Japan Earthquake
Friday
March 11 2011
The full scale:
before and after in Sendai
Magnitude 9.0 NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
Friday, March 11, 2011 at 05:46:23 UTC
The earthquake occurred 130 km
(80 miles) east of Sendai and 373
km (231 miles) northeast of Tokyo.
Images courtesy of the US Geological Survey
Magnitude 9.0 NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
Friday, March 11, 2011 at 05:46:23 UTC
The earthquake occurred 130 km
(80 miles) east of Sendai and 373
km (231 miles) northeast of Tokyo.
Images courtesy of the US Geological Survey
The Tohoku Quake: 2:46 PM Local Time, 3/11/2011
• The tragedy in Japan started with an earthquake.
At 2:46 PM on April 11th, 2011, a 9.0 magnitude earthquake
occurred at 38.322 degrees N, 142.369 degrees E, at a
depth of 19.9 miles, near the east coast of Honshu Island.
• The epicenter of that submarine quake was:
80 miles East of Sendai, Honshu (population 1 million+)
109 miles East of Yamagata, Honshu
109 miles East North East of Fukushima, Honshu
231 miles Northeast of Tokyo (population 13 million+)
See: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/
eqinthenews/2011/usc0001xgp/
Magnitude 9.0 NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
Friday, March 11, 2011 at 05:46:23 UTC
This is one of the largest earthquakes that Japan
has ever experienced.
.
In downtown Tokyo, large buildings shook violently. Elsewhere severe
flooding occurred due to a tsunami generated by the earthquake.
Part of houses
swallowed by tsunami
burn in Sendai, Miyagi
Prefecture (state) after
Japan was struck by a
strong earthquake off
its northeastern coast
Friday, March 11,
2011.
New York Times
USGS
Fires after earthquakes are often caused by broken gas pipelines
CNN reported “The quake rattled
buildings and toppled cars off bridges
and into waters underneath. Waves of
debris flowed like lava across farmland,
pushing boats, houses and trailers
toward highways.”
A number of fires broke out including
one at an oil refinery which was burning
out of control.
Giant fireballs rise from a burning oil
refinery in Ichihara, Chiba Prefecture
(state) after Japan was struck by a
strong earthquake off its northeastern
coast Friday, March 11, 2011.
Los Angeles Times
It Was the 4th or 5th Largest Quake Since 1900
 At magnitude 9.0, the Tohoku earthquake was the largest
quake in Japan since Japan began tracking earthquakes
130 years ago, and the 4th or 5th largest quake worldwide
since 1900. Some other extremely serious earthquakes:
-- 1960 Valdivia Chile Earthquake (magnitude 9.5)
-- 1964 Prince William Sound Alaska Earthquake (9.2)
-- 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake (9.1-9.3 (est.))
-- 1952 Kamchatka Earthquake, USSR (9.0)
-- 1833 Sumatra, Indonesia Earthquake (8.8-9.2 (est.))
-- 1906 Ecuador-Colombia Earthquake (8.8)
-- 2010 Chile Earthquake (8.8)
-- 1700 Cascadia Earthquake (8.7-9.2 (est.))
-- 1730 Valparaiso, Chile, Earthquake (8.8-9.0 (est.)
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lists_of_earthquakes
Danger from the nuclear power
station damaged by the earthquake
Houses and debris burn near Sendai Airport.
ade of a damaged apartment building in central Tokyo's Higashi-Azabu distr
Facade of a damaged apartment building in central Tokyo's Higashi-Azabu district.
Natural-gas-storage tanks burn at a facility in Chiba Prefecture, near Tokyo.
A bicycle lies under rubble in central Tokyo.
Stranded people take a rest at a hotel lobby after subway and train were
suspended after an earthquake, in Tokyo.
People evacuated and the injured in
emergency shelters and hospitals
Ordinary people and rescuers
search amongst the debris
Drowned towns and radiation leaks –
1. More than 1,700 people officially dead or missing, with
many more unaccounted for, including 9,500 people in one
town.
2. Radiation leaks from a damaged nuclear plant after an
explosion blows off the roof, raising fears of a meltdown at
the nuclear power station north of Tokyo.
3. Three workers suffer radiation exposure near Fukushima
nuclear plant.
4. Several large towns and cities are more than a third
submerged by waters and debris.
5. Some 215,000 people living in government shelters.
6. Four million people without power, a million with no water.
7. Experts say the total insured loss could be up to $15bn.
Globally, this is the 5th largest earthquake since 1900
(or 4th depends on M).
Great (M > 8) Earthquakes Since 1900
9.6
Chile 1960
9.4
Alaska 1964
Magnitude
9.2
Sumatra 2004
Russia 1952
9
8.8
Japan 2011
Ecuador 1906
Chile 2010
Alaska 1965
8.6
8.4
8.2
Chile1906
8
7.8
1900
1920
1940
1960
Year
1980
2000
2020
The earthquake caused some damage –
but the tsunami was devastating
Tsunami waves swept away
houses and cars in northern
Japan and pushed ships
aground.
The tsunami waves traveled
far inland, the wave of debris
racing across the farmland,
carrying boats and houses
with it.
