2011.05.09 03:20
Quake shifted Japan; towns now flood at high tide AP – In this May 3, 2011 photo, residents stroll in a flooded street in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. … By JAY ALABASTER, Associated Press Jay Alabaster, Associated Press– Mon May 9, 5:46 am ET – When water begins to trickle down the streets of her coastal neighborhood, Yoshiko Takahashi knows it is time to hurry home. Twice a day, the flow steadily increases until it is knee-deep, carrying fish and debris by her front door and trapping people in their homes. Those still on the streets slosh through the sea water in rubber boots or on bicycle. "I look out the window, and it's like our houses are in the middle of the ocean," says Takahashi, who moved in three years ago. The March 11 earthquake that hit eastern Japan was so powerful it pulled the entire country out and down into the sea. The mostly devastated coastal communities now face regular flooding, because of their lower elevation and damage to sea walls from the massive tsunamis triggered by the quake. In port cities such as Onagawa and Kesennuma, the tide flows in and out among crumpled homes and warehouses along now uninhabited streets. A cluster of neighborhoods in Ishinomaki city is rare in that it escaped tsunami damage through fortuitous geography. So, many residents still live in their homes, and they now face a daily trial: The area floods at high tide, and the normally sleepy streets turn frantic as residents rush home before the water rises too high. "I just try to get all my shopping and chores done by 3 p.m.," says Takuya Kondo, 32, who lives with his family in his childhood home. Most houses sit above the water's reach, but travel by car becomes impossible and the sewage system swamps, rendering toilets unusable. Scientists say the new conditions are permanent. Japan's northern half sits on the North American tectonic plate. The Pacific plate, which is mostly undersea, normally slides under this plate, slowly nudging the country west. But in the earthquake, the fault line between the two plates ruptured, and the North American plate slid up and out along the Pacific plate. The rising edge of plate caused the sea floor off Japan's eastern coast to bulge up — one measuring station run by Tohoku University reported an underwater rise of 16 feet (5 meters) — creating the tsunami that devastated the coast. The portion of the plate under Japan was pulled lower as it slid toward the ocean, which caused a corresponding plunge in elevation under the country. Some areas in Ishinomaki moved southeast 17 feet (5.3 meters) and sank 4 feet (1.2 meters) lower. "We thought this slippage would happen gradually, bit by bit. We didn't expect it to happen all at once," says Testuro Imakiire, a researcher at Japan's Geospatial Information Authority, the government body in charge of mapping and surveys. Imakiire says the quake was powerful enough to move the entire country, the first time this has been recorded since measurements began in the late 19th century. In Tokyo, 210 miles (340 kilometers) from Ishinomaki, parts of the city moved 9 inches (24 centimeters) seaward. The drop lower was most pronounced around Ishinomaki, the area closest to the epicenter. The effects are apparent: Manholes, supported by underground piping, jut out of streets that fell around them. Telephone poles sank even farther, leaving wires at head height. ..... the remainder deleted.... |
2011.05.09 08:18
2011.05.09 08:50
2011.05.09 11:17
After all these 독도 언쟁 story, even after the multi-million Korean aid for the earthquake,
my sympathy toward Japanese and their government has cooled and shrunken considerably.
To be honest, I don't give a damn any more.
Japanese land mass might have started to move easterly toward the Pacific Ocean,
instead of coming close to Korean peninsula (see above story).
If the nature is willing, let it slide farther from 독도 (their 다케시마).
Fine with me. Farther the better.
I do not subscribe the idea of "unconditional" Chritsian or Budhistic benevolence.
Not that I don't have a feeling about it, but I will judge it case by case.
I am proud to be just a "normal" human being with normal emotions.
2011.05.09 23:11
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The layer of the Earth we live on is broken into a dozen or so rigid slabs
(called tectonic plates by geologists) that are moving relative to one another.
In this tectonic map, at the left upper part where the northern Japn shows to be in the protruding
corner of the North American plate (brownish color).
The tectonic fault at the junction of this part with the Pacific plate (light beige color)
must have slipped causing the latest Japanese earthquake.
As you see in the map, Korea is sitting in the Eurasian plate (light green color)
where it seems to be more stable (maybe, only God know how long).