Typhoon Muifa Lashes Okinawa

Typhoon Muifa Lashes Okinawa

By Jim Andrews, Senior Meteorologist

Aug 4, 2011; 5:37 PM ET

Typhoon Muifa near Okinawa on Aug. 4, 2011. Japan Meteorological Agency image.

Typhoon Muifa whipped Okinawa with powerful winds and slashing rain on Thursday and will continue to do so through Friday.

Thursday night, local time, highest wind gusts were near hurricane threshold of 75 mph at Kadena Air Base. Winds topped 70 mph at Naha, the regional capital.

Rainfall was already more than 2 inches at Kadena.

The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) posted storm, high wave and storm surge warnings for Okinawa and neighboring smaller islands. Advisories were for heavy rain, floods and thunderstorms.

The center of Typhoon Muifa reached within 100 miles southeast of Naha on Thursday night, local time. Highest sustained winds were between 100 and 110 mph, based on information from the JMA and the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC).

Rainfall through Friday will reach 4 to 8 inches on Okinawa with highest wind gusts of 75 to 90 mph. Some flooding and wind damage will take place, although the worst of the storm's winds will stay south of the main population centers.

Beyond Okinawa, Muifa will cross the open East China Sea on Saturday before a possible Sunday landfall on eastern China.

http://www.accuweather.com/blogs/news/story/53342/typhoon-muifa-lashes-okinawa.asp

Gempa Guncang Jepang

Gempa 6,8 Skala Richter Guncang Jepang

SENIN, 17 AGUSTUS 2009 | 08:45 WIB

TOKYO, KOMPAS.com - Gempa bumi berkekuatan 6,8 Skala Richter mengguncangan pantai selatan Jepang, Senin (17/8). Kekuatan gempa telah memicu Badan Meteorologi Jepang mengeluarkan peringatan terjangan tsunami.

Gempa bumi mengguncang lepas pantai pulau Ishigaki, dekat pulau yang terletak di selatan Jepang, Okinawa, yang berada 1.600 kilometer selatan Tokyo. Pusat gempa bumi terletak sekitar 10 kilometer di dasar laut.

"Tidak terdapat fasilitas umum yang terganggu selama gempa bumi, seperti listrik, air serta gas," kata Naoto Ohtake, seorang personel polisi di Ishigaki. Naoto Ohtake belum dapat menginformasikan apakah terdapat korban jiwa atau kerusakan materi di pulau destinasi resor populer yang berpenduduk 40.000 jiwa itu.

Jepang merupakan salah satu wilayah di dunia yang sangat rawan diguncang gempa bumi. Guncangan gempa bumi di Jepang pada Januari 1995 telah menewaskan lebih dari 6.400 orang di kota pelabuhan Kobe, Jepang bagian barat.

JIM
Sumber : AP

http://internasional.kompas.com/read/xml/2009/08/17/0845303/Gempa.6.8.Skala.Richter.Guncang.Jepang