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All Forums >> [Current Games From Matrix.] >> [World War II] >> War In The Pacific - Struggle Against Japan 1941 - 1945 >> earthquake in vanuata 7.2

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earthquake in vanuata 7.2 - 8/1/2007 9:36:18 PM

waynec

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quake struck 1/2 hex (30 miles) se of santos. am i the only one whose first thought was my air bases and ships in the area?

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RE: earthquake in vanuata 7.2 - 8/1/2007 10:15:14 PM

Cuttlefish

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No, you aren't. I have that thought every time I see a quake in the Pacific. In fact a month or so ago I was looking at a USGS list of recent earthquakes of magnitude 4.5 or greater and noted quakes in the following locations during a one-week period:

- Fiji
- Honshu
- Santa Cruz Islands
- Hokkaido
- Aleutians
- Banda Sea
- Marianas Islands
- Mindanao
- Sulawesi
- Bonin Islands
- Ryukyu Islands

I wonder if either side had facilities affected by quakes during the war? I've never read of any, but perhaps WWII was a period of relative quiet in the Pacific, seismically speaking. Certainly there have been quakes over the last four years that might have had quite an effect had they occured back then.

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RE: earthquake in vanuata 7.2 - 8/1/2007 10:15:17 PM

niceguy2005

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Did a sizeable quake ever hit a base in the pacific. I can't think of a single incident. However, given the plate techtonics aroung the pacific rim it would not be unlikely.

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RE: earthquake in vanuata 7.2 - 8/1/2007 10:31:26 PM

pauk

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funny... when i was on hollidays on Adriatic coast, earthquake od maggnitude 4.7 happends in Zadar area... it wasnt pleasing experience...

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RE: earthquake in vanuata 7.2 - 8/1/2007 10:42:25 PM

wdolson

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Japan had a major earthquake on December7, 1944 which I know destroyed at least one engine plant. http://web.adrc.or.jp/management/JPN/majorearthquake.html

Japan has had their military fortunes disrupted twice by earthquakes. The 1923 quake destroyed the Amagi while under conversion which led to the Kaga being converted to an aircraft carrier.

Bill

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RE: earthquake in vanuata 7.2 - 8/1/2007 10:57:36 PM

niceguy2005

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Earthquakes are over so quickly the likelyhood of them disrupting major operations are fairly slim I suppose...unless the result is a tsunami.

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RE: earthquake in vanuata 7.2 - 8/2/2007 1:07:33 AM

wdolson

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quote:

ORIGINAL: niceguy2005

Earthquakes are over so quickly the likelyhood of them disrupting major operations are fairly slim I suppose...unless the result is a tsunami.

An earthquake would be unlikely to disrupt operations because most things used in operations are designed to be mobile. You might have some quonset huts collapse at a base, but there isn't that much that can be damaged at a forward base. It's permanent buildings that are most at risk, especially unreinforced masonary. A major earthquake in Los Angeles could have been a problem.

Fortunately tsunamis are rare. It not only takes a particular type of earhquake, but also certain conditions along the coast for there to be much damage. Areas where the land drops away quickly are virtually immune to tsunami damage. Areas with very shallow water right off the coast are much more at risk.

Bill

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RE: earthquake in vanuata 7.2 - 8/2/2007 1:14:09 AM

ChezDaJez

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quote:

Earthquakes are over so quickly the likelyhood of them disrupting major operations are fairly slim I suppose...unless the result is a tsunami.

Large quakes are quite damaging and can devastate entire areas without needing a Tsunami. The disruption in transportation facilities alone (roadways, railroads, airports, etc...) can be huge.

quote:

Did a sizeable quake ever hit a base in the pacific. I can't think of a single incident. However, given the plate techtonics aroung the pacific rim it would not be unlikely.

The Solomons and New Guinea had several during the war. The Aleutians have small quakes nearly every day. During my 2 years in Adak we had at least 4-5 size 4 quakes or larger every month. We had several 6+ quakes and one 7.2 quake while I was there.

Earthquakes seem to follow me no matter where I go. Besides the quakes in Adak, I was in the 1989 San Francisco quake, the 1965 and 2001 Seattle quakes, the 1974 Sicily quake and the 1997 northern Japan quake!

Chez

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RE: earthquake in vanuata 7.2 - 8/2/2007 1:22:36 AM

saj42

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quote:

ORIGINAL: ChezDaJez
Earthquakes seem to follow me no matter where I go. Besides the quakes in Adak, I was in the 1989 San Francisco quake, the 1965 and 2001 Seattle quakes, the 1974 Sicily quake and the 1997 northern Japan quake!

Chez

Can you give me your itinerary for the next 20 years so I can stay at least one continent away from you

As to the original question, it seems an earthquake would have more effect on industry/resources/oil/manpower/port/airfield (ie damaging them) than on military units. The most vulnerable units would appear to be naval - if a typhoon occured (as IRL)

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RE: earthquake in vanuata 7.2 - 8/2/2007 6:53:51 AM

ChezDaJez

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quote:

Can you give me your itinerary for the next 20 years so I can stay at least one continent away from you

Chez

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RE: earthquake in vanuata 7.2 - 8/2/2007 8:09:27 AM

bradfordkay

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Chez... either you or I need to move! I did not enjoy the 2001 Nisqually quake. I don't think that I've ever reorganized my old boardgames whose contents were spilled all over the closet floor...

I do know that volcanic eruptions did prove to be a nuisance for the units based at Rabaul.

