Strong Earthquake Strikes Coastal Iwate, Japan

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M6.0 Earthquake Strikes ESE of Hachinohe, Japan

The earthquake was felt throughout the island of Honshu, and southern parts of Hokkaido, according to local monitoring stations.

EQ Details
Magnitude: 6.0 mww [Japan weather office]
Location: 40.3N, 142.5E [about 75km ESE of Hachinohe]
Depth: 30 km
Region: Offshore, Iwate Pref.
Time: 2017-09-26 20:22:11 UTC

Another Strong Quake Strikes NE Coast of Honshu, Japan

M6.0 quake occurs E of Iwate, Japan

Centered at 39.846°N, 143.456°E the quake occurred about 130km E of Miyako (568km NE of Tokyo, Japan) at a depth of 10.0km, said USGS/EHP.

At least three significant foreshocks, measuring 4.8Mw, 4.9Mw and 4.7Mw, preceded the event.

EQ Details
Magnitude: 6.0Mw
Location: 39.846°N 143.456°E Depth=10.0 km
Event Time: 2015-02-21 at 10:13:54 UTC
Tsunami Evaluation: NO tsunami threat.

Other Significant Quakes in Japan Region Today
M5.3 about 50km SSE of Shizunai, Japan
Location: 41.939°N, 142.664°E
Depth: 57.2 km
Time: 2015-02-20 at 19:28:27 UTC

FIRE-EARTH Earthquake Forecasts for California and Japan

FIRE-EARTH Science Team has suspended its research on California seismicity to protest Internet censorship, Google’s manipulation of information, theft of FIRE-EARTH intellectual property and other reasons, as stated earlier on the blog.

The Team has suspended its research also on Japan seismicity due to the resurgence of militarism in that country and other reasons that have been stated previously.

Related Links

• Strong Earthquake Strikes East of Iwate, Japan February 20, 2015
• Powerful Earthquake Strikes East Coast of Japan February 17, 2015
• Strong Earthquake Strikes near Kuji, Japan February 17, 2015

 

Strong Earthquake Strikes East of Iwate, Japan

M 6.3 strikes 140km E of Miyako, Japan

Centered at 39.85°N, 143.57°E the quake occurred at a depth of 13.5km, said USGS/EHP.

The event, precede by a foreshock measuring 4.3Mw, was the third significant earthquake to strike the region since February 17.

EQ Details
Magnitude: 6.3Mw
Location: 39.847°N, 143.569°E
Depth: 13.5 km
Time: 2015-02-20 04:25:24 UTC

Tsunami Evaluation: NO tsunami threat.

FIRE-EARTH Earthquake Forecasts for California and Japan

FIRE-EARTH Science Team has suspended its research on California seismicity to protest Internet censorship, Google’s manipulation of information, theft of FIRE-EARTH intellectual property and other reasons, as stated earlier on the blog.

The Team has suspended its research also on Japan seismicity due to the resurgence of militarism in that country and other reasons that have also been stated previously.

Related Links

• Powerful Earthquake Strikes East Coast of Japan February 17, 2015
• Strong Earthquake Strikes near Kuji, Japan February 17, 2015

Strong Earthquake Strikes near Kuji, Japan

M5.7 quake strikes 8km east of Kuji,Iwate Pref., Japan

Centered at 40.1N, 142.1E the quake struck at a depth of about 50km, said Japan’s weather agency.

The quake measured up to ‘Upper 5’ on Japan’s seismicity scale of 1 to 7, and was followed by at least two aftershocks, as of posting.

EQ Details [USGS/EHP]
Magnitude: 5.8Mw
Time: 2015-02-17 04:46:38 UTC
Location: 40.178°N 141.891°E
Depth: 40.4 km

M5.9 Quake Strikes Sick Japan

SEISMIC HAZARD
HEIGHTENED GLOBAL SEISMICITY
SCENARIOS 08, 07
.

Significant earthquake strikes near Miyako, Japan

Centered at 39.675°N 142.034°E the quake struck off Iwate Pref., near east coast of Honshu, Japan, according to USGS/EHP.

The seismicity registered up to 5 (lower) on the 7-level local scale.

Earthquake Details
Magnitude: 5.9 [GEOFON Program]
Event Time: 2014-07-04 22:42:04 UTC
Location: 39.675°N 142.034°E depth=44.9km (27.9mi)
Nearby Cities:

• 8km (5mi) ENE of Miyako, Japan
• 24km (15mi) NNE of Yamada, Japan
• 36km (22mi) NNE of Otsuchi, Japan
• 47km (29mi) NNE of Kamaishi, Japan
• 488km (303mi) NNE of Tokyo, Japan

FIRE-EARTH Earthquake Forecasts for Japan

FIRE-EARTH Science Team has suspended its research on Japan seismicity, California ditto.

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IMPORTANT NOTICE: FIRE-EARTH EQ Forecast

For detailed FIRE-EARTH Earthquake Forecasts tune into UDCCpf daily @ 06:32UTC.

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 Related Links

• M6.2 Quake Strikes Japan Region July 1, 2014

Mt. Kurikoma Coughs, Still Comatose!

The Year of Volcanoes, Too?

Steam, hot volcanic plumes rise near Mt. Kurikoma

Japan’s Self-Defense Forces personnel observed Monday hot volcanic plumes about seven kilometers southwest of the summit of Mt. Kurikoma, a 1,627-meter-high volcano located on the border of Miyagi, Iwate and Akita prefectures, Yomiuri Shimbun reported.

