So - for those of you in Japan - how big was it? I am hearing alot about a major power plant that took some damage.  Any news?

Certainly not nearly as large as the earthquake in Ishikawa-ken earlier this year, but it did do a lot of damage. I didn't feel anything, though I live about 300 km from the impact site.

This year has been pretty mild for earthquakes overall... but I did feel that one on Monday morning.  It was pretty gentle rocking, but lasted quite a bit.  I was in Chiba prefecture at the time.  Then that evening there was another one that apparently was centered in Hokkaido that I felt at home and seemed a lot stronger to me than the morning one.  That didn't make the news, though.  Anyway, no damage or anything, and am safe.

I live in Northern Osaka, and I've seen dozens of earthquake reports and typhoons and floods and everything on the news, but none of it has bothered me over here so far. The Japanese are very skilled at making a fuss over nothing.

Ouch! If they were fussy about anything I wish it be bootleggers.

I used to live in California, where Earthquake's were relatively frequent...granted California is pretty big...Sounds as if Earthquake's (and other natural disasters) are more frequent in Japan.

Glad you folks are safe and thx for the info

Don't/didn't you have something like geography in school?

Sure about 20 years ago...Where did you learn how to respond to posts on a message board?

i used to kick ass in 9th grade geography class in '88,,, playing the end of katamari damashii was a wakeup call... i didnt recognize a lot of those countries i was rolling up... damn the end of the cold war always making me look bad..

I live in Nara (about an hour from Osaka) and yeah, evidently the earthquake on Monday rocked houses around here pretty hard (though I didn't hear of any damage), but I was on the streets of Kyoto at the jam-packed Gion Festival so I didn't even feel a thing.

- Justin

Dude you are just asking for bad karma saying something like that.  Some of these typhoons and floods and quakes are a very big deal for the people they affect, and you should count yourself lucky to have not been among them thus far.

Well, where I went to school in geography we got to learn about plate tectonics where Japan is the primary example for convergent boundaries suffering regular earthquakes due to that. Japan is also regularly affected by typhoons. And for "regularly" I'd wager to say most often for any country of such size. Actually I first heard of Japan that way, and I'm considering that kind of knowledge pretty basic, especially since it also played an important part in Japan's history and culture. Your above post seemed off considering how Japan-focussed this board is, thus my innocent question. =P

The only difference between California and Japan is that Japan is in less danger. It's already broken off.

"Can't we all just get along"  ;-)

Thanks for the information

Eh? Broken off from what?

Mainland USA - it's been said by how many experts that CA will eventually and/or gradually (not sure which word you want to use) break away from the continental United States. Isn't CA's boarder pretty much on a fault line?

I'll be moving to Ashiya next week, which is right between Osaka and Kobe.  Supposedly the southern part of the city was destroyed in the Great Hanshin earthquake of 1995. but has since been reconstructed.  Hopefully I'll be able to avoid that kind of disaster during my stay.

Two differences: California is bigger, and Japan didn't break off but surfaced due to the convergent boundaries.

what did one tectonic plate say to the other tectonic plate when it bumped into him....

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" my fault"

... sorry,,, i made that joke up back in the mid 90s when i was doing the 3rd shift grocery store stocking...

Californians on Earthquakes -

"Oh look..the grounds opening up, there goes my house, there goes my wife and kids...it's Miller time"

So I see San Fran had a 4.2 rumble.

AP:

Other than the fact that Japan didn't "break off", like Datschge already said, you are also obviously unaware of the fact that Geology experts have been anxiously awaiting a huge earthquake in the Kanto area for some time now.
Japan is in plenty of danger, no mistake about that.

Just not from Typhoons

I'm in Tokyo and it shook quite a bit here, even being about 175 km away. But of course, I live on the fifth floor of my apartment building, so I can feel even minor earthquakes with the saway.
As for damage, it is as bad as the Ishikawa earthquake if not worse with nearly 10 deaths and and around 1900 injured.
A friend of mine was home at his parents house in Niigata and told me it was very bad and that while thankfully no one in his family was injured, a lot of furniture overturned and things were broken.

The only sucky thing about Japan is just about virtually everywhere is "forecasted" to be hit with a M7 earthquake in the next 30 years.  Particularly the Kanto region (Greater Tokyo area and surrounding prefectures) and the Tokai region (Nagoya area, Aichi pref)
Basically I'm living in a timebomb I guess