4/13/2015

20QuakesofMagnitude6.0orGreaterRockJapan|JapanEarthquake&HonshuAftershocks|Earthquakes&NaturalDisasters

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Incredibly,20QuakesofMagnitude6.0orGreater
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20QuakesofMagnitude6.0orGreaterRockJapan|JapanEarthquake&HonshuAftershocks|Earthquakes&NaturalDisasters

RockJapan
byBrettIsrael|March12,201108:43amET

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TheshakinginJapan
didn'tendwiththe
country'slargest
recordedearthquake.
Some20earthquakes
ofmagnitude6or
greaterhaverocked
Japansincetoday's
massive8.9magnitude
earthquakestrucknear
Honshu,accordingto
theU.S.Geological
Survey(USGS).The
largestaftershockwas
amagnitude7.1quake
thatstrucklessthanan
hourafterthemain
shock.
Nearly100
earthquakesof
magnitude5orgreater
(includingthe20large
ones)havealso
followedthemain
shock.Eachmagnitude
5earthquakeisstrong
enoughtoknocka
chimneydown.

Thenumberof
aftershocksinJapanis
notuncommonforan
earthquakeofthissize,saidgeologistEricGeist,oftheUSGS,atanewsconference.[ImageGallery:This
Millennium'sDestructiveEarthquakes]
Credit:NASAEarthObservatory. Viewfullsizeimage

Thehitsareexpectedtokeepcoming,saidTomBroker,alsoaUSGSgeologist.
"It'simportanttonotethattheseaftershocksaregoingtopersistforsometime,"Brokersaidintoday'snews
conference."We'regoingtobeseeinglargeaftershocksforatleastayear."
InFebruary,a6.6magnitudeaftershockrupturednearMaule,Chilealmostayearafterwhatisnowthe
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20QuakesofMagnitude6.0orGreaterRockJapan|JapanEarthquake&HonshuAftershocks|Earthquakes&NaturalDisasters

sixthlargestearthquakeinrecordedhistory,amagnitude8.8,hitinthesameregion.
Amagnitude7.1aftershockisn'tthatunusualafteranearthquakeofthissize.Becauseearthquakesare
measuredonalogarithmicscale,evenanearthquakeovermagnitude7isstillhundredsoftimessmallerthan
themagnitude8.9mainevent,saidTerryTullis,geologistandprofessoremeritusatBrownUniversity.
Ashallowmagnitude6.2earthquakerecentlyhitwesternHonshu.Itreportedlywasnotanaftershock,andit
mightberelatedtothemainquakebutcouldjustaseasilyberandom,TullistoldLiveScience."Itmight
bethatitwouldhavejustoccurredanyhow.Magnitude6earthquakesareprettycommoninthispartofthe
world."
HonshuisJapan'slargestislandandishometoabout100millionpeople.ThedeathtollinJapanadayafter
theearthquakeandtsunamihitisanestimated586,thoughthatnumbercouldrisesubstantiallywithnews
thatabout9,500peopleareunaccountedforinthetownofMinamisanrikuinMiyagiPrefecture,accordingto
newsreports.
BrettIsraelisastaffwriterforOurAmazingPlanet,asistersitetoLiveScience.EmailBrettat
bisrael@techmedianetwork.com.FollowhimonTwitter@btisrael.
LiveScienceseniorwriterStephaniePappascontributedtothisreport.FollowStephanieonTwitter
@sipappas.

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AuthorBio

BrettIsrael
BrettIsraelwasastaffwriterforLiveSciencewithafocusonenvironmentalissues.Heholdsabachelors
degreeinbiochemistryandmolecularbiologyfromTheUniversityofGeorgia,amastersdegreein
journalismfromNewYorkUniversity,andhasstudieddoctoratelevelbiochemistryatEmoryUniversity.
BrettIsraelon
ScienceNewsletter:Subscribe
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Addacomment...
Commentusing...

MatthewBroomStEdmundsCollege,Ipswich
greatinfo
ReplyLikeNovember21,2011at2:54am
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