The tsunami, seen crashing into
homes in Natori, Miyagi prefecture. AP
Houses were washed away
by tsunami in Sendai,
Miyagi Prefecture in
eastern Japan, after Japan
was struck by a magnitude
9.0 earthquake off the
northeastern coast.
New York Times
Tsunami (harbor wave)
Seismic sea waves (NOT tidal waves)
Caused by processes that abruptly move large volumes of ocean
water:
earthquake
submarine volcanic eruption
coastal/submarine landslide or rockfall
extraterrestrial impact
How do EQ cause tsunami?
http://geology.com/articles/tsunami-geology.shtml
Tsunami causes
 Unless there is an underwater landslide, strikeslip EQ WILL NOT cause tsunami
 Most tsunami generated by subduction zones
• Chile
 Alaska
 Japan
 Cascadia
 Philippines
 Caribbean
 New Zealand
What caused the
tsunami and why was it
so deadly?
Tsunami wavelength
• Long wavelengths (over 100 km)
• Periods longer than 1 hour
316,800 ft = 60 miles
Tsunami wave speed
 Travel at high speeds :
400 to 500 mph (~200 yards/sec)




Alaska to CA 4 to 7 hrs
Alaska to Hawaii 4 to 6 hrs
Chile to Hawaii 14 to 15 hrs
Chile to Japan 22 to 33 hrs
Tsunamis – Tidal Waves
Projected travel times for the arrival of the
tsunami waves across the Pacific
Nearby the
earthquake there
are only minutes to
evacuate.
However, in many
other regions there
is advance
warning.
A tsunami map shows
projected travel times for the
Pacific Ocean. This map
indicates forecasted times
only, not that a wave
traveling those distances
has actually been
observed..
NOAA
Tsunami nears shore
 As wave gets into shallow water bottom of
wave drags along ocean floor
 Top of wave still moving fast: can cause
cresting of wave, and breaking onto shore
Tsunami run-up
 Run-up = measurement of height of water
onshore observed above a reference sea level
 Generally don’t get big gigantic wave
 Water comes as a fast moving rise in tide that
rapidly moves inland
 NOT JUST ONE WAVE…multiple waves
coming in about ½ hour or so apart
 See tsunami wave simulator
http://www.seed.slb.com/en/scictr/watch/living_planet/tsunami_wave/index.htm
Damage due to tsunami
 Waves often full of debris (trees, cars,
pieces of wood etc.)
 As the wave recedes, the debris drags
more stuff with it
 Can recede as much as a km out to sea,
leaving shoreline empty with flopping
fish, boats, etc. on the bottom
The Tsunami hits
Loss of Life and Property Damage
• The dead and missing now number 28,232,* and that
number is still increasing. An additional 4,916 were injured
by the disasters in Japan. Nearly 60,000 pieces of property
were completely destroyed, and over 158,000 were partially
damaged.
• For comparison, 4,081 people died from Hurricane Katrina,
and 2,976 people died from the attacks on 9/11.
* National Police Agency of Japan, Emergency Disaster
Countermeasures Headquarters, April 14th, 2011, 7:00PM
http://www.npa.go.jp/archive/keibi/biki/index_e.htm
The Most Expensive Natural Disasters
• Emerging estimates are that this earthquake and resulting
tsunami will be the most expensive natural disasters in history.
• The World Bank released an early estimate* that damage might
reach $235 billion, but the Japanese Cabinet Office has
mentioned costs of up to 25 trillion yen** ($309 billion)… and
those costs do not include lost economic productivity due to
power outages, or the broader impact of the nuclear crisis.
• Hurricane Katrina, for comparison, cost an estimates $81 billion.
*
http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTEAPHALFYEARLYUP
DATE/Resources/5501921300567391916/EAP_Update_March2011_japan.pdf
**
http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a
98c0c9c5/
Article_2011-03-23-AS-Japan-Earthquake-Economy/
id-b7f626429b4a4900bfb1731387d50e7f
Boats are swept by a wave after a tsunami and earthquake in Asahikawa city in Japan
on Friday. The biggest earthquake to hit Japan since records began 140 years ago
struck the northeast coast on Friday, triggering a tsunami that swept away everything in
its path, including houses, ships, cars and farm buildings on fire.
Streets are flooded after a tsunami and earthquake in Kesennuma city,
Miyagi Prefecture, Japan.
The oncoming tsunami strikes the coast in Natori City, Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern
Japan on Friday. The biggest earthquake to hit Japan in 140 years struck the northeast
coast on Friday, triggering a tsunami that swept away everything in its path, including
houses, cars and farm buildings on fire. A tsunami warning has been issued for the
entire Pacific basin except for the mainland United States and Canada following a huge
earthquake that hit Japan on Friday, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.
A fire burns at a passenger terminal at Sendai Airport after the airport was swamped by
a tsunami in northeastern Japan in the wake of a major earthquake.
Effects of the Tsunami
Effects: The day after in Kesennuma
City, Miyagi (the worst hit area)
The effects: buildings have been
destroyed, dragged around and
destroyed, whilst people are in shock
Responses: The emergency services
are trained to deal with the effects of
earthquakes but were not prepared
for anything on this scale
Amazing stories - man rescued after
his house has been dragged 10 miles
out to sea by the returning water