A 7.3 magnitude earthquake hit Japan near the north-east coast of Fukushima Wednesday March 16. According to Reuters one fatality has been reported along with 69 injuries. Authorities have issued a tsunami warning with residents in costal areas told to evacuate.
More than 2 million homes lost power, as reported by NPR, The Japanese Meteorological Agency said the quake hit at 11:36 P.M. at a depth of 36 miles below the sea.
One person is reported dead and dozens of people are believed to have suffered injuries.
In some areas it was reportedly too forceful for people to stand, and buildings rattled in the Tokyo, according to AFP.
The quake jolted the region just a week shy of the anniversary of the devastating 9.0 earthquake and tsunami that happened back in March 2011.
Over two million homes in the Tokyo region were left without power.
This is a breaking story… Please check back for possible updates…
A series of earthquakes off the coast of Japan on Wednesday triggered a tsunami advisory for Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures—just over 11 years after the region endured a major nuclear disaster.
The first two earthquakes, with magnitudes of 6.4 and 7.3, struck within two minutes of each other, followed by another 5.5 magnitude quake over an hour later, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).
The strongest quake hit about 60 kilometers or 37 miles below the sea and left more than two million homes without electricity in an area serviced by the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), the Associated Press reported.
The AP noted that TEPCO said workers were checking for any possible damage at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Ōkuma, the site of the March 2011 disaster—which was caused by a 9.0 magnitude quake and resulting tsunami that led to multiple meltdowns at the facility.
No abnormalities were found at the Fukushima plant, The Japan Timesreported, citing the nation’s Nuclear Regulation Authority.
TEPCO also found no abnormalities at the Onagawa Nuclear Power Plant in Miyagi Prefecture, according to Japan’s public broadcaster, NHK.
“There is a possibility that another earthquake as strong as an upper 6 could strike in the next week or so,” Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters just after midnight local time. “We need to be on alert.”
As Common Dreamsreported last week, environmental defenders marked the 11th anniversary of the Fukushima disaster with calls for a renewable energy future free of nuclear power.
Remote region of Nevada gets an early morning shakeup
USGS (United States Geological Service) reported a 6.5 magnitude earthquake that hit the Nevada early Friday, May 15th, 2020. The quake was upgraded from the first reported magnitude of 6.4 to 6.5 an hour after the initial hit. The quake happened at approximately 4:03 a.m. east of Sierra Nevada, 35 miles from Tonopah near the California/Nevada border. The first temblor, according to USGS, struck 4.7 miles deep and resulted in dozens of aftershocks, some of which were of a magnitude high enough to have been felt throughout the region – ranging from 3.0 to 5.1 with many above the 4.0 threshold.
Director of the Nevada Seismology Laboratory, Graham Kent explained that the state has not experienced an earthquake close the magnitude felt on May 15th since the year December 1954 when two temblors of 6.8 and 7.1 magnitude hit the city of Fallon, Nevada.
Tweets began to pop up from residents ranging from Salt Lake City, Utah to Central Valley in California confirming that they felt the earthquake. Due to the quake hitting near the border of Nevada and California, and although the epicenter was in a remote region, many people were able to feel the quake. USGS revealed that more than 15,000 “Did You Feel It?” reports were submitted.
As yet, there have been no reports of casualties, however Esmeralda County Sheriff’s Office shared photos of the US 95 Highway damage resulting in portions of US95 and Nevada 360 Junction in Mineral County being closed for repairs.
The whole town woke up to an earthquake last night. So far this is the worst damage we are aware of. Highway north of us where it happened. Expect delays. 📷 Esmeralda County Sheriff’s Office pic.twitter.com/x4WynWpMfX
On July 4th and 5th of last year, a large rolling earthquake, centered 11 miles from Ridgecrest, CA with a magnitude of 7.1 hit California and was felt all the way to Mexico.
Each time a quake of sufficient magnitude to get all of us to take notice occurs, we are reminded that, living near various active fault lines, it is not a question of “if” a large quake will happen, but only “when”. Therefore it is always good advice to prepare and be ready, even if we happen already to be in the middle of a different type of emergency.
Helpful tips on how to prepare for when the next big one hits
Download maps in .pdf format and store on a laptop (keep it charged). Or just get some of those old fashioned paper maps.
Learn CPR: go to a class and be the one ready to save those around you.
For homeowners: check the structural integrity of your foundation. Double-check your earthquake insurance policy.
Keep extra water (lots of it) in your home as well as food and other supplies such as medicine, first aid kit and other essentials. Keep empty, safe water containers around to fill for extra H2O. Enough for at least a week or two is advised
Be sure that there is some cash hidden for this occasion; ATM machines can also be out for extended periods after a very large temblor.
At ELEVEN times the strength of the temblor on July 4th, just one day earlier, Friday’s earthquake has all of Southern California thinking about the next one…
Living in Southern California we all know that earthquakes can happen at anytime. As a matter of fact, small shocks happen all day, everyday. Every year California experiences around 10,000 tremors, most of them small. Perhaps around 100 per year are above 3.0 and fifteen to twenty are above 4.0.
