In was reported that the earthquake off Japan was followed by a series of intense aftershocks. The largest earthquake at the time had a magnitude of 9.0 (earlier reported as 8.9) and caused the 23-foot (or 7 meter) tsunami.
Details of the earthquakes can be found at the USGS web site in Related Links below.
Within a few hours after the earthquake, there had already been 19 aftershocks reported. Aftershocks do continue, but they are decreasing in intensity.
News reports have said there were at least 50 aftershocks so far.
Hundreds, and they're still going!
We live in Northern Japan, and we have been tracking them on the USGS site. It only tracks 4.5 or greater for Japan. As of 9:30 pm local time on the 24th of March, here is our "quake count"
811 earthquakes in Japan, starting the count with the 7.3 on March 9th, 2011. (many of them have been determined to be "preshocks")
803 of them have been off the Eastern coast of Honshu, in the region of "the big one".
401 have been 5.0 or greater
47 have been 6.0 or greater
This is because earthquakes and tremors are common in Japan. That triggers tsunamis to occur
As seen Recently on the telly there has been a huge earthquake of the coast of Japan. So Earthquakes are most common near the coast of Japan. I may not be correct as I have relied on the TV.
more than a thousand each year
they ruin that particular place
The USGS detected 22,256 earthquakes in the year 2000 although they estimate that a much larger number occur (> 1,000,000) than can be detected as the vast majority of earthquakes are very small and occur far away from seismometer stations.
One 8.9 Magnitude and about 100 6.0 Aftershocks
Japan gets over 1000 earthquakes a year. So it is likely that there was more than that hit during that period of time, however if one did hit it would have probably been marked as an aftershock.
A bunch of aftershocks followed by a huge sunami
On Thursday March 10, 2011 a series of aftershocks rattled Japan (including a magnitude 6.6 quake) after the magnitude 7.3 quake hit the northeastern Honshu island March 9, said the Japan Meteorological Agency. On March 11, 2011 alone, there were 200+ aftershocks. From the 9.0 magnitude earthquake on Friday March 11 05:46:23 UTC until March 31 midnight there were approximately 2,806 earthquakes ranging in magnitude 3.9 through 7.9. As of August 10 there were 4,308 earthquakes in or near Japan for year 2011 according to the USGS earthquake data (not including small quakes under M 3.0) with March the most active month of the year. That's on average over earthquakes 19 per day.
This is because earthquakes and tremors are common in Japan. That triggers tsunamis to occur
Because the island of Japan lies in an area where several plates meet, it has experienced frequent earthquakes. Earthquakes are caused by the release of energy or seismic waves when these plates move. See the related links below for a list of earthquakes that have hit Japan in the past. The most recent earthquake and biggest to ever hit Japan occured March 11, 2011 and measured 8.9 on the Richter scale.
The recent magnitude 9.0 earthquake hit northern Japan on Friday March 11, 2011.Related resources:List of earthquakes in JapanToday's Earthquakes in Japan
On March 11, 2011 in Japan they had an earthquake and a tsunami. A magnitude 9.0 earthquake rocked Japan at 2:46 p.m. local time followed by many aftershocks. The major earthquake struck about 15 miles. Also because of the earthquake and the aftershocks a tsunami was set off. The earthquake occurred off the coast of Honshu. It was the strongest earthquake to ever hit Japan. It was one of the top five largest recorded earthquakes in the world. The waves of the tsunami were as high as 35 feet. This was reported in several different Northern regions of Japan. There were 8,649 people who were confirmed dead, 21,911 people who are still missing till this day. There were 19 aftershocks reported
First reason the "earthquake" in Japan on March 11, 2011 so was deadly because it was preceded and followed by many other earthquakes nearly equally as damaging. On Thursday March 10 a series of aftershocks rattled Japan (including a magnitude 6.6 quake) after the magnitude 7.3 quake hit the northeastern Honshu island March 9, said the Japan Meteorological Agency. On March 11 alone, there were 200+ aftershocks. From the 9.0 magnitude earthquake on Friday March 11 05:46:23 UTC until March 31 midnight there were approximately 2,806 earthquakes ranging in magnitude 3.9 through 7.9. Second, the large 9.0 earthquake triggered the massive tsunami that devastated large parts of the Japan coast.
Japan is hit because its it right next to two Tectonic Plates that constantly rub up against each other.
No. It is only one of many times that an earthquake and tsunami have hit Japan. Earthquakes in subduction zones such as the one of the coast of Japan often trigger tsunamis. The March 2011 earthquake, at magnitude 9.0, was the strongest on record in Japan though.
As seen Recently on the telly there has been a huge earthquake of the coast of Japan. So Earthquakes are most common near the coast of Japan. I may not be correct as I have relied on the TV.