Saturday, March 12, 2011

Global Warming Did Not Cause The Japanese Earthquake

Just hours after the horrific earthquake and tsunami devastated coastal areas of Japan, global warming alarmists like the BBC are already injecting climate change propaganda into their coverage of the story, hastily exploiting the tragedy as a vehicle through which to push their increasingly desperate and discredited enviro-fascist agenda.

If you thought that climate change alarmists wouldn’t be so insensitive as to build their warped argument on the bodies of freshly dead corpses, then think again. Within 24 hours there’ll be a whole slew of neo-libs pointing to the suffering in Japan as a reason why we should hand over more untold trillions to globalists in the form of a carbon tax.

The BBC is already at it – in a discussion about a whirlpool caused by the tsunami, BBC reporter Humphrey Hawksley hastily piggy backs a dubious argument about the tiny South Pacific nation of Tuvalu disappearing under the threat of global warming on the back of dramatic pictures out of Japan. By making this completely disjointed connection, Hawksley implicitly suggests that man-made climate change also contributed to the Japanese earthquake.

In reality, alarmists’ lies surrounding Tuvalu are well documented. Al Gore’s claim in his Inconvenient Truth film that the residents of Tuvalu all had to evacuate to New Zealand as climate refugees because rising sea levels were swallowing up their homes was ruled incorrect by a British judge.

“There was no evidence of climate refugees from the Pacific having to be evacuated to New Zealand or anywhere else to escape rising seas,” explains Andrew Bolt.

While environmentalists like Professor Mohammed Dore ignorantly claim that Tuvalu is already completely uninhabited due to climate change, the 12,000 residents of the island must not have been paying much attention as their number has doubled in the past three decades.

As Bolt explains, the government of Tuvalu has cleverly exploited the doomsday proclamations of alarmists to milk grants and aid money paid for by western taxpayers, laughing all the way to the bank as the land mass of the island actually expands.

It was already clear from the Australian-funded South Pacific Sea Level and Climate Monitoring Project that sea levels in the region were rising only microscopically, much as they’d done for centuries before the invention of the motor car or the light bulb.

But now New Scientist reports that however fast the seas are rising, Tuvalu and many other low-lying Pacific islands are so far rising even faster, thanks to coral debris, coral growth, land reclamation and deposits of sediment. Some have grown by as much as a third.

Auckland University’s Associate Prof Paul Kench, one of the two authors of the study, said he compared historical pictures from the past 60 years to satellite images of 27 Pacific islands.

“Eighty per cent of the islands we’ve looked at have either remained about the same or, in fact, (grown) larger,” he said.

But the facts don’t come into the equation when you’re trying to enforce the doctrine of what amounts to a religious dogma.

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So before the likes of Al Gore, Danny Glover, and the San Francisco Chronicle, who all blamed last year’s Haiti earthquake on global warming, along with the rest of the climate change cultists attempt to exploit the latest natural disaster for political grist, it is important to stress that earthquakes are caused by tectonic plate movements and have been for thousands of years – they are not caused by Bubba driving his SUV down the highway.

An earthquake occurs in Japan every 5 minutes because, as the Telegraph’s Aislinn Laing explains, “Tokyo is situated on Japan’s main Honshu island which is turn sits at the intersection of three continental plates, the Eurasian, Pacific and Philippine Sea plates, which are slowly grinding against each other, building up enormous seismic pressure that every so often is realised with ferocious force.”

Massive earthquakes were killing humans in staggering numbers before the onset of heavy industry, ubiquitous car ownership and increased levels of CO2 in the atmosphere, and they will continue to kill humans as long as we are on the planet. The 1906 San Francisco earthquake was similar in strength to today’s Japanese quake and it killed over 3,000 people, the greatest loss of life from a natural disaster in California’s history.

Attempts to claim that melting glaciers contributed to earthquakes in 2008 were initially swallowed whole by the mainstream media but subsequently discredited. Indeed, global warming alarmists themselves have been responsible for causing earthquakes. A geologist in Switzerland went on trial for causing mini-earthquakes by using deep drilling equipment to search for renewable energy. One such attempt caused a 3.4 magnitude quake to rock the city of Basel.

