Yes, the geometry of quakes are different and magnitude isn't the sole indicator of damage. One mile is deep is very shallow. Over 6,000 people died in the Kobe earthquake in Kobe in 1995 and there was no tsunami because it's more inland. Vertical motion is the most dangerous, not horizontal swaying.
It was the tsunamis that caused the deaths and destruction of all of northeast Japan shoreline, not the earthquake. But, the quake packed enough power to move Japan. The entire country moved 8 feet. Think about picking up a country and moving it 8 feet.
I'm about 100 miles south of the most southern area where the tsunami damage starts, but 50 million people in east Japan will be affected for the rest of our lives. Here's how: Those nuclear power plants up north will be offline and there is not enough generation capacity. Most of the trains are not running yet, factories and offices are closed this weekend and so are many businesses throughout eastern Japan.
And yet, there is not enough generating capacity now to provide power to everyone now, when everything is closed. What happens on Monday? Businesses and factories will want to open, people will want to run heaters and have lights (it was snowing in many of the places where the tsunamis hit - it's cold), people living in high rises and working in high rise offices will want to have elevators to take them up 30 floors, instead of climbing stairs.
Starting Monday, we are going to have rolling blackouts. They could last for the rest of my life. Building new generating capacity takes a long time. Our already high energy costs are going to skyrocket, but still not have enough power.
I like electricity.
