There is this amazing app called NERV that, whenever there is a large earthquake anywhere in Japan, sends you an early warning push notification and an animated display with shockwaves emanating from the epicenter, plus a countdown timer for the first wave hitting you. The first it went off for me it felt like something out of sci-fi. I think I got 45 seconds this time before my apartment started shaking.
45 seconds is an incredible accomplishment. That’s a decent amount of heads up to get safer place. Obviously nerve wracking but great progress in alerts
petterroea 15 minutes ago [-]
It sounds impressive but it's worth considering that this was a large quake that was felt by basically half of the country. You do not get this much warning if you are anywhere near where damage happens.
The 45 seconds is better thought of as the time it takes for the quake to propagate to Tokyo
strangegecko 27 minutes ago [-]
Yeah. That's leagues better than what I get in Taiwan. The alert often arrives when the building is shaking or even after. I've never had a meaningful headstart.
44 minutes ago [-]
konart 1 hours ago [-]
>NERV
Does it play appropriate Evangelion OST track depending on magnitude though?
roer 55 minutes ago [-]
It is straight up the same NERV, so it might.
From the site:
> The name and logo of "NERV" are used with the explicit permission of khara Inc., the copyright holder of the "Evangelion" series, and Groundworks Corporation, which manages the rights to the series.
azath92 43 minutes ago [-]
This is just the best. A very serious company, doing seriously cool and important stuff, also has an anime name/icon.
I wish more corps took themselves so lightly, while remaining serious about what they do.
mghackerlady 29 minutes ago [-]
For people unfamiliar wanting an easier comparison, Evangelion is Japans star wars. It'd be like learning of tornadoes from someone with Empire insignia
bombcar 24 minutes ago [-]
Sadly we're stuck with companies naming themselves things like "Melchior" and "Palpatine" and somehow it's a good thing?
Anyway I need to get back to working on the Torment Nexus.
renewiltord 4 minutes ago [-]
I think that’s pretty much the same. NERV uses child soldiers and is secretly planning a fused hivemind. They are the Torment Nexus.
Tor3 1 hours ago [-]
I didn't feel a thing a bit south of Nagoya. Almost strange that there was nothing here, when you got shaking in Tokyo.
kzrdude 1 hours ago [-]
How do you use your 45 seconds?
klempner 44 minutes ago [-]
At 45 seconds, load up social media. (although I actually missed the warnings this time, was focused on work) At least assuming the number is only 7.x.
If it were 8+ or somewhat closer, I'd get under my desk. (then pull up social media on my phone)
fennecbutt 35 minutes ago [-]
Standing underneath a doorframe is also advisable.
strangegecko 25 minutes ago [-]
I'm pretty sure that is advice from the last millennium that is no longer taught.
piazz 1 hours ago [-]
If it's a big one and it's near you, you'd move away from the windows and heavy things that can fall, I suppose?
For me I always just turn on iPhone screen recording and marvel at this amazing app and wish we had something like this in California.
No major tsunami is expected, local media reported initial waves were recorded as high as 40cm. The Japan Meteorological Agency forecasted up to 3m (10ft) waves.
I don't believe this earthquake is a big deal. Large earthquakes (M7.0+) happen in Japan several times a year, and given this happened in the middle of the ocean, I don't expect any major damage.
klempner 1 hours ago [-]
Yes, this is definitely only a medium deal, given that the tsunamis were mild. There is the usual concern that it might be a foreshock for a bigger quake but that's fairly unlikely.
Plenty of disruption (including a bunch of the shinkansen lines) and annoying evacuation up on the coast.
I will say that this was the longest swaying I've felt in my Kawasaki tower mansion apartment since moving here three years ago -- things were still moving about 5 minutes after it started.
pezezin 2 hours ago [-]
I live in Aomori (Northernmost prefecture of Honshu) and we got the warning before the earthquake arrived by all the cellphones in the office going crazy at the same time. It was kind of funny, because we have a lot of new guys here who have never been to Japan before and it was their first earthquake ever xD
fungi 1 hours ago [-]
was reading in a park in suburban tokyo a few years ago, notifications arrived for the noto peninsula earthquake.
kids in the park stared doing wobbly knee dance :D
felt the quake about 30sec later.
pezezin 1 hours ago [-]
The one in 2024? I was in Tokyo at that time but we didn't get any notification nor felt anything :/
whatsupdog 2 hours ago [-]
How much warning did you get? I mean in minutes or seconds?
asutekku 2 hours ago [-]
Depends on the location, the alert comes usually as soon as the initial tremors are registered. If you're at the epicenter, tough luck. For example, for me in Tokyo, the alert came 2 minutes before it hit, and even then, the actual earthquake was extremely subtle.
pezezin 1 hours ago [-]
In our case I guess we got the warning 10~20 seconds before the earthquake? I don't know, I didn't count it xD
felixding 53 minutes ago [-]
I live in Tokyo. Today's quake felt pretty strong (maybe because I was on the 14th floor) and lasted a while. Haven't felt one this big in months.
thomascountz 1 hours ago [-]
Ruby Kaigi[1] starts soon in Hakodate, across the Tsugaru Strait in southern Hokkaido, ~200–250 km away. I hope everyone stays safe.[2]
As a European, I feel fine that American and Japanese governments report on this.
