In the seven years I’ve been subscribing to the U.S. Geological Survey’s email alert system, I have never seen anything like what happened today. Between 5:46 GMT and the moment I’m writing this (twelve hours later), there have been 86 earthquakes stronger than M 5.0 off the northeast coast of Japan. Of course it’s the initial quake that has grabbed headlines, and well it should: M 8.9 is a massive, massive earthquake. This one has already taken its position as the biggest in Japan’s recent recorded history (going back to 1891).

But what is really stunning is the number and sheer strength of the aftershocks, many of which would qualify as “seriously big” under ordinary circumstances. There have been 16 quakes of M 6.0 or stronger, including five that were M 6.5 or stronger. One of them was 7.1. And the email alerts keep coming in. The Japanese are famous for their sang froid regarding earthquakes, but this is an unending assault.