Quick Earthquake/Tsunami Lesson

I probably should have posted this a lot sooner, but of course I think that everything I learned in Japan is instantly known by everyone in the world.  I didn't know many of these things when I came here so I just thought I'd share.

In Japan, every building is built to withstand at least a 6.0 quake.  In America, you usually only hear of the Richter Scale, which tells the magnitude of the earthquake at the epicenter.  The epicenter is usually out in the ocean and the power quickly dissipates.  The March 11th 2011 earthquake was a 9.0 and Noheji was about 150 miles away from the epicenter and we only felt a 4.  The biggest was felt by Sendai at around a 7.0 and not a single building collapsed.  Of course there were several cracks in buildings, cooking pots get knocked off stoves and lamps fall over and cause fires and what not, but the actually shaking from the earthquake did not cause any building damage.

After earthquakes that center in the ocean, all that moving earth can sometimes create a massive displacement of water, a tsunami.  Earthquakes are generally nothing to be worried about in Japan, it is the tsunami that follows the earthquake that is what you should worry about.  That being said, if the epicenter was closer to land and some cities feel magnitudes around 8.0, that's a good time to be worried about the earthquake.

So here's what your should do when you hear about an earthquake in Japan and are worried.

Check out the magnitude,

1) If it's 6 or less, it's very scary, but everythings ok. and likely no big tsunami will come.
2) If it's in the 7+ range, check to see where the epicenter is, if it's near cities and they actually feel a 7+, then you can expect damage from the earthquake itself, but theres no risk of tsunami.  If the epicenter is in the ocean then you don't need to worry too much about the shaking, but you do need to worry about tsunamis.

As for me, I'm very lucky to be placed in an area that is on the ocean, but not on the east coast.  The east and southern coasts of Japan are quite dangerous but the north and west sides are relatively safe.  About the only time you'd need to worry about me would be if there's a 7.0+ earthquake with an epicenter in northern Japan, or if I'm playing hockey or baseball in Hachinohe (on the east coast of Aomori)..

I did not know this before March 11th, and when Wilbur and Beth were visiting, and we felt the magnitude 4 shaking, it was scary enough, but we didn't think much of it.  Maybe Wilbur knew that earthquakes cause tsunamis, but I didn't, and I couldn't understand the warnings blasted through the cities loudspeakers so we just went back the the apartment.

If I had been placed in Sendai, this lack of information might have killed us.  If we were in Sendai and just went back to our apartment afterwords, that would not have been a good idea.

So any of you who might ever be vacationing near an ocean sometime in your life and feel a major earthquake, head for high ground.