Japan earthquake disaster: Geophysicists create animation showing sequence of quakes

ScienceDaily (2011-03-16) -- The earthquake disaster on March 11, 2011 was an event of the century not only for Japan. With a magnitude of Mw = 8.9, it was one of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded worldwide. Two days before, a strong foreshock with a magnitude Mw = 7.2 took place almost exactly at the breaking point of the tsunami-earthquake. Geophysicists in Germany have now created an animation that shows the sequence of quakes since March 9.