Question Wasamon you OK?

I saw about the earthquake, and am hoping everything is safe with you and your family.

He posted on facebook that he's alright. I also spoke with him briefly via YIM and he said they didn't even have any broken glass or anything but he wasn't looking forward to reorganizing his bookshelves.

How big was this earthquake?

There were two three so far, a 6.2 and a 7.3 and a 4.7 about 6 hours ago.

The 6.2 is at the borderline of where I'd start worrying, the 4.7 is basically nothing. 7.3 is impressive, I'm glad he's okay.

I live on the ring of fire so I get earthquakes frequently, I've slept through a… I think it was a 6.5 but I'm not sure might have been smaller. Generally I don't notice them, as long as you know where to hide from falling objects (something that doesn't often happen) your fine.

Here we're still waiting for the big one, about every hundred years my area gets a huge earthquake (in the area of a 10) it was due a decade ago. The longer it takes the bigger it is supposed to be.

Edit: you'll note that I said 6.2 was borderline worrying and that I've slept through a 6.5, that is not a good thing! I only slept through it because I'm a heavy sleeper.

Edit: I have been informed that the 6.2 earthquake killed 9 people. I realize that my dismissal may seem disrespectful but I in no way intended it that way. There have been 2 and 3 strength earthquakes that have killed people. It is all about preparedness. 6 is where I start to worry because it is where things get dicey on how much damage it can do. Anything below a 6 and my family doesn't even break out the emergency gear. Rarely does a 6 cause us that much harm either. That is because, as I said before, we live on the ring of fire. We know what to do in the event of an earthquake. Though even that can't save everyone. All earthquakes are dangerous, the point I start to worry about things is based on my perspective of being constantly being drilled on what to do in the even of an earthquake in my formative years.

Way less frequent, but yeah same principle. Though I don't know if scientist are predicting a large enough hurricane to sink a city at the outer edges of feasibility.

Kristin Darken wrote: It's a bit like the difference between a tornado in PA and a tornado in OK. They're both going to cause a bit of property damage and the yearly dmg for tornados in OK is much higher because of frequency... but PA probably has more injuries/casualties from them. Because no one has any idea what to do, there are no storm cellars per se, and buildings aren't really built with the right types of forces in mind for structural support.

Ohio gets the rare tornado too, once every few years, last year (I think) a small one hit downtown Cleveland, but I mean I think it was barely an EF-2, it touched down and did some damage but nothing was completely destroyed mainly windows and roof tiles, usually we get funnel clouds that scare people but dissipate long before they get near the ground.

I'm a California boy. My rough rule of thumb for earthquakes is 1-2: you didn't feel it. 3-4: you might have felt it. 5-6: something might break (this includes people, especially in the high 6s), 7-8: I hope you're okay, 9: How unlucky were you?

I think that the best modern example of the importance of infrastructure in dealing with earthquakes is the 2010 Haitian earthquake. It was only a 7.0, yet the death toll was 10 times that of the 9.0 that destroyed Fukushima.

Of course, there are a ridiculous number of factors that affect earthquake destruction beyond it's magnitude and the quality of infrastructure (depth and type of seismic event are the two main ones that come to mind)


As far as earthquake preparation goes, my family's rule #1 for proofing a house is to make sure that there is nothing* that is capable of falling onto any of the beds. Then, if you wake up to a major earthquake, you (and your children!) are already in one of the safest places of the house.

*stuffed animals and decorative pillows are okay.

It should come as no surprise that I have not particularly enjoyed the last three days. >_<

The first THREE earthquakes (late Thursday night) were bad enough, but like Neo said, no real harm done to me, my wife, or our apartment.

The FOURTH earthquake (Friday evening) was a whole different story. Magnitude 7.3, and approximately sixteen to twenty times stronger than the Thursday quakes. Water and internet were out for a day and a half, we still haven't gotten gas back, and in any case we're going to have to replace 75% of our glassware and crockery. Plus, all those bookshelves I put back in order on Friday afternoon just went kersplat all over the other room. Our bedroom didn't have much in it that could fall over, though the old TV did put a dent in the tatami.

For anyone who's curious, the Japanese word for "futility" is "muda" (無駄).

At current count, we've had fifteen earthquakes, though only the one that passed the magnitude 7 point officially. Of those, ten of them were within 20km of my apartment, and this doesn't count the ... not sure at this point, but it has to be close to 400 aftershock tremors so far.

We spent the last two nights sleeping in our car, parked with a bunch of other people on the Kengun Higashi Elementary/JHS baseball grounds. Every single public school in the country follows a set of design specs that make them an intrinsic part of the disaster preparedness / evacuation system. Faculty and volunteer students helped run things like parking plans, toilets, and lines for drinking water when the Self-Defense Force's water wagons came along. My wife should have been doing the same thing at her school, but her principal gave her a pass for being pregnant (plus, we weren't sure how safe the connecting roads were). She'll get to find out tomorrow, while I'm over the other way, putting my own classroom back together.

Kumamoto City by itself has over a million people, and the total affected area includes the entire prefecture plus a bit of neighboring Oita Prefecture, so we're talking closer to ten million total shaken. The fact that there have only been 40~45 reported deaths (almost all elderly; several by heart attack) is pretty dang impressive.

Damage to infrastructure has varied dramatically, though Mashiki Town (unfortunate location of at least seven of the epicenters) got it bad. Minami Aso Village is also in a bad way, because all major access roads in and out of its valley currently have huge holes in them. Yatsushiro City also had to deal with a series of bad fires in connection to one of the quakes with an epicenter farther south. There are random cracks and fissures all over (even in the sports grounds), but if there's one thing Japan does well, it's rebuild stuff quickly.

The worst damage in my immediate area was to the supermarket down on the Kengun shopping arcade. The front half of the building, all three stories of it, now lies four meters farther into the road than it used to. Several of the smaller groceries on the arcade were open for business Saturday morning, but the supermarket will probably have to be demolished. There was also a case where the big advertising sign for a local cram school was dislodged from the building and blocked all access to the convenience store below it, stuff like that.

All in all, it's been a very well-ordered disaster. The only concern is that the seismologists still predict more shakes for the rest of the week. Hopefully we're through the worst of it, though.

Glad you and your family are OK, Was. Hope the worst is over.

Times like this I guess I'm OK to trade our lousy weather for sitting on about the most stable chunk of rock on the planet

Crap, Was... stay safe.

If you all start rioting over the conditions, though, remember, under riot conditions it's ok to limit yourself to one 'please' and only a slight bow. (that's a joke, please don't riot)

Good to hear that things are ok for you. Hopefully things settle down quickly.