Japan Earthquake & Tsunami of 2011: Facts and Information
Beyond the sympathy and grief we share with Japan and its citizens, there are important observations we in the United States must make. The active San Andreas fault runs through California and causes regular earthquakes, while the warm waters transported by the Gulf Stream can intensify a storm heading for South Carolina. Shiogama section of - port — 4 metres 13 ft• is a fossil that forms when silica replaces and infills the cavities of wood. Capacity to Protect Children With Appropriate Availability of Potassium Iodide Washington, March 29, 2011 I join Congressman Edward Markey today to highlight my concerns on overall U. A report by the in 2012 found that the , the closest nuclear plant to the epicenter of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, had remained largely undamaged. Animation This megathrust earthquake was a recurrence of the mechanism of the earlier , which has been estimated as having a magnitude of at least 8. Nuclear plants in California are visibly vulnerable to earthquake risk with one Southern California plant potentially impacting a population over 5 million. As late as July 2013 slightly elevated levels of radioactivity were found in beef on sale at Tokyo markets. The impact of the tsunami in and around Sendai Airport was filmed by an News helicopter, showing a number of vehicles on local roads trying to escape the approaching wave and being engulfed by it. Aerial photo of Minato, devastated by both the earthquake and subsequent tsunami The degree and extent of damage caused by the earthquake and resulting tsunami were enormous, with most of the damage being caused by the tsunami. " Very low levels of radioactive chemicals that leaked from Fukushima have been detected along the North American coast offshore Canada and California. The quake and tsunami killed 378 elementary, middle-school, and high school students and left 158 others missing. KI is relatively quite safe, but in order to be effective it must be administered just before or within hours of exposure to the radioactive version of this element. By 9:30 UTC on 11 March 2011, , which was previously used in the , , and earthquakes, was collecting information about survivors and their locations. 7 g, in Miyagi Prefecture, 75 km from the epicentre; the highest reading in the Tokyo metropolitan area was 0. important;clear:both;font-family:Work Sans,sans-serif;padding:30px! Hundreds of aftershocks followed in the days and weeks after the main quake. The temblor completely released between the two tectonic plates, a recent study found. Follow Becky Oskin. Main article: The aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami included both a humanitarian crisis and a major economic impact. One elementary school in , Okawa Elementary, lost 74 of 108 students and 10 of 13 teachers and staff. Japan accounts for about 20 percent of the world's earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater. Britannica does not review the converted text. "These changes in Earth's rotation are perfectly natural and happen all the time," he said. See also: Also, a tsunami-earthquake with a Mt between 8. The computed change in the length of day caused by earthquakes is much smaller than the accuracy with which scientists can currently measure changes in the length of the day. 25s ease;-o-transition:height 1. To re-enable the tools or to convert back to English, click "view original" on the Google Translate toolbar. However, other estimates gave a final toll of at least 20,000. Some houses along the coast in were destroyed. A report by the , published in on 2 December 2011, concluded that the seabed in the area between the epicenter and the moved 50 metres 160 ft east-southeast and rose about 7 metres 23 ft as a result of the quake. By summer the Vice-minister for Economy, Trade and Industry, the head of the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, and the head of the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy had all lost their jobs. It caused some damage in Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures and at least 150 people were injured. The discrepancy arose as follows: in order to produce a quick prediction of a tsunami's height and thus to provide a timely warning, the initial earthquake and tsunami warning that was issued for the event was based on a calculation that requires only about 3 minutes. There was no damage to the in Iwate Prefecture, and the recommendation for their inscription on the in June was seized upon as a symbol of international recognition and recovery. The tsunami inundated a total area of approximately 561 square kilometres 217 sq mi in Japan. Hence, earthquakes in this area with magnitudes of about 7 since 1926 had only