Dr. Jeff Masters' WunderBlog

Quoting Grothar:


YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES!

Your just a "wild and crazy guy"....but....OTAY !

Quoting EYEStoSEA:
Am I the only one with the blog page stretched a half mile wide?

Did it happen after KOG #135 graph? It happen to me so I "hid" it and the next entries aligned themselves correctly.

Quoting PakaSurvivor:
Did it happen after KOG #135 graph? It happen to me so I "hid" it and the next entries aligned themselves correctly.

Thank you, PaKa, for you "kind" reply...but I've hid several, and when I refresh...they come right back...waiting for the new page...:)

It's here...whew....

Joe Bastardi hired by start-up firm WeatherBell
By Jason Samenow
Bastardi joins renowned forecaster Joseph D'Aleo
Less than three weeks after resigning as AccuWeather's chief long-range forecaster, Joe Bastardi announced Friday that he has accepted the position of chief forecaster at WeatherBell, a fledgling weather consulting firm.

WeatherBell has also hired veteran meteorologist Joseph D'Aleo, who served as the Weather Channel's first director of meteorology.


http://voices.washingtonpost.com/capitalweatherga ng/2011/03/joe_bastardi_hired_by_start-up.html

EyetoSea - Your Welcome

Quoting EYEStoSEA:


Your just a "wild and crazy guy"....but....OTAY !

Sorry, EYES. I can't help myself sometimes. Saturday Night Live flashbacks you know.

This whole situation really got to me today, like it did everyone here. I don't like to see that kind of suffering. I just look at the news for updates, but not easy to watch. I guess we all learned a lot today. Most of you had really good information. I guess it is kind of nice to have a place like this blog to discuss these things.

11 March 2011 Last updated at 20:09 ET


Japan begins quake relief mission


A mammoth relief mission is swinging into action in north-east Japan, a day after it was struck by a devastating tsunami, claiming hundreds of lives.

The disaster was triggered by an 8.9-magnitude earthquake, the country's most powerful since records began.

Japan's military has mobilised thousands of troops, hundreds of planes and dozens of ships.

The government has warned there could be a radioactive leak at a nuclear power reactor shut down by the quake.


In the centre of Tokyo many people are spending the night in their offices. But thousands, perhaps millions, chose to walk home. Train services were suspended.

Even after the most violent earthquake anyone could remember the crowds were orderly and calm. The devastation is further to the north, along the Pacific coast.

There a tsunami triggered by the quake reached 10km (six miles) inland in places carrying houses, buildings, boats and cars with it. In the city of Sendai the police found up to 300 bodies in a single ward. Outside the city in a built-up area a fire blazed across several kilometres.

Japan's ground self-defence forces have been deployed, and the government has asked the US military based in the country for help. The scale of destruction from the biggest quake ever recorded in Japan will become clear only at first light.

The tremor struck in the afternoon local time on Friday at a depth of about 24km, 400km (250 miles) north-east of Tokyo.

It was nearly 8,000 times stronger than the one which devastated Christchurch, New Zealand, last month, scientists said.

About 300 people are known to have died and more than 500 are missing. Japanese media says the death toll will exceed 1,000.

Prime Minister Naoto Kan plans to hold an emergency cabinet meeting early on Saturday, before visiting the disaster zone by helicopter.

The country's military has mobilised thousands of troops, 300 planes and 40 ships for the relief effort.

US President Barack Obama said a US aircraft carrier was already in Japan, and another was on the way.

The quake triggered a tsunami up to 10m (30ft), with waves of 7m battering the Japanese coast.

A muddy torrent of water swept cars and homes far inland, turning residential areas and paddy fields into a lagoon of debris-filled sea water.

One of the worst-hit areas was the port city of Sendai, in Miyagi prefecture, where up to 300 bodies have been found in one ward alone.

Quoting Tazmanian:



could this quke set any of them off?

Likely not, Taz; the quake was somewhat out to sea and the majority of the geothermal/volcanic activity in Japan, while on the island effected by the quake, is well south of it

Quoting EYEStoSEA:


Exactly! +1000

Except earthquake swarms happen all the time, and more often than not nothing really big comes from them.

Just looking around the Ring of Fire you can see numerous areas where there is a fair amount of activity. That doesn't mean they're going to fire off a major quake.

