Breaking News - Earthquake (Japan)

[GalvestonDuck]

A magnitude 8.0 earthquake IN THE HOKKAIDO, JAPAN REGION has occurred - Location with respect to nearby cities:
105 km (65 miles) SSW of Kushiro, Hokkaido, Japan (pop 199,000)

[StormCrazyIowan]

:o Keep us posted!

[GalvestonDuck]

What I posted came from CrisisAlertNet. Here's the news story:

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=s ... e_japan_dc

Strong Quake Hits Japan North Island of Hokkaido

TOKYO (Reuters) - A strong earthquake (news - web sites) struck the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido on Friday and Japanese authorities issued a tsunami tidal wave warning on television.

The quake measured up to six on the Japanese scale of one to seven. Under the Japanese seismic classification, an intensity-6 earthquake is strong enough to damage houses, trigger landslides and crack up roads.

NHK television showed video of a fire at an oil refinery after the quake.

The meteorological agency issued a tsunami warning for the coastal areas in eastern and central Hokkaido and a tsunami alert for the coastal areas in western Hokkaido as well as the northern Japanese prefectures of Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima.

Hokkaido, about the size of Austria, is the second largest of Japan's four main islands and is home to a nuclear reactor and active volcanoes.

The island, which has a population of more than five million, was hit by the tail end of a typhoon last month. The capital, Sapporo, hosted the Winter Olympics (news - web sites) in 1972.


Other news is reporting that the epicenter was off the coast. Fires are breaking out. People are evacuating due to the tsunami risk.


Is anyone going to tell these people that they should not live in Japan? It's an island that gets hit far too often by earthquakes, tsunamis, and typhoons.

[Lindaloo]

Earthquakes are one of my worst fears!! Prayers going out to the people of Japan!! How horrified they must be.

[weatherlover427]

A tsunami advisory also was issued for Hawaii and a warning was issued for parts of Alaska.

and this from my local NWS website:

...NO - REPEAT NO - TSUNAMI WATCH OR WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR THE COASTAL AREAS FROM THE CALIFORNIA-MEXICO BORDER TO YAKUTAT, AK...

[JetMaxx]

Thank God there's no warning for the Pacific Coast....I have loved ones in metro Portland and in Astoria, Oregon.

That is a major league earthquake....I'm quite surprised damage and casulties aren't higher than reported (thus far)

[nystate]

All tsunami warnings for HAwaii and Alaska ave been canceled.

[Stephanie]

Thank God it didn't occur in a more populated area like Tokyo! Can you imagine the devastation with a quake of that magnitude??? :o

I'm glad to see that the tsunami warnings have been cancelled also for the West Coast.