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10 Instructions That Can Be Used As Guidelines During Earthquakes

If an earthquake struck suddenly, following 10 instructions that can be used as a handle wherever you are.

Inside the house
Vibration will be felt for a while. During that time, you should seek the safety of yourself and your family. Go to the bottom of the table to protect your body from falling objects. If you do not have a table, protect your head with a pillow.

If you're turning on the stove, then turn off immediately to prevent fires.

In school
Take refuge under the table, cover the head with a bag or a book, do not panic, if the earthquake subsided forth sequentially starting from the farthest distance to the door, look for the field, do not stand near the buildings, poles and trees.

Outside the house
Protect to you and avoid dangerous objects. In the area of ??office or industrial area, the danger could arise from the collapse of the glass and billboards. Protect your head with your hands, or whatever bag you are carrying.

In buildings, malls, movie theaters, and the ground floor mall
Do not cause a panic or a victim of panic. Follow all instructions of the officer or security guard.

In the elevator
Do not use elevators during an earthquake or fire. If you feel the vibrations of an earthquake while in the elevator, then press all the buttons. When the elevator stops, get out, see the safety and pass over. If you get stuck in a lift, please contact the building manager using the interphone if available.

On the train
Hold on tightly to the pole so that you will not fall if the train is stopped abruptly. Be calm following the explanation of the train attendant. One understands the information officer or station wagon will cause panic.

In the car
When a large earthquake occurs, you will feel as if your car wheels bald. You will lose control of the car and difficult to control. Stay away from the intersection, Pull your car left the road and stop. Follow the instructions from the car radio. If you must evacuate it out of the car, leave the car unlocked.

On the mountain / beach
There is a possibility of landslides occurred on the mountain. Get away to a safe place immediately. On the coast, the danger comes from the tsunami. If you feel the vibration and tsunami signs appear, quickly fled to high ground.

Give aid
Can already be predicted that many people will be injured during a major earthquake. Because of health workers from hospitals will have difficulty coming to the scene, then be prepared to give first aid to people who are around you.

Listen information
When a large earthquake occurs, the public mental hit. To prevent panic, it is important everyone be calm and act in accordance with the correct information. You can obtain information yag true of the authorities or police. Do not act because the information is not clear.

Radio is an important tool for hurricane preparedness

I was listening to NPR this morning as I got ready for work and during the headlines at the top of the hour heard a short story about communities preparing for Hurricane Irene. It featured a quick actuality from a sheriff in South Carolina saying that a battery operated radio will be a vital tool to stay informed when Irene’s force hits. To me that advice sounds obvious, and not just because I’m such a radio enthusiast. Growing up on the East Coast it seems like I always heard about having a radio and plenty of batteries on hand whenever a severe storm threatened. As well, when I moved to the Midwest in the 1990s having a portable radio with fresh batteries on hand was advised to be ready for a tornado.

However, now that we rely so heavily on cell phones and other networked devices it’s easy to forget that they’re much more susceptible to failure during power outages brought on by natural disasters. Even if your mobile phone still has battery life, the closest cell tower might not. No power in the house probably means no power for your cable modem or wireless router, either. Of course, radio transmitters also require power, but many broadcasters maintain backup generators so that they can remain on air during blackouts and emergencies.

Hurricane Irene on Aug. 24

Unlike other natural disasters, a hurricane can be predicted days before it hits, giving responsible broadcasters an opportunity to prepare. The radio industry site All Access talked to several stations along the coast about their plans. One station group in Norfolk Beach, VA said it is sure to have accommodations for staff and their families so they can remain working on-air. Another station in South Carolina said that it’s prepared to “all hands on deck 24/7,” along with airing simulcasts from an affiliated TV station. Going “24/7″ is now exceptional for the majority of commercial stations, since most are automated at least part of the day, especially overnights.

Even if not every radio station is able to remain on air during a severe storm, the odds are high that at least one will keep broadcasting. Very powerful stations further inland with broadcast ranges of 100 miles or more can provide vital emergency info to coastal areas that are harder hit.

Luckily a perfectly capable portable AM/FM radio that runs on inexpensive AA batteries can still be had for under $20 at discount and department stores, as well as major drug store chains. It’s an even better idea to buy one of the emergency radios that can be powered by a crank or solar energy. Then you can stay reliably tuned in even if you run out of batteries.

Outside the broadcast band, for nearly a century amateur radio operators have provided vital assistance to communities and civil authorities during disasters. A Wall Street Journal story notes that, “Maine has squads of amateur-radio clubs statewide ready to provide back-up communication if cell towers topple.”

Since 1965 the Hurricane Watch Net has organized radio amateurs to operate and provide communication lines during every hurricane that threatens land in the Atlantic, Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico. Participating HWN operators transmit and relay information on 14.325 MHz, asking other operators not to use that frequency when an alert is activated. In particular HWN provides important weather info, like local wind speed, to the National Hurricane Center, which monitors that frequency.