Quake swarms are usually a GOOD thing on a fault since it is an indication that the crustal stress is being relieved slowly. It's when typically active areas remain quite for a awhile that you should get concerned, as that means stress is building up.

Of course, sometimes quake swarms mean that whatever was holding back the stress is finally breaking under the strain.

Point being, we can't peer miles into the Earth so we can't really predict whether a quake swarm is just the crust relaxing or some lynchpin keeping the crust in place is finally about to snap.

Apparently Japan's high-tech earthquake early warning system may have saved innumerable lives. The EEWS constantly gathers input from a network of a thousand or so seismometers and, when a significant event is detected, instantaneously--and automatically--sends a signal to every radio and TV station in the country, alerting those who will be effected. The well-drilled populace then reacts instinctively and does what it needs to do to take appropriate cover. Today's warning was only a minute or so, but that was clearly enough time for many to get where they needed to be.

For what it's worth, the U.S. has no such system. In fact, no such system is even planned here. And if the irrational budget-cutters in Congress have their way, we will actually lose a very large chunk of the warning technology we do have.

Yay, us...

Article...

Quoting RecordSeason:
I think the quote of ten inches is wrong, unless there has been some further update.


I heard on the news that the axis of rotation was changed by ten centimeters, which is about 4 inches.

Still, this is enough that major observatories should notice a VERY slight change in alignment of stars, the Sun, and even the Moon relative to ground observatories. That's probably how they calculated the change in the first place, by looking at the apparent change in position of astronomical objects. If you moved the earth's axis then you also moved the alignment of a given observatory with any given star for a given date and time, which should be measurable to within margin of error of instrumentations.

I dunno what's correct anymore. Journalism filter well entrenched.

Japan's quake shifts earth's axis by 25 centimetres

http://www.canada.com/news/Japan+quake+shifts+ear th+axis+centimetres/4426356/story.html#ixzz1GLY3vs QO

Quoting Grothar:


Sorry, EYES. I can't help myself sometimes. Saturday Night Live flashbacks you know.

This whole situation really got to me today, like it did everyone here. I don't like to see that kind of suffering. I just look at the news for updates, but not easy to watch. I guess we all learned a lot today. Most of you had really good information. I guess it is kind of nice to have a place like this blog to discuss these things.

That's a big DITTO ! {*~*}...:)

Wow! Cool vid. What's the story with that spot in Chile where it looks like the constructive interference would have made a hell of an impact?

Quoting xcool:
Joe Bastardi hired by start-up firm WeatherBell
By Jason Samenow
Bastardi joins renowned forecaster Joseph D'Aleo
Less than three weeks after resigning as AccuWeather's chief long-range forecaster, Joe Bastardi announced Friday that he has accepted the position of chief forecaster at WeatherBell, a fledgling weather consulting firm.

WeatherBell has also hired veteran meteorologist Joseph D'Aleo, who served as the Weather Channel's first director of meteorology.


http://voices.washingtonpost.com/capitalweatherga ng/2011/03/joe_bastardi_hired_by_start-up.html

D'Aleo, huh? Isn't he the guy who predicted in 2008 that the planet had entered a period of global cooling, a bold prediction to which the planet has for nearly three years now stubbornly refused to comply? Oh, well; at least now Bastardi can stop pretending he isn't a, er, "skeptic". ;-)

Quoting Xyrus2000:


Except earthquake swarms happen all the time, and more often than not nothing really big comes from them.

Just looking around the Ring of Fire you can see numerous areas where there is a fair amount of activity. That doesn't mean they're going to fire off a major quake.

Quake swarms are usually a GOOD thing on a fault since it is an indication that the crustal stress is being relieved slowly. It's when typically active areas remain quite for a awhile that you should get concerned, as that means stress is building up.

Of course, sometimes quake swarms mean that whatever was holding back the stress is finally breaking under the strain.

Point being, we can't peer miles into the Earth so we can't really predict whether a quake swarm is just the crust relaxing or some lynchpin keeping the crust in place is finally about to snap.

Truly, I would love to believe that, but when you get to me my age....you become more skepical about what "they say".....but thank you :)

Quoting jwh250:
The Big Picture: News stories in photographs
Massive earthquake hits Japan

Excellent Pics...

One of the national news channels reported the earthquake has changed the coast line of northern Japan and the water brought onshore from the tsunami may not return past the old shore line. I googled it and there appears no news accounts? Anyone else heard or read something for verification?

