Japan quake magnitude raised to 9.0

Japan's Meteorological Agency says the magnitude of Friday's earthquake that hit the Pacific coast of northeastern Japan was 9.0 instead of 8.8 as earlier announced.

The agency made the correction on Sunday morning after analyzing seismic waves and other data. The magnitude is equivalent to that of the 2004 earthquake off Sumatra, Indonesia, which triggered massive tsunamis in the Indian Ocean.

The agency says the focal zone of Friday's quake was about 500-kilometers long and 200-kilometers wide. Destructive movement along the fault continued for more than 5 minutes.

The Meteorological Agency says only 4 other quakes in the world have recorded magnitudes of 9 or over.

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/13_21.html

Loma Prieta and Northridge were not even close to this. The estimates for the 1906 Quake doesn't even remotely compare. These are the ones we have of real recent memory. The Prince William Sound quake was in the 60s, I believe.

Just unbelievable stuff.