1896, Sanriku, Japan: A magnitude 7.6 earthquake rattled Japan, killing more than 26,360 people. In Tangshan, China, 1976, a magnitude 8.0 tsunami killed more than 255,000 people. 2004: The Indian Ocean experienced a 9.0 tsunami, its destruction killing more than 350,000 people. Just last year, Haiti lost 222,570 inhabitants because of a 7.0 earthquake (Brunner and Rowen 1), leaving the country in more trouble than they can dig themselves out of. Earthquakes can be predictable, and unpredictable. They can be harmless, or your worst nightmare. The consequences of natural disasters are unimaginable and it is impossible to fully comprehend the thoughts running through the heads of those left homeless or family less. On March 11, 2011, Japan’s coast was hit by a tsunami, its results affecting almost everywhere in the world.
“A tsunami (pronounced soo-NAHM-ee) is a series of huge waves that occur as the result of a violent underwater disturbance, such as an earthquake or volcanic eruption. The waves travel in all directions from the epicenter of the disturbance. The waves may travel in the open sea as fast as 450 miles per hour. As they travel in the open ocean, tsunami waves are generally not particularly large—hence the difficulty in detecting the approach of a tsunami. But as these powerful waves approach shallow waters along the coast, their velocity is slowed and they consequently grow to a great height before smashing into the shore. They can grow as high as 100 feet.”
“The exact location where the earthquake took place was 373 kilometers (231 miles) northeast of Tokyo, and 130 km (80 miles) east of Sendai, Honshu which is in the Pacific Ocean.” Honshu is one of Japan’s islands, and just so happens to be the bigge...
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...g.” Those still standing may be going through more trouble now than they could have ever imagined.
Works Cited
Brunner, Borgna and Rowen, Beth. Tsunami in Japan 2011: Waves Stirred Up By Earthquakes Cause Wide Destruction. Infoplease. April 2011. 20 April 2011. .
Chung, Dan. Tsunami Aftermath Video--- My Response to the Debate.27 March 2011. 23 April 2011. .
Diep, Francie. “Fast Facts about the Japan Earthquake and Tsunami. Scientific American 14 March 2011: 1-6.
Smith, Nicolette. A look at the long term, wide-ranging consequences of the earthquake and Tsunami in Japan. 15 March 2011. 22 April 2011. .
The tsunami in Thailand that occurred on December 26, 2004, was by far the largest tsunami catastrophe in human history. It was triggered by a magnitude 9.1-9.3 earthquake along the Indian-Australian subduction zone off the northern coast of Sumatra. The tsunami waves traveled primarily in the east to west direction and caused major damage along the coasts of southern Thailand. Unpredictably, it was a violent earthquake beneath the sea that initiated the massive waves and struck more than a dozen countries in Southern Asia. It also destroyed thousands of miles of coastline and even submerged entire islands permanently. Throughout the region, the tsunami killed more than 150,000 people, and a million more were hurt, homeless, and without food or drinkable water, making it perhaps the most destructive tsunami in the modern history. In spite of peninsular Thailand's location facing the northern part of this subduction zone, the lack of any written historical records, together with the lack of any major local seismic activity, the tsunami caused thousands of fatalities and huge economic losses in the popular tourist regions in Thailand. Immediately after the disaster, numerous organizations and individual citizens have helped out and contributed to this devastating tsunami. Indeed, the tsunami in Thailand was a worldwide event, with significant wave action felt around the world. In this context, I am focusing more on the key features of the tsunami’s natural causes, the psychological effects on citizens, the perspective of socio-economic impacts and the consequences of the tsunami calamity.
TOHOKU, Japan, Friday, Mar. 11 -Yesterday, a 9.0 magnitude Earthquake struck the east of Tohoku, Japan. The epicentre of the earthquake was located approximately 72 km east of Tohoku (38.3 degrees North latitude and 142.4 degrees East longitude), or 130 km east of Sendai as shown by the X in figure 3 below. The focus of the earthquake was 24.4 km under the epicentre. The earthquake therefore caused a tsunami due to the displacing of water above the Pacific Plate. The earthquake and tsunami together have caused approximately 20,000 deaths, 6152 injuries and 2500 people missing. Approximately 90% of these deaths were by drowning. Approximately 140,000 people have been displaced and over 500,000 buildings and structures have been destroyed or damaged. The early warning system of Japan stopped many bullet trains, and many residents received texted warnings of the earthquake and tsunami on their mobile phones giving them time to evacuate. Figures 1 and 2 show exactly how destructive the tsunami caused by the Tohoku Earthquake was.
The Great Kanto Earthquake also known as the Tokyo-Yokohama Earthquake of 1923 hit the metropolitan area of Kanto on September 1st, 1923 around 11:58 pm. It was a 7.9 on the Richter magnitude scale, killing over one-hundred and forty thousand people due to its high magnitude and the time it happened. The earthquake struck around lunch time, when many Japanese people were at home cooking at their charcoal or gas fueled stoves. At the moment the earthquake hit, it knocked down buildings that caught flames from the stoves that fell over, enflaming the city. The fire was swept up and able to spread due to the gusts of wind that occurred for two days afterwards, resulting in firestorms. Charles Blauvelt experienced the ordeal of the fire describing the flames as “[covering] the whole city [as they] burned all day and night.” In addition to the firestorms and the earthquake itself, there was a shock because of all the fallen debris which triggered tsunamis to fill and flood Japanese cities. These tsunamis, that were about thirty feet tall, destroyed central Tokyo and immensely added to the death toll.
