Earthquake Magnitude: Wow

So the other day a magnitude 8.5 earthquake hit off the coast of Tokyo.  By off the coast, I mean a bloody long way away.

Take a look at this map:

It shows what I would consider to be a 'normal,' earthquake, whatever normal means in the context of the earth trying to undress itself.  You can see the key on the bottom, the epicentre was miles and miles away from land, but the effect were still somewhat apparent.  I don't remember this one, which means it was probably too small for humans to notice.  (I'm incredibly sensitive to earthquakes.  For whatever reason I'm always the first person to notice them in a room.)

Now compare the above with the earthquake that happened the other day:

 

Something of a difference.  The epicentre was once again bloody miles away, but it shook the whole country an awful lot.  I was in one of the yellow zones, making it about a 5.2 where I was.  Let me tell you, a 5.2 is pretty big (these scales are logarithmic) and quite interesting on the fourth floor.  I can only imagine what one of those is like when you're a hundred storeys up.  Then again, any building that size will have a counterweight or massive shock absorbers, so I doubt they'd rock and roll as much as I might imagine.  A lot more than when a big lorry goes past your house though.

 

 

The thing this image doesn't convey is how long they last.  I've found that the bigger shakes last longer, and this one was upwards of a minute and a half.  It started relatively small but conitnued for a while, building to a crescendo before shaking a small amount for a while.  I've found that if a small shake lasts for a while, it usually means there's a lot more coming your way.  I've not come across any that start abruptly, they always seem to lead into it.

 

If you're wondering, the worst part is when the ground goes up and down.  There's no stomach turning feeling like that you might experience in a plane, it just kind of jostles a bit.  The reason that's the worst though, is because I can't imagine many materials being designed to withstand variable forces both laterally and vertically, it's not a typical building requirement.  If you get caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, the ground can move vertically by metres, hence the formation of waves that cause tsunamis.  I don't think this particular episode caused any tsunamis, but I'm not exactly Mr. Ear To The Ground in that regard.  Now that I think about it, I'm not that in any regard.

 

If you're wondering where I got this information from, it's this website:

 

 

http://www.jma.go.jp/en/quake/

 

 

You can get information about quakes in Japan, as they happen, from this site.  They keep records too, so if you hear about an earthquake in Japan you can check it out and see where was affected and how big it was.

Alarms That Blows my Mind

So earthquakes are exceedingly common in Japan.  I don't think people outside this area realise just how common they are.  This isn't stupidity, it's simply that we only ever learn (and subsequently talk about) massive earthquakes that destroy everything.

What they have for their mobile phones here is quite interesting - it's an earthquake early warning system.  When a quake is about to hit, a specialised alarm sounds.  I say specialised, because it appears that the manufacturers have all gone with the same signal (although this could be pure coincidence).  One of the things you learn in geography is that earthquakes can be predicted with the same accuracy as carbon dating, that is to say within a hundred million years.  When there hasn't been an earthquake for a century, the next one will be big.  Their way of predicting is also in-line with the way yellowstone authorities have predicted an eruption; the ground is bulging upwards at an alarming rate, and there hasn't been a serious eruption in some time.  It could explode tomorrow, or within the next 10 million years.

Basically, when the warning sounds you have all of ten seconds to get away.  Unless you are next to the epicentre, at which point the alarm sounds simultaneously.  Unfortunately the epicentre is where the most warning is needed, but the least is given.  Such is the limit of technology.  Regardless of the fundamental limitations of such a warning system, it still strikes me as incredible that they have stuff like that available to everyone with a phone.  It's remarkable how well it seems to work.

The upshot is that we had a paltry 4 today.  It barely shook the room, but it was interesting what the staff did with the information they were given with the early warning system (which doesn't give information as to how large the quake will be).  They all just stood there, stock still.  They didn't move, didn't dive under desks, they just stood there.

