News M7.6 earthquake jolts Sea of Japan coast (Noto Peninsula Earthquake)

[Maciamo]

A major earthquake has struck the Noto peninsula. According to the NHK the magnitude was 7.6 and intensity 7. There is some major tsunami warning. We await more news.

 

[thomas]

A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.7 jolted the area northeast of Noto Peninsula. The news report seismic intensity (shindo) of 7 with tsunamis expected to reach up to five metres.

https://www.data.jma.go.jp/multi/quake/quake_detail.html?eventID=20240101161004&lang=en

 

[thomas]

M7.4 quake rocks central Japan, large tsunami warning issued - The Mainichi

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.4 rocked a wide area on the Sea of Japan coast in central Japan on Monday, with a lar

mainichi.jp

 

[johnnyG]

We're fine, wife is still outside/waiting in the genkan to make sure the door will be open (and won't get stuck shut).

A few things fell down, but others that I might've expected to (CDs off shelves) did not seem to budge.

Water, city gas seem okay, power didn't even blink. The heaters auto-clicked off, but seem to be okay.

Edit: one small aftershock a bit ago, now another smaller one.

 

[Mansoor]

I think it was last year that I warned about a great earthquake and probable Tsunami in Japan based on some signs that I found out through geophysical activities in the area , but I don't think anyone took it serious.

I think many people sleep out of their houses tonight and that is what most people do after the first quake!

Of course, in Japan persons have to have a boat in the yard, as well LOL

Excuse me, last week, I myself experienced an earthquake just under my city with a horrible sound from underground. I always ran away into the yard in such situations but this time I couldn't move from my place because of fear LOL but I appealed God to have mercy on me. The lamp on the ceiling moved to the sides for seconds. It was 3.5 Richter.

 

[thomas]

According to the JMA website, there were over 80 tremors between 16:06 and 23:22 today, with some aftershocks reaching a seismic intensity of 4.6.

https://www.data.jma.go.jp/multi/quake/index.html?lang=en

The pictures below were taken in and around Wajima, Noto Peninsula.

Photo credit: Kyodo etc.

​

M7.6 quake rocks central Japan, killing 4, triggering tsunami

An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.6 rocked a wide area on the Sea of Japan coast Monday, killing at least four people and triggering tsunami and fires in the central prefecture of Ishikawa, and dampening the festive mood of New Year celebrations nationwide.

english.kyodonews.net

Buildings Collapse in Japan Earthquakes; 6 cases of People Buried Alive

WAJIMA, Ishikawa — Many buildings collapsed on Monday in central Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, when the strong earthquakes struck the region earlier in the day.

japannews.yomiuri.co.jp

Japan earthquake news – as it happened: highest-level tsunami warning dropped

Buildings collapse, trapping residents, and fires break out but tsunami warning lowered after series of major earthquakes in Japan

www.theguardian.com

 

[Davey]

I was in the car when the earthquake stroke, the tv was on and it was scary hearing the sound of the woman saying: "GET DOWN GET DOWN" (in Japanese) "SEEK COVER SEEK COVER", my parents-in-law felt it at their place in West-Kobe.. after this my phone just went off the whole time. I hope everyone is safe.

scary memories of the Tohoku earthquake come back..

 

[mdchachi]

Felt by almost the entire country it looks like.

 

[Mansoor]

Oh, it really shows the power of the shake.

I heard in the BBC news, the Japanese government alerted about some powerful sea waves toward Japan shores . As you senior pointed in your previous post, the height of the waves may reach 5 meters.

However, Japanese citizens should be in alert about some aftershocks and avoid the damaged buildings, bridge and similar places. Open places away from sea is the safest places for a while, until the ground gets calm.

I heard the people and government of Japan sent some aids for Gaza people. I say with certainty, such helps take Japanese away from the fatal events like these. I heard, the Japanese government promised to send another aid pack to Gaza ( 65 million $) such humanity aids prevent unpleasant fate and bad event, supernaturally, even though a person donates something to a needful person.

This great earthquake could have more destruction and casualty.

 

[SomeCallMeChris]

I think it was last year that I warned about a great earthquake and probable Tsunami in Japan based on some signs that I found out through geophysical activities in the area , but I don't think anyone took it serious.

I think many people sleep out of their houses tonight and that is what most people do after the first quake!

Of course, in Japan persons have to have a boat in the yard, as well LOL

Excuse me, last week, I myself experienced an earthquake just under my city with a horrible sound from underground. I always ran away into the yard in such situations but this time I couldn't move from my place because of fear LOL but I appealed God to have mercy on me. The lamp on the ceiling moved to the sides for seconds. It was 3.5 Richter.

