 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Rare Tornado In Western Japan
Tokyo (AFP) April 4, 2007 A rare tornado swept Japan's coast Wednesday as the nation was swamped by rain and hail, causing no injuries but bringing the beloved cherry blossom season closer to the end, officials said. The tornado twisted on the Sea of Japan (East Sea) off the coast of Tottori prefecture, some 700 kilometers (430 miles) southwest of Tokyo, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. No casualties or damage were reported, said a prefectural official. "It was raining and hailing in the region when the tornado occurred, but fortunately it was on the water, not on the ground," he said. Damaging tornadoes are rare in Japan, although a twister in November killed nine construction workers on the northern island of Hokkaido. The Tottori region sees about one tornado a year, the official said. Tokyo was also hit by around two hours of intense rain and hail, drenching the capital with 20 milliliters of rain hitting the capital, the Meteorological Agency said. The rain blew off some of the remaining blossoms from cherry trees, which were already expected to fall by early next week. Millions of Japanese wine and dine each year at parties under the cherry trees, enjoying the sight of their delicate but short-lived blossoms.
Source: Agence France-Presse Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links Bring Order To A World Of Disasters A world of storm and tempest Bringing Order To A World Of Disasters When the Earth Quakes A world of storm and tempest
Media Bias Distorts Details Of Past Earthquakes
El Cerrito CA (SPX) Apr 09, 2007The story of some violent historic earthquakes may need to be revisited, according to a study published in the April issue of the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (BSSA). Seismologists rely on written accounts, mostly local newspaper articles, to judge how strongly the ground shook during earthquakes that predate the use of current instrumentation. Those news accounts have proven to be misleading, say scientists, and reliance upon them must be tempered when evaluating the size of past earthquakes. |
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2006 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA PortalReports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additionalcopyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |
