Asia
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An earthquake in Japan
When the earth wobbled
Mar 11th 2011, 14:32 by K.N.C. and H.T. | TOKYO
BENEATH the Japanese archipelago lies a mythical catfish, brutish and capricious. For most of the time, its head is pinned down by a granite keystone, held in place by the Shinto god of the earth. But occasionally, the god drops his guard. Then the fish thrashes, convulsing the earth. In mid-afternoon on March 11th a massive earthquake erupted, 24 kilometres (15 miles) down, off the north-east coast of Japan’s main island. A tsunami followed. Cars, ships and buildings were swept away. People in Tokyo 370 kilometres away poured out of buildings as high-rises swayed. An anxious roar went up in the shopping district of Omote-Sando as the first of the aftershocks struck. After wreaking damage along low-lying parts of the coast, the tsunami rolled across the Pacific, testing the Pacific-wide early-warning system set up after the Boxing Day tsunami in 2004. Shares and the yen both fell.
This 8.9-magnitude quake has been described as the biggest on record in tremor-prone Japan. NHK, the national broadcaster, has uncertain reports on the number of dead and missing, but the combined totals are believed to be in the hundreds. The broadcaster says whole villages in parts of Japan's north-eastern Pacific coast were swept away by a tsunami reaching seven metres high. Images showed waves churning through hamlets in the flat farming communities near the sea, carrying ships, buses and houses far inland. In Ishinomaki, Miyagi prefecture, a ship with 100 people abroad was washed away. Their whereabouts are unknown. One giant wave washed through an airport in Sendai, the capital of Miyagi, leaving 1,300 people stranded on upper floors within.
Japanese are drilled from childhood to deal with quakes. Coping with the chaos of the real thing is another matter. Bullet-train services were immediately halted. A huge fire blazed at an oil refinery on Tokyo’s outskirts and at least 50 fires have been reported elsewhere, including at factories belonging to Nissan and Sumitomo Metal. In Japan the fires caused by earthquakes, rather than the quakes themselves, are usually the main killers. But modern industries bring other earthquake-related concerns. At about 10pm local time, Yukio Edano, the chief cabinet secretary, issued a nuclear emergency warning for the Fukushima First Nuclear Power Plant in Fukushima prefecture. He said people within a 3km radius were being ordered to evacuate, while those living between 3km and 10km away were instructed to stay in their houses. He denied, though, that there was radioactive leakage.
The opposition Liberal Democratic Party, which has been doing its level best in recent weeks to topple the government of Naoto Kan, the prime minister, now says it will co-operate fully, including supporting special spending measures.
Tsunami warnings continue to be broadcast repeatedly on the television. Across Japan, millions braced for a miserable night of uncertainty. Electricity firms reported that in northern Japan, many homes were without power or phone lines; in the same area, snow is falling, and TV images showed people in evacuation shelters huddling in blankets. Tokyo got off relatively lightly, though most public transport ground to a halt, forcing commuters to walk often huge distances home. Shelves in the capital’s convenience stores were almost bare, with long lines of people attempting to buy snacks and drinks.
But it is worth bearing in mind that this is not the huge earthquake that seismologists say is long overdue in Tokyo. That is expected to ripple up from Shizuoka in the south. Tokyo sits above two faultlines and near another. Just south-west of the city, the Philippine Sea plate dives down under the Eurasian continental plate; right under the city, the Pacific plate dives under that.
Early estimates of damage from this earthquake are necessarily crude. The 6.8-magnitude Hanshin earthquake that struck Kobe in 1995 killed 6,400. The cost was put at Y10 trillion ($100 billion). Industrial production dipped only briefly. The stockmarket fell by 8% in the week following the quake, but rose later. Tohoku, the north-east region of Honshu island where today's quake struck hardest, accounts for 8% of the country’s GDP. The area is less densely populated than around Kobe, and less industrial. The quake, though very much larger, may prove less damaging, though horrific enough for all that.
See also our correspondents' account of the reaction to the earthquake in Tokyo.
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Wishing well to the Japanese.
It's highly unfortunate and surprising as well, 8.9 shock. But Japanese are best geared up for such natural disasters than any other nation. They will soon overcome this massive mother earth's fury.
Praying it doesn't happen to any other nation or again in Japan.
Most national and local gov't-run unis are having entrance exams nation-wide tomorrow.
I wonder what they'll do at those situated in eastern and northern Japan...
It is good to know the epicenter was almost 100 km away from the coast.
@ lanius:
Forget exams, it's human life at loss!
Update from Tokyo: After nearly 8 hours, I'm still feeling aftershocks every 5 - 10 minutes... Another one right now!
Well Tokyo was comparatively all right by having less casualty, with high-tech skyscrapers and well maintained infrastructure. More tragedy in countryside. Real time TV broadcasting of Tsunami wave from helicopter, sweeping away villages and farms, even some cars driven on the road... This was nothing but a nightmare.
With so many warning signs as outlined in the Bible, God must be really angry at his children sinful behaviours.
Or, should we take the Dalai's word of Karmic cycle?
In any case, we hope that the Japanese people will get speedily through the disaster.
I am afraid that 2012 is just around the corner,or maybe much more terrible.
Seeing the images of the beautiful city of Senday completely obliterated with hundreds of dead, couldn't stop crying.
I stayed a week in Senday two years ago. I ' m devastated.
Well do I remember it was just after I had finished reading the Schumpeter column of the Economist that I felt the ground shake very aggressively.
I live in Fukushima Precefture,where the magnitude of the earthquake reached as high a one as 7.3.I even came across the thought that I might be going to die.So far,more than 200 people's lives have regrettably been reported to have been lost in the formidable natural disaster.Also,all the TV programmes have been occupied by the news and reports solely about the earthquake,which is repeatedly reported to be the biggest in the history of Japan.What is more onerous is that it has just been reported that nuclear substance was probably out of facilities,apart from some regions being drowned by Tsunami.
Fortunately,I am safe,but I have felt subsequent earthquakes many times.
I was also struck as angry at how aloof and relaxed the young Japanese were with this earthquake when they appealed to the camera.
Anyway,I hope for nothing but the safety of everyone.I want no more people's lives to be lost.
Report after report has revealed more and more newly found damage done to Japan.
All the more for this fatal occurrence like this,I think that cooperation between countries should be emphasised to help Japan.
Our heart goes out for the Japanese people who suffered in this big earth quake.
As one who has ties with families in the Wenchuan earthquake in China in 2008, right about this time then, and prior to the Beijing Olympic Games, I must offer that people please stick together to burry the demised (if any), tend the wounded, do not look back and rebuild for the future. The future will always be better if you look at it squarely, in its direction.
I admire how well the Japanese work together in times of crises.
They are truly the most civilized nation in the world.
Gombate!
Our hearts and prayers go to the victims of the earthquake and Japanese people.
I visited Japan several times; I think this is the Cherry Blossom seasons gradually move forward from the South to North. Japan is a very clean, efficient, polite, and friendly country. Sendai area (仙台, 宫城) is such a beautiful place: after seeing the horrible pictures and video clips, tears come to my eye.....
I am sure the people of Japan will over come this too.... As a Chinese American, we should not forget Japanese people supported Sichuan earthquake few years back....
From Tokyo,
I found that landline and mobile network is unstable now.
On the other hand, Skype, Twitter, Gmail, Facebook seem working well.
In my feeling, IP network is quite resilient in case of emergency.
Here is background geological information explaining why Japan experienced such a massive earthquake:
http://viableopposition.blogspot.com/2011/03/explaining-japans-earthquak...
Regional governments from China, Taiwan and Korea should take the opportunity to offer an helping hand.
Have you seen the photo of the Sendai airport??? Just terrifying... http://muscvlvs.blogspot.com/2011/03/photo-of-sendai-airport-in-japan.html
Everything will be ok! Blessing!
So this earthquake is not even The One my economics teacher were talking about? That's really scary.
I hope things will get fixed swiftly, and that Japanese will be back on their feet with minimal lost of lives. And I'm glad to see our usual Japanese commentors are alright.