Recently in Earthquakes Category

I can't believe it has already been a month since the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake struck on March 11, 2011. The country is still reeling from aftershocks, over 50 m6+ since the m9 mainshock struck. Already, PBS' NOVA had a show on the quake called Japan's Killer Quake which was very good. NatGeo and Discovery also have their Quake specials coming - NatGeo's is this coming thursday, and Discovery will air MegaQuake: The Hour that shook Japan on Sunday April 24. The DVR is all set to record and learn about the quake, and I hope you tune in.

One of the most interesting part of the Tohoku quake is how well it was documented on YouTube. From those first few short clips of violent shaking, to the massive tsunami waves hitting Kesennuma Port. Below, I have attached some of my favorite clips from the quake just to give you an idea of how it unfolded.

First up: One of the first videos I saw of the quake itself was from this family in Sendai, not too far from the epicenter of the quake..

Next: Quake footage from inside Tokyo Disney Sea

Next: This was the first time I ever saw liquefaction happening in real time:

Next: This footage from Al-Jazeera shows the NHK World footage which was the first tsunami footage I saw that night.

Next: This was the next tsunami footage that aired live on CNN as I sat at home with my jaw open:

Finally: Here is the unbelievable footage of the Tsunami striking Kesennuma port:

There are so many more videos, to many to list here, but I recommend you spend some time at YouTube's Citezentube Japan Earthquake playlist just wandering around taking it all in to really get the sheer scope of the disaster. There are plenty of Fukushima explosion videos, as well as more of the initial shaking in Tokyo and other sites around Japan.

Once again, I have witnessed one of the largest recorded earthquakes of all times. It is interesting comparing the coverage of the Tohoku Quake to the Andoman-Nicobar Quake of 2004. Back in 2004 it took more than a day for networks to start covering the quake and the first grainy videos came to life. Now in 2011, the age of YouTube, we get instant coverage of the quake on most channels and all over the Internet.

One thing that fascinated me was Twitter. Although several high-profile events have been live-blogged on Twitter in the last two years, for me this was the most personal. Those that know me, know of my passion for Earthquakes and how the media covers them as well as the actual mechanics of said quake. Twitter was able to provide a near-instant feed of facts and data about the quake from the moment the shaking stopped.

For the first time, I used my @clubjosh account to retweet and post my thoughts about the quake as it happened. For the first time, I saw a tsunami roar across the land and consume everything in its path. Last night, I saw an explosion at a nuclear power plant almost immediately after it happened.

Something that is great about this quake is that Japan is one of the most monitored countries in the world when it comes to quakes. This is the first mega-thrust quake of this magnitude to be recorded in this detail - moreso than the huge Chile quake last year. The information that is analyzed from this quake will save millions of people in the years to come by changing what we know about building codes and how to respond to quakes of this size.

Also impressive, was the early warning system for cell phones in Japan that let people know some 15-30 seconds before the shaking was about to hit their location. Some people I think would rather not have that data, but personally, I would welcome that knowledge to be able to take cover, make sure I have my shoes on, and a flashlight with me. I hope this is something that the USGS is working on, and one day those of us in California will benefit from it.

Facts from the quake: So far, we know that parts of the Honshu coastline lurched 8 feet in one motion and that the surface rupture was 250 miles x 100 miles off the coast with an offset of about 50 feet. By comparison, the movement of the San Andreas fault in 1852 was about 250 miles x 10 miles with an offset of 20 feet. The Earth shifted on its axis by 4 cm. Earth's rotation was also sped up by 1.6 microseconds, making our days shorter. Tsunami waves that hit Japan were up to 30 feet and in Hawaii they were about 7 feet. In Crescent City, CA they were up to 8 feet. When you think of distance and amount of water involved it was impressive.

The Citizentube channel of YouTube has some great videos from the quake. One of my favorites is here. This video shows the powerful tsunami engulf the Sendai area. Another is this one which shows the shaking starting as this couple flees their home. One last video that strikes it home is this one of the quake inside Tokyo Disneyland. Kudos to the Cast Members who remained mostly calm.