It also interests me what would have if an earthquake occurred at right angle to the track of a fast moving train.  The really big quakes can move metres, and a train track is less than a metre wide.  Would the train just  continue in a straight line, even if the track wasn't underneath it?

BBC Bumper Edition

There's not much happening in Japan at the moment.  A couple of festivals I can't get to, a long weekend coming up - school nearly being finished for the term.

Therefore I've compiled a list of interesting BBC articles.

There's been a definite trend towards the English language as of late, and generally remarking on how the entire country will soon fall apart due to ipromper sellping.

This article from the BBC warns us that improper spelling will bankrupt the country, while this one reads like an angry oxbridge consultant, on the cusp insanity.  It starts reasonably, citing the long and varied history English cross-pollination, even saying it was necessary for English to become dominant.  Then he undermines it all by listing his own most hated words.

Then we walk away from the stupid, to the sublime.  I consider myself a member of the Jedi Order, so this pastafarian is as close to religious brethren as I will get.  Consider it stupid, but it's a fantastic expose of the ridiculous laws that pervade government institutions, and what constitutes rights for religious means.

It's a bit of a rubbish pasta strainer thing though - he should at least buy a chrome one for next time.  'Pimp,' it out a little.

This article is of a more practical vein, along the lines of the typical pub question, 'if a lift is falling, and you jump just before it lands, would you live?'  More accurately, the preceding question would be a statement in a pub, as alcohol not only clouds our judgement, but also our judgement, and it also clouds our judgement, and our minds. (sic)

A few coffees later and we would obviously see that, unless you are able to jump upwards at eighty miles per hour, you would die in an elevator.

If you're catching a baby, adhere to the principles of a wicky or goalie; apparently.  However, when it says you should fall while catching the baby, I can only assume it does not mean fall alongside the baby from the same height, while attempting to catch it.

I have attached a helpful picture to illustrate the correct catching technique.

Not to scale.  Any similarity to events past, present or future is entirely intentional, and you may experience epilepsy if viewed for too long.  Also, don't try this at home.

This is the extent of my artistic talent.

Then, there was an earthquake.  It caused quite a stir in the channel (sic) and will be remember for generations.  At least generations of haddock, of which there are none, so therefore it will not be remembered.  Confusing stuff.

A lot of expats always joke about how the quakes in England are pretty pathetic in comparison - but I feel they forget what life was like before they came to Japan.  If you were a caveman, you would crap your pants if you saw a car drive past.  (In this analogy, England is a caveman, and earthquakes are cars.)  I'm sure the first earthquake in Japan is a freaky event for everyone (it was for me.)

Then, finally, we come to the crux of my article.  The above is mere pre-amble for this article.  Fat fucks have yet another reason to continue being fat.  It's genetic, apparently.  And now we have a reason to be content that only westerners are fat.

It's not because we eat 60% of the worlds food between 15% of its population.  No, of course not.  It's not because we drink more beer than satan.  No, it's not that either.

It's not the fact that the population of England is comparable to a coma patient - we exercise our minds and muscles equally.

No, it's genetics.

Let's ignore the fact that England was not this fat forty years ago, or even thirty.  Let's ignore the fact that England gets fatter every day.

It's genetics.

I don't doubt that a very few people do indeed have problems.  Fat people have been a part of society for centuries, they're the well-fed friars, or Santa.  What they have not been, prior to the 21st century, is every goddamned person on the street.  Unless we have been genetically modified in one generation by a group of nefarious aliens to all be useless fat sacks, I can comfortably say that the real problem is not one of scientific pontification.

In the words of Oasis? (I can't remember the name of the band.)

GET SOME EXERCISE.

P.s  Plus one internet for whomever figures out the name of the song and band.  Three words, a billion songs. The challenge has been set.

Also:

GET SOME EXERCISE

P.P.s  I don't dislike fat people if they're A: happy and not shoving their fatness in my face (ala the BBC picture) or B:  Trying to lose weight.  (I mean actually trying.)