The horrifying consequences of the biggest earthquake to hit Japan since records began are only just beginning to be discovered, with the tsunami that followed causing massive devastation and engulfing cities and airports, and leading to the declaration of a nuclear emergency.

But that won’t stop climate change alarmists from offensively hijacking the opportunity to lecture the rest of us about how we caused the carnage by daring to maintain a decent standard of living, and how we must pay an indulgence tax to the likes of Al Gore, Maurice Strong, the Rothschilds and a gaggle of other globalists who own the carbon trading schemes.

Earthquakes are called natural disasters for a reason – they are not caused by emissions of that deadly, poisonous, toxic, hateful gas known as carbon dioxide, the life-giving substance that humans exhale and plants breathe.

However, this fact won’t give pause to alarmists desperate to sink their teeth into a new tragedy to reinvigorate momentum behind their failing effort to completely eviscerate the western middle class and concurrently destroy the third world’s hopes of ever lifting themselves out of poverty.

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Paul Joseph Watson is the editor and writer for Prison Planet.com. He is the author of Order Out Of Chaos. Watson is also a fill-in host for The Alex Jones Show. Watson has been interviewed by many publications and radio shows, including Vanity Fair and Coast to Coast AM, America’s most listened to late night talk show.

Indonesian Volcano Erupts, Sends Lava and Gas

Bulgaria: Indonesian Volcano Erupts, Sends Lava and Gas
Rescuers carry a body bag as they evacuate victims of a Mount Merapi eruption in the village of Cangkringan, Indonesia. Photo by EPA/BGNES

One of Indonesia's most active volcanoes, Mount Karangetang, erupted Friday, sending lava and searing gas clouds down its slopes.

The Washington Post reported that volcanology official Agus Budianto said authorities were still trying to evacuate residents living near the slopes of Mount Karangetang.

There have not been immediate reports of injuries or damages.

The 1 784-meter mountain is located on Siau, part of the Sulawesi island chain. It last erupted in August, killing four people.

The eruption occurred hours after a devastating 8.9-magnitude earthquake hit Japan and triggered a Pacific-wide tsunami.

In November 2010, Indonesia's most dangerous volcano, Mount Merapi, erupted and killed at least 58 people and injured dozens.

Post Apocalypse Tsunami aftermath Japan

Japan Earthquake Puts Nuclear Reactor In Spotlight

The earthquake in Japan is putting a spotlight on the nuclear power plantsamong fears a dangerous leak. The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant was crippled by today's earthquake. Widespread evacuations have been implemented and officials declared a state of emergency. It is being reported that the nuclear plant's cooling system failed to function properly after the nuclear reactor lost power and automatically shut down. Japanese officials said radiation has not yet leaked from the plant, but ordered 2,800 people living around the facility to evacuate their homes as a precaution. The Fukushima plant is near the city of Onahama, about 170 miles northeast of Tokyo.

Japan's nuclear safety agency has reported that pressure inside one of the boiling water reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi plant had risen to 1.5 times the level considered normal. Hours after the evacuation order, the government announced that the plant, in northeastern Japan, will release slightly radioactive vapor from the unit to lower the pressure. Pressure was rising inside the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear reactor after a backup generator also failed and the cooling system was unable to supply water to cool the reactor, though at least one backup cooling system is being used. The reactor core remains hot even after a shutdown.

Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant

Nuclear power plants are the most robust facilities in the world and the containment systems should protect the publc from any possible radiation release. That is why you have reactor vessel containment and reactor building containment. Of course, the media will have a field day with any nuclear problem.


Antinuclear activists will surely seize on the earthquake damage to paint the most fearful scenarios. That is too bad because incidents such as this one will surely be used to try to kill nuclear power in America. We suspect the end result will be another success story of how any possible damage was contained inside the containment dome. But by the time the media and the antinuclear activists finish with nightmare scenarios, it probably will not matter. Just like with Three Mile Island.


The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is operated by Tokyo Electric Power Company. They evacuated about 1,800 residents living within 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) of the Fukushima Dai-Ichi No. 1 reactor as a precaution. According to the Emergency Information Center of the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, residents within 10 kilometers were told to stay indoors.

According to the World Nuclear Association, Japanese nuclear power plants are designed to withstand specified earthquake intensities evident in ground motion. The plants are fitted with seismic detectors. If these register ground motions of a set level and systems will be activated to automatically bring the plant to an immediate safe shutdown. (ABC News International, 3/11/2011, Bloomberg, 3/11/2011, WNA, MSNBC, 3/11/2011)
http://beforeitsnews.com/mobile/477/053Read more at Center for Environment, Commerce and Energy

Tsunami wave hits Kona, Hawaii

桜島ライブカメラ 2011-03-11 21-19 X1HD Volcano Sakurajima

"The Revolution Will Move in To Europe From Middle East" -Gerald Celente on Follow the money FBN 11 Mar 2011

Radiation level rising at Fukushima nuclear plant in quake-hit Japan

Twin disasters overwhelm Japan

Over 1,000 feared killed as megaquake strikes Japan

Bring Down the House of Rothschild

Japan's quake updated to magnitude 9.0

The US Air Force is delivering a cargo of liquid coolant to the Tokyo Electric Power Company's Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power plant - where one of six reactors seriously affected by today's quake is still alarmingly hot many hours after it was automatically shut down when the quake struck.

Electrical, mechanical and diesel generator failures are said to have combined to deprive the reactor of power for its coolant pumps.

The Tokyo Electric Power Co told Japanese news service Jiji News that pressure in the reactor vessel is rising and that the company intends to "take measures" to release it. CNN reports that activity around the plant hints at a "struggle" to cool down the facility. Indeed, Japan's trade minister said this evening that there could well be what he described as "small radiation leak" from the Fukushima plant.

US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton said local US air bases are helping deliver the coolant. The reactor - one of six - is thought to be a boiling water reactor, so the coolant is likely to be demineralised light water, meaning it is depleted of the hydrogen isotope deuterium.

Some 3000 local residents living within a 3 kilometre radius of the Fukushima plant have been evacuated by the Japanese defence force.


1722 GMT, 11 March 2011

Michael Reilly, senior technology editor

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Seismologists at the US Geological Survey in Menlo Park, California, have just revised their calculations regarding the magnitude of today's quake. They now say it was magnitude 9.0. Already one of the top 10 recorded earthquakes in history, the revision suggests the quake was even more powerful than first thought.

Harold Tobin of the University of Wisconsin-Madison told New Scientist that this figure will probably change again. This is typical in the hours after a large seismic event, as more information becomes available.

Earlier today, it was suggested that the tremor may have occurred along a splay fault - a branch off the main megathrust fault which runs through this area of the Japan trench. If so, that could mean the fault was previously unknown to geologists.

Splay faults tend to break at steeper angles than megathrust quakes, making them highly likely to lead to a large uplift of the seafloor that produces damaging tsunamis such as the one that crashed ashore in Sendai and the Honshu coast earlier today.

But the new set of calculations indicate that the giant quake ruptured at an angle of 14 degrees below horizontal. Such a shallow slip suggests the earthquake did in fact occur along the main megathrust fault.

Tobin said that in the next few days, seismologists will be working feverishly to come up with a new set of calculations known as an "inversion" to determine over what area the fault slipped and how great the slip was. It's likely to have been several metres for an earthquake of this magnitude.

Once that's established, geologists will begin to look at how this earthquake may have transferred stress onto - or away from - faults in the Tokyo bay and Nankai trough regions, to the south-west.

This will help get a handle on the big question that will be on everyone's mind: when, and where, will it happen again?

