If you follow a little bit what’s going on in Japan (and if you’re reading this blog, I assume you do), you most likely know that this morning at around 5.30am, most people in the western part of Japan (Kansai, Shikoku, Chūgoku, even some parts of Kyūshū) were “affected” by this:
The same, but a little bit closer :
If my count is correct, that was my fifth earthquake since I moved to Japan, but it probably was the larger and definitely the scarier (along with the first one back in November 2011), especially because of its length (no more than ten or twenty seconds, but all the other ones were two or three seconds max)
In the end no damage to report here (even though about twenty people ended up being injured and some damage was done here and there, mostly on Awajishima itself), but this earthquake is a scary reminder that even in the West of Japan we’re not safe from earthquakes (and yes, I’m aware that for you in the East, such an earthquake is almost insignificant), and that a “big one” can also happen on “minor” fault lines too. Actually, the epicenter was just a few kilometers away from the one of the Great Hanshin Earthquake of 1995.
This also reminds me of an article that I read only a couple of days ago in which a Russian scientist announced that a very big earthquake (magnitude 9) would happen before the end of 2014 on the fault line between Shizuoka and Kyūshū. I’m not sure what credit to give to such a prediction (we’ll see in two years) but if it happens, it is certain that Shikoku will be affected (along with a large part of the southern coast of Japan.
(map sources: Japan Meteorological Agency)
Reminds me of the big one in 2011. I really didn’t enjoy it. I hope you never have to experience it. I doubt there was any problems on the islands?
That prediction of an earthquake around 9 reminds me of other studies I have heard about as well. Most point to a probably large earthquake near Tokyo by this year, maybe 2015. It has long been predicted that one will happen in the Tokai region. One of the most interesting ones I read was about the thought that earthquakes progress south from the northern regions of Japan. In other words, starting in Tohoku, then Kanto, then Tokai, then Kansai, etc. I hope it isn’t correct.
To add more fun to the party, I read another article that said Mt. Fuji is primed for an eruption. It’s internal pressure is higher than the last eruption and the last eruption was potentially caused by a large earthquake in Osaka.
All of this fun in Japan and we have front row seats. f(^^;)
The islands were unaffected (except for Awajishima itself, where most of the damage was located).
And yeah, I hope I never have to experience a big one.
Concerning Mount Fuji, I gotta admit that I wouldn’t mind seeing it waking up in my lifetime (providing it doesn’t create much damage of course, in that case, I could live without seeing its eruption)