JAPANESE EARTHQUAKE & TSUNAMI
(Energy map associated with the 8.9 quake in the Pacific)
Written by: Brian Neudorff
I know like me many of you have been clued to the coverage of this magnitude 8.9 quake that shook northern Japan and then caused a devastating tsunami.
A tsunami forms when a strong earthquake like we saw in Japan and rubs against plates. The plates in this part of the world (unlike California, where the slide against each other) go over and under each other. When pressure finally break you get the crust violently displacing upwards and this causes the massive wave.
The tsunami was worst in Japan cause it was getting the full force of the displaced water. As the wave moves away it does get smaller but we are still talking about the potential of a 3 to 6 feet rise in water up and down the west coast and Alaska.
As I write this it is 7:30am PST (10:30am EST) places like Oregon and Washington will soon start to experience the water rise.
Keep in mind when you hear "wave" it is not like the waves we typically see along the shore of the Great Lakes or even the ocean on any given day. These are waves or almost a surge of water. It appears these tsunami waves are coming in waves, where there will be rises and falls and rises and fall an oscillation as the ripple finally makes it to shore.
Along the west coast I wouldn't expect damage to be high like they saw in Japan but no one really knows what a wave like this can do.
I have already seen comments about solar flares and the moon. I am not versed enough on answering those on my own so before I can comment I will have to do some research and would welcome any links to sites that explain what you are seeing. We will keep you updated and if you have any questions we will do our best to answer them. This is more of a geological event than weather but if we don't know we will find the answers.
BBC Japan Quake News, Photos & Videos
BBC Wave Map
BBC Why Was the Wave So Big?
According to Jeff Masters, this is the 2nd top 10 earthquake in the last 13 months.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/article.html?entrynum=1761
Again, this should not be a surprise, folks. The Mayans fortold this. All we can do is sit back and cherish the days we have.
shocked it took one of you 2012 kooks this long to pop up - go put on your tin-foil hat
ReplyDeleteWere the Mayans kooks, too?
ReplyDeleteScott,
ReplyDeleteYou're a little more up on the sciences than most people. Do you think this super-moon theory holds some truth, or is it an easily debunked load of "you know what" ?
A huge load of "you know what"!!! Japan is the most geologically active area on the planet. The word "Tsunami" has Japanese origins. As for the "Supermoon" theory, the moon is naturally closer quite often due to it's elliptical orbit around the Earth.
ReplyDeleteThe moon is in a quarter phase which means that it's effect on tides is low right now so you can't even begin to blame gravitational pull for this event.
It's nature my friends, it has and always will remind us how little control humans have in the grand scheme.
Scott
Well said, Scott!
ReplyDeleteOK...time for a new blog. Obviously no one cares about Japan. Let's concentrate on Western NY weather. there's been no comments for may hours about the earthquake. Let's move on. let's talk spring and what lies ahead for US. Japan looks a lot like like Pearl Harbor. It's called karma. Too bad but it is what it is. Let's worry about the great US of A.
ReplyDeletei agree
ReplyDeleteHey Anonymous. You're a backwoods racist!
ReplyDeleteJust to clarify what Scott said, the Moon's phase does not affect the tidal force it exerts. Rather,
ReplyDeleteat quarter phases the _combined_ effect of the Moon
& Sun (tides due to the Sun are about 1/2 those due to the Moon) is less ('neap' tides), since the
forces are acting at right angles. The highest tides occur during new and full moon.