released part of the accumulated energy. Seismic stations in , , and measured a lower 6, recording an upper 5 in Tokyo. The Tohoku earthquake caused a. — 5—6 metres 16—20 ft• The backup cooling process is powered by emergency diesel generators at the plants and at. According to the JMA [], reasons for the underestimation include a saturated magnitude scale when using maximum amplitude as input, failure to fully take into account the area of the , and the initial amplitude of the earthquake being less than that which would be predicted by an empirical relationship. Space center Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency evacuated the in. In comparison to the , the East Japan earthquake brought serious damage to an extremely wide range. As these massively destructive and costly events become more frequent, scientific evidence points to climate change as a leading cause. Using a United States Geological Survey estimate for how the fault responsible for the earthquake slipped, research scientist Richard Gross of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. intensity Peak acceleration 2. According to , most Japanese media accepted and parroted the misinformation put out by the Japanese government and TEPCO about the unfolding Fukushima nuclear crisis. Run up height, port of area — 24 metres 79 ft• , a volcano in , erupted three days after the earthquake. Some of the most widely reported reason for these deaths include "Physical and mental fatigue caused by life in temporary shelter", "Physical and mental fatigue caused by evacuation", "Delayed treatment due to an inoperative hospital", "Physical and mental fatigue caused by stress from the earthquake and tsunami". "But if the nation is prepared, warning and education definitely saves lives. But there was something different about the chain of events that struck the northeastern coast of Japan. , Director of the at the Columbia University Medical Center, provides a 30 minute primer on radiation exposure, addressing the scientific facts and common misconceptions. These include Sendai 4, New-Sendai 1 and 2, Haranomachi 1 and 2, Hirono 2 and 4 and Hitachinaka 1. 15:21 JST — — 4. "Over the course of a year, the length of the day increases and decreases by about a millisecond, or about 550 times larger than the change caused by the Japanese earthquake. That record goes to the 2004 Banda Aceh earthquake and tsunami in Sumatra, a magnitude-9. But there had been hints of the disaster to come. For example, if you live in northern California you are more likely to be impacted by a wildfire, landslide, or earthquake than if you live in Charleston, South Carolina, but less likely to be hit by a hurricane. Immediately after the earthquake cellular communication was jammed across much of Japan due to a surge of network activity. The March 11 temblor was felt as far away as , Russia; , Taiwan; and , China. In response to the aforementioned shortcomings in the tsunami warning system, JMA began an investigation in 2011 and updated their system in 2013. In addition to Sendai, other hard-hit by the tsunami included and in Iwate; , , and in Miyagi; and and in Ibaraki. 5 m 1 ft 8 in high hit the eastern seaboard of the country. The in several cities had been built to protect against tsunamis of much lower heights. 3 metres 11 ft or higher• The fact that many concerns have arisen about the effectiveness of the Japanese government in responding to the disaster gives us pause because a that nation is, as is our own, economically and technologically highly developed, and b far more prepared than the United States. 6 meters were detected in the Hawaiian Islands, and waves measuring about 9 feet 2. Other nationwide Japanese and international TV networks also broadcast uninterrupted coverage of the disaster. Twenty thousand stranded visitors spent the night of 11—12 March inside. Currently, there are 105 operating nuclear reactors at 65 sites throughout the United States. - a light-colored extrusive igneous rock intermediate between rhyolite and andesite. is that on March 10, one day prior to the record-breaking earthquake, Japan was considered to be the most prepared nation on the planet, especially when it came to earthquakes and tsunamis. The earthquake produced a low-frequency rumble called infrasound, which traveled into space and was detected by the Goce satellite. When you reach out to him or her, you will need the page title, URL, and the date you accessed the resource. A quake of this magnitude usually has a rupture length of at least 500 km 310 mi and generally requires a long, relatively straight fault surface. You cannot download interactives. All railway services were suspended in Tokyo, with an estimated 20,000 people stranded at major stations across the city. These