Category: Acts of Nature

Typhoon Melor is heading for an almost direct hit of Nagoya …. and I’m in the US on a business trip. I hope everything will be fine – I’m kind of sorry I won’t be there to experience it. It has the “snow day” kind of anticipatory feeling.

Another earthquake – this one closer so it felt bigger.  It was a 6.6 in Shizuoka, it felt like a 3 or 4 here.  Magnified of course by living on the 6th floor.  Also, looks like a 60 cm tsunamai in Izu as well.  Oh, and by the way, there is a typhoon hitting the same area at the same time.

At least this time I waited until AFTER the quake before I used Twitter.

In terms of damage, I have no idea.  We are seeing video from the TV news room in Shizuoka that shows stuff on the floor.  Typical earthquake footage.  And now grocery store images with drinks scattered on the floor.

Preliminary reports are 6.6 at 5:07 pm.  USGS says 6.4.

Of course, like California, Japan is very seismically active. There was indeed a 6.9 or 7.1 magnitude earthquake off the coast of Japan that definitely shook things up. Strangely, Tokyo felt it more than Nagoya although the epicenter was closer to Nagoya. I’ll have to check the fault lines.

I’m fine, Tomo is fine, and I’ve heard no reports of damage. I reported on it in Facebook, and Twitter, so now it seems my blog. Short of telephoning everyone I know or sending out a large email, I’ve done the best I can to communicate my status.

I remember one week in Mito in 2004 where we had the Niigata earthquake, a typhoon, and a volcano eruption in Gunma. Japan holds many surprises.

This year’s typhoon season seemed to be starting a little late. But now it seems we will get our first glancing blow of a tropical storm. Until Storm 10W (Ten), no storm had taken the turn up the coast of Japan. This looks like the first of the season. It doesn’t look like it will get to typhoon status, but it looks like we could get some pretty heavy rain. As always, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center provides good information, as does the JMA.

Here’s a picture of the path from the JTWC of Storm 10W (Ten).

All day today it looked like rain was right around the corner. Certainly western Japan is getting dumped on, but the wind seems to be moving the precipitation around Nagoya.

It is official, rainy season has been declared in Japan. Or at least my part of Japan. I am happy to report that it rained on the start day. There is a good chance of rain every day in the forecast.

I just wish I could find the official JMA announcement of the commencement of rainy season. How do you really know when rainy season starts and when it ends? What is the criteria used, and what is the vehicle for the announcement?