Magnitude 6.1 - TONGA
2011 March 12 01:19:07 UTC
DetailsMapsEarthquake Details
This event has been reviewed by a seismologist.
Magnitude 6.1
Date-Time Saturday, March 12, 2011 at 01:19:07 UTC
Saturday, March 12, 2011 at 02:19:07 PM at epicenter

Location 16.727°S, 173.174°W
Depth 10.9 km (6.8 miles)
Region TONGA
Distances 106 km (65 miles) SE of Hihifo, Tonga
229 km (142 miles) NNE of Neiafu, Tonga
355 km (220 miles) SSW of APIA, Samoa
2528 km (1570 miles) W of Auckland, New Zealand

Location Uncertainty horizontal +/- 17.4 km (10.8 miles); depth +/- 1.2 km (0.7 miles)
Parameters NST=287, Nph=291, Dmin=346.2 km, Rmss=0.75 sec, Gp= 40°,
M-type="moment" magnitude from initial P wave (tsuboi method) (Mi/Mwp), Version=7
Source USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)


Event ID usc0001ztr

As I catch up with the information on this disaster after a long day of work, I am overwhelmed with what I see.

Somber

It is hard to watch that of which seems unreal, and realizing it is not as such.

Edit : Prayers again for those who are affected. I cannot imagine........... how horrific it must be.

Quoting Ossqss:
As I catch up with the information on this disaster after a long day of work, I am overwhelmed with what I see.

Somber

It is hard to watch that of which seems unreal, and realizing it is not as such.

Prayers again for those who have had to live through this. I cannot imagine........... how horrific it must be.

That's the right word, IMO.

oss- it's been emotionally wrenching, heartbreaking, draining...

The Big Wave by Pearl S. Buck was written in 1948.
The most amazing thing about this book is that when a young boy loses his entire family and village in a tsunami, his best friend's father tends him. When it takes a long time for the stricken child to waken and heal, the friend's father explains to his son that the boy will waken when his grief has healed enough. The body is wise, he says. It is a very tender, story, well ahead of its time psychologically, and impressive in the tenderness an elder man is deemed capable of.
I highly recommend this to all people who are aching after the tsunami.

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/b/pearl-s-buck/ big-wave.htm

P.S.: Pearl Buck died in 1973 in Danby, Vermont.

The quantity and magnitude of the aftershocks is incredible too.

The centers of tropical cyclones in the United States Navy and NOAA (National Hurricane Center) have accompanied since yesterday a tropical depression that is East of the Holy Spirit and received the designation Invest 90Q. The last update of the best track of this system shows it to 19,5 ° South latitude and 39.9 longitude with pressure 1006 hPa and wind to 30 knots, not far from the threshold of tropical storm, though the system was incredibly disorganized in satellite imagery little believable for "almost" a tropical storm.

Most models intensifies this tropical depression that is now the coast of Espírito Santo as the system progresses by high seas in the next 72 hours. Almost all models indicate the center of the low moving away to the South and Southeast, moving gradually from the continent until the beginning of next week. The GFS model is one of the most aggressive in intensification as the GFDL model, designed especially to accompany tropical cyclones. Both (image below the GFDL) architect tropical storm over the weekend on the coast of southeastern Brazil

Quoting sunlinepr:
Why Japan's Tsunami Triggered Enormous Whirlpool LiveScience.com livescience.com 2 hrs 26 mins ago Link

The tsunami that hit northern Japan today created an enormous whirlpool in a harbor off the east coast of that country. According to researchers, whirlpools aren't unusual after waves of this size.

The tsunami was triggered by an 8.9-magnitude earthquake that struck off the coast of Japan at 2:46 p.m. Tokyo time. Video footage shows a boat swirling in the massive eddy. It's not known whether anyone was on the vessel.

Based on eye-witness accounts and video in recent years, whirlpools probably occur with some regularity after large tsunamis, said Ruth Ludwin, a retired seismologist at the University of Washington in Seattle....

That whirlpool looks exactly like 90L!

Quoting PcolaDan:
The quantity and magnitude of the aftershocks is incredible too.

Indeed, this list is only 5 plus quakes, 5 !!!!! . Amazing energy folks. Absolutely an amazing amount of energy in play over an extended period of time. Incredible, and somewhat unknown, physics at work.......... and it still continues. Makes me wonder why, again....


http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsw w/Quakes/quakes_big.php

That whirlpool was about the most frightening scene I have, perhaps, ever seen. I understand that they can occur after large waves like these, but why?

