'Earthquake light' appears in sky above Japanese city

A bright 'earthquake light' illuminated the sky over the northern Japanese city of Sendai during a powerful 7.3-magnitude earthquake that struck below the sea off the coast of Fukushima.

There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage, but the quake was felt in large parts of eastern Japan, including Tokyo, where buildings shook violently.

The Guardian on YouTube:

#japan #earthquake #fukushima #sendai #earthquakelight

[watrousalex]

It is amazing how Japan has had such a long history with earthquakes that they've made it so the building take little to no damage now truly a life saving technology

[fernanmontevista]

Kudos to the great engineers in Japan for well design structures.Magnitude 7 is terribly strong and dangerous to a city.

[soph]

I've recently moved to Japan and live in Fukushima. This was my first big earthquake, being from England I've never experienced anything like it. It was one of the most terrifying experiences of my life, I'm so glad that all of my friends living in Japan weren't hurt. Earthquakes are no joke

[intreoo]

It's absolutely phenomenal that even in an incredibly powerful 7.3 earthquake, the city remains in the same condition. Had this occurred anywhere else in the world, the entire city could've been leveled. The Japanese are incredible.

[jdmjesus]

The light flashes are a natural phenomena that's not fully understood yet. It's believed to be an electrical disturbance of the atmosphere (similar to the northern lights) caused by a piezo effect in the moving rocks. Amazing to see, hope everyone's OK.

Edit: thanks for the likes, and the AoT comments.

[jt]

For anyone who has never experienced a real earthquake, anything above a 7.0 is when things start to really get scary. I've experienced 5's and 6's but nothing is quite like a 7.0 and above. That's when fear sets in.

[mansiverma]

The reason i love Japan is even after the worst earthquake and many disasters... The buildings are still standing straight... And no change in development

[noname-dkri]

I'm japanese. I had a major earthquake of magnitude 7.3 in a local city in Japan six years ago. Aftershocks did not stop for several months, and it seemed that I was always on board for the first month. Really the ground was always eerily shaking like a wave. From that actual experience, I trust Japan's seismic technology and disaster preparedness. What impressed me most was that Japan as a whole helped the disaster area.

[triippy...]

Japan and their buildings show the true form of human ingenuity and adaptation. They've dealt with so many earthquakes since the earliest history of Japan known to man, so many earthquakes that they've learned to build their structures to take minimal to no damage from the quakes

[onlygameplay]

This is insane Japanese architecture can withstand a 7.0 earthquake without casualties, or serious damage like nothing... In other places, this kind of event would take thousands of lives...

[mr.nne]

Respect for Japan, probably the only nation which continuously learns from its shortcomings. I hope everyone remain safe.

[ConnortheCanaanite]

I’ve never even lived in Japan but this gave me flashbacks to that Tsunami in 2011, it’s wild that they’ve survived so many insane disasters and even nukes. Great country, love Japan!

[fieryspysixty]

You have to feel it to believe it. I'm really impressed how far technology has come that their buildings can just take these large earthquakes so frequently. A 7.3 magnitude earthquake is no joke.

[joeymills]

I am a Japanese living in Miyagi prefecture. Two big short earthquakes struck us. I was very scared. I remembered the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. At one point, a tsunami warning was issued, but it was lifted. Many were injured, but the number of deaths was in the single digits.Thank you for your support from overseas. It will be encouraging!😭😭🙏🙏

[su-san]

Im Japanese. The shaking was strong, but there was no major damage. Already most people are back to normal.

[DonnieIsNotAmerican]

Now we know why Japan has such incredible engineers. Having to build things to withstand the stresses of the island can't be easy.

[andrewjones-productions]

Here in Chiba Prefecture also the shake was fairly strong and it was long. The 'shake' is measured here in Japan as per the degree of shake on the surface. This being because both magnitude, depth and also of course the geological formation of the area all play a part in the level of shake felt. The unit is 'shindo'. The hardest hit areas where an 'Upper 6' (literally, 6-Strong). Here in Chiba, Tokyo it was level 4. Upper 6 causes severe damage, almost impossible to stand and is a threat to life. To give a real life example, last night's earthquake caused the Tohoku Shinkansen to derail whilst it was travelling through Fukushima, although it was likely that the train was already coming to a halt. There were no injuries. Level 4 is a strong shake, but rarely causes structural damage, standing and moving is possible although some unstable objects may fall. Both levels 5 and 6 are split into lower and upper.

[XPlodeBoom]

experienced 8.1
it was devastating
April 25, 2015
Nepal....

[cycanex_]

It was probably a strong anime character getting a massive power up.

[OurVirtualTime]

So many comments about the engineering and hardly any about the insane light phenomenon. Would love to know more about that. :)