Thanks to Kuma Visit for this useful information.
2016-04-15 17:47 JST 2016 Thanks to Kuma Visit for this useful information. ↗ View original post on Facebook For a link to the original post on Facebook, open this page on a computer. Reactions: 8 · Comments: 0 ← 2016-04-15 17:10 JST 2016-04-15 18:19 JST → Around this time … 2016-04-15 18:19 JSTAs a result of posts I had been making here on Kumamoto International, I was interviewed by New Zealand's TV3. -- KirkP.S. When I started talking I didn't realize that this would be seen by many, many people. I should have tidied up my room and closed the closet doors you see in the back. :)http://www.newshub.co.nz/world/damage-and-devastation-following-japan-quake-2016041518#axzz45stNWZZYDamage and devastation following Japan quake 2016-04-15 19:18 JSTWilliam here.There was a question regarding the history of seismic activity in Kumamoto. The link below is a handy chart to earthquake location and estimated magnitude over the last 150 years or so. As you can see, this was the largest quake in the region since the 1890s. http://www.jishin.go.jp/main/yosokuchizu/kyushu-okinawa/p43_kumamoto.jpg 2016-04-15 20:00 JSTThe BBC tweeted a couple of the photos I took today.-- Kirk 2016-04-15 19:36 JSTI am pleased to report that our own William Baerg, who has been doing lots of good work recently as a co-editor of the page, was interviewed about the earthquake by the BBC. Unfortunately, I missed his introduction and his first few words but I got most of it. I'm posting it as a video because it's been my experience that Facebook doesn't allow audio posts.By the way, nice job William!-- Kirk 2016-04-15 18:27 JSTHere are some stills from the TV3 segment I introduced a minute ago, including one of yours truly.-- KirkThe video can be found at http://www.newshub.co.nz/world/damage-and-devastation-following-japan-quake-2016041518#axzz45stNWZZY 2016-04-15 17:47 JSTThanks to Kuma Visit for this useful information. (this post) 2016-04-15 17:10 JSTAs I posted earlier, I went to the Mashiki area today to see if there was anything I might do. I asked people I happened to meet if they had enough water and other supplies. I thought I might ride my bicycle to a store to get some supplies for them. What I wound up doing was going to the Mashiki-machi Town Hall (yakuba), picking up supplies that were being handed out free of charge, and delivering them to people for whom it would have been a bit of hardship to walk all the way to the town hall and back.I did this for four families. My impression is that the town hall will have enough supplies but that getting them to people who are not very mobile may be a problem. If you can meet the following conditions, you might want to consider doing what I did -- making your way to Mashiki and going through the neighborhood offering to fetch supplies for people from the town hall:* You can converse in Japanese or go with someone who can converse in Japanese (you need to able to ask the people what they need and explain what you can do on their behalf).* You can get to Mashiki without trying to park a car in Mashiki (congestion is a real problem -- if you can get to Mashiki via bicycle that would probably be best).* You are healthy and can handle the physical exertion required to move back and forth between residential areas either on foot or a bicycle, preferably a mountain bike with big tires.* You understand that the work may be dangerous (there is a lot of broken glass, rubble, opening and breaks in the pavement and there are also dangers of aftershocks, etc.).While I was there I asked about formally organized volunteer efforts but was told that nothing had been put together yet.-- Kirk 2016-04-15 13:04 JSTWilliam here. I'll post over the next few days a bit more information about the Futagawa fault (布田川断層) and the geology of Kumamoto in general as recent events may have piqued interest in this area. This is an active fault zone that extends from Uto peninsula to the western slope of the Aso somma with a length of about 64km. It is a right-lateral strike-slip fault, which means that it creates raised areas on the southeast side - hence, Kumamoto Airport - and also the Tateno gap (立野火口瀬, たてのかこうせ）, without which the Aso caldera would be a large lake. Today, I'd like to introduce some Japanese mythology about how ancient people devised an explanation for the gap's existence: the legend of Takeiwatasunomikoto (健磐龍命 - don't even try to deal with this kanji). He was said to be the grandson of the legendary first emperor of Japan, Jinmu, and chose Aso as his home due to its location in the center of Kyushu. After marrying the daughter of a local god, Asotsuhime, and settling in Takamori, he pondered how to turn the caldera, which at the time was a lake, into a lush agricultural area, and while pondering and wandering with his wife, she gave birth at the base of a mountain now called Ubuyama (産山, "birth mountain"). He then proceeded a bit further and struck the caldera outer rim with such force that it created Tateno gap. Fatherhood might do that to one.As the water flowed out of the caldera, he noticed that it was not being replenished, and upon investigation, found that a giant catfish was blocking the flow. (Note that catfish are harbingers of earthquakes in Japan.) This is where things get a bit difficult to believe. Takeiwatasunomikoto tied the catfish by its nostrils with vines to some boulders at a spot in Ichinomiya now known as Hanaguriiwa (鼻ぐり岩, "nose-tying boulders"); the struggling catfish churned the river water, which is why the river is now known as Kurokawa (黒川, "black river"); and several deer came to see the water flowing from the caldera, which is why the waterfall is known as Sushikaryuketaki (数鹿流ヶ滝, "several deer waterfall"). The degree of credence you choose to attribute to these stories is entirely up to you. What is interesting, though, is the folklore behind the caldera, the absence of a lake, and earthquakes.http://www.aso-dm.net/?%E5%81%A5%E7%A3%90%E9%BE%8D%E5%91%BD健磐龍命 | 阿蘇ペディア 2016-04-15 10:03 JSTSara here. The Fukuoka branch of the US Consulate has contacted me asking to spread the word that if American citizens and their families are in need of any assistance, they can reach Dominic at the Fukuoka Consulate by calling 092-751-9331. If you need assistance after hours, please call the Tokyo Consulate at 03-3244-5000 and they will be able to connect you with the right people. Please continue to exercise caution during the following week as aftershocks are expected to continue. 2016-04-15 10:00 JSTPowerful earthquake in Japan leaves at least 10 injured 2016-04-15 09:01 JSTSadly, 9 people lost their lives in the earthquake and over 900 people have be injured. Castle walls have also been damaged, as you can see in these photos from NHK. The tiles (kawara) on the castle have also been damaged, but I image that repair will be relatively easy.