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Saturday's quake brings back memories of deadly 2011 disaster

19 Comments
By Sakura Murakami and Issei Kato

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19 Comments
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An aftershock 10 years later? Is there a seismologist in the house?

I'm no seismologist, but I sometimes make the bed shake. According to https://earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/glossary/?term=aftershocks, they can continue for "years" but do not clearly define the time frame.

6 ( +7 / -1 )

An aftershock 10 years later? Is there a seismologist in the house?

I'm no seismologist, but I sometimes make the bed shake. According to https://earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/glossary/?term=aftershocks, they can continue for "years" but do not clearly define the time frame.

The geological time frame is different from what humans perceive and practice (much more different is astronomical time). A decade- or century-old "sleep" prior to another shock is pretty common. The last Saturday's one may be a serial from the 2011. Or could even be a pre-shock leading to a bigger one, hard to tell.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Viewing the photo's it is a wonder there were no fatalities.

It is heartbreaking to see the damage.

I wish I could help the bookstore owner.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

@itsonlyrocknroll

I wish I could help the bookstore owner.

The caption says it's the Iwaki City library.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

"The stench of alcohol filled the small bar on Sunday..."

WONDERFUL writing! Thank you staff writers Sakura Murakami and Issei Kato! Absolutely brilliant piece, descriptive and colourful, almost as if we were there...

2 ( +6 / -4 )

hooktrunk2, thank you I just glanced at the photo.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

@Gaijin-power

Been here over 30 years, when I first arrived they were saying Tokyo was in for "The big one" within the decade, then the Hanshin earthquake happened, they double down and said really in the next ten years, then the Tohoku earthquake and again "The big one" will hit Kanto soon. Ten years on from that and 30 plus years after arriving still waiting.

No I am not making light of the situation but the doomsday thing get tiring, will Toky/Kanto one day get a big earthquake probably, when that will be I don't think even a single expert knows even 1% as to if or when. The same thing keeps being said about mount Fuji eruption it is coming any day now, still waiting.

I have gotten tired of even listen to it all.

I have my very well equipped go kit and that is as much as we can do.

Now flooding in my area is a different story it has happened multiple times since I have been in Japan so the house is sort of ready for that.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

The earthquakes were the worst part of living in Japan for me.

I could barely stand up during the 3/11 earthquake and aftershocks. I was lucky enough to have water, but everyone less than 1km north had no water for a long time. I remember the uncomfortably strange quiet and sensation when the radiation from Fukushima was blown south to our town while watching the helicopters on TV trying to drop water over the blown out reactor building. We did get a substantial dose, we found out later. It was eerie.

I had lived in Japan for over 20 years then, but decided it was time to change my life, to get out of Japan.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

There seems to be a large number of really big earthquakes in the cold winter months: 3/11, Hanshin Earthquake (Jan 17, 95), and the Sumatra Earthquake (Dec. 26, 04) and then yesterday's. I hate winter.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

I hope we wont have another quake like this in the next 60 years.

It is sad, but it is quite probable that a massive quake will occur in the Tokyo area in the next years. Experts say the problem is not “if” but just “when” the big-one will occur.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06-15/japan-is-preparing-for-day-x-earthquake/12339476

https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/jun/12/this-is-not-a-what-if-story-tokyo-braces-for-the-earthquake-of-a-century

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Last night's quake brought back memories of 3/11 for my wife as well.

Thankfully, this time, a tsunami and high death toll didn't follow the earthquake.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

I was snowboarding in Hakuba over the weekend. Didn't feel I thing. Glad I didn't experience it as earthquakes scare the bejeezuz out of me since the 3/11 quake.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

@Anonymous

Apparently they can last up to a century after a major quake.

https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/rosetta-stones/the-shocking-truth-about-aftershocks/

The early morning press conference on NHK stated that this was in fact an aftershock from the 3・11 quake.

Based on the location of the epicenter of this quake and the one from 10 years ago, it is easy to see how one is correlated to the other.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I went to Fukushima and Sendai in 2018, it is important to help the economy of the area, I hope that everything is going well and that the area can continue to move towards normality.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I remember the 2011 Japanquake vividly. Earlier that year Haiti got hit by one real bad. The one for 3/11 was considered the worst in nearly 800 years. And I remember the one for San Francisco in late 1989. I was living around there 2 years prior, but they haven't had a quake that bad since.

Hopefully Japan won't be getting one so severe for a long time. I'm glad nobody died this weekend.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

This too dont bring back memories but its definitely feels like a warning sign since its about 10 years ago almost since the huge fukushima meltdowns. This quake only reminds me of 3.11 of how long my apartment in Kinshicho was rocking back and forth felt like it would never end. I was luck that day as I had a PTO and was at home during the massive quake but my family were stuck at work as the trains and phones went off line for hours on.

-1 ( +4 / -5 )

WE are luck no tsunami this time. imagin what would of happen another one hitting nuke plants in fukushima... Im just glad it was not as bad as the last one. I hope we wont have another quake like this in the next 60 years.

-1 ( +5 / -6 )

in a strong earthquake the night before, one appearing to be an aftershock from a devastating quake that hit the Fukushima area in 2011.

An aftershock 10 years later? Is there a seismologist in the house?

-6 ( +4 / -10 )

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