Aerial observation from a helicopter showed plumes rising from several spots near both Hanayama in Kurihara, and Yu no Hama hot-spring spa.

Sadato Ueki of Tohoku University’s Research Center for the Prediction of Earthquakes and Volcanic Eruptions said the plumes might be volcanic gases rising to the surface, or steam coming from underground hot water channels whose course was diverted by the powerful Mw 6.8 quake Saturday. The Iwate quake struck about 22km NW of the Mt. Kurikoma summit.

“There’s a possibility that volcanic gases that had been confined below ground are gushing out through fissures in the mountain created by the earthquake,” he said. However, he ruled out increased volcanic activity on Mt. Kurikoma, because the plumes were very far from the volcano’s summit.

Kurikoma volcano last erupted in 1950.

MT. KURIKOMA is a dormant stratovolcano stretching across three prefectures (states) of Miyagi, Iwate and Akita, standing high at an altitude of 1,627.7m.

Kurikoma volcano seen from the SSE with its summit at the right-center, the satellitic cone of Daichimori on the left, and Higashi-Kurikoma on the right. On the opposite side of the volcano, the summit is cut by a 4-km-wide caldera breached to the north that is partially filled by the Tsurugi-dake central cone, once mined for sulfur. (Caption: Source) Image Copyright: Shingo Takeuchi (Japanese Quaternary Volcanoes database, RIODB, http://www.aist.go.jp/RIODB/strata/VOL_JP/index.htm). See FEWW Fair Use Notice!

Coordinates: 38° 57′ 0″ N, 140° 46′ 48″ E
Decimal: 38.95°, 140.78°

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• 2008: Year of the Expected Unknowns!
• Will 2008 be year of the tornadoes, too?
• 2008: Year of the Fire

• Volcanoes
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Powerful Earthquake Strikes Honshu, Japan

Japan Quake Update [June 18, 2008]

• Death toll: At least 10 people
• Missing: 12 people
• Injured: About 250 people
• Evacuees: About 300 people spent Saturday night in evacuation centers

Recent quake history:

• October 2004. A magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck Niigata prefecture in northern Japan, killing 65 people and injuring about 3,500 others.
• January 1995. A Mw 6.8 [the Moment magnitude scale, USGS,] struck the city of Kobe in 1995, killing 6,434 people, many were injured and up to 500,000 people lost their homes.
• September 1923. The worst earthquake in Japan, the Great Kantō earthquake, estimated to have had a magnitude between 7.9 and 8.4, claimed up to 142,000 lives. The biggest cause of death was the fires which spread rapidly due to high winds from a typhoon. In the worst single incident, up to 40,000 people who had fled their homes and businesses gathering in an Army Parade Ground in central Tokyo were incinerated by a firestorm. Tokyo, the port of Yokohama, neighboring prefectures of Chiba, Kanagawa, and Shizuoka were devastated by the quake. the quake caused the equivalent of about $200 billion in damage, more than 2.5% of Japan’s GDP that year.

6.8Mw Quake Occurred Near Akita, Japan

A Magnitude 6.8 Earthquake struck Japan’s Iwate prefecture, east of the main island of Honshu Saturday, June 14, 2008 at 08:43:46 AM local time. At least six people have been killed with 8 others missing and more than 200 injured.

The mainshock was followed by a cluster of aftershocks including at least 12 strong aftershocks measuring between 4.5 to 5.5Mw as of 07:11:57 PM (time at epicenter.)

A highway bridge lies in ruins in Ichinoseki city, Iwate Prefecture, June 14, 2008. A powerful earthquake rocked rural northern Japan on Saturday sparking huge landslides that blocked roads and isolated residents. REUTERS/KYODO. Image may be subject to copyright. See FEWW Fair Use Notice!

The following details were reported by USGS:

• Magnitude: 6.8
• Date-Time: Friday, June 13, 2008 at 23:43:46 UTC
  Saturday, June 14, 2008 at 08:43:46 AM at epicenter
• Location: 39.103°N, 140.668°E
• Depth: 10 km
• Region: EASTERN HONSHU, JAPAN
• Distances: 80 km SSW of Morioka, Honshu, Japan
  85 km SE of Akita, Honshu, Japan
  95 km N of Sendai, Honshu, Japan
  390 km NNE of TOKYO, Japan

Image: USGS

Map of Japan. Source: USGS

The local news sources in Japan have reported the quake as 7.2 magnitude [presumably using the old, or the revised JMA magnitude scale.]

Tectonic Summary
The Mw 6.8 Honshu earthquake of June 13th 2008 occurred in a region of convergence between the Pacific Plate and the Okhotsk section of the North American Plate in northern Japan, where the Pacific plate is moving west-northwest with respect to North America at a rate of approximately 8.3 cm/yr. The hypocenter of the earthquake indicates shallow thrusting motion in the upper (Okhotsk) plate, above the subducting Pacific plate, which lies at approximately 80 km depth at this location.

The earthquake occurred in a region of upper-plate contraction, probably within the complicated tectonics of the Ou Backbone Range, known to have hosted several large earthquakes in historic times. The largest of these events occurred in 1896, approximately 70km north of the June 13th event, and killed over 200 people in the local area. [Source: USGS]