Mount Shinmoedake Volcano erupts in Japan

Mount Sinmoededake, which lies near the center of the southern island of Kyushu, woke back up again after a few weeks of rest.  The newest eruption occurred on 13 March, two days after the 9.0 earthquake struck to the north off the shore of Honshu.  The volcano had last erupted on January 19th after being dormant for 2 years. The eruption tossed a 2 mile high cloud of ash into the sky and forced authorities call for the evacuation of several hundred civilians around the radius of the volcano.

While it might be easy to find some correlation between the major earthquake and this eruption to do so would be pure speculation. At this point the tectonic and volcanic mechanisms of this eruption have not yet been looked into and serious research into the matter is probably months off at this point. Megaquakes (M8.0+) have been tied to volcanism in the past so it is a possibility here, but only time will tell.

Below are two videos of the ash plume. The second one is especially visibly striking, not only because of the glowing ash and lava bombs being tossed from the summit, but also because of he bolts of static discharge, sometimes called volcanic lighting or a dirty thunderstorm, caused by the eruption are clearly visible.

Additional High-Resolution Images of Sendai Region Post-Tsunami

Earthquake and Tsunami damage, Sendai Japan-March 12, 2011 (DigitalGlobe)

DigitalGlobe, a U.S.-based civilian operator of commercial remote sensing satellites, has released a few high-resolution images of the Sendai region following yesterday's devastating earthquake(s) and tsunami to their flickr feed.  They give a decent bird's eye view of a few locations that were damaged by the earthquake and/or hit by the tsunami.  Hopefully they will update their feed with additional images.

NASA Satellite Imagery of Sendai Tsunami Flooding

Responding in a timely fashion to events in Japan, NASA's array of Earth monitoring satellites have been manuevered into position to gather image-based data regarding yesterday's earthquakes and their resulting tsunamis.





The topmost of the two images (provided by NASA’s MODIS instrument which is mounted aboard their TERRA satellite) was taken on March 12, 2011, at 10:30 a.m. — nearly a day after the 8.9 magnitude earthquake occurred.   The image shows much of Japan's eastern coast to be still inundated with flood waters from the tsunami. The coloring and cloud cover might make the image a little difficult to interpret, but the dark blue/black is water.  The shoreline, though mostly covered in water, is still partially visible as small strips of light green.

For comparison, the lower image of the same region was taken by the MODIS system on February 26, 2011.

Both images were composed using a composite of infrared and visible light, a technique that helps increase the contrast between muddy water and land. Plant-covered land is green, pale-blue/aqua colored land is snow-covered. The brown colored regions are the paved surfaces in the city of Sendai.

Live Seismic Data Tool

PBS Newshour has offered up this fancy tool to keep tabs on all of the seismic activity occurring around Japan.

I grabbed the following screenshot yesterday with the intention of posting about this then, but got distracted by shiny things and wandered off.

You'll likely notice the largest of the orange circles a little right of center on the map.  That was the epicenter of yesterday's 8.9/9.0 earthquake.  You'll also likely notice the relatively concentrated group of yellow circles near the mainshock's epicenter.  Those are the foreshocks -- smaller seismic events preceding a larger earthquake.  Most large scale earthquakes -- those 7.0 magnitude and above -- tend to have foreshocks events associated with them.  However, foreshock activity is not always guaranteed to be associated with a large scale earthquake.  Foreshock activity also can occur within a rather wide time-frame before the mainshock occurs.  Foreshocks can occur mere minutes, days, months or years before a mainshock.  Also, it is difficult to classify a foreshock event from a stand earthquake until after a mainshock event occurs and correlation can be the events established.  As such, determining whether any particular seismic action is a foreshock for a larger earthquake in the future is not the most exact science at present.

200-300 Bodies Recovered near Sendai, Japan

The now bent tip of Tokyo Tower (source)

Police in Miyagi Prefecture have reported to the press that between 200 and 300 bodies of people who appeared to have drowned have been recovered near Sendai.

Several hundred people (NHK is saying 500) are now reported as missing.

I am also now getting estimates for the height of the Sendai tsunami: between 7.5 and 10 meters in height (24 to 33 feet)

Tsunami Reaches Hawaii; Not as strong as Expected

(Source: abcnews)

The first waves associated with the tsunami generated by the 8.9 magnitude earthquake off of Japan to reach Hawaii are far weaker than expected.  Local news in Hawaii reports that waves are only about a foot higher than usual.

Kauai was the first island hit early by the wave, and it quickly swept passed the other islands in the chain.  However, bigger waves are still expected to follow.

8 sets of tsunami waves expected along the coast. The first set of tsunami waves began reaching Oregon's coast between 7:00 and 8:00 AM local time (roughly within the time-frame of this post), and currently the twitter-sphere is reporting no damage.   KATUNews is reporting that water at Cannon Beach is pulling back, indicating that the tsunami is coming in there.  Waves up to 6 feet in height are still being projected. The tsunami is expected to hit Los Angeles around 8:30 a.m. local time, but a larger follow-up wave is expected two hours later when the tide is higher.

8.9 Earthquake Largest in Japan's History

Fires rage in the town of Yamada in northeastern Japan after the 8.9-magnitude earthquake.

( Yomiuri, Reuters / March 11, 2011 )

The largest recorded earthquake in Japan's recorded history struck on 11 March 2011 at 05:46:24 UTC/ 14:46 local time (March 10 2011 21:46:24 PST/). The quake struck about 130 kilometers off the coastal city of Sendai, generating a massive tsunami wave that tore into the surrounding coastal region.   A series of strong fore and aftershocks have also been hitting the region with numerous 5.0 and 6.0 earthquakes occuring since the main quake (see: USGS 7 day record).

At the time of this post I am getting information that around 100 people are believed dead and scores are missing. Given the magnitude of this event it is likely these numbers will rise. A tsunami warning was posted for much of the pacific basin, including the entire Pacific coast of North and South America from Chili up to Alaska. In the eastern Pacific those warnings have now been lifted for some areas such as Taiwan, and Australia.

Earthquakes are common in Japan due to its position near a series of highly active tectonic plate boundaries.


Tsunami tearing into Sendai


Whirlpool forms near a port in Oarai, Ibaraki Prefecture


Fire and explosions rock the Cosmo oil and gas refinery north of Tokyo.


Vídeo taken by a Japanese family in Sendai as the earthquake hits.  Just as a note: DON'T RUN OUTSIDE WHEN THERE IS AN EARTHQUAKE.  Find a table, a doorway, a bathtub, etc. and hunker down.  This goes against our basic survival instincts, but running outside, especially in an urban environment can expose you to falling glass or other debris.


Excellent video covereage by Tokyo Broadcasting System Live News Feed.  (Japanese Language)

[Video] Arctic Warming leads to Mid-Latitude Chill

One of those questions climate change denialist like to bring up is "if the climate is getting warmer why is it so cold this winter?" In this video, meteorologist Dave Eichorn explains in a very clear fashion how increases in average annual temperatures in the Arctic have resulted in colder temperatures and snowy weather in the mid-latitudes.