The safest thing to do generally is to stand in an internal doorway (from one room to another) as doorway frames are very sturdy compared to other parts of a house, and are generally placed away from anything that can fall on you (shelves, light fixtures).

Going outdoors is often not safer because trees and utility poles can fall on you, debris from tall buildings can land on you, etc. If you're in a short building, without a porch or deck that can collapse on your way out, and in an area without tall trees, tall buildings, or utility poles then maybe outdoors is safer, but in many common situations it is more dangerous to use the exit, and also there is generally a sturdy doorway nearer than the exit and earthquakes can start and stop quite suddenly.

At least, this is my understanding from reading up on earthquake safety when living in or visiting California, where I once lived and still have family.

I wonder if the same advice is accepted in Japan, and also if it applies to traditional Japanese homes as it seems to me that shoji doors don't require the same sturdy framing as rigid, hinged doors.

In any case, here's hoping for the safety of everyone caught up in this Earthquake. I know there have been at least a couple casualties, but let's hope that's the extent of it.

 

[Hiroyuki Nagashima]

At the time of 2016 years Kumamoto earthquake,

April 14, 2016 9:26 p.m.
A 6.5-magnitude earthquake is generated in the Kumamoto, Kumamoto district. I observed a seismic intensity of 7 in Mashiki-machi.

April 16, 2016 1:25 a.m.
A 7.3-magnitude earthquake was generated in the Kumamoto, Kumamoto district.
From the first earthquake, it was 28 hours later.

People who evacuated came back to the house, and I was clearing it off, and an earthquake with a maximum seismic intensity of 7 attacked it.

In the later investigation, it became clear in the center of Mashiki-machi that about 30% of the wooden construction house built in an old earthquake-resistant standard collapsed. Among 50 death, it was equal to nearly 40 people directly it was rolled up in collapse, and to have died.

Attention is necessary if I make this a lesson as a main shock may occur after this in Noto Peninsula.

As for the magnitude of the main shock, +1.0 of the foreshock consists.

 

[Mansoor]

The safest thing to do generally is to stand in an internal doorway (from one room to another) as doorway frames are very sturdy compared to other parts of a house, and are generally placed away from anything that can fall on you (shelves, light fixtures).

Going outdoors is often not safer because trees and utility poles can fall on you, debris from tall buildings can land on you, etc. If you're in a short building, without a porch or deck that can collapse on your way out, and in an area without tall trees, tall buildings, or utility poles then maybe outdoors is safer, but in many common situations it is more dangerous to use the exit, and also there is generally a sturdy doorway nearer than the exit and earthquakes can start and stop quite suddenly.

At least, this is my understanding from reading up on earthquake safety when living in or visiting California, where I once lived and still have family.

I wonder if the same advice is accepted in Japan, and also if it applies to traditional Japanese homes as it seems to me that shoji doors don't require the same sturdy framing as rigid, hinged doors.

In any case, here's hoping for the safety of everyone caught up in this Earthquake. I know there have been at least a couple casualties, but let's hope that's the extent of it.

Sadly, earthquake happens unaware less than a second, and in some situations, before a person can react in time, the floor begins moving like a cradle. At that time, death and life dependent on severity of the quake, and in a hard quake the person has not even an opportunity to get up from his place or run to anywhere.

Nevertheless, what you read in the article is correct about the mild or average quakes. Trying to survive and effort not to get hurt is in the nature of humans and animals. Yes, based on the experiences of the experts, who studied the ruined buildings after an earthquake going under the doors frame is the best shelter.

But I am thinking, what if the door itself moves violently because of the quake?! It will kicks the person into the room or hallway!

Basically, I am not interested to read detailed news. May you inform me how many persons were killed in this event?

Also, my purpose of offering open place was the place like deserts or parks in the cities for probable aftershocks.

 

[Maciamo]

So far only 4 deaths have been reported. It could have been so much worse had the earthquake's epicentre been closer to a major city (e.g. under Kanazawa itself).

Ironically far more people have probably died from eating mochi yesterday than because of the earthquake. Every year about 1300 people suffocate from swallowing tough New Year mochi in Japan, most of them between 1st and 3rd January.

 

[johnnyG]

JMA site. If you start clicking thru--keep hitting previous--you can begin to see a line of bigger ones that would kind of form/identify a fault line along the upper end of the peninsula, running kind of WSW to ENE.

