M5.8 quake jolts Kanto; no tsunami warning issued

Zichi:

" Fukushima wasn't damaged by the earthquake but by the tsunami, because without the earthquake there would have been no tsunami. "

That is sophistry. The fact is that the earthquake and the tsunami were separate events, separated by about half an hour, and the nuclear disaster was caused by the tsunami and not by the earthquake. (Tsunamis, by the way, can of course also be caused by other events than earthquakes, but I assume you know that and simply ignored it.)

That the design specifications need to be changed to deal with tsunami impact is a given, and I am sure we agree on that.

time to move to the mountains

WillB

There are earthquakes in Japan all the time, there is nothing new here. And nuclear power plants are designed not be affected by earthquakes, so that is a non-issue. (In case you missed it, the problems in Fukushima were caused by the tsunami, and not by the earthquake.)

At least we all agree that the tsunami was caused by earthquake, therefore, the earthquake was the major unsung cause of the deaths. Many pro-nukes would prefer to divert attention to the tsunami as cause of deaths with little success unfortunately. It is also a no brainer that a strong earthquake, even without a tsunami can destroy or cause considerable damage to a nuclear plant. Zichi has dished out examples for you. I also have several and in case of doubt, read the 1923 great kanto earthquake that did not leave anything standing in its wake. You want to convince the world that your old NPPs would resist this one? And you are still smiling only because the epicentres of these earthquakes and depths are several kilometres away. Have you yet imagined a 9.0 earthquake taking place at shallow depth, and whose epicentre is directly under a faulty old nuclear plant, the likes littered all around Japan? A friend of mine told me she even does not want to imagine that one and none of the so-called stress tests go through this one!!!!!!!!!

Rick Kisa:

" Lest u did not know, frequent earthquakes weaken the nuclear plants to such an extent that eve a small tsunami inflict greater damage that would have been woithout earthquakes "

No I did not know that, and neither do you. You pulled that claim out of thin air.

I am totally enthralled by the prediction made for the next big quake. It is such an important topic! Right or not, at least it gives me a bit of a gauge leading up to it and will help me prepare. It will be interesting how much this article gets coverage on Japanese TV. Maybe it has already. Does anyone know? Thanks for sending this Avigator. There is usually an increase in the number of small earthquakes leading up to any big one or at least I think that is the case, so we can all watch that pattern before this July date. I have heard that major earthquakes may happen about every 73 years and recently the high chance of one hitting in the Tokyo area in the next few years ... so this prediction may help a lot of people. Wish a time could be predicted. Time to camp out that whole week!! Might be hard to get an airline ticket out of Narita.

The quakes are a reminder to keep the reactors shut down.

WilliB

There are earthquakes in Japan all the time, there is nothing new here. And nuclear power plants are designed not be affected by earthquakes, so that is a non-issue. (In case you missed it, the problems in Fukushima were caused by the tsunami, and not by the earthquake.)

Lest u did not know, frequent earthquakes weaken the nuclear plants to such an extent that eve a small tsunami inflict greater damage that would have been woithout earthquakes

@Avigator: When I read your post I initially thought that the link you provided would have some sensationalist crap on it, but I was surprised that it didn't. It actually has some backing with scientific papers. I might check the papers when I am at work (they're not open access, but I have access at work). What makes me question the theory, though, is that the previous Tokai earthquake happened 34 days after the eclipse. I would think the increased pressure would have subsided by then?

Earthquakes in Japan have done damage to nuclear power plants in the past and there is no reason to suppose they will not do serious damage again in the future.

The Tsunami was extra grief for Fukushima on top of that earthquake, and the all these aftershocks are constant extra grief. They test the weakened structures and they surely test the patience of the operators.

Right while I was putting the daughter to bed -_-

I've turned off my earthquake alert....I'd rather not lose my sleep....:)

This might be a good source of current and past earthquakes around the World: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/

Oops, I meant big one, not bug one. My apologies.

Samuel Mikenga:

There are earthquakes in Japan all the time, there is nothing new here. And nuclear power plants are designed not be affected by earthquakes, so that is a non-issue. (In case you missed it, the problems in Fukushima were caused by the tsunami, and not by the earthquake.)

I found this interesting website that predicts a significant Tokai earthquake on or around 8 July 2012. The owner of the page claims to have predicted the March 11, 2011 earthquake exactly on same date when it took place. Now, I posted a reference to that webpage twice in my Facebook account and misteriously got deleted. Go to: http://www.garagegames.com/community/blog/view/15946 If you have a webprovider in Japan try posting it your Facebook accounts to see if it gets deleted like it happened to me. With so many earthquakes it is not a surprise if another bug one hits.

Wow, was polishing some rice at the roadside & those machines rock & roll pretty good so I look at my car just outside & its dancin, step outside the polishing machine & the hydro wires are dancin even more

luckily it wasnt too bad but we have had a few of late decent size, dont like it!

cool beans

I did wonder if the trains would be held up but Tozai line was only a minute or so delayed.

Japan manages to turn around their train services minutes after a shindo 4 earthquake. Meanwhile here in London the Olympics city, Capital First Direct will delay you for ten times longer because their signals don't work or train crew arrive late for work....

Practice run for the big one expected? Hope everyone is okay.

Guys just inquisitive to know how many eathquakes take place in Japan each month. Because I am a bit worried when I hear people campaigning to restart the nuclear reactors amidst all these earthquake chaos... i lost count !!

I was on the Musashino line heading into Nishi Funabashi station when my phone alerted me. I'm pretty clueless on the shaking when on the train so I was not at all worried. I did wonder if the trains would be held up but Tozai line was only a minute or so delayed.

Just a little tremor, nothing serious.

Phone alarm went off but barely noticed it in Nakano! thankfully it wasn't too serious!

Woah. In the bath for that one. Quite an experience.