Well. . . It looks like Tokyoiteｓ needn’t worry about bird flu, incoming asteroids, or NORK nukes anymore.
According to professor Bill McGuire of the Benfield Hazard Research Center at University College London, geological pressure building up around Tokyo may result in an earthquake that triggers a super Pacific Ocean tsunami. According the McGuire, the odds of this happening within the next 70 years is two-to-one.
I hope to God they have in place the kind of warning system that was needed along the Indian Ocean coast last December.
I grew up in Southern California, which is also earthquake country, where we had occasional earthquake drills (that didn’t stop 300 people from “escaping” a lecture hall by running into a storage closet because they got confused about where the exits were). We never had tsunami drills because Catalina Island would protect us. But how is it in Japan? That’s a lot of coastline facing the Pacific Ocean.
Then of course, for the Atlantic coasts of North America, Europe, and Africa, there’s the threat of a mega-tsunami caused by the collapse of La Palma Island in the Canary Islands.
Whre is Peter Hadfield these days? Back in the UK or still in Chiba?
Japan quake prompts tsunami alert
Monday, November 14, 2005 Posted: 2314 GMT (0714 HKT)
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Manage Alerts | What Is This? (CNN) — A magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck early Tuesday off the east coast of the Japanese main island of Honshu, U.S. and Japanese agencies reported.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the earthquake was centered in the Pacific Ocean about 330 miles (530 kilometers) east-northeast of Tokyo, about 11 miles (18 kilometers) deep.
Is everyone okay there? Coincidence on posting that item today?
No problem here, Danny. We did get a pretty long one one up in the northern Kanto Plain where I am located, but the shaking was not that strong.
“mega-tsunami”
Now that has the sound of something I can respect. Beats the hell out of worrying about being killed by chickens.
Quake in Boston? Yes!
Magnitude 2.5 - SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND
2005 November 17 17:39:36 UTC
Preliminary Earthquake Report
U.S. Geological Survey, National Earthquake Information Center
World Data Center for Seismology, Denver
A micro earthquake occurred at 17:39:36 (UTC) on Thursday, November 17, 2005. The magnitude 2.5 event has been located in SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND. (This event has been reviewed by a seismologist.)
Magnitude 2.5
Date-Time Thursday, November 17, 2005 at 17:39:36