Earthquake rocks northern Japan

March 25, 2007 - A powerful earthquake, named Noto, with a magnitude of 7.2 hit Japan's north-east coast, injuring at least 40 people. (Obtained from BBC News)

A tsunami alert was issued by Japan's meteorological agency, but later lifted after two small waves a few centimetres high hit the coastline.

The quake's epicentre is thought to have been 20km (12.4 miles) below the ocean off Miyagi prefecture, striking at around 1146 (0246GMT).

It shook buildings in the capital Tokyo, some 300km (186 miles) away.

The casualties were largely caused by the collapse of the roof of a swimming pool in Sendai city, Miyagi prefecture.

Japan is extremely well prepared for earthquakes, and a similar magnitude quake elsewhere in the world would have proved deadly.

"There was a tremendous boom... People were screaming and headed toward the exit. It shook a lot... A lot of people were crying," a young woman at the scene told NHK.

Bullet trains were suspended, three nuclear power station were shut down automatically for safety checks, and flights at Tokyo's Haneda airport were temporarily halted as a precaution.

Some 17,000 households were reported to have lost power.

'Horizontal shakes'

Two tsunamis around 10cm high (four inches) hit the coast about 15 minutes after the quake but were not thought to have caused any damage.

There were also reports of a landslide in what is a mainly rural part of Japan.

"I was cycling to work and initially thought I had a loose front wheel," Sendai resident Philip Wood told the BBC. "So I stopped to check. Then I realised it was an earthquake since cars were shaking and electric pylons were swaying all around me," he said. Japan is one of the world's most earthquake-prone countries, situated on four tectonic plates.

Tokyo was hit by a magnitude 6.0 earthquake last month, which injured at least 18 people.

The country's deadliest quake in recent memory occurred in the city of Kobe in 1995, with a magnitude of 7.3, that killed more than 6,400 people.

Before then, a 1923 quake, known as the Great Kanto Earthquake, killed more than 100,000 people.

Tokyo, Japan

I will be in Tokyo, Japan from March 19th to the 30th. I got picked up around 4:30 AM half asleep and forgot to bring a jacket with me when I left my apartment. It is around 40 degrees here and I only brought short sleeve shirts, so I am freezing my butt off.

Other than that, it is good to be back here after living here previously for three years while in the Navy at Yokosuka Naval Base. I hope I will have some time to look around and take some pictures. The cherry blossoms are currently blooming and it is very pretty.

The area of Tokyo I am in is called Roppongi and Tokyo Tower, the largest man-made structure in Japan based on the Eiffel Tower, is a few blocks from here. I will try to get a picture of it when it stops raining. I picked up a Tokyo Pocket Guide and Metropolis Magazine which is published weekly and lists the events happening here.

Another Trip to the Middle of Nowhere

I spent March 11th through the 15th traveling to Pohnpei, Kolonia in the Federated States of Micronesia and Majuro in the Marshall Islands (3442 miles from Manila).

The plane ride to get from Manila to Majuro is almost longer that going back to the U.S. since you have to take the “Island Hopper” on Continental Micronesia. We left Manila for Guam and then continued on to Chuuk, Pohnpei (spent the night there and left the next morning), Kosrae, and Kwajalein and finally arrived in Majuro.


At each stop you are required to depart the plane with your carry-on so a security check can be performed. This is what really adds to the travel time since each stop is around 45 minutes to an hour in duration. For our lunch we got served a “hockey puck” sandwich which consisted of a mustard packet and a bun with a microscopic, paper thin slice of ham. We also had some peanuts and a drink which I missed out on since I was asleep during serving. That is just my luck.

The flight back to Manila was a little better since we got to fly business class but still took forever to arrive. However we got some decent food with actual silverware! The flight attendants were pretty funny also. We were asked what we would like to drink and my co-worker said, “what do you have?” The flight attendant responded, “we have just about everything.” So he asked for a Mountain Dew. She said “I’m sorry, we don’t have that.” So he then asked for a Dr. Pepper to which the response was “you read the list of available drinks, didn’t you?” After awhile and some continued joking one of the other attendants who overheard our conversation said “I think we have Mr. Pib.” Sure enough, a few minutes later we were enjoying a nice glass of Mr. Pib. The flight attendant who we were giving a hard time came back and said “you are lucky” and we both started laughing and thanked them for their hospitality. It is funny how something can be so entertaining when you are stuck in a confined space for long periods of time with other people. Well at least it made the flight interesting.

Here is a map of Majuro to let you know how small it is and what is located on the atoll. Click on the image to make it larger.