2005 Miyagi earthquake

The 2005 Miyagi earthquake was a powerful earthquake that struck the east coast of the Japanese island of Honshū at 11.46am (02:46 UTC) on August 16, causing casualties, building collapses and power outages.

Earthquake characteristics

The earthquake began on Tuesday, August 16, 2005, and affected Japan's northeastern coast. It triggered a tsunami warning, and buildings shook 200 miles away in the capital, Tokyo. It was initially estimated to have a rating of 6.8., and the U.S. Geological Survey later registered it as a 7.2. [cite web | author=| date=August 16, 2005| title=Quake Shakes Buildings in Tokyo| format= | work=The Associated Press | url=http://www.11alive.com/news/usnews_article.aspx?storyid=67836 | accessdate=2006-06-20]

Damage and casualties

A tsunami warning was initially raised by the Japanese meteorological agency, but was lifted after only two small waves several centimeters high hit shore.cite web | author=| date=August 16, 2005| title=Earthquake rocks northern Japan| format= | work=BBC | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4155026.stm| accessdate=2006-06-20] Casualties included those killed because of a pool roof collapse in Sendai city, Miyagi prefecture. Initial reports indicated 80 people were injured, but it was later reported by state broadcaster NHK that one person was seriously hurt and thirteen were slightly injured. Seventeen thousand people lost power.

Humanitarian, economic, and environmental impact

20% of the world's earthquakes are centered around Japan. The Japanese have been developing systems for early warning of earthquakes. For people of the city of Sendai who were testing the new earthquake warning system, they received a warning of the earthquake from the Meteorological Agency 16 seconds before it reached the city, providing time to take cover. People in Tokyo received a message one minute before it hit. Such technology has since become much more popular and this quake is credited for that, since it was 60 miles off the coast of Japan and there was time for a warning. [cite web | author=McNicol, Tony | date=April 13, 2006| title=Japan Lays Groundwork for National Earthquake Warning System| format= | work=Japan Media Review | url=http://www.japanmediareview.com/japan/stories/060413mcnicol/ | accessdate=2006-06-20]

Aftermath

Business resumed within a day. Japan's Earthquake Research committee said that the earthquake was not the big one that has been predicted to strike in the next 30 years.See [http://www.gps.caltech.edu/faculty/kanamori/investigation_earthquake_sequence_miyagi_prefecture.pdf Investigation Earthquake Sequence Miyagi Prefecture] (PDF).]

References

External links

* [http://www.jishin.go.jp/main/chousa/05aug_miyagi/index-e.htm Headquarters for Earthquake Research]
* [http://www.eri.u-tokyo.ac.jp/sanchu/Seismo_Note/2005/EIC168e.html Seismological notes from the Earthquake Research Institute, The University of Tokyo]