Japanese earthquake of 8.9 magnitude

I do not think that many people will have missed the dramatic pictures being beamed all over the World from Japan where the biggest ever recorded earthquake has caused untold damage and death.

The main shock, a massive 8.9 took place off shore at 5.46 GMT on the 11 th and the tsunami which subsequently formed drove a fifteen metre wall of water to hit the mainland. What is interesting is that there were a considerable number of earthquakes in the same area starting with a 7.2 shock at 2.45 am GMT on the 9 th, fifty hours beforehand. By the time I finish writing this blog there will have been over one hundred and forty seven associated shocks in the area all over 4.5, with many more of a lesser degree.

This part of the Pacific Basin is on the so called "Ring of Fire" where the various plates all meet and scrape over one and another - and there have been many other shocks around the rim from Hawaii, the Solomon Islands, Philippines, etc during the same period - however it should be noted that this is a regular occurrence which has been taking place for hundreds of years.

We can only hope that the death toll is not as high as might be expected from the pictures and scenes we have seen.

If you are interested you can get further information by looking for "most recent earthquakes" on Google.