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Japan gets bigger as new coastline emerges

10 Comments

Crowded Japan has got a little bit roomier after a 300-meter strip of land emerged from the sea and attached itself to the coast, experts said Monday.

The extra stretch of coastline at the town of Rausu on Hokkaido has risen as high as 10 meters from the sea surface in some places, exposing what used to be the ocean floor to the elements.

Initially the phenomenon, in a remote part of the island, prompted speculation among residents of mysterious seismic activities, fueling fears of another big quake in a nation scarred by the 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami of March 2011.

But geologists believe the emergence was probably a result of a landslide nearby, when melting ice and snow caused a section of land to drop, pivoting the underwater area into the air.

"An aerial survey indicates that the land swell happened as a result of a landslide", local researcher Yoshinori Yajima told the Hokkaido Shimbun newspaper after he flew over the area Monday.

Authorities have not been able to determine exactly when the landslide hit the snow-covered coastline, but they do not expect it to expand further, said an official at the central government's Hokkaido Regional Development Bureau.

"Our understanding is that this is different from earthquakes," he told AFP.

Rausu is not the only place where Japan is expanding: a new island emerged from the sea 1,000 kilometers south of Tokyo and continues to grow as the volcano at its center spews magma.

In February it was reported to be a respectable 2.46 square kilometers -- roughly the size of 345 football pitches.

© (c) 2015 AFP

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

10 Comments
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Yeah, don:t say anything about the possibility of a BIG earthquake. That would create a fresh sense of fear and we might not be able to turn on the nuclear reactors.

Nepal just suffered a major quake.

So lets say history could repeat itself. New Zealand had a major quake then Japan.

Just around this time.

We must not ignore this fact.

-5 ( +5 / -10 )

Yeah, don:t say anything about the possibility of a BIG earthquake.

Of course there's a possibility of a big quake. There's always that possibility in Japan. It's reported on frequently, domestically and internationally.

Apparently THIS plot of land has nothing to do with a large earthquake, though. See the difference?

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

How long before the Chinese claim it?

1 ( +7 / -6 )

Japan gets bigger as new coastline emerges

besides drop in population for last five years...However, there is hardly any drop in real estate market.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Fair exchange; California's coast is shrinking.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Time to concrete it over and build a tsunami wall on it.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

This is news? Movin on

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

And someone, somewhere is already drafting up a resolution to ban drinking, loud music, and people with tattoos on this new 300m strip of land.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

"However, there is hardly any drop in real estate market."

Believe its called sticky-up. Prices won't go down if people refuse to buy, regardless of real-time value. When population lowers more, the real estate lords will likely have to lower the prices, particularly if no one can afford due to stagnant wages.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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