 

[mdchachi]

So far only 4 deaths have been reported. It could have been so much worse had the earthquake's epicentre been closer to a major city (e.g. under Kanazawa itself).

Thousands would have died had it happened in any other country.

 

[Maciamo]

Thousands would have died had it happened in any other country.

Not so sure about that. Most of the buildings in the Noto peninsula were old and not really earthquake proof. Japanese people usually claim that wooden buildings are more resistant to earthquakes than stone buildings, but the few major stone buildings that existed in Tokyo before the Great Kantō earthquake of 1923 survived just fine. For example the Akasaka Palace (built between 1899 and 1909) or the Bank of Japan building in Nihonbashi (same period). Even the brick Tokyo Station building, completed in 1914, suffered minimal damage from the 1923 earthquake (according to the Japanese Wikipedia page). I think that the main reason why they claim that stone and brick buildings can't resist earthquakes is simply because construction companies make more money from building shoddy houses that need to be torn down and rebuilt every 30 years. There is also the traditional aspect of building in wood and rebuilding every 30 years, as they do for some Shinto shrines (e.g. Ise Jingū ).

 

[thomas]

I read somewhere that constructing European-style solid brick houses in Japan would raise building costs fourfold.

Another "traditional aspect' promulgated by the local construction industry is that it would be "too difficult" and "prohibitively expensive" to construct homes with basements: there was "too much humidity" and "too much groundwater"--as if other countries didn't face the very same circumstances. It's a combination of "traditions" and greed (rebuilding homes every three decades keeps construction companies busy).

Additionally, many rural buildings collapse because their frail wooden structures are decked with heavy roof tiles, creating a very high centre of gravity.

However, in Wajima, modern structures such as the one below also fell victim to the quake.

Photo credit: Tatsuya Shimada, Asahi Shimbun​

Sadly, the official death toll has increased to 13, with several people being in a state of cardiac arrest (which means that their death hasn't been officially confirmed yet). Badly damaged and blocked roads hinder rescue efforts, and one of the area's airports was forced to close due to runway cracks. Air, road and rail transportation in the Hokuriku region remains disrupted.

57 dead in Japan Noto quake, rescue efforts continue amid aftershocks

TOKYO - At least 57 people were killed in the powerful earthquake that struck the Noto Peninsula and surrounding areas in central Japan on New Year's Day, as more reports of damage came in and rescuers raced to find survivors amid continuing aftershocks on Tuesday.

english.kyodonews.net

Japan in 'battle against time' to rescue quake survivors | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis

 

[Hiroyuki Nagashima]

Ishikawa Prefecture Noto Earthquake, The moment of the occurrence of the earthquake.



As there were a large number of people in a New Year's visit to a Shinto shrine Shinto shrine, a stone lantern basket collapses and is in danger.


It is the influence on nuclear power plants caused by the earthquake.

So far, according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Shiga Nuclear Power Plant of stopping Ishikawa that observed shaking with maximum intensity 5 upper is not seen in the abnormality of facilities.

It means that the value of the monitoring post measuring neighboring radiation quantity does not have the abnormality either.

In addition, so far the abnormality of facilities is not seen in the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant of stopping Niigata that observed shaking with maximum intensity 5 upper either.

In addition, at the Nanao Ota thermal power station of the Hokuriku Electric Power jurisdiction, the operating first unit, second unit stopped by an earthquake, but are doing it if there is not the influence on supply by this.

About city gas or the refinery, it means that the damage is not confirmed at present.

 

[mdchachi]

Not so sure about that. Most of the buildings in the Noto peninsula were old and not really earthquake proof. Japanese people usually claim that wooden buildings are more resistant to earthquakes than stone buildings, but the few major stone buildings that existed in Tokyo before the Great Kantō earthquake of 1923 survived just fine. For example the Akasaka Palace (built between 1899 and 1909) or the Bank of Japan building in Nihonbashi (same period). Even the brick Tokyo Station building, completed in 1914, suffered minimal damage from the 1923 earthquake (according to the Japanese Wikipedia page). I think that the main reason why they claim that stone and brick buildings can't resist earthquakes is simply because construction companies make more money from building shoddy houses that need to be torn down and rebuilt every 30 years. There is also the traditional aspect of building in wood and rebuilding every 30 years, as they do for some Shinto shrines (e.g. Ise Jingū).

Maybe not Germany or some such but there are many examples of major earthquake disasters in other countries even when the earthquake itself is relatively small. Mostly due to poor construction practices and insufficient building codes as you said. I didn't make any claims regarding wood vs stone.