Fundamentally, radio is a comparatively inexpensive, robust and proven communications technology. Having internet and digital mobile communications will undoubtedly provide great assistance to first responders and average people during this hurricane. But when the power is out for more than a few hours that radio will provide important communication and solace. When wired lines are cut by falling trees, wireless radio communications will still transmit through the air. I’m certainly glad that radio is still a viable, living technology.

Source from : http://www.radiosurvivor.com/2011/08/24/radio-is-an-important-tool-for-hurricane-preparedness/

Quake moved Japan coast 8 feet, shifted Earth's axis

Images released by NASA show Japan's northeast coast before, left, and after flooding from the quake-induced tsunami

(CNN) -- The powerful earthquake that unleashed a devastating tsunami Friday appears to have moved the main island of Japan by 8 feet (2.4 meters) and shifted the Earth on its axis.

"At this point, we know that one GPS station moved (8 feet), and we have seen a map from GSI (Geospatial Information Authority) in Japan showing the pattern of shift over a large area is consistent with about that much shift of the land mass," said Kenneth Hudnut, a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

Reports from the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology in Italy estimated the 8.9-magnitude quake shifted the planet on its axis by nearly 4 inches (10 centimeters).

The temblor, which struck Friday afternoon near the east coast of Japan, killed hundreds of people, caused the formation of 30-foot walls of water that swept across rice fields, engulfed entire towns, dragged houses onto highways, and tossed cars and boats like toys. Some waves reached six miles (10 kilometers) inland in Miyagi Prefecture on Japan's east coast.

Timeline of disaster in Japan

Survivor describes roof collapse

Gallery: Massive quake hits Japan

Map: 8.9 earthquake hits Japan

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The quake was the most powerful to hit the island nation in recorded history and the tsunami it unleashed traveled across the Pacific Ocean, triggering tsunami warnings and alerts for 50 countries and territories as far away as the western coasts of Canada, the U.S. and Chile. The quake triggered more than 160 aftershocks in the first 24 hours -- 141 measuring 5.0-magnitude or more.

The quake occurred as the Earth's crust ruptured along an area about 250 miles (400 kilometers) long by 100 miles (160 kilometers) wide, as tectonic plates slipped more than 18 meters, said Shengzao Chen, a USGS geophysicist.

Japan is located along the Pacific "ring of fire," an area of high seismic and volcanic activity stretching from New Zealand in the South Pacific up through Japan, across to Alaska and down the west coasts of North and South America. The quake was "hundreds of times larger" than the 2010 quake that ravaged Haiti, said Jim Gaherty of the LaMont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University.

The Japanese quake was of similar strength to the 2004 earthquake in Indonesia that triggered a tsunami that killed over 200,000 people in more than a dozen countries around the Indian Ocean. "The tsunami that it sent out was roughly comparable in terms of size," Gaherty said. "[The 2004 tsunami] happened to hit some regions that were not very prepared for tsunamis ... we didn't really have a very sophisticated tsunami warning system in the Indian Ocean basin at the time so the damage was significantly worse."

The Japanese quake comes just weeks after a 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck Christchurch on February 22, toppling historic buildings and killing more than 150 people. The timeframe of the two quakes have raised questions whether the two incidents are related, but experts say the distance between the two incidents makes that unlikely.

"I would think the connection is very slim," said Prof. Stephan Grilli, ocean engineering professor at the University of Rhode Island.

source : cnn

1,000 feared dead in Japan quake-tsunami disaster

TOKYO (AFP) - More than 1,000 people were feared dead after a monster tsunami unleashed by a massive quake which wreaked destruction across northeast Japan and triggered an emergency at a nuclear power plant.

Prime Minister Naoto Kan said Saturday 45,000 residents living within 10 kilometres (six miles) of the plant must evacuate amid fears of a slight radiation leak, before stepping onto a helicopter to head for the area.

The atomic emergency came as the country struggled to assess the full extent of the devastation wrought by the massive tsunami triggered by the strongest quake ever recorded in Japan.

The towering wall of water generated by the 8.9-magnitude earthquake -- the seventh biggest in history -- pulverised the northeastern city of Sendai, where police reportedly said 200-300 bodies had been found on the coast. Kyodo News said the final death toll was likely to pass 1,000.

The 10-metre (33-foot) wave of black water sent shipping containers, cars and debris crashing through the streets of Sendai and across open farmland, while a tidal wave of debris-littered mud destroyed everything in its path.

At least 402 people were killed in the earthquake and subsequent tsunamis, police and press reports said.

