Five years ago, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake occurred 200km off the east coast of Japan, causing a devastating tsunami. The Pacific plate moves fast in tectonic terms, at a rate of 9cm (3.5 inches) a year. Nuclear power plants were shut down across the country and a state of emergency declared at the Fukushima nuclear power plant, where a cooling system failed. Regular aftershocks have already hit Japan as the Earth's crust continues to rupture along the Japan trench. The waves completely obliterated such coastal towns as Kuji and Ōfunato and severely damaged much of the infrastructure in eastern Sendai. Eventually, the join breaks, causing the seafloor to spring upwards several metres. Here are some striking facts about the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. It would have been much more expensive to build them high enough to handle a worst-case scenario, which the March 11 tsunami was, produced by a 9.0 earthquake, the fifth largest in modern history. Why Japan's quake/tsunami was deadly Next Scientist J R Kayal explains the why the monster quake that hit Japan caused such havoc and why it gave rise to a tsunami … Today is National Voter Registration Day! The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant cooling system was damaged, raising fears of a meltdown. The tsunami also led to a meltdown at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant, resulting in the worst atomic accident since Chernobyl—with long-term effects that are still up for debate. The hundreds of bodies already found are just the beginning of the toll this quake has taken — and could continue to take in aftershocks and tsunamis. The rest of the book is also very compelling and the science is fascinating. As the Pacific plate moves down, it sticks to the overhead plate and pulls it down too. It was the fifth most powerful earthquake ever recorded, and within 30 minutes, a 133-foot high tsunami pummeled Japan's northeastern shoreline. The city bore the brunt of the waves. It is a story that demonstrates the critical importance of disaster preparedness in saving lives, especially for tsunamis, which are unpredictable. An extremely destructive and most fearsome one was the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan in March, 2011. Why Indonesia’s tsunamis are so deadly ... the magnitude-9.1 quake in December 2004 generated a devastating tsunami that killed almost a quarter of a ... Hawaii and Japan … It is estimated that the initial tsunami wave took 10 to 30 minutes to make its first landfall. The resulting waves affected … The tsunami swept over sea walls and engulfed both schools, yet every one of the 212 junior high students and 350 elementary students who were in the buildings at the time managed to escape. It not only killed 15,000 people but also caused a nuclear meltdown and damages in excess of $200 billion. The release of energy along the subduction zone between the Pacific and North Atlantic plates will transfer stress to other parts of the faultline, which could easily generate more earthquakes in the region in coming months. About 40 percent of the coast of Japan has sea walls, but unfortunately they had not been built high enough and they failed to protect the people on March 11. This works fine for warning people living along coast far from the epicenter of the submarine earthquake. There are concerns for low-lying islands in the Pacific. It's a common misconception that Tsunamis are hundreds of feet tall, when in fact the devastating force lies in the energy created by an unseen force rather than the height of the series of waves. And people forget. The tsunami killed close to 20,000 people and caused a nuclear disaster in the country after a Magnitude 9 earthquake under the sea-bed triggered a wave that rose up to 40m-high in some places. Aftershocks continued, many exceeding magnitude-7.0. And the fact that the Japanese had made very real progress in reducing deaths due to the frequent earthquakes (better building codes, etc) added further to their false sense of security about tsunamis. Other estimates put the wave height at 10 metres. ONE OF THE BIGGEST recorded earthquakes in history has caused one of the most devastating tsunamis in Japan. As the tsunami spread across the Pacific, the wave height dropped to around 40cm in Guam and the nearby Marianas. A magnitude-9.0 earthquake struck off Japan’s northeastern coast. The tremors were the result of a violent uplift of the sea floor 80 miles off the coast of Sendai, where the Pacific tectonic plate slides beneath the plate Japan sits on. Tens of miles of crust ruptured along the trench where the tectonic plates meet. The most powerful earthquake recorded in Japanese history, magnitude 8.9. On March 11, 2011, a 9.1 magnitude earthquake occurred 231 miles northeast of Tokyo. Even so, Japan is suffering severely. In the Kamaishi school district, only five children were lost out thousands (and those five had been at home when the tsunami struck). Like the 2004 underwater earthquake, this too unleashed a massive tsunami. All rights reserved. (If the fuel tanks and diesel engines had simply been put on higher floors in the nuclear reactor buildings, which withstood the force of the tsunami, or the sea wall had been higher, there would have been no nuclear accident.). With so little time to try to escape, tsunami preparedness becomes the most important thing in saving lives. In 2005 Professor Toshitaka Katada, a disaster social-engineering expert at Gunma University Graduate School, and his colleagues began giving emergency disaster lessons to students at elementary and junior high schools in the Kamaishi school district. Those tremors are expected to be weaker and are less likely to produce another tsunami. In a subduction zone, one plate slides beneath another into the mantle, the hotter layer beneath the crust. The story of how the students from Kamaishi-Higashi Junior High School and Unosumai Elementary School saved themselves during the tsunami provides a heartwarming illustration of the benefit of tsunami preparedness training. Japan earthquake and tsunami of 2011 - Japan earthquake and tsunami of 2011 - Relief and rebuilding efforts: In the first hours after the earthquake, Japanese Prime Minister Kan Naoto moved to set up an emergency command centre in Tokyo, and a large number of rescue workers and some 100,000 members of the Japanese Self-Defense Force were rapidly mobilized to deal with the crisis. Modern buildings in Japan are designed to absorb the violent sideways shaking that can devastate cities. (Of course, if