consequences could even be more devastating than the original hazard if the affected area was left uninhabitable as a result of radiological contamination, or if the contamination extended beyond the initially affected area in to other ecosystems. The Tsukuba control center resumed full operations for the space station's Kibo laboratory and the HTV cargo craft on 21 March 2011. offshore of northern — 6 metres 20 ft• For information on user permissions, please read our. image-embed fbs-accordion span. — website of the• At least four people were killed, and electricity was cut off across much of northern Japan including the loss of external power to and. In the hours after the earthquake, some train services were resumed. key-facts-element:last-of-type,. These indirect casualties have already resulted in more deaths than the number of people killed directly by earthquake and tsunami within the Fukushima prefecture. The 11 March 2011, magnitude 9. Japan's National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention NIED calculated a of 2. The Japan Meteorological Agency said the quake — which it initially said had a magnitude of 7. A total of 125 km 2 48 sq mi; 31,000 acres of ice broke away. 1 metres 13 ft or higher• Finally, the availability of KI and of appropriate response planning should not be a matter of geographic or political good fortune. That initial quake was immediately followed by the horrifying specter of a 30-foot-high tsunami that wiped out lives and communities, causing an enormous evacuation of hundreds of thousands of survivors to inland shelters. On 11 July 2016, the USGS further upgraded the earthquake to 9. A new, third level of content, designed specially to meet the advanced needs of the sophisticated scholar. Warnings were issued and evacuations were carried out in many countries bordering the Pacific. 3 metre high reached the coast of and caused a portion of the Sulzberger Ice Shelf to break off its outer edge. 3 feet over the course of a year, or about six times more than the change that should have been caused by the Japan quake. 4 m 8 ft east, shifted the Earth on its axis by estimates of between 10 cm 4 in and 25 cm 10 in , increased earth's rotational speed by 1. He is also a Professor of Nursing and Public Health, Columbia University. Several hours later 9-foot 2. Gross said the changes in Earth's rotation and figure axis caused by earthquakes should not have any impacts on our daily lives. Service between Tokyo and was restored by May, but at lower speeds due to ongoing restoration work; the pre-earthquake timetable was not reinstated until late September. The Headquarters For Earthquake Research Promotion set up by Japanese government then reassessed the long term risk of trench-type earthquakes around Japan, and it was announced in November 2011 that research on the indicated that a similar earthquake with a magnitude of 8. 8 ;background-image:-webkit-linear-gradient top,transparent,rgba 0,0,0,. Also, observed data from tidal meters that were located off the coast were not fully reflected in the second warning. Two months after the earthquake, incorporated the earthquake itself into the story of , the eighth installment of the series; while JoJolion is set several months after the fictional town of Morioh was devastated by the earthquake, the earthquake has a key role in the plot as it is the cause behind the emergence of the Wall Eyes, mysterious stone structures that ultimately set the story into motion. Archived from on 13 May 2013. 1 metres 132 ft run-up elevation. This deviation led to a number of small planetary changes, including the , the , and the. A visual depiction of the that caused the main tremor, low-angle on a west-dipping The 9. There may be a need to replace the contaminated soil. The system's software was subsequently modified to handle this kind of situation. Geophysical effects Portions of northeastern Japan shifted by as much as 2. article-wrapper guest-contrib,. 5 m high wave killed more than 110,000 nesting seabirds at the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge. This motion pushes the upper plate down until the accumulated stress causes a seismic slip-rupture event. as high as 33 feet 10 meters struck Sendai and other low-lying coastal regions of Miyagi prefecture, as well as coastal areas in the prefectures of Iwate, Fukushima, Ibaraki, and Chiba. Officials from the Japanese reported that radiation levels inside the plant were up to 1,000 times normal levels, and that radiation levels outside the plant were up to eight times normal levels. As of 30 April 2012, 18 people had died and 420 had been injured while participating in disaster recovery or clean-up efforts. The line was worst hit, with JR East estimating that 1,100 sections of the line, varying from collapsed station roofs to bent power pylons, will need repairs. Other major earthquakes with tsunamis struck the region and. Many radioactive hotspots were found outside the evacuation zone, including Tokyo. timeline-element:last-of-type,. 