Latest aftershock a 6.8

Quoting Floodman:


Likely not, Taz; the quake was somewhat out to sea and the majority of the geothermal/volcanic activity in Japan, while on the island effected by the quake, is well south of it

Floodman u still here?

sheri

Deepest Sea spots on Earth

The Mariana Trench is the deepest part of the world's oceans, and the lowest elevation of the surface of the Earth's crust. It is currently estimated to be up to 10,971 m (35,994 ft) deep. It is located in the western Pacific Ocean, to the east of the Mariana Islands. The trench is about 2,550 kilometres (1,580 mi) long but has a mean width of only 69 kilometres (43 mi). It reaches a maximum-known depth of about 10.91 kilometres (6.78 mi) at the Challenger Deep, a small slot-shaped valley in its floor, at its southern end;[1] although, some unrepeated measurements place the deepest portion at 11.03 kilometres (6.85 mi).[2] If Mount Everest, the highest mountain on Earth at 8,848 metres (29,029 ft), were set in the deepest part of the Mariana Trench, there would be 2,076 metres (6,811 ft) of water left above it.[3]

The deepest point in the Atlantic Ocean is the Milwaukee Deep in the Puerto Rico Trench. It is 28,232 feet deep at its deepest point. This is equivalent to 8,605 meters or 5.35 miles. The Milwaukee Deep is located at 19°35'N, 66°30'W and is 84 miles (135 km) north of the coast of Puerto Rico. The Milwaukee Deep is named for the USS Milwaukee, a U.S. Navy Omaha class cruiser, which discovered the Milwaukee Deep on February 14, 1939.


Facts about earthquake: deep-sea trenches, as discussed in deep-sea trench (geology):

Origin of deep-sea trenches:
This interpretation of gravity data is substantiated by seismological studies. All trenches are associated with zones of earthquake foci. Along the periphery of the Pacific Ocean, earthquakes occur close to and landward of the trenches, at depths within the Earth of 55 km (34 miles) or less. With increased landward distance away from the trenches, earthquakes occur at greater and greater...

Link

Quoting winter123:


That whirlpool looks exactly like 90L!

Visible Helicopter Picture - Counterclockwise rotation?

Okay, I was watching CNN and they are stating that in the next coming days, California may have an earthquake themselves where the ocean shelves off the coast will fall like an avalanche causing the same tsunami that Japan experienced..the news just keeps getting worse and worse...I would be evacuating if I lived on the west coast..

2 days ago this was uploaded


Uploaded by SolarWatcher on Mar 8, 2011

A Strong Earthquake Strikes Near The Coast Of Honshu, Japan ... no significant reports of Tsunami associated with this event

Four trains are unaccountable for in Japan..the govt says they were on the coast at the time the tsunami hit..I think this will be bigger than Haiti as far as lives lost..the devastation is just hard to wrap around..

Quoting srada:
Four trains are unaccountable for in Japan..the govt says they were on the coast at the time the tsunami hit..I think this will be bigger than Haiti as far as lives lost..the devastation is just hard to wrap around..

The Sendai quake and resultant tsunami are devastating, to be sure, and the death toll will certainly be over 1,000...but the Haiti quake killed between a quarter and a third of a million people, so there is, thankfully, no chance of a similar body count.

Quoting srada:
Four trains are unaccountable for in Japan..the govt says they were on the coast at the time the tsunami hit..I think this will be bigger than Haiti as far as lives lost..the devastation is just hard to wrap around..

I disagree. This earthquake was certainly stronger, and will also be more costly.

However, Haiti was not at all prepared for an earthquake, the majority of their population is in poverty and the building codes and warning systems are incredibly inferior when compared to that of Japan's.

List of deadly earthquakes since 1900 in Wikipedia has updated today's Japan Earthquake

Link

Quoting Neapolitan:

The Sendai quake and resultant tsunami are devastating, to be sure, and the death toll will certainly be over 1,000...but the Haiti quake killed between a quarter and a third of a million people, so there is, thankfully, no chance of a similar body count.

I really hope you are right but the videos only speak of destruction..I mean CITIES were destroyed..fire engulfed areas..6 miles of 30 feet water..and now they may be looking at a nuclear catastrophe..