Strong Aftershocks Continue to Affect Japan MARCH 11, 2011 -- 8:05 AM UTC UPDATED: MARCH 12, 2011 -- 8:28 PM UTC FILED UNDER EARTHQUAKE, JAPAN There have been hundreds of aftershocks following the devastating magnitude 8.9 earthquake that struck off the East Coast of Japan on March 11. More than two dozen are greater than magnitude 6, the size of the earthquake that severely damaged Christchurch, NZ last month. Learn more CATEGORIES BIOLOGY CLIMATE CHANGE ECOSYSTEMS
ENERGY AND MINERALS GEOGRAPHY GEOLOGY JUST IN GENERAL NATURAL HAZARDS ORGANIZATIONAL WATER WILDLIFE AND HUMAN HEALTH Related Posts: Hot Times Continue on Hawai`i Island Groundwater Awareness Week, March 6-12, 2011 Help Shape the Future of Our Ecosystems Science What's Water Doing Underground? Gone With the Wind NEAR EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN Friday, March 11, 2011 at 05:46:23 (UTC) - Coordinated Universal Time Friday, March 11, 2011 at 02:46:23 PM - Local Time at Epicenter North America:: Friday, March 11, 2011 at 02:16:23 AM (NST) - Newfoundland Standard (St. John's) Friday, March 11, 2011 at 01:46:23 AM (AST) - Atlantic Standard (Halifax, San Juan) Friday, March 11, 2011 at 12:46:23 AM (EST) - Eastern Standard (New York, Toronto, Jamaica) Thursday, March 10, 2011 at 11:46:23 PM (CST) - Central Standard (Chicago, Mexico City, Costa Rica) Thursday, March 10, 2011 at 10:46:23 PM (MST) - Mountain Standard (Calgary, Denver, Phoenix) Thursday, March 10, 2011 at 09:46:23 PM (PST) - Pacific Standard (Vancouver, Los Angeles, Tijuana) Thursday, March 10, 2011 at 08:46:23 PM - Anchorage Thursday, March 10, 2011 at 07:46:23 PM - Adak Thursday, March 10, 2011 at 07:46:23 PM -
Honolulu South America:: Friday, March 11, 2011 at 12:46:23 AM - Bogota, Quito, Lima Friday, March 11, 2011 at 01:16:23 AM - Caracas Friday, March 11, 2011 at 01:46:23 AM - Manaus, La Paz Friday, March 11, 2011 at 02:46:23 AM - Belem, Buenos Aires, Santiago, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo Friday, March 11, 2011 at 03:46:23 AM - Montevideo Europe:: Friday, March 11, 2011 at 05:46:23 AM - London, Lisbon Friday, March 11, 2011 at 06:46:23 AM - Madrid, Rome, Berlin, Warsaw Friday, March 11, 2011 at 07:46:23 AM - Kiev, Istanbul, Athens Friday, March 11, 2011 at 08:46:23 AM - Moscow, Saint Petersburg Africa:: Friday, March 11, 2011 at 05:46:23 AM - Casablanca, Abidjan Friday, March 11, 2011 at 06:46:23 AM - Algiers, Lagos, Kinshasa Friday, March 11, 2011 at 07:46:23 AM - Cairo, Lusaka, Cape Town Friday, March 11, 2011 at 08:46:23 AM - Addis Ababa, Nairobi Asia:: Friday, March 11, 2011 at 07:46:23 AM - Anakara, Damascus Friday, March 11, 2011 at 08:46:23 AM - Baghdad, Riyadh, Samara Friday, March 11, 2011 at 09:16:23 AM - Tehran, Mashhad Friday, March 11, 2011 at 09:46:23 AM - Baku, Tbilisi, Muscat Friday, March 11, 2011 at 10:16:23 AM - Kabul Friday, March 11, 2011 at 10:46:23 AM - Yekaterinburg, Tashkent, Karachi Friday, March 11, 2011 at 11:16:23 AM - Delhi, Bombay, Calcutta Friday, March 11, 2011 at 11:46:23 AM - Novosibirsk, Almaty, Dhaka Friday, March 11, 2011 at 12:46:23 PM - Krasnoyarsk, Bangkok, Jakarta Friday, March 11, 2011 at 01:46:23 PM - Irkutsk, Beijing, Manilla, Singapore Friday, March 11, 2011 at 02:46:23 PM - Chita, Seoul, Tokyo Friday, March 11, 2011 at 03:46:23 PM - Vladivostok, Guam Friday, March 11, 2011 at 04:46:23 PM - Magadan, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy Australasia/Oceania:: Thursday, March 10, 2011 at 06:46:23 PM - American Samoa Thursday, March 10, 2011 at 07:46:23 PM - Tahiti Friday, March 11, 2011 at 01:46:23 PM - Perth Friday, March 11, 2011 at 03:16:23 PM - Darwin Friday, March 11, 2011 at 03:46:23 PM - Port Moresby, Brisbane Friday, March 11, 2011 at 04:16:23 PM - Adelaide Friday, March 11, 2011 at 04:46:23
PM - Sydney, Melbourne, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu Friday, March 11, 2011 at 05:46:23 PM - Fiji Friday, March 11, 2011 at 06:46:23 PM - Auckland, Christchurch Earthquake Summary Earthquake Summary Poster Tectonic Summary Versión en Español The 03/11/2011 earthquake (preliminary magnitude 8.9) near the east coast of Honshu, Japan, occurred as a result of thrust faulting on or near the subduction zone interface plate boundary between the Pacific and North America plates. At the latitude of this earthquake, the Pacific plate moves approximately westwards with respect to the North America plate at a velocity of 83 mm/yr. The Pacific plate thrusts underneath Japan at the Japan Trench, and dips to
the west beneath Eurasia. The location, depth, and focal mechanism of the March 11 earthquake are consistent with the event having occurred as thrust faulting associated with subduction along this plate boundary. Note that some authors divide this region into several microplates that together define the relative motions between the larger Pacific, North America and Eurasia plates; these include the Okhotsk and Amur microplates that are respectively part of North America and Eurasia. The March 11 earthquake was preceded by a series of large foreshocks over the previous two days, beginning on March 9th with an M 7.2 event approximately 40 km from the March 11 earthquake, and continuing with a further 3 earthquakes greater than M 6 on the same day. The Japan Trench subduction zone has hosted 9 events of magnitude 7 or greater since 1973. The largest of these was an M 7.8 earthquake approximately 260 km to the north of the March 11 event, in December 1994, which caused 3 fatalities and almost 700 injuries. In June of 1978, an M 7.7 earthquake 35 km to the southwest caused 22 fatalities and over 400 injuries. Earthquake Information for Asia Earthquake Information for Japan Seismicity of the Earth 1900 to 2007, Japan and Vicinity Map USGS Audio CoreCast Interview with Seismologists Bill Ellsworth and Eric Geist Historic USGS Moment Tensor Solutions
M a g n it u d e 8. 9 NEAR EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN Friday, March 11, 2011 at 05:46:23 UTC
Major Tectonic Boundaries: Subduction Zones -purple, Ridges -red and Transform Faults -green The most recent (20 or less) USGS Moment Tensor Solutions are shown. Data from the Source Parameter Database.
Latest USGS Fast Moment Tensor Solutions Preliminary Earthquake Report U.S. Geological Survey, National Earthquake Information Center World Data Center for Seismology, Denver