 

[Mansoor]

Today, I heard (BBC news) the number of killed people in recent earthquake in Japan reached 40 dead, and probably the number of victims will rise because some persons are buried under derbies and are not discovered yet.

Also, the ruined and cracked roads and bridges, as well as, landslides in the quake zone, don't allow the rescue groups to access many ruined buildings in the area to save the alive persons or take out the bodies of killed persons from the ruined buildings.

Sorry. I supposed the quake just damaged buildings with a few dead, but now I understand the depth of the disaster. Based on my estimate, I think, the casualty will be 1000 or even more.

Nonetheless, such the earthquake could have 30000 to 40000 dead.

 

[SomeCallMeChris]

But I am thinking, what if the door itself moves violently because of the quake?! It will kicks the person into the room or hallway!

This isn't how earthquakes work. They move like ocean waves (not like the surf, but like the waves under a boat at sea) ... the motion is all up and down, but because there is a leading and a trailing edge, it also tips things very slightly side to side. There is, however, no large sideways pushing force. The damage from an earthquake is almost entirely due to gravity, the earthquake merely puts things off balance just enough for gravity to take over... which is why you don't want to be around anything that can fall over if made unstable.

So for the door to be knocked around, it would need to be opened such that it was blocking a bookcase or similar tall furnishing which then falls over, but such an item falling over will only push it with the weight of the furnishing itself, and only until about 90 degrees. Depending on how you are gripping the door frame there would be a real risk of damage to your fingers, but the door won't come at you with the sort of speed necessary to send you flying across the room (modern hollow core doors are very light and would need to move very fast to hit you with significant force, and nothing is moving that fast in this case.)

All the same, if you're in an earthquake prone area you should try not to put tall furnishings behind your door, and your tall furnishings in any case should have wedges under their front to have them slightly leaning backward, and in back be anchored to the wall (we had a screw in the furniture near the top of it, and another in the wall, connected together by sturdy fishing line that could hold under hundreds of pounds of strain) and so avoid the furnishing falling over in the first place.

Of course being in a doorway doesn't guarantee your safety, and if the building collapses or falls over like thomas's Wajima photograph then who knows how things will move, but those are exceptional circumstances. It's just a matter of making the best choice in a bad situation.

Speaking of which,

This is actually amazing that the building could fall over and still remain so nearly intact. I still definitely would not want to be in it, of course, but it's much better than being in a building that collapses into rubble. Here we can realistically hope (and I do hope) that everyone got out alive.

On the other hand, I do also have to wonder how the building was so top-heavy and/or already leaning or off-balance that it could fall like this in the first place. I feel like something wasn't up to construction code, or else that code needs some revision.

 

[Hiroyuki Nagashima]

January 3, 2024 0:43am
[the earthquake damage situation] It is safety confirmation each place of 57 death ignorance people in Ishikawa.
According to Ishikawa, the person passed away is that in total 57 were confirmed in the prefecture as of 0:00 a.m. on 3rd by this earthquake.

▼24 people including the man teenage in Wajima-shi
▼It is 22 people in Suzu-shi
▼Five people including a woman in her twenties in Nanao-shi and the man and woman in the 50s
▼It is two people in Anamizu-machi and Noto-cho
▼One man in his 70s in Hakui-shi
▼A man in his 90s becomes alone in Shika-machi.
It means that confirmation of the safety of the person losing whereabouts in each place is pushed forward.

It means that 22 people in total had a serious injury in Ishikawa.

The person who had a serious injury
▽It is eight people in Noto-cho
▽It is seven people in Wajima-shi
▽It is five people in Anamizu-machi
▽I become two people in Shika-machi.

能登半島地震 石川県内の死者 57人確認 | NHK

【NHK】石川県などによりますと、今回の地震で亡くなった人は、3日午前0時の時点で県内で合わせて57人確認されたということです。

www3.nhk.or.jp

The Japanese government investigates who lives where for such a disaster every year.
In addition, an evacuation site is appointed for inhabitants, and the storage of supplies is carried out, too.
I check the presence of the refuge instruction person in charge about an old man and the person with a disability and come to dispatch the person in charge as needed.
A family goes home for the year-end and New Year vacation by this earthquake from a distant place, and the sacrifice of the young person may increase.