2 M w event on 9 March, approximately 40 km 25 mi from the epicenter of the 11 March earthquake, with another three on the same day in excess of 6. 2 mi radius of the were evacuated. was the nearest major city to the earthquake, 130 km 81 mi from the epicenter; the earthquake occurred 373 km 232 mi northeast of. But assuring timely distribution and administration of potassium iodide to children about to be exposed or just exposed to radioactive iodine, I-131, is an essential step. In the decade before the 2011 Tohoku earthquake, a handful of Japanese geologists had begun to recognize that a large earthquake and tsunami had struck the northern Honshu region in 869. 3 metres 24 ft or higher• 0 Honshu, Japan earthquake 38. The earthquake also generated infrasound waves detected by perturbations in the orbit of the satellite, which thus became the first seismograph in orbit. Evacuation or sheltering in place is crucial for those living within 10-20 miles of a nuclear power plant disaster. In 2007, the probability of an earthquake with a magnitude of M w 8. "For big earthquakes, the tsunami is going to be the big destructive factor," said Vasily Titov, director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Center for Tsunami Research in Seattle, Washington. This motivated government researchers to look into other ways the earthquake may have had large scale effects on the planet. Earthquake engineers examined the damage, looking for ways to build buildings more resistant to quakes and tsunamis. Damage to the antenna of The of the seismic waves from the earthquake was calculated to be 1. The Pacific plate, which moves at a rate of 8 to 9 cm 3. It does nothing for the long-lived radiation from Cesium 137 and nothing for the lethal gamma radiation that can initially be generated over a short distance from a major accident. The said that the earthquake may have ruptured the fault zone from Iwate to Ibaraki with a length of 500 km 310 mi and a width of 200 km 120 mi. from "missing" template• The official total for the number of people confirmed dead or listed as missing from the 2011 disaster was about 18,500. If you have questions about licensing content on this page, please contact for more information and to obtain a license. Choose a language from the menu above to view a computer-translated version of this page. 8 microseconds and shifted Earth's figure axis by about 7 centimeters, or 2. Analysis showed that this earthquake consisted of a set of three events. This 12 minute training is conducted by , RN DrPH, Senior Investigator and Affiliated Faculty of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness, Columbia University The earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster unfolding in Japan demonstrate the need for special skills among international relief workers assisting in the recovery. National Police Agency of Japan. This earthquake occurred where the is under the plate beneath northern Honshu. The waves overtopped and destroyed protective tsunami seawalls at several locations. The tsunami flooded an estimated area of approximately 217 square miles 561 square kilometers in Japan. As of 11 March 2016 there had been 869 aftershocks of 5. The north eastern ports of Hachinohe, Sendai, Ishinomaki and Onahama were destroyed, while the which serves the hydrocarbon industry and Japan's ninth-largest container port at were also affected, though less severely. 9 metres 128 ft at Omoe peninsula, Miyako city, Japan. In 2001 it was reckoned that there was a high likelihood of a large tsunami hitting the Sendai plain as more than 1,100 years had then elapsed. 5 inches , towards 133 degrees east longitude. - Colorful images and articles about diamonds and colored stones. Another cause of delayed evacuations was the release of the second update on the tsunami warning long after the earthquake 28 minutes, according to observations ; by that time, power failures and similar circumstances reportedly prevented the update from reaching some residents. was evident in areas of around Tokyo, particularly in , , , all in and in the , , , , and Wards of Tokyo. Workers were evacuated, but tsunami warnings hindered efforts to extinguish the fire until 14 March, when officials planned to do so. On 7 December 2012 a caused a minor tsunami, and again on 26 October 2013 a small tsunami was recorded after a 7. The main earthquake was preceded by a number of large , with hundreds of reported. On 6 April the Japanese coast guard said that the quake shifted the seabed near the epicenter 24 metres 79 ft and elevated the seabed off the coast of Miyagi Prefecture by 3 metres 9. 