The peacful day yesterday (no storm swells) allowed a quake to be
detected from almost 5000 miles away:


Region:                            OFF EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN

Geographic coordinates:            36.603N, 142.356E

Magnitude:                        6.5 Mw

Depth:                            10 km

Universal Time (UTC):             20 Dec 2008  10:29:22

Time near the Epicenter:          20 Dec 2008  19:29:22

Local standard time in your area: 20 Dec 2008  02:29:22


Location with respect to nearby cities:

 139 km (87 miles) ESE (111 degrees) of Iwaki, Honshu, Japan

 169 km (105 miles) E (81 degrees) of Mito, Honshu, Japan

 209 km (130 miles) SE (126 degrees) of Fukushima, Honshu, Japan

 256 km (159 miles) ENE (65 degrees) of TOKYO, Japan


This event has been reviewed by a seismologist at NEIC

For subsequent updates, maps, and technical information, see:

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Quakes/us2008avan.php


You can go to http://psn.quake.net/cgi-dos/event.exe and see my
recordings by clicking on "(GIF Image)" for the event files from Sea
Ranch.


Anyway, have a 0000,ffff,0000Merry Xmas and
a ffff,0000,0000Happy New Year!



George