Still Geologically Moving

Japan suffered from another major earthquake in northern Nagano prefecture in the late night on Friday. The quake shook Nagano city and some small village around with sixth degree, which was equivalent to what most cities in Tohoku experienced in the East Japan Great Earthquake three years ago. The suffered cities were within the area where great earthquakes had been occurring repeatedly. It reminded the Japanese people of the fact that they were living on the nest of earthquakes.

Japan Meteorological Agency announced that the quake occurred ten kilometers deep in northern Nagano area with the magnitude of 6.7. According to research of the prefectural government by Monday, forty-four injured and one hundred forty-one houses were destroyed by the quake. Nagano Prefectural Office named the quake “Kamishiro Fault Earthquake in Nagano Prefecture.”

The quake broadly affected transportation system. Bullet trains of Tohoku, Nagano, Joestu, Yamagata, Akita and Tokaido temporarily stopped right after the quake. Warning buzz rang in the second, third, fourth and sixth buildings of Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant owned by Tokyo Electric Power Company. Fortunately enough, there was no leak of cooling water in the pool for used nuclear fuel rods.

Geologists were suddenly dispatched to northern Nagano. They found continuous upheaval with eighty centimeters high and one kilometer long along with Kamishiro Fault. The fault, affiliated to Itoigawa-Shizuoka Tectonic Line, is known as highly active. The upheaval was created by pushing power from both sides of the fault. Geospatial Information Authority announced that land surface around the hypocenter moved twenty-nine centimeters to southeastward and sank by twelve centimeters.

Experts have named the area around Kamishiro Fault “concentrated distortions belt.” With moves of earth’s crust, pushing power comes from both east and west. There is an enormous number of active faults underground of the area. After the great earthquake in March 2011, possibility of earthquake in Nagano area, as well as other area, was thought to be increased.

Measures for disaster prevention have been nothing more than building quake-proof houses and offices. Tax money has been poured into renovation of buildings or developing new technology. This is the limitation of the politics of Liberal Democratic Party. They have a little idea to make viable evacuation plan, as seen in their nuclear energy policy. They need to change their mind from going forward to looking back a while.