4 million households served by TEP in northeastern Japan were left without electricity. - About four tons per person is used each year in the United States. Most of the foreshocks are interplate earthquakes with thrust-type focal mechanisms. Fishery port of — 15 metres 49 ft• Over eight hundred aftershocks of magnitude 4. Too many plants, including and especially Indian Point just north of New York City, are older-generation facilities located in places vulnerable to earthquakes and other natural disasters. A report by the National Police Agency of Japan on 10 September 2018 listed 121,778 buildings as "total collapsed", with a further 280,926 buildings "half collapsed", and another 699,180 buildings "partially damaged". Delayed evacuations in response to the warnings had a number of causes. 236 children were orphaned in the prefectures of , and by the disaster; 1,580 children lost either one or both parents, 846 in Miyagi, 572 in Iwate, and 162 in Fukushima. Second, an enormous humanitarian crisis: Once in the shelters, the problems of logistics and supplies of food, water and medicines became apparent and remain increasingly problematic. Defense of the in Miyagi Prefecture was struck by the tsunami, flooding the base and resulting in damage to all 18 fighter jets of the 21st Fighter Training Squadron. Catastrophic weather events include hurricanes, tornadoes, blizzards, and droughts, among others. All 15 ports reopened to limited ship traffic by 29 March 2011. Subsequent analysis found that many Japanese nuclear plants, including Fukushima Daiichi, were not adequately protected against tsunamis. 2 metres 10 ft or higher• The damaged buildings included 29,500 structures in Miyagi Prefecture, 12,500 in Iwate Prefecture and 2,400 in Fukushima Prefecture. Most of these deaths occurred during the first six months after the earthquake and the number dropped thereafter, but as time has passed, the number has continued to increase. Approximately 30 homes or buildings were destroyed and 1,046 other buildings were damaged to varying degrees. Second, our children are not adequately protected. Radioactive iodine was detected in the tap water in Fukushima, Tochigi, Gunma, Tokyo, Chiba, Saitama, and Niigata, and radioactive caesium in the tap water in Fukushima, Tochigi and Gunma. 0 magnitude earthquake — the strongest in Japan's history. broadcast live feeds of NHK, , , , , , , , and on the Internet starting on 12 March 2011. 15:44 JST — — 3. The volcano had previously erupted in January 2011; it is not known if the later eruption was linked to the earthquake. On 14 March it was reported that a cooling system pump for this reactor had stopped working; however, the Japan Atomic Power Company stated that there was a second operational pump sustaining the cooling systems, but that two of three diesel generators used to power the cooling system were out of order. The tsunami broke off the in , 13,000 km 8,100 mi away. 1- occurred on 11 March 2011 at 14:46 05:46 UTC in the north-western Pacific Ocean at a relatively shallow depth of 32 km 20 mi , with its approximately 72 km 45 mi east of the of , Japan, lasting approximately six minutes. 1 M w that killed 230,000 people. Some of the first research to come from the archive was a 2014 paper from the Digital Methods Initiative in Amsterdam about patterns of usage around the time of the disaster. 6 miles about 30 km below the floor of the western. RELATED REPORTS AND MEDIA Over one-third of the US population lives or works within 50 miles of a nuclear power plant. One man was killed in , , Indonesia after being swept out to sea. The quake caused widespread damage on land and triggered a series of large waves that devastated many coastal areas of Japan, most notably northeastern Honshu. Proceedings of the fifteenth world conference on earthquake engineering. On 13 March the lowest-level state of emergency was declared regarding the Onagawa plant as radioactivity readings temporarily exceeded allowed levels in the area of the plant. It is believed that the early warning by the JMA saved many lives. In the early days after the earthquake some other names were proposed and used. JMA also implemented a simpler empirical method to integrate, into a tsunami warning, data from GPS tidal meters as well as from undersea water pressure meters, and there are plans to install more of these meters and to develop further technology to utilize data observed by them. All damaged dams are functioning with no problems. Writer Caryl-Sue, National Geographic Society Producer Caryl-Sue, National Geographic Society Last Updated April 6, 2020• All megadisasters have a significant regional and national