High seismic activity after Japan earthquake

The seismic activity after Friday's giant earthquake in Japan is still very high. Hundreds of aftershocks has been recorded after the mainshock which is now upgraded to magnitude 9.0. This means that the earthquake is the 4th largest ever recorded.

The picture shows earthquakes of magnitude 4.5 or larger as of 11:00 GMT today, adding up to a count of 227!

While media is mainly focusing on the problems at the Fukushima nuclear powerplant I'm more concerned about the seismic situation. There is no sign of reduced seismic activity. The possibility of an aftershock of magnitude 7+ is still high. This may trigger yet another tsunami with devastating effect.

A computer generated animation of the tsunami triggered by the mainshock can be viewed here.

Great earthquake followed by tsunami near eastern coast of Japan

A giant earthquake hit the east coast of the island of Honshu, Japan at 05:46 GMT this morning.

The image is a snapshot from my seismic database as of 11:00 GMT. It shows high seismic activity off the eastern coast. Current estimates indicate a magnitude of 8.8 which is one of the biggest earthquakes ever measured. The mainshock triggered a tsunami with waves varying from 2-15m as it hit the coastline some 30 minutes after the main.

More details can be found here.