Scene: Japan tsunami-hit port a frightened ghost town

The National Police Agency said 202 people had been confirmed dead and 673 were missing, with 991 injured, and a spokesman said this did not include the bodies reportedly found on the Sendai coast.

"The damage is so enormous that it will take us much time to gather data," an official at the agency told AFP.

Authorities said more than 3,000 homes were destroyed or swept away.

The tsunami left Rikuzen Takata, a coastal city of some 23,000 people, "almost in shambles," the national Fire and Disaster Management Agency said.

Video footage, taken by a resident from a hill, showed massive waves sweeping away houses, vehicles and other objects as they surged over the city from the sea.

Related article: High radiation in Japan nuclear plant, 'no health hazard'

Before the prime minister told residents around the Fukushima nuclear plant to evacuate, trade minister Banri Kaieda warned there could be a release of radioactive steam in an operation to relieve a pressure build-up after the plant's cooling system was damaged in the quake.

Nuclear plant operator Tokyo Electric Power said Saturday a second of its atomic plants was experiencing reactor cooling problems, Kyodo News reported.

Japan's network of advanced nuclear power plants are designed to shut down as soon as the earth shakes in one of the world's most quake-prone countries.

More than eight million homes lost power, mobile and landline phone systems broke down for many and gas was cut to more than 300,000 homes, meaning many people could not heat their dark homes during a terrifying and cold night.

Japan's military mobilised thousands of troops, 300 planes and 40 ships for the relief effort.

An armada of 20 naval destroyers and other vessels headed for the devastated Pacific coast area of Honshu island, while air force jets flew reconnaissance missions.

Leading international offers of help, President Barack Obama mobilised US military might to provide emergency aid after the disaster which he described as "simply heartbreaking."

The United States, which has nearly 40,000 military personnel in Japan, has ordered a flotilla including two aircraft carriers and support ships to the region to provide aid following the tsunami.

The towering wave set off alerts across the Pacific, sparking evacuations in Hawaii and on the US West Coast, and devastating at least one California port.

Scene: Japan tsunami throws ships into town, houses into sea

Chile said it was evacuating coastal areas and Ecuador's state oil company announced it had suspended crude oil exports due to risks posed by the tsunami.

A Japanese ship with 100 people aboard was reportedly swept away, several trains missing and a dam broke in the northeast prefecture of Fukushima, with homes washed away.

"It was the biggest earthquake I have ever felt. I thought I would die," said Sayaka Umezawa, a 22-year-old college student who was visiting the port of Hakodate, which was hit by a two-metre wave.

The quake, which hit at 2:46 pm (0546 GMT) and lasted about two minutes, rattled buildings in greater Tokyo, the world's largest urban area and home to some 30 million people.

Scene: Millions stuck in Tokyo as quake shuts down subways

Millions who had earlier fled swaying buildings in the capital were left stranded in the evening after the earthquake shut down the city's vast subway system.

The government urged people to stay near their workplaces rather than risk a long walk home as there was major disruption to air travel and bullet train services.

The tsunami also submerged the runway at Sendai airport, while a process known as liquefaction, caused by the intense shaking of the tremor, turned parts of the ground to liquid.

Hours after the quake struck, TV images showed huge orange balls of flame rolling up into the night sky as fires raged around a petrochemical complex in Sendai.

A massive fire also engulfed an oil refinery near Tokyo as the quake brought huge disruption to Japan's key industries.

The Bank of Japan said it would do its "utmost" to ensure the stability of financial markets.

Major manufacturers including Toyota, Nissan and Sony were forced to suspend production at some sites, raising short term concerns for the nation's economic growth.

The first quake struck just under 400 kilometres (250 miles) northeast of Tokyo, the US Geological Survey said. It was followed by more than 70 powerful aftershocks, one as strong as 7.1.

"We were shaken so strongly for a while that we needed to hold on to something in order not to fall," said an official at the local government of the hardest-hit city of Kurihara in Miyagi prefecture.

"We couldn't escape the building immediately because the tremors continued... City officials are now outside, collecting information on damage."

Japan sits on the "Pacific Ring of Fire" and Tokyo is in one of its most dangerous areas, where three continental plates are slowly grinding against each other, building up enormous seismic pressure.

The government has warned of a 70 percent chance that a magnitude-eight quake will strike within the next 30 years in the Kanto plains, home to Tokyo's vast urban sprawl.

The last time a "Big One" hit Tokyo was in 1923, when the Great Kanto Earthquake claimed more than 140,000 lives, many of them in fires.

In 1995 the Kobe earthquake killed more than 6,400 people.

More than 220,000 people were killed when a 9.1-magnitude quake hit off Indonesia in 2004, unleashing a massive tsunami that devastated coastlines in countries around the Indian Ocean.
Small quakes are felt every day somewhere in Japan and people take part in regular drills at schools and workplaces to prepare for a calamity.

