The bottom line, of course, as a 2011 report on earthquake resilience from the National Academies noted, is that it remains impossible to glean meaningful hints of big earthquakes from low-level seismic activity.
However, many seismologists remain skeptical, including Tom Jordan, the director of the Southern California Earthquake Center in Los Angeles, who chaired a report on earthquake prediction and forecasting commissioned by the Italian government after the deadly L'Aquila earthquake in 2009.
He also worked freelance for the BBC World Service, reporting on earthquakes and revolutions all over Africa.
While the politicking went on at the UN, we reported on earthquakes in Nepal, escalating conflicts in South Sudan and Burundi, the refugee crisis, giant rats on a mission to rid the world of landmines and countries emerging from Ebola.
Further tsunami records are available in the March 2011 issue of the Monthly Report on Earthquakes and Volcanoes in Japan (JMA, 2011g).
Centred in Honolulu, it issues alerts based on reports of earthquakes from circum-Pacific seismographic stations.
In summarizing the reports on the earthquake that occurred at 1 00 UTC, one can say that it was well documented by contemporary sources.
