STRANGE CREATURES IN DEBRIS

Debris dragged out to sea by the 3/2011 tsunami arrived on the other side of the Pacific Ocean bringing unfamiliar creatures as well as concerns that invasive species will threaten ecosystems on the West Coast of the United States.

A 20-meter-long pier was swept away by the tsunami from the fishing port of Aomori, and arrived on a beach near Newport, Oregon more than a year later in June, 2012, bringing with it many species of marine life native to Japan.

Locals who flocked to see the unexpected arrival were shocked, not only by the immense size of the pier but also by the many species that had hitched a ride, which included sea chestnuts, crabs, sea anemones, starfish and oysters. Marine Science Center counted more than 90 species.

Among the new arrivals from Japan are wakame seaweed and crab species that are highly reproductive, more so than Oregon's indigenous varieties. They are considered invasive species that could have an unwelcome impact on local ecosystems and the locals tried to destroy all the specimens with blowtorches.

The debris that has already reached U.S. shores is only a tiny fraction of the total. The Environment Ministry believes about 1.5 million tons of debris were dragged out to sea by the March 11, 2011 tsunami, and the ministry calculated that about 41,300 tons will arrive over time, meaning that U.S. communities should probably expect more unwelcome Japanese sea life.

Source: Yomiuri News

 There is something infinitely worse than 1.5 million tons of debris. It is the muck that human beings carry around in their bosoms.

Proverbs 30:12 There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness.


The Bible urges us to get rid of the sin in our hearts.

Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. James 1:21


Our sin is an abomination in the sight of a holy God.
Only the shed Blood of Jesus Christ can wash our sins away.

 Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;...  Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
Isaiah 1:16, 18

Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.... Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.  Psalms 51: 2, 7


Please do not put off knowing for sure on anything of such eternal importance! Accept the salvation of the Lord today!!

NEW QUAKE SYSTEM

The next-generation K supercomputer was ranked as the world's fastest computer in June and November 2011. A University of Tokyo research team has developed a system that will use a next-generation supercomputer to simultaneously predict tremors, tsunami and movements in the Earth's crust after a massive earthquake occurs.

The team, led by Takuto Maeda, an associate professor at the University of Tokyo's Center of Integrated Disaster Information Research (CIDIR), has used the new system on a current-generation supercomputer, which almost succeeded in reconstructing the aftermath of the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11.

Predictions about tremors, tsunami and crust movements have been made separately in the past. But the system's simultaneous calculations are more likely to predict damage that would have been missed by separate findings, such as how a tsunami might impact an area where the ground level has sunk due to an earthquake.

Using the system, the team entered data of the March 11 earthquake, such as its magnitude and location, into the supercomputer. The supercomputer predicted seismic waves would occur throughout the nation within 10 minutes of the earthquake, a massive tsunami hitting coastal areas after about 30 minutes, and the subsiding of the Kanto and Sendai plains.

The system's usability was confirmed by its ability to make predictions that were very close to what occurred in the aftermath of the Great East Japan Earthquake. But the system was restricted by the processing power of the current-generation supercomputer. A large amount of data must be processed to simultaneously calculate crustal movements and tsunami. Current-generation supercomputers lack sufficient storage capacity to process these calculations, and therefore some data was skipped.

Despite this, the team has further developed the system to predict more accurate damage in anticipation for its use on the nation's next-generation supercomputer, known as K, which has a data storage capacity 100 times greater than the current generation, and will be available in autumn. As the system can be used to predict detailed damage caused by multiple disasters, the team is planning to analyze the effect of the simultaneous occurrence of three big earthquakes known as the Tokai, Tonankai and Nankai earthquakes.

Meanwhile, the University of Tokyo's Earthquake Research Institute is planning to develop another system for the K supercomputer from April that will analyze urban damage caused by earthquakes and tsunami, such as the collapse of buildings, and predict how certain regions should be evacuated. The research team also plans to collaborate with the institute.

Source: Yomiuri News

According to Scripture the biggest earthquakes are still ahead of us. We haven’t seen anything yet!

Should we then tremble with foreboding and fright?

Not at all -- if we belong to God.

 Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;

 Psa 46:2

Even if we stand at the cliff-edge of doom, we are fearless in Christ. He is well able to take care for us. Whether we live or die, we are His and to live is Christ and to die is Christ!

Tsunami Warning System

Tsunami two years on: Japan finally gets warning system that would have saved hundreds of lives

Two years after the Japanese earthquake and tsunami that killed thousands, the country has unveiled an improved warning system that could have saved hundreds of lives.

Operators at the Japan Meteorological agency checking the data of the seismic activity across Japan  Photo: Androniki Christodoulou

By Danielle Demetriou, Tokyo

8:48PM GMT 09 Mar 2013

When a dark, swirling tsunami swamped vast swathes of Japan's northeastern coastline on March 11 two years ago, sweeping away houses, cars and tangles of telephone poles, few were able to predict its near biblical scale.

Including, it seems, Japan's Meteorological Agency, which in the aftermath of the disaster was widely criticised for issuing a warning of a modest 10ft high tsunami – despite it reaching up to 131ft in places.

Now, as the nation prepares memorials on the second anniversary of the disaster for the 19,000 lost lives, the same agency unveiled its new Tsunami Warning System, designed to ensure that such an underestimation would not happen again.

Japan has long been famous as not only one of the world's most seismically active regions, with 100,000 earthquakes every year, but also as home to the most sophisticated disaster technology.

Since the installation of its first tsunami warning system in 1941, Japan has invested heavily in high-end technology developed in response to its experience of centuries of natural disasters. 

From undersea pressure sensors to mobile phone alarms ringing seconds before buildings even begin to shake, a raft of innovative technologically devices have put Japan at the forefront of disaster technology.
However, March 11, 2011 proved that even Japan did not have the means to deal with an incident on such a scale – the 9.0 earthquake being the largest ever recorded in Japan – prompting a two-year £25 million (3.5 billion yen) upheaval of its national disaster system.
"I think it is true to say that Japan has the world's highest quality systems in relation to issuing near shore tsunami warnings," said Takeshi Koizumi, a senior coordinator for international earthquake and tsunami information.
"This is not only because of our hardware or software, but because of Japan's experience.
"But we had not expected a 9-plus magnitude earthquake. On March 11, 2011, we followed procedures correctly and issued a tsunami warning in three minutes – but our first warning was underestimated. We have to learn from these experiences, which is why we have upgraded our systems."
The heartbeat of the nation's disaster response system is located in an anonymous grey office building in the Otemachi area of Tokyo, just a stone's throw from the green grounds of the Imperial Palace.
On the second floor, a corridor of dull strip lighting leads to double doors marked with a discrete sign reading "Seismological and Volcanological Department" but referred to by all workers more simply as the Operations Room.
Inside, shoes are replaced with black slippers before entering a wide low-ceiling space crammed with rows of dozens of computer screens emblazoned with colourful graphs, lists of figures and real time images of mountains and coastlines.
Digital clocks flash the time passing in seconds across the walls, with regular warning alarms filling the air alerting the workers, dressed in dark blue workman suits and hunched over computers, to changes in sensors.
This room is the epicentre of all natural disaster-related action in Japan, with teams of experts working around the clock monitoring every single earthly vibration and volcanic puff across the archipelago.
Explaining the new system – emblazoned across computer screens in colourful charts, lists and graphics – Mr Koizumi describes the technology aimed at increasing the speed and precision with which a tsunami can be predicted following a mega-quake.
Key is the multi-million pounds deployment of circular devices measuring known as Broadband Strong Motion Meters, which are being installed at 80 sites across Japan.
These devices measure a wide range of seismic waves triggered by an earthquake and unlike existing meters already in place in Japan, they have been designed with low sensitivity levels to avoid the problem of becoming saturated when an epic mega-earthquake strikes – as was the case on March 11.
Other cutting-edge devices include the installation of three strategically located offshore meters known as DARTs involving sophisticated pressure sensors stationed deep under the sea off the Pacific coast which send messages to floating buoys on the surface with information relating to approaching tsunamis.
The new system also includes an ongoing expansion of its existing network of seismic stations which are dotted around Japan's landscape, with a total of 261 already confirmed as in place compared to 221 at the time of the disaster two years ago.
A new long-life battery system has also been installed at seismic stations across the country, to avoid the problem of stations cutting out due to electricity blackouts caused by earthquakes – as was the case on March 11.
"Before, we had batteries that lasted only for three to four hours but the blackouts on March 11 lasted for a day – so one by one our seismic stations died on that day," said Mr Koizumi. "Our new battery system will mean they can last for three days in the case of a huge earthquake."
However, the new system is not without its challenges. In the case of mega-quakes, an accurate tsunami prediction may still take longer than three minutes, depending on a range of technical factors such as the length of the fault line or location.
As a result, the new technology is being reinforced by a major operational overhaul, to ensure that residents in high risk areas will always receive a serious tsunami warning within three minutes – if not with the exact height measurements, with the words either "kyodai" (huge) or "takai" (high).
"About 40 per cent of near shore tsunamis hit the Japanese coastline in 20 minutes after the earthquake," he said. "In some cases, it is less than five minutes. Three minutes is our target response time to issue warnings to the public.
"The first warning is most important but it must be issued within three minutes which means there can always be some ambiguity over its size."
For Mr Koizumi, the new tsunami system is clearly inspired by lessons learnt as a result of March 11 two years ago – a day whose events he recalls, like many people in Japan, with crystal clarity.
"I was working in my seventh floor office when the earthquake came," he said. "I was not expecting a 9.0 earthquake and it was clear that something extraordinary was happening.
"I held onto my computer system to prevent it from being damaged. Then when the jolting stopped, I ran down to the Operations room. It was very chaotic there. There were lots of people who had also arrived, including the director general. The first three minute tsunami warning had already been sent out. But this information was, as we know now, underestimated."
It was only the next day, however, that the full impact of the disaster apparently sunk in when he was sent to the region as part of a government investigation team into the disaster.
Pulling out a photograph of an expanse of empty land fringed by a dark sea, he said: "This is a photo I took of Rikuzentakata city from a helicopter the day after March 11," he said. "When we approached this area, I remember thinking, 'Oh, it's so clean here. There's nothing here.
"Then I realised that in this empty space, there used to be a city. The town was washed away. Out of a 16,640 population, 2,170 were dead or missing. No words can be used to describe this."
Mr Koizumi was cautious in attempting to quantify the new tsunami system in terms of the potential lives it could have saved two years ago or will be able to save in the future.
"We must always be prepared to update and upgrade our tsunami warning systems based on real cases in order to minimise casualties," he added.

 Telegraph News United Kingdom

Although there have been ways to know what might come as the result of an earthquake, we do not know when we will die or Christ will come again!! When we die those that know Him personally because they have received Christ as their Savior will be taken to heaven! Those that have not received the gift of salvation will have eternity in hell. 

There is a warning system that tells all the world this end result: it's called the Bible!! In it you can see the future foretold for all mankind.  And in it, the way of escaping hell is fully explained. All one has to do is read, follow it and receive it.  Will you do that if you haven't received Christ yet? You can begin by reading in the book of John!  

It is wonderful that there is a way for escaping a tsunami before it comes. It is more wonderful when we also know the way of escaping eternity in hell.  

Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me."  (John 14:6)  He also said:

  " I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:  And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?" (John 11:25, 26)