Huge Earthquake hits Japan

Just writing this up so that people don't worry about me.

Today a few hours ago was a huge earthquake in northeast Japan.  How big?  Well, the USGS puts it at 8.9M making it the 7th most powerful earthquake recorded in the world and the biggest recorded in Japan.  So... BIG!    It happened off the coast 130km east of the city of Sendai and around 370km away from Tokyo.  There were reports of people feeling it in Beijing, China.  Here is the intensity map of the earthquake from JMA (the scale is shown):

Basically, parts of Tokyo felt the earthquake at intensity 5+ and Nagoya at 4.

I was at university in the lab.  It started off quite slowly feeling the building slightly rock... then it increased... at some point the building felt like it was made out of rubber swinging so slightly.  The shaking was not too bad and didn't make anything fall down but it was definitely noticeable.  It let go for like a minute and started shaking again.. all in all probably a few minutes of gentle rocking.  I also felt some of the larger aftershocks that followed.  Here is a list of the pre/after shocks up to now since they are still going on and will for a while:

MAP	5.6	2011/03/11 10:20:27	36.966	142.289	21.7	OFF THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP	6.0	2011/03/11 10:10:34	39.248	142.779	28.9	NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP	5.2	2011/03/11 09:59:56	36.703	142.207	41.6	OFF THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP	5.5	2011/03/11 09:47:01	39.685	142.938	29.7	NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP	5.2	2011/03/11 09:42:22	39.438	142.749	30.2	NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP	5.4	2011/03/11 09:37:08	35.877	141.585	29.9	NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP	5.5	2011/03/11 09:09:14	37.717	143.267	36.2	OFF THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP	5.4	2011/03/11 09:04:10	37.299	142.655	30.5	OFF THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP	5.2	2011/03/11 09:00:19	37.056	141.966	20.0	NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP	5.4	2011/03/11 08:52:26	36.763	141.910	35.8	NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP	5.5	2011/03/11 08:46:47	37.421	142.453	37.3	OFF THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP	5.9	2011/03/11 08:40:56	37.465	141.122	38.6	NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP	6.1	2011/03/11 08:31:07	37.428	141.200	25.0	NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP	6.5	2011/03/11 08:19:24	36.200	142.000	19.9	OFF THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP	6.2	2011/03/11 08:15:40	37.034	144.612	27.8	OFF THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP	6.2	2011/03/11 08:12:04	36.606	141.557	19.8	NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP	5.5	2011/03/11 08:10:30	36.394	140.631	30.4	NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP	5.9	2011/03/11 08:01:58	37.071	142.734	22.6	OFF THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP	5.6	2011/03/11 07:56:15	37.130	142.305	34.0	OFF THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP	5.7	2011/03/11 07:54:44	37.742	141.565	45.3	NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP	5.8	2011/03/11 07:42:55	36.406	141.919	29.9	NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP	5.9	2011/03/11 07:38:26	39.250	142.783	29.1	NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP	6.1	2011/03/11 07:28:12	36.802	141.911	24.0	NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP	6.1	2011/03/11 07:25:33	37.916	144.621	15.0	OFF THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP	6.3	2011/03/11 07:14:59	36.648	141.811	25.0	NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP	5.9	2011/03/11 07:13:47	36.051	142.347	28.5	OFF THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP	5.8	2011/03/11 07:10:59	37.899	142.734	30.0	OFF THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP	6.3	2011/03/11 06:57:14	35.758	140.992	30.2	NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP	6.3	2011/03/11 06:48:47	37.993	142.764	22.3	OFF THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP	7.1	2011/03/11 06:25:50	38.106	144.553	19.7	OFF THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP	6.8	2011/03/11 06:15:40	36.186	141.192	35.0	NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP	6.4	2011/03/11 06:07:21	36.401	141.862	35.4	NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP	6.4	2011/03/11 06:06:11	39.025	142.316	25.1	NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP	8.9	2011/03/11 05:46:23	38.322	142.369	24.4	NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP	4.9	2011/03/10 22:44:25	38.844	143.006	34.2	OFF THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP	4.7	2011/03/10 21:49:46	38.590	143.086	26.0	OFF THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP	5.2	2011/03/10 16:54:45	38.053	143.253	4.7	OFF THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP	5.1	2011/03/10 11:21:08	38.611	143.049	17.6	OFF THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP	5.2	2011/03/10 09:02:21	38.652	143.146	21.9	OFF THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP	4.8	2011/03/10 08:59:19	38.547	143.295	19.8	OFF THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP	5.7	2011/03/10 08:08:20	38.630	143.304	17.2	OFF THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP	4.8	2011/03/10 07:33:04	38.954	142.458	20.0	NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP	4.6	2011/03/10 04:14:00	38.406	143.427	31.0	OFF THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP	5.0	2011/03/10 01:20:23	38.408	143.033	25.1	OFF THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP	4.8	2011/03/09 23:57:41	38.308	143.275	20.0	OFF THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP	5.4	2011/03/09 23:37:00	38.438	143.185	32.8	OFF THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP	6.1	2011/03/09 21:22:18	38.385	142.642	23.0	NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP	4.9	2011/03/09 21:00:57	38.267	142.580	22.5	NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP	6.0	2011/03/09 18:44:35	38.502	143.199	23.0	OFF THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP	6.1	2011/03/09 18:16:14	38.378	142.506	22.0	NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP	4.8	2011/03/09 14:24:05	38.589	143.226	10.0	OFF THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP	4.7	2011/03/09 12:03:17	38.358	143.119	13.1	OFF THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP	5.1	2011/03/09 11:27:51	38.529	143.040	28.2	OFF THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP	4.7	2011/03/09 10:13:39	38.721	143.090	27.2	OFF THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP	4.8	2011/03/09 08:55:38	38.667	143.055	15.6	OFF THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP	5.3	2011/03/09 08:02:36	38.606	143.103	15.4	OFF THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP	5.1	2011/03/09 07:56:27	38.849	142.929	10.7	NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP	5.0	2011/03/09 07:13:48	38.246	143.108	9.9	OFF THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP	5.1	2011/03/09 06:25:12	38.299	143.067	10.8	OFF THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP	4.9	2011/03/09 06:12:13	38.681	143.022	10.0	OFF THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP	5.3	2011/03/09 04:45:54	38.543	142.740	27.0	NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP	5.7	2011/03/09 04:37:03	38.666	142.991	25.5	NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP	5.2	2011/03/09 04:32:10	38.727	143.001	32.1	OFF THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP	4.8	2011/03/09 04:15:39	38.857	142.658	12.6	NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP	5.2	2011/03/09 04:05:53	38.870	142.420	10.9	NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP	5.0	2011/03/09 03:19:00	38.795	142.962	19.9	NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP	5.2	2011/03/09 03:08:35	38.339	143.097	24.4	OFF THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP	5.6	2011/03/09 02:57:16	38.402	142.825	17.5	NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP	7.2	2011/03/09 02:45:20	38.424	142.836	32.0	NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN

I have highlighted the main one in yellow - the ones over 6.0 are in red.  And a map to go with that list:

Basically for two days there were quite large earthquakes (up to 7.2) in that area which now are called the preshocks of the main one.  It was a rather shallow quake so it caused a huge tsunami.  Basically, the whole pacific ocean is under a tsunami warning.  Waves hitting the nearby shore were said to be up to 10m high.  The Sendai (biggest city in that region ~1 million population) airport was completely flooded.  In Tokyo, the transportation network was stopped and the airports closed.  I guess it is too early to really tell, but the damage of the quake and the tsunami (especially near the epicenter) will be huge.

What is really amazing is how Japan is prepared for such disasters.  The building codes for instance have been quite strict since 20 years ago or so.  Nuclear power stations have automatic shut off switches based on shake sensors (a few went down due to the earthquake).  Even the shinkansen (bullet train) shuts off automatically during an earthquake.  There is also quite advanced infrastructure to combat tsunamis from such events.  If such an earthquake happened in unprepared countries, they would be completely devastated (for instance the much smaller (about 1000 times) 7.0M Haiti earthquake last year).

The only thing I noticed different at home is that my closet door was fully open (I left it slightly open).