impact. " The timing of the earliest recorded tsunami maximum readings ranged from 15:12 to 15:21, between 26 and 35 minutes after the earthquake had struck. - A bluish green gem material that has been used for over 6000 years. When the roads clear, experts will be dispatched to conduct further investigations. The earthquake moved the main island of Japan 2. The city of , , suffered extensive damage from the tsunami, with almost the entirety of the lower area of the city being destroyed. The tsunami height that had been initially predicted by the was lower than the actual tsunami height; this error contributed to the delayed escape of some residents. Most were restored to operating condition by 18 April 2012. A tsunami flooded at 15:55 JST, about 1 hour after the initial quake, causing severe damage. 5 million households were reported to have lost access to water supplies. In the immediate vicinity of a nuclear accident, public health authorities would recommend protective use of potassium iodide, especially for children. The earthquake triggered tsunami warnings throughout the Pacific basin. 2011 , Geomatics, Natural Hazards and Risk, Vol. A 400-kilometre 250 mi stretch of coastline dropped vertically by 0. The very idea of a 10-mile limit for evacuation plans seems to be a decision made on the basis of cheaper and easier planning, rather than reality-based predictions of expected radiation patterns. Seismic hazard is displayed as Peak Ground Acceleration PGA ; the greater the PGA, the greater objects will accelerate horizontally thusly experiencing a greater force. The ports at Hitachinaka, Hitachi, Soma, Shiogama, Kesennuma, Ofunato, Kamashi and Miyako were also damaged and closed to ships. Damage caused by the tsunami led to a meltdown in reactor cores at the plant, which caused significant levels of radiation to be released from the facility. Governments and the military were forced to bury many bodies in hastily dug with rudimentary or no rites, although relatives of the deceased were promised that they would be cremated later. The expected electricity crisis in 2011 summer was successfully prevented thanks to all the setsuden measures. began on 14 March due to power shortages caused by the earthquake. In this national crisis, the Japanese government provided JSL interpreting at the press conferences related to the earthquake and tsunami. offshore of central — 6. An analyst estimates that consumption of various types of oil may increase by as much as 300,000 barrels 48,000 m 3 per day as well as LNG , as back-up power plants burning try to compensate for the loss of 11 GW of Japan's nuclear power capacity. A 4-metre-high 13 ft tsunami hit. By 21 March 2011, the number of households in the north without electricity fell to 242,927. 0 on the Richter scale, it was one of the most powerful earthquakes ever recorded. The 2011 earthquake and tsunami were together one of the deadliest natural disasters in Japanese history, rivaling the earthquake and tsunami that occurred off the coast of Iwate prefecture in June 1896. 15:20 JST — — 3. Of those who attempted to evacuate after hearing the warning, only five percent were caught in the tsunami. Noted individual fatalities within Japan included 104-year-old , holder of the world athletics records in the men's shot put, discus throw and javelin throw for the over-100 age category. A trapped in the sand on by the tsunami, before being rescued Shortly after the earthquake, the PTWC in Hawaii issued tsunami watches and announcements for locations in the Pacific. " Checks were still being carried out to determine the number injured, he said, urging people not to venture outdoors and to be prepared for aftershocks. Text Text on this page is printable and can be used according to our. The most severe effects of the tsunami were felt along a 670-kilometre-long 420 mi stretch of coastline from , in the north to , in the south, with most of the destruction in that area occurring in the hour following the earthquake. As a result, the communities in question are now more susceptible to flooding during high tides. The largest individual recording in Japan was 2. One step that we must take immediately, in the context of making workable, effective response plans in the event of a catastrophic emergency, is to safeguard and protect our youngest citizens. Earthquakes are more common in some parts of the world than others, because some places, like California, sit on top of the meeting point, or fault, of two plates. The earthquake was caused by the rupture of a stretch of the associated with the , which separates the from the subducting. As the nuclear crisis entered a second month, experts said that Fukushima Daiichi, while not the worst nuclear accident ever, was the most complicated.。 。 。
20
