Tsunami Surprises Experts

Scientists examining the data from the record breaking historic earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan are awed at the sheer magnitude of effects of the disaster.

Records of quakes and tsunamis go back as far as 1,200 years for Japan.

In retrospect the region’s unique configuration of plates that are the source of the earthquakes has caused disaster after disaster for centuries that modern such techniques of record keeping show how devastating they can be.

Point to an 8.2 or 9.0 quake that hit the coast of Kamchatka in 1952, scientists said the quake generated a massive tsunami that spread throughout the Pacific hitting Russia hard.

In 1923 the same occurrence hit Japan with it’s deadliest toll of 140,000 people, mostly from runaway fires and collapsed buildings when a 7.9 hit the region just south of the island of Honshu.

Scientists will be examining the damage of the recent quakes for decades and will bring that data to create new technologies for detection and preparation. That information will allow other parts of the world to be prepared for such quakes as well. It’s a fair bet to say that from the look on geologists, seismologists, and other science related studies, this quake is the modern day history maker that even caught the experts by surprise.

Category: Asia News