8.9 Earthquake hits Japan, causes tsunami

[Valerie]

Tsunami: Santa Cruz harbor dock destroyed, man swept out to sea near Klamath River

At 11:15 a.m., a large surge came through the Santa Cruz harbor and sent dozens of boats, some as big as 40-feet long, turning onto their sides and slamming into other boats that were tied up at nearby slips. Several boats sank and people in the crowd gasped loudly and yelled as the boats' masts hit the water.

There were also reports of significant damage in the harbor in
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Crescent City, where 35 boats were crushed.

The majority of the damage in Santa Cruz has been centralized at one of the docks -- known as the U dock-- which was destroyed in spectacular fashion.

"The dock, it looked like an explosion," said Michael Sack, co-owner of Sanctuary Cruises. "The dock just blew up. It buckled and it splintered."

Sack said a 30-foot boat sank and at least four other boats broke loose. Early in the morning, there were an estimated 40 boats tied up in the U-dock. By 11:15 a.m., there were only three or four.

"They were just floating back and forth in the harbor, slammed into other boats," Sack said, adding his 48-foot whale watching boat was not damaged.

ReNae Ammon of Scotts Valley lost her 31-foot sports fishing boat.

"You forget how powerful the ocean is," Ammon said. "You can really be at its mercy."

http://www.mercurynews.com/central-coast/ci_17591372?nclick_check=1

 

[skeptic]

California Man Swept Into the Sea By Tsunami

A man who went to the California coast to photograph the tsunami wave spawned by the Japanese earthquake was washed out to sea today and the Coast Guard has mounted a search for him. ...

In northern California near the Oregon border, a man who went to the coast to photograph the incoming wave was swept out to sea by the powerful surge, officials said. Coast Guard helicopters are searching for him near the mouth of the Klamath River, according to the Coast Guard.

Four other men in Oregon were swept off a beach in Brookings, Ore. Two made it back to shore on their own and two others were rescued by emergency crews, the Coast Guard said.

The tsunami was strongest in Crescent City which was smacked with an 8-foot tall wave that destroyed the city's piers and sank boats.

California Man Swept Into the Sea By Tsunami - ABC News

 

[Toro]

California Man Swept Into the Sea By Tsunami

A man who went to the California coast to photograph the tsunami wave spawned by the Japanese earthquake was washed out to sea today and the Coast Guard has mounted a search for him. ...

In northern California near the Oregon border, a man who went to the coast to photograph the incoming wave was swept out to sea by the powerful surge, officials said. Coast Guard helicopters are searching for him near the mouth of the Klamath River, according to the Coast Guard.

Four other men in Oregon were swept off a beach in Brookings, Ore. Two made it back to shore on their own and two others were rescued by emergency crews, the Coast Guard said.

The tsunami was strongest in Crescent City which was smacked with an 8-foot tall wave that destroyed the city's piers and sank boats.

California Man Swept Into the Sea By Tsunami - ABC News

FFS

If they find him, they should bill him for the cost of the rescue.

What an idiot.

 

[skeptic]

There were a total of 5-7 of them, two in Oregon and 1-3 in CA. News is a bit sketchy.

 

[boedicca]

The news stations in the Bay Area were freaking out over the tsunami threat this am. Local and state officials were considering closing all bridges and even the BART transbay tube (which doesn't really make sense as it is at the bottom of the bay.

 

[dilloduck]

The news stations in the Bay Area were freaking out over the tsunami threat this am. Local and state officials were considering closing all bridges and even the BART transbay tube (which doesn't really make sense as it is at the bottom of the bay.

[ame]www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIlMyNXmfcM[/ame]

 

[SFC Ollie]

Daybreak reveals huge devastation in tsunami-hit Japan

By Edwina Gibbs and Chisa Fujioka Edwina Gibbs And Chisa Fujioka – 1 hr 14 mins ago

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan confronted devastation along its northeastern coast on Saturday, with fires raging and parts of some cities under water after a massive earthquake and tsunami that likely killed at least 1,000 people.

Daybreak was expected to reveal the full extent of the death and damage from Friday's 8.9 magnitude earthquake and the 10-meter high tsunami it sent surging into cities and villages, sweeping away everything in its path.

In one of the worst-hit residential areas, people buried under rubble could be heard calling out "help" and "when are we going to be rescued," Kyodo news agency reported.

Daybreak reveals huge devastation in tsunami-hit Japan - Yahoo! News

 

[hipeter924]

California Man Swept Into the Sea By Tsunami

A man who went to the California coast to photograph the tsunami wave spawned by the Japanese earthquake was washed out to sea today and the Coast Guard has mounted a search for him. ...