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(Image: Yasushi Kanno/AP/Press Association Images)


1514 GMT, 11 March 2011

Paul Marks, senior technology reporter

The Japanese government declared its first ever "state of nuclear emergency" today after two of its nuclear power stations suffered major failures in the aftermath of today's earthquake.

Quake damage cost one plant its reactor cooling system - an absolutely critical capability for a nuclear facility - while another suffered a fire in its turbine hall. Residents in a 3-kilometre radius of the coolant-afflicted plant have been evacuated.

Both incidents were considered risky enough to require the issuing of emergency alerts to the International Atomic Energy Authority in Vienna, Austria. However, the Japanese government insists this was precautionary and that no radiation release has occurred.

As the quake struck, seismic sensors triggered shutdowns at 15 of Japan's nuclear power stations. Eleven are thought to have resumed operation, but the four nearest the epicentre have remained shut - and the problems occurred at two of those.

After a nuclear plant is shut down, control rods are normally inserted into the reactor core to quench the fission reaction. But the reactor remains hot and still needs cooling.

At the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, located just to the south of the Miyagi district, which was worst hit by the quake and tsunami, electrical systems powering the plant's cooling system failed - and a backup diesel generator powering water pumps didn't cut in. The shut-down reactor remains hot.

"Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency says the plant has been shut down and no release of radiation has been detected," said the IAEA in a statement.

Nearer the epicentre, the Onagawa nuclear plant in Miyagi was pictured with smoke streaming from its turbine building. While that's not a nuclear issue as such - it uses superheated steam to turn a generator - any incident near a reactor is bad news. The fire is now said to be out.

These failures will probably speed efforts to make Japan's nuclear plants more rugged against seismic risks - a process that was set in train after a July 2007 quake severely damaged Japan's Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant in Niigata prefecture.


1305 GMT, 11 March 2011

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(Image: AP/Press Association Images)

Michael Marshall, environment reporter

The Japanese earthquake has triggered a series of tsunami waves that are now moving east across the Pacific. How will the countries they hit be affected?

The shape of each landmass is a major factor determining how the tsunami behaves. Tsunamis are most dangerous when they run over a large area of shallow water. This causes the first wavefront to slow down, so successive waves pile up to form one tremendous wave.

As a result small Pacific islands, especially ones that lie in otherwise deep water, should be largely unaffected. Wave height here might reach 30 centimetres at most. "A little atoll presents a pencil in the water, and the wave just goes right past," says Robert Cessaro, a senior geophysicist at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) in Hawaii. Because most of the islands in the tsunami's path are fairly small, they should see waves 10 to 30 centimetres high at most.

Islands with a diameter of 80 kilometres, including any underwater sediment surrounding them, will slow down the waves and thus experience a larger tsunami impact.

"It looks like the Hawaiian islands will see [waves] between 1 and 2 metres [in height], depending on where you are," Cessaro says. The first wave is expected in Hawaii at 1707 GMT (0307 local time).

Most of the tsunami's force seems to be heading for the west coast of North America, which could see waves of up to 40 centimetres in some areas. California will see the highest waves, with Alaska "pretty much out of the beam", says Cessaro.

California's Crescent City, which is susceptible to tsunamis because of its confined bay, could get up to 1 metre. Residents have been urged to move to higher ground.

South America is expected to see less of an effect than North America. Waves with a height of roughly 20 to 30 centimetres may occur here.

Cessaro emphasises that these figures are rough. Data on the tsunami is still coming in, and the PTWC will be updating their models throughout the day. As the wave moves on, more gauges will be affected, the measurements generated will feed into the models and the picture will become clearer.


1230 GMT, 11 March 2011

Catherine Brahic, environment news editor

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(Image: NOAA)

The US National Oceanographical and Atmospheric Agency has produced this map showing when the tsunamis are expected to hit land across the Pacific. The quake was at 0546 GMT, meaning Hawaii could see the first waves around 1700 GMT (0300 local time) and smaller, low-lying Pacific islands like Tuvalu could be hit in the coming few hours.

