Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology
Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology
What Are Teachable Moments?
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Questions for independent student exploration
A major magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck Saturday off the coast of Ishinomaki, a city located just 65 miles (104 km) from Fukushima, Japan at a depth of 54 km (34 miles). The earthquake shook buildings as far as Tokyo and triggered a tsunami advisory for a part of the northern coast. No major damage was reported, but several people had minor injuries.
Ten years ago today a magnitude 9.1 earthquake occurred in Japan. The earthquake struck off the northeastern coast of Honshu, Japan’s main island, and initiated a series of large tsunami waves that devastated many coastal areas of the country, most notably in the Tōhoku region (northeastern Honshu). The tsunami also instigated a major nuclear accident at a power station along the coast.
Three large earthquakes occurred along the Kermadec Trench, north of New Zealand. The earliest and southern-most earthquake (M 7.3 at 13:27 UTC) occurred northeast of Gisborne, New Zealand at a depth of 20 km. The M 7.4 and M 8.1 earthquakes occurred at 17:41 and 19:28 UTC respectively near the Kermadec Islands, New Zealand. Given the ~950 km distance from the M 7.3 to the two larger earthquakes, it is unlikely the M 7.3 triggered the two larger events.
The magnitude 6.8 Nisqually earthquake occurred just before 11 AM local time on Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2001 at a depth of 51.8 km (32 miles). This earthquake was felt from central Oregon to southern British Columbia and as far east as northwestern Montana. One person died and approximately 400 people were injured. There was damage from Seattle to Olympia with widespread landslides and liquefaction.
A magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck late Saturday night local time about 94.2 km (58.5 miles) southeast of Sendai, Japan. At least 50 people were reported injured and nearly a million households were left without power.
