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M6.8 quake hits Japan, triggering small tsunami

39 Comments

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39 Comments
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My cellphone randomly made a sound alerting me... I didn't know what it was about until i searched on internet... Before doing so, an earthquake occurred.

Quite scary if you have your windows shut and it sounds out of blue. Nice system thought...

2 ( +4 / -2 )

Yeah, I had a rude awakening by my telephone telling me there was an earthquake. The warning went off about ten seconds before the quake. Luckily it wasn't too strong in Tokyo cos I don't know what I would have done with w ten second warning.

-2 ( +3 / -5 )

Ten seconds is better than no warning... Just saying.

16 ( +16 / -1 )

The only thing the warning on my wife's phone did was wake us and made us fear something major as a direct hit. We likely would have slept through it otherwise.

-7 ( +2 / -10 )

Yep, totally would've slept through that if it hadn't been for the phone warning and then the PA system announcing it also. I'm all for a warning system but that was not warranted in Tokyo at least. It was barely noticeable.

-3 ( +1 / -5 )

In Shibuya-ku the warning came via the city warning system. Load sirens were going off followed by an accouncement of earthquake. Very startling. We threw some clothes on and rushed outside thinking a big one was about to hit.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

10seconds is enough to roll out of the bed and under it.

I was already awake at time, my bed is next to the ground floor veranda give me that warning and I am outside in the garden.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

The phone warning seemed waay longer than 10 secs for me. The quake certainly felt substantial when it hit.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

I had a full 45 sec warning on my "The Last 10-Second" app. http://weathernews.jp/quake/html/urgentquake.html If you add another app it will speak out the location, size, time to impact and if it is worthy of a tsunami warning.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

10seconds is enough to roll out of the bed and under it.

Bwahahaha! Yeah, get under your bed so when the roof comes in you get crushed and you wil never be found.

I've relieved maybe half a dozen if these warnings in the last few years and only one has been a quake on the 4 mag range. The rest were either fizzers or non-events. This makes these alarms more dangerous than not having any warning cos by averages they are false alarms. And, I don't remember getting one for the largest quake in 150 years on 3/11 a couple if years ago.

-10 ( +0 / -9 )

Disillusioned.

What do you reckon is a better action to take?

8 ( +7 / -0 )

The stricken Fukushima Daiichi and two other nuclear power plants, along with other nuclear facilities along the coast, found no abnormalities,

WOW ! They can actually "test" themselves ? They may even do a better job than TEPCO who knows ?

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Take care, peeps. But I'm telling you, this is another warning why the NPPs should not be restarted in this nation, and why TEPCO and the other companies should be flat-out denied when they cry about the need to restart and restore profits. So far in two days we've had what was once a super-typhoon (now tropical depression) heading for the prefecture and the plant and now this quite strong quake and minor tsunami. It's a warning of how fragile the situation is, how fickle nature can be, and why we should not toy with the risks.

5 ( +9 / -5 )

Bwahahaha! Yeah, get under your bed so when the roof comes in you get crushed and you wil never be found.

As opposed to lying on your bed and getting killed by the falling masonry? The standard practice for an earthquake is to drop cover and hold. You will find that a bed is more capable of protecting you from a falling ceiling than your skin is and personally I'd prefer to risk surviving over not being found.

And if you think your ap is more dangerous than not having one, have you considered uninstalling it?

12 ( +10 / -0 )

I'm always wondering how do they distinct a normal wave and a tsunami of 20cm .

Can someone tell me a good warning app for the android? Is it network dependent?

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Having lived in Japan for 5 years, I have to say I was thankful for the warnings and notification systems that are in place with the cell phones and other technologies. Japan always seemed to be ahead of other places I've lived, when it comes to technology, emergency systems (especially considering the variety of natural disaster that can occur) and the way citizens react and treat one another for the most part. Which, by the way, makes me wonder where the complaints come from?

9 ( +8 / -0 )

" But I'm telling you, this is another warning why the NPPs should not be restarted in this nation, and why TEPCO and the other companies should be flat-out denied when they cry about the need to restart and restore profits" They aint gonna listen, but I hear your warning, (smithinjapan)...cause I PLAN TO NOT GO OUT LIKE THAT!!!.Cause if or when "IT" happens all they will do is cry as usual.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

@Disul: You're so tough you aren't even scared of earthquakes, wow.

Unless an older wooden building there is very little chance of a RC structure collapsing to the point that you're 'crushed under your bed', you don't seem to know much about material stress and break patters. The ten seconds gives good warning to get under your bed, a table or in a strengthened doorway, THIS action being to protect against falling furniture, other items --which should be secured in place. BUT, hey, if you know better than the collective experience of generations of Japanese... WOW.

2 ( +3 / -2 )

Lite shake in the morning! Phone app gave me the nice NHK warn alarm sound shower since I set the app to warn even at M3. Pro-tip to the complainers: if you don't want to get the warning then shut off your warn systems.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Tsunami... 20cm... people having apps who inform them a few sec before quake hits.... what kind of fears running in your mind folks? Humans the most fear full species on this planet.

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

You can usually set the warning level to shindo 4 or higher and then you don't risk the bother of being woken up by irrelevant shaking. In my case, give me the warnings, every time. I can always go back to bed and sleep. The alternative is not as pleasant...

3 ( +4 / -1 )

if you don't want to get the warning then shut off your warn systems.

Phone is one thing, but getting shibuya ku to not have alarms blare out a warning for an upcoming small tremble is another.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

@Leigh, oh DO be quite, it's better to be prepped than NOT. Believe US.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Yes, I am "quite" ...