The University of Southern California's Tsunami Research Centre also has this map showing the theoretical path of a tsunami, with maximum wave heights. The map is not a forecast for today's events, but the results of modelling studies the centre has done in the past for a quake of similar location and magnitude.


1200 GMT, 11 March 2011

Andy Coghlan, reporter

Brian Baptie, a seismologist at the British Geological Survey in Edinburgh, UK, answers our questions on the Japan quake and related tsunamis, reported at 10 metres in Sendai port in Miyagi prefecture, north-eastern Japan.

Are the recent huge quakes linked?
This one is on the same scale as the Chile quake last year and the Sumatran quake in 2004, so there is a sequence that's been followed. They're all caused by motion of tectonic plates. There's no causal link between them, but it is possible that one quake could trigger another, so it's possible Sumatra has unleashed a chain of quakes and rupture segments to the west of Sumatra.

But it's not linked to the recent earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand. This latest quake was 8000 times large than the Christchurch quake in terms of the energy released, so it's a different beast.

What was the geology of the quake?
Japan sites at the boundary between two tectonic plates - there are eight major plates worldwide. To the east of Japan is the Pacific plate, and Japan itself sits on the Eurasian plate. The Pacific plate is moving west at about 8 centimetres a year, and is pushing down beneath Japan itself. As the plates push past each other, a massive amount of strain energy is generated, which builds up in the rocks. Sometimes the strain can build for many years, and that's the underlying cause for earthquakes in Japan. The amplitude of the quake decreases rapidly from the epicentre, although it will be felt across all Japan.

What about the tsunamis now moving east?
They travel at the speed of a jet airliner and propagate at low amplitude deep in the ocean. As they approach land, the tsunami slows down but the amplitude increases, generating waves with huge energy. So you still get large waves several metres high many hours after the original quake. They can still cause extreme amounts of damage many kilometres away. Also, individual tsunamis can last for many waves, and sometimes the first is not the biggest.

Was Japan ready?
Japan is a country with a long history of earthquakes, but this one is unprecedented in Japanese history. The previous largest was Great Kanto in 1923, south of Tokyo, which resulted in 140,000 deaths, and that was 7.9 magnitude. That puts this latest one in perspective. It's easily the largest Japan has ever experienced.

Japan has well-regulated building codes, and large buildings are constructed not to collapse. Also, people are well prepared both for quakes and tsunamis, with regular evacuation drills. All those will have saved life this time.

Are Japan's nuclear facilities safe?
They're unlikely to collapse in a quake, but they will have experienced strong shaking. Reactors have their own earthquake warning system that shut them down automatically. These also work for high-speed rail networks. But it's difficult to say what damage there's been to these facilities.


1032 GMT, 11 March 2011

Wendy Zukerman, Asia-Pacific reporter

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(Image: Kyodo News/AP/PA)

A massive 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck off the north-east coast of Japan today, creating a tsunami that hit the north of the country and sparking tsunami alerts around the Pacific.

According to the US Geological Survey (USGS), the quake hit at 0546 GMT, with its epicentre 373 kilometres north-east of Tokyo. Preliminary reports suggest it occurred at a depth of 24.4 kilometres.

Japan's Meteorological Agency says that movements in the crust caused by the quake created a tsunami that moved towards Japan's east coast, reportedly reaching a height of 10 metres at the point of impact.

Kevin McCue, a seismologist at Central Queensland University, Australia, says tsunami waves "will be impacting other countries in the north Pacific in the coming hours".

Already, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Pacific Tsunami Warning Center has issued a tsunami warning for many areas bordering the Pacific. The first wave is expected in Hawaii at 1707 GMT (0307 local time).

James Goff, a tsunami researcher at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, says that tsunamis are virtually inevitable given the power of the earthquake. "Japan has a rigorous earthquake building code and excellent tsunami warning system and evacuation plans - this event will likely provide a severe test for all of them," he says.

