This blog is restarted.

I have left this blog with no modificatios.
Again, I'll start the introduction of my Japanese blog in English.

Have fun!

Difference in seismic intensity between US and Japan

Do you know the seismic intensitiy index is different between contries?

For example...


1) US uses the modified Mercalli intensity (MMI) scale.
The MMI consists from twelve steps (I - XII), decided from
dameges of buildings, bodily sensation of shaking and so on.


2) Japan uses the JMA (Japan Meteorological Agency) intensity scale.
The JMA intensity consists from ten steps (0-7),
decided from the seismometers (ground accelarations).







These two different intensity scale cannot be translated precisely,
however, I tried to translate it rougly. The process is detailed as follows.


1) Access to the web site "Earthquake Hazards Program" produced by USGS
(US Geological Survey). >> http://earthquake.usgs.gov/


2) Go to the ShakeMap. >> http://earthquake.usgs.gov/shakemap/


3) Watch a ShakeMap image.
For example, http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/shakemap/global/shake/2008ryan/


4) See a color pallet table below the map,
and find the Estimated Intensity values with unit of PEAK ACC(%g).
Each value approximate represents ground accelaration for each MMI.


5) Modify the unit of PEAK ACC.
1%g=0.01*9.8*100cm/s^2=9.8cm/s^2


6) See the JMA web site. You can see the relationship between JMA intensity
and accelaration in the graph (Fig.3).
http://www.seisvol.kishou.go.jp/eq/kyoshin/kaisetsu/comp.htm
cf. written in Japanese.
Here, we assume the frequency of shaking as 0.5 seconds.
We can easily read the accelaration range for each JMA intensity from Fig.3.

Finally, on the basis of the above 5 and 6, we can make a traslation table
between MMI and JMA intensity as follows.

--------------
MMI:JMA
--------------
I : 0-1
II-III: 1-3
IV : 3
V : 4
VI : 5L
VII : 5H
VIII: 6L
IX : 6H-7
X+ : 7
--------------

Although the translation table is not precise,
you can rougly compare the MMI and JMA intensity quickly.

Try it.

* Original Japanese article
>> http://goto33.blog.so-net.ne.jp/2008-06-09-1

Put cool photos on your blog!

Although the clip arts appended to MS Office is very frexible and useful, someone may not have the Office softwaere.
How about the following another site?

- Flickr photos with a Creative Commons Attribution License

(Please use the search form with caption of "Creative Commons".)

Various photographs and illustrations created by various people are
presented here with the CC licence.

The "Attribution License" is the most frexible one in the CC licence.
Let's borrow a picture.

Earth Egg by azrainman (protected by CC Licence）

Oh, What is the CC licence?

...Continued to original entry (translated by Google)

Put illustrations on your blog!

Some bloggers feel that their own blogs are cheerless because of
no beautiful photos and funny illustrations.

Don't cry!

Recently, I put many photos and illustrations on my blog.
　　

All of them has been obtained via internet.
I modified some of them by myself.
"Did you get permission to the authors?"
Don't worry. We can use them FREELY without any permissions.

Original site is here, the Microsoft.
- Microsoft Office Online (Japan)

...Continued to original entry (translated by Google)

Mega holiday

I visted "Miraikan", The National Museum of Emerging Science
and Innovation, Tokyo, Japan.


Free shuttleがdrives every 15-20 minitues around the Odaiba
area, including "Miraikan". It'is the easiest way to there.

The purpose of this excursion is ...

The MEGASTAR-II cosmos!
This is a planetarium with five million fixed stars !
At the last visting, I could not get the ticket.
This time, I fortunately obtained it.

Before enjoying MEGASTAR, I ate the different mega.

Super mega burger at Wendy's
Three putties with 300g!

...Continued to original entry (translated by Google)

Ice in Tokyo

It's too cold everyday in Japan. How do you do?

Lake Suwa, located in the middle of Japan, was frozen totally and
ridges of ice were found through the center of lake.
Local people called the phenomena as "Omiwatari" and
beleive it as the sign of blessedness.

- Lake Suwa: Omiwatari revealed since 2006
http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20080130-00000012-maip-soci

Ice is fanny material.
I found an ice sheet covering a small pond in Tokyo.

Several meters square.


A rough surface. It implies that the ice sheet has been melted in
day-time and frozen in night-time.
The mechanism is as same as the ice ridge called as "Omiwatari".

...Continued to original entry (translated by Google)

Balloon mail: emotion and problem

Japanese newspapers tell that a balloon with a mail released 15
years ago was replied by a deep-sea fish.

a flatfish delivered a mail attached to a ballon 15 year ago.
http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20080124-00000138-mai-soci


A girl released the balloon with her mail, and 15 years later, the mail
was attached on the flatfish and obtained by a fisherman.

What's an impressive story!
A human is not alone. He (or she) connect everywhere and everytime to another human.
However, the story feel me a problem about deep-sea garbage.

Sea-floor is covered by prenty of rubbers, vinyls and plastic materials, isn't it?


...Continued to original entry (translated by Google)