M 7.4 earthquake – 100 km ENE of Miyako, Japan (earthquake.usgs.gov)
96 points by Someone 3 hours ago
piazz 2 hours ago
Felt it all the way in Tokyo!
There is this amazing app called NERV that, whenever there is a large earthquake anywhere in Japan, sends you an early warning push notification and an animated display with shockwaves emanating from the epicenter, plus a countdown timer for the first wave hitting you. The first it went off for me it felt like something out of sci-fi. I think I got 45 seconds this time before my apartment started shaking.
Aboutplants an hour ago
45 seconds is an incredible accomplishment. That’s a decent amount of heads up to get safer place. Obviously nerve wracking but great progress in alerts
petterroea 14 minutes ago
It sounds impressive but it's worth considering that this was a large quake that was felt by basically half of the country. You do not get this much warning if you are anywhere near where damage happens.
The 45 seconds is better thought of as the time it takes for the quake to propagate to Tokyo
strangegecko 26 minutes ago
Yeah. That's leagues better than what I get in Taiwan. The alert often arrives when the building is shaking or even after. I've never had a meaningful headstart.
konart an hour ago
>NERV
Does it play appropriate Evangelion OST track depending on magnitude though?
roer an hour ago
It is straight up the same NERV, so it might.
From the site:
> The name and logo of "NERV" are used with the explicit permission of khara Inc., the copyright holder of the "Evangelion" series, and Groundworks Corporation, which manages the rights to the series.
azath92 41 minutes ago
Tor3 an hour ago
I didn't feel a thing a bit south of Nagoya. Almost strange that there was nothing here, when you got shaking in Tokyo.
kzrdude an hour ago
How do you use your 45 seconds?
klempner 43 minutes ago
At 45 seconds, load up social media. (although I actually missed the warnings this time, was focused on work) At least assuming the number is only 7.x.
If it were 8+ or somewhat closer, I'd get under my desk. (then pull up social media on my phone)
fennecbutt 33 minutes ago
piazz an hour ago
If it's a big one and it's near you, you'd move away from the windows and heavy things that can fall, I suppose?
For me I always just turn on iPhone screen recording and marvel at this amazing app and wish we had something like this in California.
nilslindemann 13 minutes ago
gosub100 9 minutes ago
Stop any trains. Open elevators at nearest floor.
tristanj 2 hours ago
The earthquake magnitude was revised up to a 7.7
No major tsunami is expected, local media reported initial waves were recorded as high as 40cm. The Japan Meteorological Agency forecasted up to 3m (10ft) waves.
I don't believe this earthquake is a big deal. Large earthquakes (M7.0+) happen in Japan several times a year, and given this happened in the middle of the ocean, I don't expect any major damage.
klempner an hour ago
Yes, this is definitely only a medium deal, given that the tsunamis were mild. There is the usual concern that it might be a foreshock for a bigger quake but that's fairly unlikely.
Plenty of disruption (including a bunch of the shinkansen lines) and annoying evacuation up on the coast.
I will say that this was the longest swaying I've felt in my Kawasaki tower mansion apartment since moving here three years ago -- things were still moving about 5 minutes after it started.
pezezin 2 hours ago
I live in Aomori (Northernmost prefecture of Honshu) and we got the warning before the earthquake arrived by all the cellphones in the office going crazy at the same time. It was kind of funny, because we have a lot of new guys here who have never been to Japan before and it was their first earthquake ever xD
fungi an hour ago
was reading in a park in suburban tokyo a few years ago, notifications arrived for the noto peninsula earthquake.
kids in the park stared doing wobbly knee dance :D
felt the quake about 30sec later.
pezezin an hour ago
The one in 2024? I was in Tokyo at that time but we didn't get any notification nor felt anything :/
whatsupdog 2 hours ago
How much warning did you get? I mean in minutes or seconds?
asutekku 2 hours ago
Depends on the location, the alert comes usually as soon as the initial tremors are registered. If you're at the epicenter, tough luck. For example, for me in Tokyo, the alert came 2 minutes before it hit, and even then, the actual earthquake was extremely subtle.
pezezin an hour ago
felixding an hour ago
I live in Tokyo. Today's quake felt pretty strong (maybe because I was on the 14th floor) and lasted a while. Haven't felt one this big in months.
thomascountz an hour ago
Ruby Kaigi[1] starts soon in Hakodate, across the Tsugaru Strait in southern Hokkaido, ~200–250 km away. I hope everyone stays safe.[2]
[1]: https://rubykaigi.org/2026/
[2]: https://www.japan.travel/en/japan-safe-travel-information/ts...
CodeCompost an hour ago
Is this the Richter scale? I thought it was obsolete.
azepoi an hour ago
It is not. It's the moment magnitude scale
donw 2 hours ago
This one was weird, too, like being on a boat in mildly choppy water, not a violent shake at all.
mkl an hour ago
In my experience (NZ) that means it was strong but distant.