Japan Earthquake
Friday
March 11, 2011
The full scale:
before and after in Sendai
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 Tokyo Quake
• 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+)
In downtown Tokyo, large buildings shook violently.
Elsewhere severe flooding occurred due to a tsunami
This is one of the generated
largest earthquakes
that Japan
by the earthquake.
has ever experienced.
.
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
• Fires often ignite due to broken gas lines
• 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
One of the Largest Ever
• 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.)
• In 1906, the U.S. also had an earthquake in San Francisco but that was
only 7.8
Danger from the nuclear power station damaged
by the earthquake
Houses and debris burn near Sendai Airport.
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
The Tragic Aftermath
• While direct effects of the earthquake were
devastating, there was more to come
• Only a few hours after the already devastating
earthquake a 30 foot tsunami hit the coast
Impact: Effects
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 Tsunami Hits
But First What Exactly is a Tsunami?
• Tsunamis are giant waves can be caused by earthquakes or
volcanic eruptions under the sea, but there are other causes too
• Out in the depths of the ocean, tsunami waves do not
dramatically increase in height (there are only a few inches tall so
that can be noticed).
• But as the waves travel inland, they build up to higher and higher
heights as the depth of the ocean decreases
• The speed of tsunami waves depends on ocean depth rather than
the distance from the source of the wave.
• Tsunami waves may travel as fast as jet planes (500 mph) over
deep waters, only slowing down when reaching shallow waters
Tidal vs. Tsunami
•
While tsunamis are often referred to as tidal waves, this name is
discouraged by oceanographers because tides have little to do with
these giant waves
• Tsunamis are actually a series of waves, called wave trains
• The first is not necessarily the most destructive
http://geology.com/articles/tsunami-geology.shtml
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
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
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
Effects of the Tsunami
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.
The oncoming tsunami strikes the coast in Natori City, Miyagi Prefecture,
northeastern Japan
Streets are flooded after a tsunami and earthquake in Kesennuma city,
Miyagi Prefecture, Japan.
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: 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
Effects: 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
Post tsunami
Sukuiso, Japan
Effects: Nuclear Problems Due to the
Tsunami
• The tsunami caused a cooling system failure at
the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant
• resulted in a level 7 nuclear meltdown and
release of radioactive materials
• About 300 tons of radioactive water continues
to leak from the plant every day into the Pacific
Ocean
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
– 2,976 people died from the attacks on 9/11.
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.
Effect on the Rest of the world
• The tsunami waves also traveled across the Pacific, reaching
Alaska, Hawaii and Chile
– In Chile (11,000 miles away) the tsunami was 6.6 feet high
when they reached the shore
• tons of debris was carried out to sea
• Japanese docks and ships, and countless household items, have
arrived on U.S. and Canadian shores
• The U.S. Coast Guard had to fire on and sink the derelict
boat 164-foot Ryou-Un Maru in 2012 in the Gulf of Alaska
– The ship started its journey in Hokkaido
Amazing Stories
•Following the disater, there were many amazing stories
•A man was rescued after his house has been dragged 10 miles out to sea by
the returning water
•Japanese man learned to scuba dive to search for remains of wife (2014)
• Former aircraft mechanic (Yasuo Takamatsu, 57) The former aircraft
mechanic has spent the last 36 months trying to find any trace of the
his wife
Effect of the Tsunami 3 Years Later:
• Radioactive water was recently discovered
leaking from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear
Power Plant
• People are still living in temporary housing