Ring Around the Ring of Fire

 Everybody who lives around the RoF, is going to get something in their lifetime.  Might just be a 50 foot tsunami.  Next is Japan.

You can't get prettier subduction zones than here (very active).  

Zooming in to 'nuclear land' Fukoshima (whatever), you see a wonder of the ages (very active subduction zone).  We know from Japanese records how often these things go.  A big M9+ just tends to rip on the smooth arc, and doesn't want to take the S-bend.  The next place on the list (same odds as anywhere else) is Tokyo with a fine M9.  

Like Phil, there is a captured basin in the middle, where the action is slower.  Doesn't mean anything, a devastating earthquake was under Kobe, the black spot in the middle.  Since the whole area is being squeezed and pulled, we can get earthquakes anywhere.  Kobe suffered from a shallow M7, like Ven, with high pgv.  I never saw the charts for that, but it must have been above 40 cm/s.  Since they tend to make their houses out of paper, with open fire pots, the fires were something.

The Japanese don't talk much, but I can usually get charts.  I have no idea how they are doing with the state of earthquake building, so we'll find out with the next earthquake.

- next Middle Earth