How Many More Earthquakes Can Japan Take?

One month ago today the island of Honshu in Japan was hit by the most powerful earthquake recorded there, triggering a huge tsunami which resulted in the death of tens of thousands of people.

Although the Japanese building codes allow for the fact that earthquakes are common in this part of the world, with the islands of Japan situated on the western side of the Ring Of Fire, most of the tremors that occur are fairly minor and do little or no damage.

The major earthquake of 11^th April 2011 however, although it caused only minor damage to most modern buildings, when combined with the effects of the tsunami, created a major nuclear alert with explosions at multiple power plants, the problems still being worked on today, with radiation still leaking from the crippled power plant at Fukushima.

Only the major earthquakes are usually reported on the news, however would you be surprised to know that so far today, as well as yet another large earthquake that measured 6.6 there have been 3 others that measured 5 and over.

Tremors measuring 5 and over have been an almost daily occurrence since 11^th April, and today there have been 13 tremors in Honshu measuring at least 2 on the Richter Scale.

With so many tremors, and what seems to be an increase in earthquake activity in the last several years, one wonders just how much more the Japanese people can take.

Obviously most of them are rooted to their native region, with the lack of money or other resources to be able to move, but people can only take so much, and almost certainly many families who lost everything as a result of the tsunami that followed the earthquake in March 2011 must be thinking of up rooting themselves to an area of Japan that is further from the coast.

More Japanese are likely to be considering moving overseas, where the scope for natural disasters like earthquakes are far less. Certainly between the damage that has been caused to the Japanese economy by the earthquakes and tsunami, the damage that has been done to Japanese industry must be significant and also long lasting.

Despite an increase in earthquakes recently though, is this causing concern for those who live in areas that are prone to earthquakes?

I have yet to see any articles that indicate people outward bound from major American cities like Los Angeles or San Francisco, however these are both long overdue for "the big one" to hit. This could come today, tomorrow, or it might be 10 years from now or longer, but the people know it is coming.

Between natural disasters and the acknowledged rising in sea levels, could there be a trend, no matter how small, for people who are taking the opportunity while they can to relocate to areas that are safer. Should you be a forward thinking person, relocating your family now rather than in a few years time ought to provide you with the opportunity to acquire a place to live at a reasonable price.

Should the threat of sea levels beginning to rise increase, and this triggers a mass exodus of people from coastal areas that are at risk from this and from tsunamis that may be triggered by increasing numbers of earthquakes, the availability of land in the "safe zones" may be limited as well as being beyond the financial reach of many.

Meantime, today saw just another earthquake in Japan, but 5 that measured more than 3 on the Richter Scale in Nevada, and 3 more in Mexico. Should you be concerned? Food for thought maybe...

Sources:

BBC News

The Daily Telegraph

See Also:

Japan is the Latest Country to Be Hit by a Huge Earthquake

Should We Be Concerned About Increased Major Earthquakes Around the World

Earthquakes: How Much Do You Know About the Aftershocks in Christchurch?