understand (disaster relief words aren't words I've learned yet, go figure).

[Julhelm]

We've got my partner's family living over there in Tokyo Bay. Haven't been able to contact them.

[Sea Skimmer]

Can someone watching news in English please tell me how bad the damage is in Aomori prefecture? I have a friend living there and the Japanese news is a bit frantic at the moment. They've started using vocabulary I don't understand (disaster relief words aren't words I've learned yet, go figure).

It looks like almost all of the pictures of the waves coming ashore are coming from the Onahama and Sendai areas, and show equally strong waves at both locations. Those those two cities are 140km apart in a straight line, the coastline distance is even longer. Anywhere in Aomori is at least 200km north of Sendai however. No specific reports have appeared of damage or wave impacts in Aomori; but the eastern coastline of Aomori has most likely been hit by something. A tide gauge in northern Hokkaido reported a 2.79m tall wave.

Cell coverage is out in most of Tokyo, so communications have got to be overloaded as hell right now.

[weemadando]

Watching the Beeb coverage on SBS. It's bad. Oil refineries are severely damaged and burning, but at least they're saying that the nuke plants haven't been breached.

[Simon_Jester]

How far inland are these waves making it? I've seen a bit of footage, waves rolling across neighborhoods carrying a horizontal landslide of broken-up debris, but I don't have a good sense for what the geography is like in Japan; I wouldn't expect a three meter wave to be able to go farther inland than "three meters above sea level," but I don't know how far inland that is.

[Sea Skimmer]

Its not the height of the wave that matters as much as the width of the wave, though the two are related. A wave will wash at least its own width ashore, and often go further depending on the terrain and major barriers like road embankments. Going from photos and google earth the water-mud flow stopped about 1,500 meters inland at Sendai airport, which is a dead flat area and directly open to the ocean. Other areas appear to have been hit 300-700 meters inland, though the banks of river mouths I cannot clearly identify look like they may have been affected more then several kilometer inland in one video.

We could be looking at something like 100-300 square kilometers which have been at best heavily damaged with smaller houses swept away. I've been looking at this area in Google Earth a lot though, and while a damn lot of people did live right along the shoreline most stuff is set back around Sendai sufficiently to have had some protection. Hundreds or thousands may be dead, but really massive death tolls are looking unlikely as this took place in the afternoon when most people were at work, not home. Official death toll is 22 now, but night has fallen and its going to be that much more difficult to search all these buildings and debris to find survivors.

One natural gas storage facility on Tokyo Bay looks like its going to be completely destroyed before they ever get the fire under control, but that isn't really a big deal in the scheme of things.

Latest word is Hawaii will get a 2 meter tsunami, the US west coast could get up to 1 meter and South America a half a meter

[hongi]

What the fuck is wrong with the planet guys. I just came home and this hits me in the face.