What can you do? If you are the type who likes to donate, please consider the Red Cross. When you go to their donate page, you can select where you want your money to go. It doesn't have to be Japan, it can go to Military families, your local Red Cross, or to where it is needed the most.

If you are not the type who donates, then consider helping yourself. It doesn't matter where you live in the USA or around the world. Chances are, you can be hit by some sort of disaster. Could be a tornado, quake, hurricane, flood, nuclear explosion, terrorist attack, whatever. It is important that you keep enough food and water and supplies to be on your own for three to five days. One site that can give you all the information is Pameno. (Full disclosure: I helped develop the site when it first launched, but take no profits from their partners). Another great resource is Ready.gov who have an awesome Get a Kit site. You can also Google "emergency preparedness kit" for all kinds of places that sell ready-made kits for your use.

July has been a busy month here at Club Josh!

First up, can we talk earthquakes?? We had another mild to moderate quake on July 7 that registered M5.4. It is the third M5+ quake in So Cal this year, and the second 5+ aftershock to the M7.2 Easter Sunday Sierra El Mayor Quake. I have to admit, I was disappointed I missed the majority of the shaking of the 7.2 since I was in my Dad's Chevy Tahoe at the time, but I have not missed the other two. I am fascinated how the Sierra El Mayor quake broke north and has now triggered quakes in the LA region. Of particular interest is the Elsinore/Whitter complex as well as the San Jacinto faults. I think it is just a matter of time before we have a large-ish quake either on the Ft. Tejon section of the San Andreas or on the other two faults. I am glad I am in a 2009 constructed apartment complex! Now is the time to get those quake survival kits up to speed and refreshed!

Next up, let's talk about AT&T UVerse. When I moved into the new complex, I was bummed that I could not get DirecTV due to the fact we face North. It seemed like the best option was AT&T UVerse and after getting a package deal it actually was quite reasonable. For the most part, the service has been good. I am enjoying the HD on Daniel's new TV, but the DVR functionality leaves a bit to be desired, especially after so many years using TiVo. Note to TiVo, please get your service to work with UVerse!!

This month, we have suffered through two major outages. First up, our DVR died while watching the 25th Anniversary special of Dollywood. One moment she is singing "My Country, My Home" and the next it freezes. After rebooting, it comes up with a big Red X on the screen. We had to wait a few days to get it swapped out. Sadly, all the recordings were gone, but since the settings and scheduled recordings are stored on the modem, all was not lost.

A week later, I was in the middle of working on a web site for the Adriatic Vascular Summit, and right after I pushed a first version live, everything went out. No Internet, No Cable, and no Phone service!! It was a frustrating three days full of repeated calls to Customer Service and tech support. The worst part was that no one really knew what was happening and they had no ETA. After several tweets, I was contacted by one of the AT&T service reps who forwarded my contact info and concerns "to the highest levels". After someone from corporate contacted me, the service finally came back online the next day (although I am sure it was just coincidence). I was able to get a service credit for it being offline as well as super-slow for a few days after the outage. To my delight and surprise, someone followed up with me a few days after and offered to increase my service credit and gave me his contact info should things go horribly wrong again. He also told me that it was a software glitch and that is why no one knew where the problem was.
In the end, I was happy with the resolution, but it still set me way back on my projects, not to mention I almost started reading books again!

Things are now back to normal, and I once again started to unpack and get situated. This past few off days, I unpacked most of my books (some who made the move might end up being donated after all). I am still struggling to find an elegant media storage solution. I really want to unpack all my DVDs and CDs to clear up closet space and make my room a bit more, well, roomy! Perhaps I should just digitize all of them and go the virtual route. Of course, this still begs the question what to do with all the physical discs?? Maybe underbed storage??

Don't know, but part of the problem I have is deciding what to do!