Japan’s Great Quake Helps Scientists Plan For Future

CBS) ^ | March 12, 2011 11:12 PM

[BenLurkin]

Friday’s magnitude-8.9 earthquake in Japan was so powerful it shifted the Earth on its axis and slightly shortened the length of a day.

The quake — said to be the fifth most powerful since 1900– and ensuing tsunami, killed more than 1,000 peopl... and thousands more are missing. It also caused serious problems at three nuclear plants in Japan, prompting the evacuation of 200,000 people.

The resulting tsunami also affected the Southland, with wave surges capsizing boats on Catalina Island on Friday and causing more damage to coastal areas in northern California and Oregon.

But the quake provided valuable data for earthquake scientists, because an extensive network of sensors were placed throughout Japan after that country’s magnitude-6.8Kobe earthquake killed more than 6,000 people because its epicenter was near a major city.

The Los Angeles Times reported that at a news conference today, scientists at Caltech said it will provide a more precise view of how Earth is deformed during massive earthquakes at sites where one plate is sliding under another, including the Pacific Northwest in the United State.

“The Japanese have the best seismic information in the world,” said Lucy Jones, chief scientist for the Multi-Hazards project at the U.S. Geological Survey. “This is overwhelmingly the best-recorded great earthquake ever.”

Caltech seismological engineer Tom Heaton said the devastating tremblor will provide more information about what happens to buildings when they shake for long periods, and how to construct them so they will survive massive quakes.

Though the data is still being processed, he said it will probably show that the shaking lasted for three minutes.

Another massive earthquake in the Pacific Northwest is “inevitable,” although it may not strike for hundreds of years.

Jones said ”This will help the Pacific Northwest understand what they should be ready for.

[bigheadfred]

“I’m leavin’, on a jet plane. Don’t know when I’ll be back again”

[oh8eleven]

The entire article is full of cliched BS:

• This will help the Pacific Northwest understand what they should be ready for
• This is overwhelmingly the best-recorded great earthquake ever
• the devastating tremblor will provide more information about what happens to buildings when they shake for long periods
• Another massive earthquake in the Pacific Northwest is “inevitable,” although it may not strike for hundreds of years

[BenLurkin]

Everyone needs to be sure to have two weeks of food and water on hand at all times.

[Vinnie]

IMO any nuclear plant (and I’m a proponent of them) should have a large water source at an elevation above the plant.
This source is piped to the plant and would rely solely on gravity to flood the reactor.

An almost foolproof supply and delivery system. Open some gate valves and flood the reactor if/when all mechanical methods fail.
If that restricts where nuke plants can be built, so be it.

[BenLurkin]