Researchers warn of destructive power of triple Nankai tremors on Osaka, Tokyo

[kristopher]

The University of Tokyo is considered the top of the pyramid for Japanese universities.
You probably know that Fukushima involved the area NE of Tokyo, but you might still want to visit the last link's 3D map.

Researchers warn of destructive power of triple Nankai tremors on Osaka, Tokyo


http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20120522p2a00m0na025000c.html
The Nankai Trough, stretching from Suruga Bay to waters off the Shikoku region. (Mainichi)拡大写真

CHIBA -- If three earthquakes simultaneously occurred along the Nankai Trough located in the seabed off central to western Japan, high-rise buildings in Osaka would be shaken by long-period ground motion five times stronger than that in the Great East Japan Earthquake, researchers have predicted.

A group of researchers with the University of Tokyo made the announcement on May 21 at the Japan Geoscience Union Meeting, currently under way in Chiba. The group also speculates that, if the three temblors -- the Tokai, Tonankai and Nankai quakes -- took place together, high-rise buildings in Tokyo would be shaken by long-period ground motion twice to three times stronger than that in the Great East Japan Earthquake, which struck northeast Japan on March 11, 2011.

The long-period ground motion will be stronger in the Tokai-Tonankai-Nankai earthquake because seismic tremors will be amplified by soft rock and stone deposited along the plate boundaries in the Nankai Trough, according to the researchers. The announcement is expected to prompt authorities to step up measures to minimize possible effects on urban areas, which host skyscrapers.

In their study, the group predicted the intensity of long-period ground motion in the event that magnitude-8.7 triple earthquakes took place along the Nankai Trough simultaneously. In case of seismic movements with a cycle of six seconds, the seismic velocity would be 250 centimeters per second in Osaka's bay area -- five times that in the Great East Japan Earthquake -- and 110 to 165 centimeters per second in central Tokyo. The tremors in both cities would also last at least twice as long as the March 11 quake, according to the researchers.

In the Great East Japan Earthquake ...

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20120522p2a00m0na025000c.html


This is a great rendering of earthquake activity in Japan:
http://www.japanquakemap.com/

[Old and In the Way]

1. I cannot imagine the stress - individually and socially - that the Japenese live with.

tsunamis, earthquakes, and now radioactive poisoning. Always wondering whgen the next one is going to hit. It's a testament to these people that they've handled it as well as they have.

[kristopher]

2. I lived there almost 11 years.

The constant, daily presence of such implacable, impersonal danger really did add a new dimension to how I look at the world.

Did you visit the interactive map?

[Old and In the Way]

4. Wow...that map really gives a good perspective of the regional instability

I had no idea that there was that many ongoing quakes happening in the area. It's almost like the entire island is in a vibra-bowl.

[greymattermom]

3. don't forget the bomb

They handled that too.