Samoa, then Indonesia: are the earthquakes linked?

Two earthquakes within 16 hours of each other. Cause and effect, or coincidence?

American Samoa and Indonesia, the victims of two earthquakes in 24 hours, both lie on the so-called Ring of Fire. This volcano- and quake-plagued semi-circle runs for 40,000km around the edge of the Pacific Ocean and accounts for approximately 90 per cent of the World's earthquakes and 75 per cent of its volcanoes.

At 17:48GMT on Tuesday September 29, a magnitude 8.3 earthquake struck south of American Samoa. Just 16 hours later, at 10:16GMT yesterday, the second quake, of magnitude 7.6, hit 30 miles off the east coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra. A third, smaller, earthquake struck Sumatra in the early hours of this morning. (The earthquake which caused the devastating Asian tsunami on Boxing Day 2004 was magnitude 9.1.)

So why might the Samoan and Indonesian quakes be linked? The epicentres of these earthquakes both lie near to the edge of the Australian plate, about 4,000 miles apart (see map). It seems plausible that one movement of the Australian plate caused both earthquakes. But David Booth, senior seismologist at the British Geological Survey, is not so sure.

"There are sound physical reasons for expecting one earthquake to cause another, but that is very unlikely to have happened in this case," he says. "The quakes were in different fault zones, and the chance of one earthquake triggering another by seismic waves moving up the fault line are very slight over such a great distance.

"Indonesia is one of the most seismic zones in the world - perhaps the most seismic - so it's no real surprise that a large earthquake has happened there, but the fact that it happened within hours of the Samoan one is almost certainly a coincidence."

One thing Booth is certain about is that there has been an upsurge in seismic activity in the Indonesian faultline since the 2004 Asian tsunami - and recent earthquakes in that region have only added to the likelihood of further disasters.

"As one earthquake happens, the stress in the fault changes," he explains. "The stress on unfractured segments increases, making an earthquake in that segment more likely."

This is indeed what has happened in Indonesia this morning. Sumatra was hit by a second earthquake of magnitude 6.8 at 01:52GMT. It won't be the last.

Official: Death in Indonesia earthquake hits 467

JAKARTA, Indonesia - The death toll in Wednesday's powerful earthquake on Indonesia's Sumatra island reached 467 on Thursday, a government official said.

A total of 467 people were confirmed dead and 421 seriously injured in Wednesday's 7.6 magnitude quake, Tugiyo Bisri of the Social Affairs Ministry's crisis center said.

Wednesday's quake struck western Indonesia, trapping thousands of people under collapsed buildings — including hospitals, a hotel and a classroom, officials said.

The temblor Wednesday started fires, severed roads and cut off power and communications to Padang, a coastal city of 900,000 on Sumatra island. Thousands fled in panic, fearing a tsunami. It was felt hundreds of miles away in Malaysia and Singapore, causing buildings there to sway.

The undersea quake of 7.6 magnitude was followed by a powerful, shallow inland earthquake on Thursday morning with a preliminary magnitude of 6.8, the U.S. Geological Survey said. It hit about 150 miles south of Padang at a depth of just under 20 miles.

Shallow, inland earthquakes generally are more destructive. There were reports that the second quake badly damaged dozens of additional buildings.

Hundreds of buildings damaged

In Padang, the capital of West Sumatra province, the shaking was so intense from Wednesday's temblor that people crouched or sat on the street to avoid falling. Children screamed as an exodus of thousands of frantic residents fled the coast in cars and motorbikes, honking horns.

At least 500 buildings in Padang collapsed or were badly damaged, said Disaster Management Agency spokesman Priyadi Kardono, adding that 200 bodies had been pulled from the rubble there. The extent of damage in surrounding areas was still unclear due to poor communications. Indonesia, a poor, sprawling nation with limited resources, was cobbling together an emergency aid response, and the government was preparing for the possibility of thousands of deaths.

Padang's mayor appealed for assistance on Indonesian radio station el-Shinta.

"We are overwhelmed with victims and ... lack of clean water, electricity and telecommunications," Mayor Fauzi Bahar said. "We really need help. We call on people to come to Padang to evacuate bodies and help the injured."

Hundreds of people were trapped under collapsed buildings in Padang alone, including a four-star hotel, he said. Other collapsed or seriously damaged buildings included hospitals, mosques, a school and a mall.

"I was studying math with my friends when suddenly a powerful earthquake destroyed everything around me," an unidentified boy told the TVOne broadcaster. He escaped out of the top floor just as the three-story structure, used for after-school classes, crumpled.

TVOne footage showed heavy equipment breaking through layers of cement in search of more than 30 children it said were missing and feared dead.

'High-scale disaster'

Thousands were believed trapped throughout the province, said Rustam Pakaya, head of the Health Ministry's crisis center.