Anyway, my point is why did the city warning system spring into life for this quake. I can think if about 6 quakes so far this year that were a lot larger than what was felt on Tokyo this morning. Again, I'm all for the warning announcement over the citywide PA system, but it needs to be consistent in order to be relevant. People will ignore warnings if they continue to alert us for really small shakes. Complacency, that is almost as dangerous as an earthquake in itself.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

I've read an article where the victim of a tornado in Alabama ignored the warning thinking it's just another false alarm. It's like 'the boy who cried wolf', it's quite natural to dismiss a warning when it becomes frequent false alarm; I hope people stay alert every time... never know when a real disaster hits.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

It's not an exact science, it operates as it does and for now that is more than enough to prep people to be ready, 10 seconds -if we get that-- is a fantastic amount of time to brace, slow down, or duck under a table. I, for one, I am thankful there is SOMETHING that although not perfect, works to a degree of accuracy and warning. Japanese, after 2011, don't ignore warnings. That's essntially why 19000 people died, the warnings compared to what they used to be are a lot more in your face, for example. on NHK. Viva 緊急地震速報!

4 ( +3 / -0 )

I was having a last beer in my local pub, when the earthquake alarm system went off. The owner apparently has rigged it to all his TVs and lights, so it was quite impressive -- felt like a weird light show. The quake itself was hardly noticeable, at least for someone already generously lubricated.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

@Leigh: You can think of is what I think you mean, yes? Well, no, smaller magnitude earthquakes have struck closer, i.e. in Chiba, Saitama, but none of this magnitude. The Japanese are not complacent of earthquakes, and they've spent a whole lifetime with warnings coming through, not a six month stint in Tokyo. It's part of life here in Japan, be ready, heed warnings, as March 11th 2011 most recently demonstrated. Turn the alarm up to 11. Make it more sensitive, now it only pushes out a warning for the general public when on the Japan seismic scale a quake of 5-lower or more is, and here is the KEY word, expected and in Japan, well, nature is always going to throw the unexpected at you eventually.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Missing the point. I'm well aware of the nature of quakes. My beef is with the warning system. It's hard to take it serious when it only works in near false alarm situations. I know I'm not the only one who will be second guessing the alarm next time. That's just human nature. Once again, if the alarm system works properly, this shouldn't be an issue.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

@Leigh: The alarm system DID work for how the Japanese have set it up. QED. You perhaps think you know the nature of earthquakes, second guess, really, no one will 'second guess' on a system that is warning you of a 'predicted' event, that MAY cause injury, death, damage; as already stated, it isn't exact. Maybe you should get in touch with the scientists and experts at JMA and let them know HOW it should be done?

3 ( +4 / -1 )

Ok, final post in this thread. All I'm trying to get across is that the system at present is off. I'm thinking someone who has control over the sensitivity that will trigger the alarms is clearly changing their mind. About 6 weeks ago is a good example of what I mean. There was a pretty decent quake at a similar time of the morning. The place was really shaking for a long time, so why didn't the alert sound in my neighborhood? I can think of other quakes that had no warning either. So finally, I'm in favor of the public alert system, but it has to be calibrated right. Otherwise there is the risk of people not taking it seriously.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

@Leigh, you obviously do not understand the nature of earthquakes, or the system. It only pushes out a warning for the general public when a quake on the Japan seismic scale of 5-lower or more occurs. As I wrote earlier, you perhaps felt quakes that had their epicentre in Chiba, Saitama, Ibaraki... so in Chiba, if it's a Shindo 4, it being closer to Tokyo will 'feel' stronger --as you're nearer the epicenter-- but isn't stronger than the earthquake this morning which triggered the system because it was (full circle) a quake on the Japan seismic scale of 5-lower or more...

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Hey folks! you should know that the of Japan is earthquakes headaches vills. and ttsunami.Thank-God you have warning system in place .Here in America there is no warning system in place on west coast or on east coast and I worry that hold lot of people here in the states will die because they believe that America can have the same kind of earthquakes that you folks in Japan.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

@Heda_Madness

I'd prefer to risk surviving over not being found.

Me too !

And if you think your ap is more dangerous than not having one, have you considered uninstalling it?

I have the "opposite" problem... My (then very new) 'phone USED to warn me, and I was very grateful for that... But one day, there was a fairly BIG one but my 'phone didn't give a peep. Not yet being used to it, I asked NTT if it had "shut itself off" but they couldn't find out what happened - I still don't know but hope to find a way to fix it myself in the very near future....

3 ( +3 / -0 )

I'm grateful for the alarm system too. I live in iwaki about 50 miles from the Fukushima plants and it's always scary knowing the right size earthquake could be enough to do us in, but id rather have those false alarms and be safe than have it be the real thing. Be glad there's any warning at all. And for those saying they didn't get a warning on 3/11, they implemented the system AFTER the big one to try and prevent the disaster from occurring again.

I can't stand all the smug remarks about something that is a convenience, not a right. Be glad the technology has been invented and that it is available to you.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

I like to be able to see the magnitude before or during the initial shaking. In reality, EVERY earthquake starts at a "2" -- then either subsides or starts to ramp up. So give me the cell phone warning every time. I do agree with Leigh that having to hear the PA at 4 am seems like overkill, but then not everyone has cellphones!

3 ( +3 / -0 )

The stricken Fukushima Daiichi and two other nuclear power plants, along with other nuclear facilities along the coast, found no abnormalities, and their reactors and fuel storage pools are being cooled safely, according to the Nuclear Regulation Authority.

I'm not sure about everyone else, but the above is what I'm most worried about, especially since Abe's new appointment to the head of the NRA is a lackey 'yes-man' who is pro-nuclear.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

I did not feel a thing, here in Tokyo, so not even sure what to say, but do hope no big ones come our way and that those idiot fools at Tokyo Electric stop the radiation mess!!

1 ( +1 / -0 )

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