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Japan Activated Air Raid Sirens During North Korea's Missile Test Monday (cnn.com)
"No country should have missiles flying over them like those 130 million people in Japan," the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations said Monday. Though it was only a test, the scene on-the-ground is described by Slashdot reader AppleHoshi:
Our phones went crazy on receipt of an automated alert from the "J-Alert" system. Shortly afterwards, loudspeakers broadcast another alert (there are loudspeakers everywhere in Japan, to warn of earthquakes, tsunamis and typhoons). As normal with any disaster situation in Japan, all of the available television channels immediately switched over to full-coverage mode, with a repetition of what the situation was ("There's a missile heading in the direction of north-central Japan") followed by basic instructions of what to do ("If it comes down in your area, try to extinguish any fires and immediately inform your local police and fire departments").
Shortly before twenty past six we got the news that the missile had over-flown northern Japan and landed in the Pacific, about 1,000 km [621 miles] from the coast of Hokkaido. The "all-clear" was broadcast over the local speakers a short while later. Strange as it may seem, this all had an air of normality about it. Japan gets more than it's fair share of natural disasters, so anyone living here gets plenty of exposure to this same routine. (It's just that the reason is usually an earthquake, typhoon or tsunami, rather than a megalomaniac).
Shortly before twenty past six we got the news that the missile had over-flown northern Japan and landed in the Pacific, about 1,000 km [621 miles] from the coast of Hokkaido. The "all-clear" was broadcast over the local speakers a short while later. Strange as it may seem, this all had an air of normality about it. Japan gets more than it's fair share of natural disasters, so anyone living here gets plenty of exposure to this same routine. (It's just that the reason is usually an earthquake, typhoon or tsunami, rather than a megalomaniac).
It wasn't in orbit, but its apogee reached about 550 km - well above the Karman Line. I'd be interested to know how long it takes sensors to determine the rough impact location based on the launch profile. Course adjustments are possible during boost, coast and re-entry (whether NK has that ability is another unknown*), so it's probably a bad idea to look at the profile and say "Japan's OK".
I'd actually like to see a 3d view of NK missile launches in Google Earth - some of their previous launches reached apogees of 3,725 km, which is far greater than that required normally. It also means their missiles are undergoing far higher re-entry forces than they would operationally.
* For us. NORAD, etc probably have a good idea of the capabilities.