It is also important to understand how the size and strength of quakes are measured. The richter scale, once used to measure the strength of earthquakes, has now mostly been superseded by the Moment Magnitude scale (Mw), which measures an earthquake of Mw 7.0 at 1000 times as much energy as one of 5.0 and about 32 times that of 6.0.
Another example would be: A magnitude 8.7 earthquake is 23,000 times stronger than a magnitude 5.8 earthquake. This massive difference in strength (as opposed to size, which is measured differently) is the reason why anything above 7.0 is very serious and can do great damage if in a highly populated area, while an 8.0, for example, could be catastrophic.
Now That We Have Your Attention: Some Earthquake Preparedness Advice
Many simple things can help to reduce any possible damage to your home or, more importantly, harm to yourself and your loved ones.
Photo / Adobe
Just as you wouldn’t want a bookshelf to accidentally fall on your baby, in an earthquake, furniture and especially appliances can be dangerous to anyone in the house.
Prepare for an earthquake in advance by using “baby-straps” that can be purchased at any hardware outlet, and use them to secure shelves, televisions and appliances like microwaves. People can be injured or even killed by these heavy objects in a severe quake.
Making sure your bed is not near any windows can help avoid broken glass. Use picture frames with clear plastic instead of glass in halls and stairways to make sure your exit route will be safe.
At least a few fire extinguishers should be ready in known locations around the house. As you can imagine, emergency lights in the bedroom and in various other places are essential. These can be battery powered, emergency crank, or even solar as long as they store a charge, in case the quake hits at night, or power is out for days, or even weeks.
And, while we are on the subject of electricity, if services are interrupted in your area, many things we rely on daily will also potentially be unavailable. Gas pumps need power, so it is always smart to keep at least one vehicle with the tank at more than half full.
“The real trick is: do these things now, don’t get caught wishing you had.”
– K.L.
Gas water heaters or any propane tanks are also potentially dangerous. Your gas heater or water heater must also be secured. An automatic valve that will sense any vibration beyond a certain threshold will help prevent fires that can be caused when an active gas line breaks during an earthquake.
Photo / Adobe
At minimum, be sure to know how to manually shut off your gas. This is usually done with a wrench, or a tool can be attached to the valve area to be sure you have it handy.
Keep some spare shoes near the bed to slip on, in case you awaken to debris and even broken glass. Cell phone service might be out, but even if it is working you will need charged phones. Cell battery back-ups are cheap these days and can be a life saver. For longer outages, if you do not have a generator, even a solar / emergency crank phone – a usb charger which is rechargeable by solar and hand crank can be great.
As can be seen by the common sense tips listed so far, much of these ideas can be thought of by just imagining what the situation could be like in the direct aftermath of an earthquake. The real trick is: do these things now, don’t get caught wishing you had.
Here are a few more tips:
Download maps in .pdf format and store on a laptop (keep it charged). Or just get some of those old fashioned paper maps.
Learn CPR: go to a class and be the one ready to save those around you.
For homeowners: check the structural integrity of your foundation. Double-check your earthquake insurance policy.
Keep extra water (lots of it) in your home as well as food and other supplies such as medicine, first aid kit and other essentials. Keep empty, safe water containers around to fill for extra H2O. Enough for at least a week or two is advised
Be sure that there is some cash hidden for this occasion; ATM machines can also be out for extended periods after a very large temblor.
If you implement the majority of the various suggestions described above, you are way ahead of most, and have much better chances of survival in the event of an earthquake emergency.
What to do immediately after a quake:
To panic or to rush is always dangerous. You can’t outrun an earthquake. If you are in public, such as at a movie theater, concert or sporting event, get down onto the floor and protect your head and upper body.
If in a large building, drop and cover, under a sturdy desk or table and hold on until the shaking stops. Stay away from windows and elevators.
When you are already outdoors, or if you can easily reach an open area, if it is safe to get there, stay away from anything that could cause harm – power-lines, billboards, buildings, even cars and trucks.
If near the ocean and the quake has a large enough magnitude to cause significant damage on land, a tsunami is a real possibility. Get to high ground, further inland, 2 miles or more. Driving is unlikely to be feasible, so hike to a spot more than 100 feet above sea level.
A large rolling earthquake centered 11 miles from Ridgecrest, CA. at 8:19 PM, was felt all the way to Mexico. The epicenter was again in the same relatively remote area as the July 4th quake: approximately 100 miles from downtown Los Angeles, in San Bernardino County.
In our newsroom, near LAX, the walls swayed and it was as if we were on a ship. Having been in the same location during the July 4th quake I can say that the difference was that this one lasted about twice as long. It was immediately clear that it was a higher magnitude.
For us near the coast, it is fortunate that the epicenter was approximately the same as the last one – approximately 150 miles inland
A large rolling earthquake centered in Searles Velley, CA was felt all the way to LAX. The epicenter was in the vicinity of Ridgecrest, approximately 100 miles from downtown Los Angeles, in San Bernardino County.
Reports of people noticing the quake came from as far away as Las Vegas and all the way to Newport Beach. The tremblor was at first clocked at 6.6, but subsequently downgraded to 6.4 – still the biggest since the infamous Northridge earthquake that all local residents recall. Fortunately this one was centered in an relatively remote area and no significant damage has yet been reported.