While details of the devastation in Japan remain murky, there have already been numerous reports of injuries, and five confirmed deaths. Power has been cut to 4 million homes in and around Tokyo. Five nuclear power plants in northern Japan have been shut down, but there are no reports of leaked chemicals.

Earthquakes are common in Japan because it is one of the most seismically active regions in the world. On 26 February the country experienced a 5.2-magnitude quake; a 7.2-magnitude quake hit just two days ago, and was followed by four more quakes yesterday. But quakes of a similar magnitude to today's are rare. It is similar in scale to the quake that hit Chile almost a year ago to the day.

"This is the largest earthquake known in Japan," says McCue. There have been just seven earthquakes in Japan over magnitude eight since 1891.

UPDATE On The Number Of Missing People In Japan

japan tsunami

Image: ap

The good news: The number of missing people appears to have been massively overstated, at least based on this one estimate. The real number is not clear.

Heartbreaking: While the death toll remains in the low hundreds right now (officially) it seems sure to spiral much higher.

According to the Kyodo News Agency, via BBC, the official missing persons tally is around 88,000.

It's well known that a lot of people are simply stranded in the cities, including Tokyo, and in many cases the people are probaby safe. It's not clear how they're included in the number.

JAPAN QUAKE EVENT COVERING A HUGE AREA OF EARTH'S CRUST!

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Maps/10/140_40.gif

Inside the Ring

China used a top-secret SC-19 anti-satellite (ASAT) missile in a test last year against a target missile as part of a missile-defense system that remains shrouded in secrecy.

The ASAT missile was fired against a new medium-range missile and details were disclosed in a State Department cable made public recently by WikiLeaks that included an outline of a diplomatic protest note to Beijing about both Chinese weapons programs.

The cable provides the first detailed U.S. assessment of what defense officials say is a major strategic advancement in China’s military buildup. It reveals that China’s anti-satellite system was developed for use not only against satellites but is part of a larger strategic missile-defense system.

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates offered to hold strategic talks with China on missile defenses, as well as space, nuclear and cyberweapons, during a recent visit to Beijing. The offer was rebuffed by China’s defense minister, who said only that it would be studied.

**FILE** Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates**FILE** Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates

Defense officials and private specialists said the cable further highlights official Chinese government duplicity in opposing U.S. missile defenses and promoting an international agreement to limit weapons in space at the same time it is secretly working on its own space weapons and missile defense programs.

Details of the Chinese SC-19 test are not expected to be included in the Pentagon’s annual report to Congress on the Chinese military that was due March 1 but remains under review by the Obama administration.

Chinese state-run media announced the January 2010 test in a two-sentence statement that made no mention of the use of the SC-19. The SC-19’s first successful test destroyed a Chinese weather satellite in January 2007, resulting in thousands of pieces of debris in orbit that remain a threat to both manned and unmanned space flight.

The current U.S. strategic missile defense has no direct capabilities for shooting down satellites. However, the Navy modified a ship-based SM-3 anti-missile interceptor to shoot down a falling U.S. satellite in 2008.

Chinese Embassy spokesman Wang Baodong repeated the comments of a Foreign Ministry spokesman who said the 2010 test was “defensive in nature and targeted at no country.”

Story Continues →

"Main Street's Under Water & Wall Street's Going On A Pleasure Cruise!" Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur

RAW,Japan, AMAZING view of Tokyo`s skyscrapers swaying in the earthquak...

Massive Tsunami Moves Through Japan, Sludge, Cars and Much More!

Massive 8.9 Magnitude Earthquake Rocks Japan: Tsunami Warning!!!

8.9-magnitude Quake in Japan Triggers Devastating Japan Tsunami

All clear issued for Oahu as daybreak brings reports of tsunami damage

Honolulu Mayor Peter Carlisle has issued an all clear for Oahu residents after tsunami waves overnight caused a mass evacuation of coastal areas statewide.

Carlisle said city officials waited until after daybreak to assess the situation before declaring it is safe to return to the coast. No injuries have been reported from the waves, but damage is reported on three islands.