there was one place where the highest and strongest sea wall should have been built, to handle a worse case scenario, no matter what the cost, it was around the nuclear reactors.) Important conversations are happening now. Like many around the world, I sit transfixed by the images coming this morning from northern Japan, where a devastating earthquake and tsunami … (01/04/2011) Erosion caused by hurricanes and large-scale deforestation may have contributed to last year’s devastating earthquake that killed more … The Japanese thought the sea walls would protect them. [This question is answered in "The Unpredictable and the Unprepared," a new chapter added to the just-released paperback edition of The Power of the Sea: Tsunamis, Storm Surges, Rogue Waves, and Our Quest to Predict Disasters by Bruce Parker, former chief scientist of the National Ocean Service in NOAA and presently a visiting professor at the Center for Maritime Systems, Steven Institute of Technology. East of Japan, the Pacific plate dives beneath the overriding Eurasian plate. However, there was one school district that was prepared, and how those children saved themselves because of their training is a very uplifting story. TOKYO Rescuers struggled to reach survivors on Saturday morning as Japan reeled after an earthquake and a tsunami struck in deadly tandem. 1. So one has to ask the question, how could the tsunami have killed so many people in a country that was supposed to be the most tsunami-aware nation on Earth? On March 11, 2011, Japan experienced the strongest earthquakein its recorded history. On March 11, the very large size of the earthquake was recognized quickly (from the seismic data) and the Japanese Meteorological Agency fortunately took no chances and put out a tsunami warning three minutes later. The earthquake that wrecked Christchurch in New Zealand last month was a magnitude 6.3 event. Scientists, including a geologist from Montreal's McGill University, think they now know why the devastating 2011 tsunami off the coast of Japan was so much bigger than expected. Although there had been many recent earthquakes, there had not been a deadly large tsunami since 1933. Japan's devastating March 2011 earthquake caused the largest slip yet recorded, according to a new study. Even so, it took only 29 minutes for the tsunami to reach the closest point on the Japanese coast. But since then there had only been false alarms, tsunami warnings broadcast but followed by no tsunamis of any significant size. The goal of the program was to teach the students to save themselves. The plate tectonics of the region are complex, and geologists are not sure which plate Japan sits on. The earthquake occurred at the relatively shallow depth of 15 miles, meaning much of its energy was released at the seafloor. Study of fault lines uncovers theory about why Japanese tsunami so devastating. The tsunami struck in the middle of a sunny Friday afternoon at a time when thousands of parents were heading to schools to pick up their children. Lisbon 1755. The earthquake and tsunami of 2011 in Japan would always ring a bell as one of the extensive natural disasters that occurred in history. The most powerful waves appeared to be moving south-west from Japan. Nevertheless, ports were pounded by the tsunami and the airport in Sendai was inundated. You'll have to read his chapter for the very compelling personal stories that illustrate what Dr. Parker summarizes below. There is, however, very little cost associated with designating safe evacuation areas. Nine years ago this week the island nation of Japan suffered the devastating Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. The most devastating earthquake to strike Japan was in 1923, when a magnitude 7.9 tremor devastated Tokyo and Yokohama and killed an estimated 142,800 people. Former Chief Scientist, National Ocean Service at NOAA, Sign up for membership to become a founding member and help shape HuffPost's next chapter. The stories of what happened at many elementary and junior high schools sadly provide tragic insights into the lack of preparation. Also, most submarine earthquakes do not produce tsunamis, so to prevent false alarms an actual tsunami must first be detected (by a DART buoy or a real-time tide gauge) before a warning can be given. You’re informed. From then, waves are due to reach Acapulco in Mexico at 7.59pm, Chile at 10.55pm, Ecuador at 11.31pm, Colombia at 11.47 and Peru at 12.33am. That Japan was not adequately prepared for the tsunami that hit the northeastern Honshu coast on March 11, 2011, first became apparent at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. 2. Also regarded as the Great Tōhoku Earthquake or the Great Sendai Earthquake, several catastrophic events brought by the force of nature struck northeastern Japan on March 11, 2011. Footage of the devastation from an 8.9. magnitude earthquake and tsunami which struck Japan Friday. How quickly were they issued, and how much time did the Japanese have to react? Candidates include the Eurasian plate, the North American plate, the Okhotsk plate, and the Honshu microplate. The Kobe earthquake in 1995 was a magnitude 6.9 and caused more than 5,000 deaths and injured 36,000 others. Obviously the sheer power of the quake helps explain why the tsunami was so devastating… They conducted disaster drills, but they also integrated tsunami awareness into almost all aspects of their school day. They had been trained in earthquake preparedness, but not in tsunami preparedness. 3. How could it possibly kill thousands of people? ©2021 Verizon Media. When the earthquake severed the connection between the nuclear power plant and the Japan electrical grid, the diesel backup system turned on as it was supposed to. In 1960 the tsunami from the Chilean earthquake that had crossed the Pacific and reached Japan killed 142 people. And what about the tsunami warnings? Houses swallowed by a tsunami burn in Sendai after a huge earthquake struck Japan. The quake was centered off the Pacific coast of Japan, near the city of Sendai. Some countries may experience waves up to 2 metres, according to PTWC forecasts. The 2011 Japan Tsunami Was Caused By Largest Fault Slip Ever Recorded Clay lubricated the fault zone in the Japan trench, producing the devastating tsunami, researchers say. The 2011 Tohoku earthquake struck offshore of Japan, along a subduction zone where two of Earth's tectonic plates collide. You’re unstoppable. [143] Among the factors in the high death toll was the unexpectedly large water surge. 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