Big Quake

April 11th, 2011

We are still shaking… just got through a rather strong quake here in Tokyo. Hard to tell, but it felt like it might have been close by… more soon.

Update: they’re reporting it as a “weak 6” in Fukushima. Quake sites are lagging, hard to get info…

Looks like a 6.0 on the Richter scale. It was pretty sizable here in Tokyo, lasting a few minutes and really shaking stuff. Not enough to throw anything, but more than enough to make everything shake and sway…

Another update: a smaller aftershock hit just a few minutes after the first one, but it was barely felt here. There is still a tsunami warning along the Tohoku coast. [Update on tsunami: serious warnings for the Ibaraki coast–tsunami as high as 2 meters, @6 ft., for that area.]

Update: Correction, that first quake was a 7.1. That sounds about right, considering how strong it was here in Tokyo!

The smaller quake after it was a 6.0, with maybe a 5.6 right on its heels.

The timing is not lost on anyone here, this aftershock (about the same strength as the main Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989) comes almost exactly one month after the Big One hit on March 11. Sachi and I were just finishing our hanami when the 2:46 pm 1-month anniversary came, blissfully unaware amongst the blossoms–which seemed fitting. Seems that Mother Nature is reminding us, not so gently, of exactly who’s in charge here.

Update: yet another quake–that’s about 6 or so quakes over 4.7 in the past 40 minutes.

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