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RE: earthquake in vanuata 7.2 - 8/2/2007 9:54:44 AM

ChezDaJez

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quote:

Chez... either you or I need to move! I did not enjoy the 2001 Nisqually quake.

Hey, you're safe now. We've already had the quake!

Chez

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RE: earthquake in vanuata 7.2 - 8/3/2007 4:08:34 AM

wdolson

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quote:

Earthquakes are over so quickly the likelyhood of them disrupting major operations are fairly slim I suppose...unless the result is a tsunami.

quote:

ORIGINAL: ChezDaJez
Large quakes are quite damaging and can devastate entire areas without needing a Tsunami. The disruption in transportation facilities alone (roadways, railroads, airports, etc...) can be huge.

A lot of locations in the Pacific never had much in the way of infrastructure to start with, so there wasn't much to destroy. It's permanent facilities that are most affected, which were more common in home countries than near the front lines.

quote:

Did a sizeable quake ever hit a base in the pacific. I can't think of a single incident. However, given the plate techtonics aroung the pacific rim it would not be unlikely.

quote:

The Solomons and New Guinea had several during the war. The Aleutians have small quakes nearly every day. During my 2 years in Adak we had at least 4-5 size 4 quakes or larger every month. We had several 6+ quakes and one 7.2 quake while I was there.

Earthquakes seem to follow me no matter where I go. Besides the quakes in Adak, I was in the 1989 San Francisco quake, the 1965 and 2001 Seattle quakes, the 1974 Sicily quake and the 1997 northern Japan quake!

I've heard some of the military facilities built in the Aleutians are built on gimbles to flex with the quakes. I talked with someone once who had been at a radar facility in Dutch Harbor or one of the other islands. He said that the first time he saw the building flex radically in an earthquake he ran outside and his co-workers just about died laughing. He was sure the building was going to collapse because the walls and ceiling were flexing so much.

You have been in a lot of quakes. The only two major ones I've been in was the 1971 Sylmar quake near Los Angeles and the 2001 Seattle quake. I've lived on the west coast my whole life and I've felt a lot of small ones though. My sister is a geologist and I have a strong scientific bent. I learned a fair bit of geology hanging around her. My first reaction to the Seattle quake was "interesting, an earthquake. I wonder how close it is?" Then I heard an ominous creak and climbed under my desk.

My wife's views on earthquakes are very different. She freaks when we have a small 3.0. She happened to be working from home the day of the 2001 quake and it was one of those spots which shook longer than most other places. She looked at the clock when she ran for a doorway and then looked again when it stopped. It was 5 minutes of shaking. I verified this from the phone message she left me, which had a timestamp a little over 5 minutes after the earthquake started. She said the first thing she did was call me at work and leave a message.

Bill

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RE: earthquake in vanuata 7.2 - 8/3/2007 7:02:36 AM

ChezDaJez

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quote:

I've heard some of the military facilities built in the Aleutians are built on gimbles to flex with the quakes. I talked with someone once who had been at a radar facility in Dutch Harbor or one of the other islands. He said that the first time he saw the building flex radically in an earthquake he ran outside and his co-workers just about died laughing. He was sure the building was going to collapse because the walls and ceiling were flexing so much.

The 2-story base house we lived in on Adak was built on earthquake rollers and they were quite effective at dampening the shock...... on the first floor. Upstairs was a different matter... it swayed more than it would have without them but it was a much more "gentle" sway. I can remember waking up many a night to the sound of the handles on my dresser tapping and feeling a slight movement that progressively got worse. During the worst one, the dresser slid across the floor until it was next to the bed and the wife was trying to dig her way through the mattress. That was our 7.2 quake that lasted nearly 2 1/2 minutes. We had quite a mess to clean up afterwards. The only real damage though was to the commissary where a main support beam snapped.

BTW, Adak has two types of quakes... those caused by tectonic plate movement and those caused by volcanic action (magma movement). Tectonic plate quakes come and go very quickly normally with an abrupt shock. These are the ones that cause the most damage. Volcanic action quakes can be just as strong but they build up slower and taper off slower. At their peak the shaking can be just as severe as a tectonic plate quake but generally they do cause less damage. Still, in the middle of the night when the dresser handles start tapping....

As far as quake damage during the war, you are correct that would normally be established areas that had the most potential for damage. However, even at places like Guadalcanal in the early stages, the disrutpion to the supply system could hurt. Think of things like the gasoline dump that was nothing more than 55 gallon drums stacked one atop another, ammo crates, spare parts and the like all falling over and potentially spilling their contents. It would still be quite a mess to clean up assuming nothing went boom!

Chez

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RE: earthquake in vanuata 7.2 - 8/3/2007 10:13:44 AM

bradfordkay

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"Think of things like the gasoline dump that was nothing more than 55 gallon drums stacked one atop another, ammo crates, spare parts and the like all falling over and potentially spilling their contents. It would still be quite a mess to clean up assuming nothing went boom!"

That was my experience with the 2001 quake. I live five miles from the epicenter, and everything that was on shelves came crashing down: food in the pantry, books, wargames, cd jewel boxes, etc. The worst was cleaning up the sugar that spilled in the kitchen, though I still haven't reorganized all the wargames whose counters were spilled.

< Message edited by bradfordkay -- 8/3/2007 10:15:25 AM >

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All Forums >> [Current Games From Matrix.] >> [World War II] >> War In The Pacific - Struggle Against Japan 1941 - 1945 >> earthquake in vanuata 7.2

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