[Buzz123]

Originally Posted by Tiger Beer

I'm in northern Japan, about 180km from the epicenter.

Fortunately I am on the 'Sea of Japan' side of Japan, and NOT the 'Pacific Ocean' side where the tsunami devastated things.

That being said, that was a huge quake. We've been getting pretty big aftershocks all day long....11 hours later. Sirens seem to be going on quite a bit.

Been a long day! Thought I'd report since this is an earthquake thread, this is a forum I visit - the Las Vegas one, and I'm in Japan.

So are you saying that the aftershocks are being felt all over the country of Japan? From what I heard it sounds like the aftershocks are worse than the Northridge Quake near LA was.

I don't think anyone is completely safe from earthquakes anywhere in the world.

[olecapt]

Originally Posted by Buzz123

So are you saying that the aftershocks are being felt all over the country of Japan? From what I heard it sounds like the aftershocks are worse than the Northridge Quake near LA was.

I don't think anyone is completely safe from earthquakes anywhere in the world.

two units on the richter scale is about 1000 times more energy...that is the rough difference to the NorthRidge quake. Have to be a hell of a ride...I did the Northridge quake from 15 miles or so.

[JonathanLB]

Yeah I'm calling BS on the UNLV thing -- Las Vegas is NOT an earthquake zone. California is an earthquake zone. The chances of any significant quakes in Vegas is extremely low. I wouldn't even bother wasting money on earth quake insurance there and also I don't believe there would be any structural damage to most buildings as the quality of architecture in the city is high because of mostly new building standards and new buildings. I guess houses are always vulnerable, but they are cheap and basically dime a dozen, the actual office buildings, Strip buildings, condo buildings, etc. are pretty rock solid.

[kimba01]

Originally Posted by JonathanLB

Yeah I'm calling BS on the UNLV thing -- Las Vegas is NOT an earthquake zone. California is an earthquake zone. The chances of any significant quakes in Vegas is extremely low. I wouldn't even bother wasting money on earth quake insurance there and also I don't believe there would be any structural damage to most buildings as the quality of architecture in the city is high because of mostly new building standards and new buildings. I guess houses are always vulnerable, but they are cheap and basically dime a dozen, the actual office buildings, Strip buildings, condo buildings, etc. are pretty rock solid.

I guess, then, you would really not have to worry about your real estate dropping then, huh?

Er...I mean going down in value...

[Tiger Beer]

Originally Posted by Buzz123

So are you saying that the aftershocks are being felt all over the country of Japan? From what I heard it sounds like the aftershocks are worse than the Northridge Quake near LA was.

I don't think anyone is completely safe from earthquakes anywhere in the world.

Actually I am in Niigata, Japan (which is northern Japan).

My profile location says 'Osaka', but I'm up in Niigata.

[ragabnh]

Originally Posted by JonathanLB

Yeah I'm calling BS on the UNLV thing -- Las Vegas is NOT an earthquake zone. California is an earthquake zone. The chances of any significant quakes in Vegas is extremely low. I wouldn't even bother wasting money on earth quake insurance there and also I don't believe there would be any structural damage to most buildings as the quality of architecture in the city is high because of mostly new building standards and new buildings. I guess houses are always vulnerable, but they are cheap and basically dime a dozen, the actual office buildings, Strip buildings, condo buildings, etc. are pretty rock solid.

I agree with you, further most of the infrastructure in Las Vegas has been designed for zone 3 Earthquakes which is conservative, timber building behave very well in Earthquakes and the recently built multistory buildings should have been designed to withstand ground movements.

[SonOfHender]

Originally Posted by tortoise

There is this internet search thing called Google.

Whatever.

[MadManofBethesda]

Originally Posted by JonathanLB

Yeah I'm calling BS on the UNLV thing -- Las Vegas is NOT an earthquake zone. California is an earthquake zone. The chances of any significant quakes in Vegas is extremely low.

LOL. Do you also call BS on the U.S. Geological Service?

Nevada

While LV doesn't compare to CA, it is in Zone 2 on a scale of 1-4, with 4 being highest risk. BTW, the top three earthquake-vulnerable states in the entire US are, in order: AK, CA, NV. (And, yes, I understand that LV isn't in the riskiest area of NV.)

Originally Posted by JonathanLB

I wouldn't even bother wasting money on earth quake insurance there and also I don't believe there would be any structural damage to most buildings as the quality of architecture in the city is high because of mostly new building standards and new buildings. I guess houses are always vulnerable, but they are cheap and basically dime a dozen, the actual office buildings, Strip buildings, condo buildings, etc. are pretty rock solid.

You do understand, don't you, that one purchases earthquake insurance to protect their investment in their "cheap and basically dime-a-dozen" house, not to protect office buildings and Strip hotels, right?

So, I can spend a few hundred dollars a year to protect my house (just as I do for fire and other hazard insurance on it), or I can risk tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars if a 1:9 chance earthquake hits.

[Buzz123]

Originally Posted by Tiger Beer

Actually I am in Niigata, Japan (which is northern Japan).

My profile location says 'Osaka', but I'm up in Niigata.

And here I thought you were a newcomer to Las Vegas. Isn't the internet amazing?

[Buzz123]

Originally Posted by MadManofBethesda

LOL. Do you also call BS on the U.S. Geological Service?

Nevada

While LV doesn't compare to CA, it is in Zone 2 on a scale of 1-4, with 4 being highest risk. BTW, the top three earthquake-vulnerable states in the entire US are, in order: AK, CA, NV. (And, yes, I understand that LV isn't in the riskiest area of NV.)




You do understand, don't you, that one purchases earthquake insurance to protect their investment in their "cheap and basically dime-a-dozen" house, not to protect office buildings and Strip hotels, right?

So, I can spend a few hundred dollars a year to protect my house (just as I do for fire and other hazard insurance on it), or I can risk tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars if a 1:9 chance earthquake hits.

Not disagreeing with you, but your money would be better spent on flood insurance since the chance of water damage is much higher than that of earthquake damage. I don't know, maybe we're due for an earthquake, but we've never had one, unless you count the one that happened south of here in California several years ago. I did feel that one, but it was more like a sudden blast than any shaking. We thought a truck had hit a light pole.

As far as the tall buildings here in Las Vegas, I don't know if they still have them, but during the Test Site years they had seismograph machines in many tall buildings around town to measure the "quakes" caused by the underground nuclear bomb blasts. Those buildings are also built to naturally sway, I guess due to wind, and measured in feet I understand.