In northern California near the Oregon border, a man who went to the coast to photograph the incoming wave was swept out to sea by the powerful surge, officials said. Coast Guard helicopters are searching for him near the mouth of the Klamath River, according to the Coast Guard.

Four other men in Oregon were swept off a beach in Brookings, Ore. Two made it back to shore on their own and two others were rescued by emergency crews, the Coast Guard said.

The tsunami was strongest in Crescent City which was smacked with an 8-foot tall wave that destroyed the city's piers and sank boats.

California Man Swept Into the Sea By Tsunami - ABC News

FFS

If they find him, they should bill him for the cost of the rescue.

What an idiot.

Agreed, and I bet they were told by others to get off the beach because a tsunami was coming too.

 

[Mad Scientist]

I'm following a thread in a Japan board I frequent, postings by people (a few of whom are friends)who live in Japan and are dealing with the disaster first hand.

PM me if you want the link, I won't post it. Don't want anyone to think I'm recruiting for another site.

 

[mal]

Upgraded... 9.1...

And probably not the end...

The Moon Peaks on the 19th, doesn't it?...



peace...

 

[Toro]

My parents are staying just off the beach in Kihei, Maui. I talked to them today. They said that last night, people were walking around with megaphones, telling everyone that a tsunami was coming and go to shelters or at least to higher ground. My parents went to a golf course and spent the night in their car in the parking lot. They said there was a thousand people there.

 

[mal]

Resubscribing...



peace...

 

[ScienceRocks]

On 3-9 a foreshock of 7.2 occurred...What are the odds that the 8.9 is a foreshock of a 9.7-10 pointer? In what kind of damage and tsunami may occur if that occurred?

 

[Wicked Jester]

On 3-9 a foreshock of 7.2 occurred...What are the odds that the 8.9 is a foreshock of a 9.7-10 pointer? In what kind of damage and tsunami may occur if that occurred?

9.7---10 You're talkin' Biblical.

Each point it goes up means it's 100 times stronger.....Think about that.

 

[idb]

On 3-9 a foreshock of 7.2 occurred...What are the odds that the 8.9 is a foreshock of a 9.7-10 pointer? In what kind of damage and tsunami may occur if that occurred?

9.7---10 You're talkin' Biblical.

Each point it goes up means it's 100 times stronger.....Think about that.

I'm pretty sure it's ten times, every two points is equivalent to 100 times...as I understand it.

 

[Cmdr Sheppard]

That sucks.

 

[skeptic]

On 3-9 a foreshock of 7.2 occurred...What are the odds that the 8.9 is a foreshock of a 9.7-10 pointer? In what kind of damage and tsunami may occur if that occurred?

The odds are stronger than they were on Thursday, because the spate of quakes since 2004 is rewriting the books on seismology.

A 9.1 in the Indian ocean(2005?), an 8.5 off the coast of Sumatra (2004?), an 8.8 in Chile (2010) and an 8.9-9.1 off the coast of japan yesterday.

All told 4 of the thirteen strongest quakes in recorded history occurred since 2004. A similar spate of major quakes occurred between 48 and 64 culminating in the 9.5 AK superquake.

Just as temps appeared to rise globally in the decades following our acquisition of instrumentation capable of measuring global climate in real time, quake intensity is increasing just as we acquire instrumentation capable of accurately measuring quake intensity. 100 seismic stations in Japan alone helped formulate the tsunami alert data.

Odds are good that past quakes have been perhaps a magnitude larger than we realized but because epicenters were offshore and remote no evidence survived to demonstrate as much.

But if the last cluster of major quakes is any indicator we can expect several more 8.8+ magnitude quakes within the next decade. Perhaps even a few in the Cascadia/AK region. Or Kamchatka and perhaps more in Chile, Sumatra and Japan.

 

[cyint]

Natural disaster expert predicts it will take 10 years to rebuild Japan:

Disaster Expert David Neal: 8.9 Japan Quake much worse than Katrina | CY Interview

 

[skeptic]

In the 20s Japan was struck by a typhoon and a quake at the exact same time. The quake started a fire in Tokyo and leveled the entire city. 140,000 people died. 1923 Great Kant

Then there was WWII in which more than 140,000 died just from the two nuclear blasts, as many more from intense firebombing, and half the male population was killed in the war. It took 25 years, a generation, to recover.

Germany has recovered from 3 severe economic and infrastructure shocks since the 20's. One each generation, and they are once again the strongest nation in Europe.

Recovery is what we humans do best. That which doesn't kill us makes us better, and stronger. Life is hard, but we still love it.