The surges caused extensive damage to piers and boats at Keehi Small Boat Harbor near Sand Island. The King Kamehameha Kona Beach Hotel got a foot of water in the lobby and canoes in the harbor were destroyed. Flooding was also reported in Kahului.

Tsunami waves from a massive Japanese earthquake began hitting Hawaii just after 3 a.m. today after an hours-long statewide coastal evacuation.

The waters continued to surge in some harbors hours after the intial wave hit.

Indeed, one witness reported a surge at Keehi Lagoon about 5:40 a.m.

Kauai also issued an all clear.

Gerard Fryer, a scientist with the Tsunami Warning Center, said an initial 6-foot surge was detected in Kahului Harbor, and Fryer said a second surge was more than 7 feet at Kahului Harbor.

"There's little question that there was some damage at that level," he said.

At Napoopoo at Kealakekua Bay on the Big Island, one wave reached at least 100 feet inland and an elevation of 11 or 12 feet, Fryer said.

"It could have been more than that," he said.

The gauge at Nawiliwili Harbor showed a 2.1 foot surge; Haleiwa recorded a 3.6 foot surge; and Hanalei recorded 2.8 feet. The weather service says a gauge at Hilo Harbor showed a 2-foot surge. Kawaihae saw a 2.8 foot increase.

Off Diamond Head lookout, the water receded twice — once about 3:43 a.m. and again at 3:55 a.m. — exposing reef, before waves rushed back to the high water line.

More than 100 spectators gathered at the lookout to see the waves come in, and many 'oohed' and 'ahhed' when the near-shore reef was fully exposed in seconds.

"It was creepy," said Mike Moylan, 42, who had to evacuate his home on Kuhio Avenue and so decided to watch the waves at Diamond Head. "Seeing the water recede that much, it's scary."

Chana Dudoit, 28, of Kaimuki, saw the waves receding on TV and decided to rush out to see them in person. "I thought it was crazy," she said. "Where did all the fish go?"

A tweet from the Pacific Fleet said a surge of more than 1.5 feet was detected at Pearl Harbor. No damage was reported.

The tsunami that was generated from an 8.9-magnitude quake in Japan.

The weather service reminded people that there will be a series of waves and the first wave may not be the biggest.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a tsunami watch at 7:56 p.m. after the quake struck 231 miles northeast of Tokyo.

Chip McCreary, director of the warning center, said because of the long length of tsunami waves, "they wrap around our islands very efficiently" so there is no point of impact that may see higher waves than other areas.

"There are some places that will be affected more than other places," McCreary said. "From our history, we've had bigger impacts in Hilo, Kahului and Haleiwa and our models bear that out."

Even before civil defense sirens sounded just before 10 p.m., people were lining up to get gas around Oahu. Police dispatch reported arguing over gas in Ewa Beach and lines to get gas on Fort Weaver Road.

About an hour after the quake struck, Jake Chang, of Papakolea, was at the Aloha gas station on Vineyard Boulevard filling up his truck and a plastic gas container to power his generator.

"I was watching TV," he said. "I saw the footage of Japan. It was unreal."

In the first three hours after the quake, there were 23 significant aftershocks ranging from 5.4 to 7.1 in magnitude, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

"The trough of a tsunami wave may temporarily expose the seafloor, but the area will quickly flood again," the warning center said. "Extremely strong and unusual nearshore currents can accompany a tsunami. Debris picked up and carried by a tsunami amplifies its destructive power. Simultaneous high tides or high surf can significantly increase the tsunami hazard."

Hawaiian Electric Co. has opened its emergency command center and is implementing its tsunami plans, according to Peter Rosegg, Hawaiian Electric spokesman.

Striking members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers are still out, Rosegg said, adding that the electric company has an agreement with the union that workers will return to work in case of a "major emergency."

"We have an agreement, but until we know the extent of the emergency we will not know what we need," Rosegg said.

Meanwhile, HECO is moving its emergency vehicles to higher ground and Rosegg said it is shifting generation to facilities that are the least threatened by a tsunami.

