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Magnitude 8.9 - NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN

2011 March 11 05:46:23 UTC

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• Summary
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• Scientific & Technical
• Tsunami

Earthquake Details

• This is a computer-generated message -- this event has not yet been reviewed by a seismologist.

Magnitude	8.9
Date-Time	Friday, March 11, 2011 at 05:46:23 UTC Friday, March 11, 2011 at 02:46:23 PM at epicenter Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones
Location	38.322°N, 142.369°E
Depth	24.4 km (15.2 miles) set by location program
Region	NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
Distances	130 km (80 miles) E of Sendai, Honshu, Japan 178 km (110 miles) E of Yamagata, Honshu, Japan 178 km (110 miles) ENE of Fukushima, Honshu, Japan 373 km (231 miles) NE of TOKYO, Japan
Location Uncertainty	horizontal /- 13.5 km (8.4 miles); depth fixed by location program
Parameters	NST=350, Nph=351, Dmin=416.3 km, Rmss=1.46 sec, Gp= 29°, M-type="moment" magnitude from initial P wave (tsuboi method) (Mi/Mwp), Version=A
Source	USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)
Event ID	usc0001xgp

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Earthquake Summary

Tectonic Summary

The 03/11/2011 earthquake (preliminary magnitude 8.9) near the east coast of Honshu, Japan, occurred as a result of thrust faulting on or near the subduction zone interface plate boundary between the Pacific and North America plates. At the latitude of this earthquake, the Pacific plate moves approximately westwards with respect to the North America plate at a velocity of 83 mm/yr. The Pacific plate thrusts underneath Japan at the Japan Trench, and dips to the west beneath Eurasia. The location, depth, and focal mechanism of the March 11 earthquake are consistent with the event having occurred as thrust faulting associated with subduction along this plate boundary. Note that some authors divide this region into several microplates that together define the relative motions between the larger Pacific, North America and Eurasia plates; these include the Okhotsk and Amur microplates that are respectively part of North America and Eurasia.

The March 11 earthquake was preceded by a series of large foreshocks over the previous two days, beginning on March 9th with an M 7.2 event approximately 40 km from the March 11 earthquake, and continuing with a further 3 earthquakes greater than M 6 on the same day.

The Japan Trench subduction zone has hosted 9 events of magnitude 7 or greater since 1973. The largest of these was an M 7.8 earthquake approximately 260 km to the north of the March 11 event, in December 1994, which caused 3 fatalities and almost 700 injuries. In June of 1978, an M 7.7 earthquake 35 km to the southwest caused 22 fatalities and over 400 injuries.

Earthquake Information for Asia

Earthquake Information for Japan

Seismicity of the Earth 1900 to 2007, Japan and Vicinity Map

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Scientific & Technical Information

• USGS WPhase Moment Tensor Solution
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  Historic Moment Tensor Solutions

• Phase Data
• Theoretical P-Wave Travel Times

Tsunami Information

The earthquake locations and magnitudes cited in NOAA tsunami statements and bulletins are preliminary and are superseded by USGS locations and magnitudes computed using more extensive data sets.

NOAA Tsunami Bulletins for this Earthquake

• Tsunami warning/watch/advisory for US west coast, British Columbia, and Alaska
• Tsunami warning/watch/advisory for US west coast, British Columbia, and Alaska
• Tsunami warning/watch/advisory for US west coast, British Columbia, and Alaska

General Tsunami Information

• NOAA West Coast & Alaska Tsunami Warning Center
• NOAA Pacific Tsunami Warning Center
• Tsunami Information Links

• Preliminary Earthquake Report
• U.S. Geological Survey, National Earthquake Information Center:
  World Data Center for Seismology, Denver

Once in a lifetime. well at least I hope it is only once in a lifetime.
Just had another aftershock.. as I was posting...

2010 Holiday Season To Date vs. Corresponding Days* in 2009 Non-Travel (Retail) Spending Excludes Auctions and Large Corporate Purchases Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations Source: comScore, Inc.
	Millions ($)
	2009	2010	Percent Change
November 1 – 26	$10,317	$11,639	13%
Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 25)	$318	$407	28%
Black Friday (Nov. 26)	$595	$648	9%

Spending appears to be up from a year ago. Amazon saw a 25 percent increase in traffic from the corresponding shopping day a year a go. With Cyber Monday kicking off today, it should be interesting to see if Amazon can keep up the pace.