M8.9 EARTHQUAKE/TSUNAMI
IMPACTS JAPAN WITH THE
TSUNAMI WAVES REACHING
PACIFIC RIM COUNTRIES
5TH LARGEST QUAKE EVER
7 – 10 M TSUNAMI WAVES
2:46 pm MARCH 11, 2011
Walter Hays, Global Alliance for
Disaster Reduction, University of
North Carolina, USA
Natural Phenomena that Cause
disasters
Planet Earth’s
Convergent Plate
Motion Causes:
Earthquakes
(e.g., M8.9
Quake in
Japan)
Natural Phenomena that Cause
Disasters
Planet Earth’s
Convergent Plate
Motion Causes:
Tsunamis
(e.g., 3-4 m
waves in
Japan)
LOCATION: 133 KM (80 MI) OFF
EAST COAST OF HONSHU
OFFSHORE EPICENTER
• It only took seconds for the Pand S-waves and minutes for
the tsunami waves to reach
Sendai..
PRELIMINARY SOCIETAL
IMPACTS
• Ground shaking lasted 300 seconds
(compared with about 10 - 20 seconds
for the 1994 Northridge, CA or the 1995
Kobe, Japan quakes).
• Hundreds of aftershocks, many in the
M6+ range and comparable in size with
the damaging 1971 San Fernando CA
quake, followed the main shock.
PRELIMINARY SOCIETAL
IMPACTS
• The tsunami following within about 10
minutes, changing coast lines and
inundating land that will never be used
again.
• The earthquake ground shaking and the
tsunami wave run up together caused
major damage in northern Japan.
• Simultaneously, wide spread fires
burning out of control seared the land.
PRELIMINARY SOCIETAL
IMPACTS
• Some of the nuclear power plants in the
region shut down automatically, leading
to an evacuation of several thousand.
• Radiation levels 1,000 times normal
levels at some locations.
• Four million left without electricity.
• Metro and trains shut down.
PASSENGERS STRANDED:
SENDAI STATION
PRELIMINARY SOCIETAL
IMPACTS
• Vertical evacuation to escape the
tsunami wave run up was a priority.
• Search and rescue: an urgent need over
a wide geographucal area.
• Mass care and health care needs
escalated.
• With so many people missing, deaths
are expected to reach in the thousands.
SEARCH AND RESCUE
FIRE: NEAR SENDAI
AIRPORT
THE TSUNAMIGENIC SOURCE:
130 KM (80 MI) OFFSHORE
• The tsunami slammed the eastern coast
of Japan, sweeping away boats, cars,
homes and people, then raced across
the Pacific at 800 mph before hitting
Hawaii and the West Coast of the USA..
TSUNAMI TRAVEL PATH
TSUNAMI WAVES:NATON
MYIAGI PREFECTURE
TSUNAMI WAVES REACH
COAST OF NORTHERN JAPAN
SENDAI, JAPAN AIRPORT
OARAI INUNDATED BY
TSUNAMI
HAWAII
• The Pacific Tsunami Warning
Center reported that water rushed
ashore in Honolulu, swamping the
beach in Waikiki and surging over
the break wall in the world-famous
resort, BUT stopping short of the
area's high-rise hotels.
CRESCENT CITY, CA
SAN FRANCISCO, CA
Lecture prepared, uploaded and distributed by
Supercourse Disaster Team
Ron LaPorte
Eugene Shubnikov
Faina Linkov
Meredith Hennon
Francois Sauer
Nicolas Padilla
Eric Marler
Niel Wald
Borys Ledoshchuk
Rashid Chottani
Jesse Huang
Ali Ardalan
Eric Noji
Hiroya Goto
Walter Hays
William Reinckens
April Eshelman