Submitted by Mariano K on Wed, 16/03/2011 - 07:49.
For the past many years, Japan has this traumatic experience that everyone can remember.
On March 11, the nation of Japan was devastated by an earthquake and tsunami. During these events, the Fukushima nuclear power building was damaged, which led to two separate explosions.
Here is the proof: Fukushima reactor explosion could mean end of nuclear power
Small explosions have occurred at two of the 3 reactors damaged at the 6 reactor Fukushima site, due to damage inflicted by the 8.9 magnitude quake. There is already some speculation that this might signal the worldwide end of nuclear power.
As this, many lives were lose by the said destruction of nature. We cannot deny the fact that it is our own fault to have this because of the variety pollutions that our environment received. And now it is our punishment that can be paid. May we learn from this lesson and hope for a good life for the next generation.
Submitted by theodor.thole@... on Fri, 18/03/2011 - 00:23.
Hello Mike,
how did you calculate that the quake which hit Japan was 140,000 times stronger than the quake which hit New Zealand? The Richter scale is scalled logarithimcally, that means:
8.9-6.3 = 2.6 --> 10^2.6 = 398, respectively with the updated values: 9.0-6.3 = 2.7 --> 10^2.7 = 501
So the quake in Japan was "only" about 500 times stronger than the quake which hit New Zealand.
Do you agree?
I hope imploringly that the engineers who are still at the plant in Fukoshima will be able to prevent us all from the worst. However, I'm afraid they will pay it with their lives. May God be with them.
Submitted by Mike Pilewski on Sun, 20/03/2011 - 16:33.
Hi Theodor,
We had the 140,000 figure from a news report, but your analysis is basically correct, so I've changed the text above. There are different ways of measuring the strength of an earthquake: by the energy released underground, the energy measured above ground (near the epicentre or on land), the amount of destruction to property and so on. If we take the total energy released, then the formula "Comparative energy released by two earthquakes" applies. There is a constant of 3/2 in front of the exponent, so the difference is 10^(1.5*2.7) = 10^4.05 — meaning the Japan quake was 11,000 times as strong as the one in New Zealand (by this measure).
Some seismologists see a connection between the February 2010 earthquake in Chile, the two in New Zealand and this one in Japan, and predict that California, on the fourth corner of the same tectonic plate, may be next.
The US energy secretary was just on CNN saying that the strongest earthquake expected at the exact site of the nuclear plants in California over a period of 7,000 to 10,000 years is 6.2, and that the power plants are built to a level of tolerance above that, to about 7.5. California experienced several earthquakes in the 1990s of up to magnitude 7.3. The four nuclear power plants in California are not particularly close to the fault line, but they are getting old, having been on line since 1982-1985.
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COMMENTS
For the past many years, Japan has this traumatic experience that everyone can remember.
On March 11, the nation of Japan was devastated by an earthquake and tsunami. During these events, the Fukushima nuclear power building was damaged, which led to two separate explosions.
Here is the proof: Fukushima reactor explosion could mean end of nuclear power
Small explosions have occurred at two of the 3 reactors damaged at the 6 reactor Fukushima site, due to damage inflicted by the 8.9 magnitude quake. There is already some speculation that this might signal the worldwide end of nuclear power.
As this, many lives were lose by the said destruction of nature. We cannot deny the fact that it is our own fault to have this because of the variety pollutions that our environment received. And now it is our punishment that can be paid. May we learn from this lesson and hope for a good life for the next generation.
Hello Mike,
how did you calculate that the quake which hit Japan was 140,000 times stronger than the quake which hit New Zealand? The Richter scale is scalled logarithimcally, that means:
8.9-6.3 = 2.6 --> 10^2.6 = 398, respectively with the updated values: 9.0-6.3 = 2.7 --> 10^2.7 = 501
So the quake in Japan was "only" about 500 times stronger than the quake which hit New Zealand.
Do you agree?
I hope imploringly that the engineers who are still at the plant in Fukoshima will be able to prevent us all from the worst. However, I'm afraid they will pay it with their lives. May God be with them.
We had the 140,000 figure from a news report, but your analysis is basically correct, so I've changed the text above. There are different ways of measuring the strength of an earthquake: by the energy released underground, the energy measured above ground (near the epicentre or on land), the amount of destruction to property and so on. If we take the total energy released, then the formula "Comparative energy released by two earthquakes" applies. There is a constant of 3/2 in front of the exponent, so the difference is 10^(1.5*2.7) = 10^4.05 — meaning the Japan quake was 11,000 times as strong as the one in New Zealand (by this measure).
Some seismologists see a connection between the February 2010 earthquake in Chile, the two in New Zealand and this one in Japan, and predict that California, on the fourth corner of the same tectonic plate, may be next.
The US energy secretary was just on CNN saying that the strongest earthquake expected at the exact site of the nuclear plants in California over a period of 7,000 to 10,000 years is 6.2, and that the power plants are built to a level of tolerance above that, to about 7.5. California experienced several earthquakes in the 1990s of up to magnitude 7.3. The four nuclear power plants in California are not particularly close to the fault line, but they are getting old, having been on line since 1982-1985.