 

[Mansoor]

This isn't how earthquakes work. They move like ocean waves (not like the surf, but like the waves under a boat at sea) ... the motion is all up and down, but because there is a leading and a trailing edge, it also tips things very slightly side to side. There is, however, no large sideways pushing force. The damage from an earthquake is almost entirely due to gravity, the earthquake merely puts things off balance just enough for gravity to take over... which is why you don't want to be around anything that can fall over if made unstable.

So for the door to be knocked around, it would need to be opened such that it was blocking a bookcase or similar tall furnishing which then falls over, but such an item falling over will only push it with the weight of the furnishing itself, and only until about 90 degrees. Depending on how you are gripping the door frame there would be a real risk of damage to your fingers, but the door won't come at you with the sort of speed necessary to send you flying across the room (modern hollow core doors are very light and would need to move very fast to hit you with significant force, and nothing is moving that fast in this case.)

All the same, if you're in an earthquake prone area you should try not to put tall furnishings behind your door, and your tall furnishings in any case should have wedges under their front to have them slightly leaning backward, and in back be anchored to the wall (we had a screw in the furniture near the top of it, and another in the wall, connected together by sturdy fishing line that could hold under hundreds of pounds of strain) and so avoid the furnishing falling over in the first place.

Of course being in a doorway doesn't guarantee your safety, and if the building collapses or falls over like thomas's Wajima photograph then who knows how things will move, but those are exceptional circumstances. It's just a matter of making the best choice in a bad situation.

Speaking of which,


This is actually amazing that the building could fall over and still remain so nearly intact. I still definitely would not want to be in it, of course, but it's much better than being in a building that collapses into rubble. Here we can realistically hope (and I do hope) that everyone got out alive.

On the other hand, I do also have to wonder how the building was so top-heavy and/or already leaning or off-balance that it could fall like this in the first place. I feel like something wasn't up to construction code, or else that code needs some revision.

Falling that building on side is due to weakness of the ground that it is built on, and probably it is because of an extraordinary moisture in the ground around the foundation, not weakness of the foundation itself.

The moisture is because of accumulation water in that piece of ground due to a geophysical cause or other natural factors like influencing rain in the softer soil and trapping in the harder layers in the bottom. The moisture can also affect the metallic parts of the foundation in a long term (Iron corrosion) and weaken them.

 

[Maciamo]

Maybe not Germany or some such but there are many examples of major earthquake disasters in other countries even when the earthquake itself is relatively small. Mostly due to poor construction practices and insufficient building codes as you said. I didn't make any claims regarding wood vs stone.

Of course I speak from a European point of view (being Belgian). There are virtually no wooden buildings in Europe apart from some Swiss chalets (a small minority of houses in the country) and some traditional wooden houses in the Swedish countryside.

There are more earthquakes in Italy and in the Balkans than in about a quarter of all Japanese prefectures and yet it's extremely rare that earthquakes cause thousands of casualties there.

The seismic hazard map of Italy showing the probability of seismic activity for different places in Italy.

Map of earthquakes in Italy 1900-2017

There was a M6.6 earthquake in Umbria in 2016 that reached a maximum intensity of XI (extreme) and yet there were only 3 indirect deaths, despite houses being on average hundreds of years old in that region.

The last earthquake to cause over 1000 deaths in Italy was in 1980 in the greater Naples, a very densely populated area with lots of poor and crowded neighbourhoods (especially back then).

 

[thomas]

I still remember the 1976 Friuli earthquake, which struck close to home. I was a small child, and it was the first realisation that devastating earthquakes occur in Europe, too. I experienced the 1992 Cairo earthquake; back then, many residential and public structures collapsed due to illegal construction and faulty building materials. That quake was just M5.8.

Back to the Noto earthquake. Pics are worth a thousand words:

Photo credit: Hiro Komae​

More photos:

In pictures: The aftermath of the New Year’s Day quake in Japan

Scenes of the aftermath of an earthquake, registered at the highest level on Japan’s intensity scale, that struck a coastal area as the nation was marking New Year’s Day.

www.japantimes.co.jp

The death toll from Monday's quake increased to 57. Meanwhile, experts declared that the fault that triggered the earthquake may stretch for around 150 kilometres under the Noto Peninsula, and associated seismic activity is likely to continue for the time being. There have been over 200 aftershocks since Monday afternoon. Last night around 0:30 am, we also had a tremor here in Kanto, with the epicentre in Chiba.

Fault responsible for recent Japan quake may stretch 150 km: experts - The Mainichi

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- The fault that triggered a major earthquake in central Japan on New Year's Day may stretch for around 150 kilometers under the Noto P

mainichi.jp