It was the first afternoon of 2024 when the earthquake struck Ishikawa prefecture In Japan
57 people died as a result with more than 100 injured in the wake of the seven-point-five. Hundreds are now without power.
Yet, the earthquake itself serves as reminder of the importance of early warning systems.
“Japan’s alert system is quite advanced, certainly compared to ours. It’s been functioning for more than a decade now and they have many more instruments, both onshore and offshore, to detect the very first signal,” Cal Poly Humboldt professor Lori Dengler said.
Japan was able to alert most residents seconds before the primary shaking began, detecting on the ground.
A tsunami warning was issued for the country’s west coast region and for South Korea as a result. In the event of a tsunami heading our way, we also would receive all the way from Palmer, Alaska.
“If it’s a real event, something were it’s gonna be a warning, the tsunami center in Alaska is going to analyze it and come to a conclusion about what a threat is and then send that out over the internet, to wireless emergency alerts through your cell phone, send it to us and then we forward it on to the emergency alert system,” National Weather Service meteorologist Ryan Alyward said.
Meaning the warning would air over the airwaves on TV and the radio.
The 2011 Japan Tahoku earthquake did trigger a tsunami that did affect the north coast.
“The 2011 tsunami was very damaging. It damaged the entire harbor and completely destroyed it in Crescent City and other harbors down south,” Alyward said.
The 2011 Crescent City tsunami resulted in one person being killed and more than $50 million dollars in damages. When it comes to the possibility of a quake on our end due to the japan quake, residents can rest a bit easier.
“From everything that we can see right now, from all of the data, there is a linkage in the global system, but an earthquake in Japan is unlikely to triggered event 100 or so kilometers from where the epicenter was,” Dengler said. “Our odds of having another strong earthquake here are now different than they were two weeks ago.”
Following the 7.5 magnitude quake were a series of aftershocks, including a 6.2 magnitude quake. These aftershocks could last in the area up to a year.