DonHopkins 2 hours ago [-]
Maybe there should be a web site americaquake.gov just for American earthquakes.
Why did Mongo have an "EARTH QUAKE" button on his spaceship control console? Did he have buttons with the names of all the other obscure bodies he encountered, too?
Are they making recommendations on that page? Are they trying to "know better" than the Japanese government because they too keep track of earthquakes? I'd say you seem to lack critical thinking, but you'd probably claim the American government stole it from you.
ChrisRR 2 hours ago [-]
Well you could read the japanese reports, but they'd be in japanese
bombcar 2 hours ago [-]
The US monitors things like this because tsunami danger to the west coast is a real if remote possibility.
notdefio 2 hours ago [-]
Japan has their own communication platforms for this, they're not relying on a US government site. I'm in Japan on vacation, and I got notified of the earthquake within a minute of it happening on the NERV app, which is a common disaster alerting app here.
gerikson 2 hours ago [-]
The creators of this app either didn't watch Evangelion or are huge fans. Hard to say which.
pezezin 2 hours ago [-]
Evangelion is extremely popular in Japan, everybody and their dog knows it, so it is obviously the second option. From the official app website, https://nerv.app/en/
> The name and logo of "NERV" are used with the explicit permission of khara Inc., the copyright holder of the "Evangelion" series, and Groundworks Corporation, which manages the rights to the series.
mghackerlady 27 minutes ago [-]
Evangelion is their Star Wars, at least in terms of merchandising and cultural references. I think I heard somewhere that it's known more for the pachinko machines than the actual media
There is this amazing app called NERV that, whenever there is a large earthquake anywhere in Japan, sends you an early warning push notification and an animated display with shockwaves emanating from the epicenter, plus a countdown timer for the first wave hitting you. The first it went off for me it felt like something out of sci-fi. I think I got 45 seconds this time before my apartment started shaking.
https://nerv.app/en/
The 45 seconds is better thought of as the time it takes for the quake to propagate to Tokyo
Does it play appropriate Evangelion OST track depending on magnitude though?
From the site:
> The name and logo of "NERV" are used with the explicit permission of khara Inc., the copyright holder of the "Evangelion" series, and Groundworks Corporation, which manages the rights to the series.
I wish more corps took themselves so lightly, while remaining serious about what they do.
Anyway I need to get back to working on the Torment Nexus.
If it were 8+ or somewhat closer, I'd get under my desk. (then pull up social media on my phone)
For me I always just turn on iPhone screen recording and marvel at this amazing app and wish we had something like this in California.
No major tsunami is expected, local media reported initial waves were recorded as high as 40cm. The Japan Meteorological Agency forecasted up to 3m (10ft) waves.
I don't believe this earthquake is a big deal. Large earthquakes (M7.0+) happen in Japan several times a year, and given this happened in the middle of the ocean, I don't expect any major damage.
Plenty of disruption (including a bunch of the shinkansen lines) and annoying evacuation up on the coast.
I will say that this was the longest swaying I've felt in my Kawasaki tower mansion apartment since moving here three years ago -- things were still moving about 5 minutes after it started.
kids in the park stared doing wobbly knee dance :D
felt the quake about 30sec later.
[1]: https://rubykaigi.org/2026/
[2]: https://www.japan.travel/en/japan-safe-travel-information/ts...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moment_magnitude_scale
Here you have the same earthquake, but reported by Japan: https://www.data.jma.go.jp/multi/quake/quake_detail.html?eve...
As a European, I feel fine that American and Japanese governments report on this.
Why did Mongo have an "EARTH QUAKE" button on his spaceship control console? Did he have buttons with the names of all the other obscure bodies he encountered, too?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqVgrkmRF8Y
> The name and logo of "NERV" are used with the explicit permission of khara Inc., the copyright holder of the "Evangelion" series, and Groundworks Corporation, which manages the rights to the series.
https://nerv.app/en/
This kind of data is actually shared by governments with each other as well.
Science has no borders, much less disasters.