Friday, March 11th Northern Japan Earthquake

Edit: live streams of Japanese news channels, for those interested.
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As you know by now, a high-magnitude earthquake occurred in Japan on Friday afternoon. At 2:46 p.m., about 130km (~80 miles) off the coast of Miyagi Prefecture (宮城県), and located 10km beneath the earth's crust, the quake registered a magnitude of 7.9 on the Richter scale (edit: the quake is now reported as an 8.8, the largest quake in Japan's recorded history). Japan uses another scale to indicate the severity (damage potential) of quakes, ranging from 1 to 7, in ascending order of severity. This was a 7.

[Don't worry about not understanding the Japanese - the illustrations are accurate]

Immediately after the earthquake struck, tsunami warnings were issued and soon all television channels were broadcasting warnings of an imminent tsunami that would affect most of the east coast of Japan. Locations nearest the epicenter were warned to expect waves up to 6 meters, and in at least one location, 10 meters. In addition, aftershocks of fairly high intensity continued throughout the rest of the day and into Saturday morning, making it hard for anyone experiencing the quake to find any sense of real comfort.

[The quake map, showing just how widespread the shocks of the quake were]

[At the time of this post, the latest tsunami warning had been issued at 3:20 a.m.]
(× = epicenter, red = 3 meters+, orange = 2-3m, yellow = 0.5m)

Japan has learned well from experience. Living on the edge of so many tectonic plates means that Japan is one of the most seismically active locations in the world. Aside from the physical protections offered by tide walls and automatic gating systems that can be closed to further protect vulnerable locations, they really excel at getting people to safety.

As we have fire drills in the U.S., Japan runs earthquake and tsunami drills. Each village, town, and city has designated evacuation routes and gathering spots. The municipal announcement systems (large-scale PA systems) are also extremely useful in disseminating crucial information to residents quickly. These systems surely save lives. Unfortunately, there is no foolproof way to predict the nature of a tsunami, especially one caused by one of the largest quakes in Japan's recent history.

Today the news is covering the destruction caused by the tsunami. Prefectures located on the eastern seaboard of northern Japan (Iwate, Miyagi, and Ibaraki) are reporting increasing numbers of dead, injured, and missing persons. The latest reports predict over 1400 casualties and/or missing persons. Many thousands of people are in evacuation shelters, households are without power (and will be for many days), and transportation in some areas has been brought to a halt.

[Iwate prefecture reports 215 dead, 214 missing]

A nuclear power plant in Fukushima prefecture has reported a radiation leak and has been shut down. Though the shutdown leaves many without power in one of the countries colder regions, it is a necessary step to prevent the spread of radiation.

The effects of this earthquake and tsunami are going to be felt by many for a long time. Power must be restored, damage must be repaired, and cleanups must be performed. The burden this is going to place on the affected towns and cities is heavy. But the financial and the monetary loss cannot compare to the loss of life and the suffering that many will be experiencing due to the deaths and injuries caused by this disaster.