"We are prepared with nonunion and management crews," Rosegg said.

About 1,300 IBEW members went on strike Friday.

In 1854, an earthquake measuring 8.4 on the Richter scale devastated the region from Tokai to Kyushu and killed an estimated 10,000 people. In 1896, an 8.5-magnitude earthquake hit the Sanriku coast; the earthquake and the resulting tsunami killed some 27,000 people.

Tsunami waves were reportedly observed in Hawaii and California, but no significant damage was reported.

And in 1946, an 8.1-magnitude quake hit Nankaido, killing 1,362.

Over the last century, tsunami have killed hundreds of people and caused millions of dollars of damage in Hawaii. The worst took place in 1946 when a 7.1-magnitude earthquake in the Aleutian Islands resulted in a tsunami that flooded downtown Hilo, killing 159 people. Hilo was hit again in 1960 when an 8.3-magnitude quake in Chile generated waves of up to 35 feet that destroyed buildings and caused 61 deaths.

The last significant tsunami in Hawaii occurred in 1975 when an earthquake off the Big Island generated a 26-foot wave that killed two people and injured several others.

Japanese tsunami creates whirlpool

Footage aired on Japanese television shows a boat perilously close to the eye of a huge whirlpool.


The vortex of water appeared in a harbour off the east coast of Japan after an 8.9 magnitude earthquake struck the country.

Footage taken from a helicopter shows a boat dangerously close to the centre of the pool. It is not known whether there was anyone onboard.

The quake, which hit at 2:46pm local time, triggered a tsunami that devastated all in its path. A passenger ship carrying about 100 people has been swept away, its whereabouts are still unknown.

Waves up to 30 feet high engulfed the coastal city of Sendai, 230 miles north east of Tokyo, and grounded ships in Hachinohe a further 150 miles north.

All Japanese ports have been closed and tsunami warnings have been issued for areas across East Asia and the western coast of South America, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.

The magnitude 8.9 quake surpasses the Great Kanto quake of September 1, 1923, which had a magnitude of 7.9 and killed more than 140,000 people in the Tokyo area.

Massive 8.9 Magnitude Earthquake Rocks Japan: Tsunami Warning In 20 Countries

Image: Getty


An 8.9 earthquake hit Japan today triggering a massive tsunami that caused major devastation through the coast of Japan.

“Japan was struck by a magnitude-8.8 earthquake off its northeastern coast Friday, triggering a 13-foot (4-meter) tsunami that washed away cars and tore away buildings along the coast near the epicenter,” reported the Associated Press.

Hawaii is on tsunami watch along with the Philippines and the west coast of the United States. A tsunami is expected to arrive in Hawaii as soon as 3:00 am HST.

The massive wave continued inland in Japan wiping out the regions at a time when most people were still at work and had little to no warning.

Update: Reports are coming in that a nuclear emergency has been called within Japan.

Tsunami warning extended to much of Pacific region, but not to U.S. West Coast

Tsunami Slams Northern Japan After Massive 8.9 Magnitude Earthquake Strikes Off Coast

Magnitude 8.9 - NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN

Earthquake Details

  • This is a computer-generated message -- this event has not yet been reviewed by a seismologist.
Magnitude8.9
Date-Time
Location38.322°N, 142.369°E
Depth24.4 km (15.2 miles) set by location program
RegionNEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
Distances130 km (80 miles) E of Sendai, Honshu, Japan
178 km (110 miles) E of Yamagata, Honshu, Japan
178 km (110 miles) ENE of Fukushima, Honshu, Japan
373 km (231 miles) NE of TOKYO, Japan
Location Uncertaintyhorizontal +/- 13.5 km (8.4 miles); depth fixed by location program
ParametersNST=350, Nph=351, Dmin=416.3 km, Rmss=1.46 sec, Gp= 29°,
M-type="moment" magnitude from initial P wave (tsuboi method) (Mi/Mwp), Version=A
Source
  • USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)
Event IDusc0001xgp

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