Predicting Earth’s Deadliest Natural Disasters

7.3 was the magnitude of the earthquake that rattled parts of Japan on Friday. The epicenter was some 150 miles offshore, under the Pacific Ocean.

It made skyscrapers sway in Tokyo and it triggered a tsunami alert in the same region of northeastern Japan that was devastated by last year’s massive quake and tsunami.

No significant damage was reported this time though.

We’re looking for the name of that region.

It’s a geographical area that includes all of the northern portion of Honshu, Japan’s largest island.

It also includes some of the prefectures that were traumatized by last year’s disaster, like Fukushima, and Miyagi.

The answer is Tohoku, the region struck by last year’s devastating earthquake and tsunami. This one hardly caused any destruction or loss of life.

Why? I spoke with British seismologist Roger Musson, the author of a new book: “The Million Death Quake: The Science of Predicting Earth’s Deadliest Natural Disaster.” to find out.