While the early warning saved thousands of people, the Japan’s Meteorological Agency underestimated this earthquake as the subduction zone of Japan should not produce the magnitude 9.0 quake (Oskin, 2013a). The Tohoku Earthquake and its tsunami approximately killed 16 thousand people, injured 6 thousand people and around 3 thousand people were missing. Most people died from drowning. Around 300 thousand buildings, 4000 roads, 78 bridges, and many more were affected by the earthquake, tsunami, and fires from leaking oils and gas. Electricity, telecommunication, and railways were severely damaged. The debris of 25 million ton was generated and carried out to the sea by water (BBC News, 2012). The country’s authorities estimated more than 309 billion US dollars of damages. Landslides occurred in Miyagi and liquefaction in Chiba, Tokyo, Odaiba, and Urayasu (USGS, 2013). Furthermore, the tsunami destroyed protective tsunami seawalls. Approximately 217 square miles of Japan covered in water (Oskin,
The National Geographic Society is good source of information, and no person can argue the artistry of its presentation, however, the magazine, and its television and internet productions are directed toward a curious, but mostly naive audience. If searching for an overview, a middle man one may say, National Geographic does provide a history and account of the event in “The Deadliest Tsunami in History” (National Geographic News, Jan 7, 2005). Organized and succinct, the article begins with a few simple facts about the wave making process and tsunami characteristics, even dispelling myths that a tsunami is a single destructive tidal wave, but actually a series of wave building processes resulting from the shifting of the earth undersea due to seismic activity. The article goes on to include human interest stories, not overlooking an account where an Indian man after remembering a National Geographic program, saves the li8ves of more than 1,500 of his fellow villagers. Lastly, the article discusses potential residual hazards of the event, presenting issues such as famine and disease epidemics due to the lack of clean water and food supplies diminished from the disaster.
The impact of a tsunami is usually limited to coastal areas but the destruction could be immense. Buildings and anything in the path of the waves is in danger of being destroyed and washed away, such is the force of the wave. The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, which struck off the west coast of Indonesia with a magnitude of 9.1-9.3, left 250,000 people killed or missing in 14 different countries including Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand.
Unlike other disasters the risk of Tsunamis to populated areas, and the combined destructive force of the initial earthquake coupled with the unprecedented force of an even more destructive tidal surge in conjunction with the impending impact on and with our civilization can result in unprecedented natural disasters.
A tsunami is a series of waves “created by an underwater disturbance such as an earthquake, landslide, volcanic eruption, or meteorite” (ready.gov). Tsunami waves are quite different from normal waves. Once a tsunami is set in motion there is no way to really “prevent” it fully, or to stop such an event. Precautionary steps can be taken, such as in Japan where a sea wall was built to protect people and property. However, this was a futile attempt since in 2011 a tsunami was able to surge over the wall, with the water building up and rushing over the top. The lesson learned is that one should not
The 2011 Japan earthquake and tsunami include many details common to earthquakes and tsunamis. Earthquakes are measured on a scale called the Richter scale. The highest magnitude is a 9.0. The Japan earthquake had an 8.9 magnitude. That feels like 20 billion kilograms of dynamite. There were a total of about 50 aftershocks, most of them had a magnitude of 6.0 or greater. The tsunami that hit Japan had waves as big as 32 feet. That is taller than a three story building.
While the early warning saved thousands of people, the Japan’s Meteorological Agency underestimated this earthquake as the subduction zone of Japan should not produce the magnitude 9.0 quake (Oskin, 2013a). The Tohoku Earthquake and its tsunami approximately killed 16 thousand people, injured 6 thousand people and around 3 thousand people were missing. Most people died from drowning. Around 300 thousand buildings, 4000 roads, 78 bridges, and many more were affected by the earthquake, tsunami, and fires from leaking oils and gas. Electricity, telecommunication, and railways were severely damaged. The debris of 25 million tons was generated and carried out to the sea by water (BBC News, 2012). The country’s authorities estimated more than 309 billion US dollars of damages. Landslides occurred in Miyagi and liquefaction in Chiba, Tokyo, Odaiba, and Urayasu (USGS, 2013). Furthermore, the tsunami destroyed protective tsunami seawalls. Approximately 217 square miles of Japan covered in water (Oskin,
Large waves crash against the shore while people run for high ground. But many, just stare in wonder. What actually was going on was a tsunami. A earthquake had just struck in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Soon the waves got larger and larger before they wiped out the whole village. Tsunamis are large waves reaching over 300 ft. that wipe out it ire villages, city's, homes, and stores. Many tsunamis leave the area flooded , destroyed, and filled with sea animals such as whales, dolphins, sharks, and other things. Then, the tsunamipulls back pulling all of the debris it destroyed back into the ocean polluting the whole sea environment. Tsunamis don't just cause short term effects, they cause long term also the Japan tsunami broke a nuclear power plant releasing thousands of gallons of contamination into the Pacific Ocean killing sea life and contaminating nature. (Walker, 29) Many may know about tsunamis but not all know how they are made, and some only assume one way but there are multiple.
Imagine more than half of the population of Kenosha being over-taken by a deluge of water without warning or the ability to escape. On December 26, 2004, an earthquake measuring 9.0 on the Richter scale, occurred in the Indian Ocean off of the Samaritan coast, triggering the deadliest tsunami in recorded history. Before the tsunami, this region of the world was one of the most sought after vacation spots. After the record-breaking destruction, the pristine beach front and inviting residents were forever changed. The regional damage was so massive that it demanded a response on a global scale for rescue, recovery, stability, and to rebuild this treasured place.
Just past midnight on December 26, 2004, seismic sensors detected an earthquake measuring 8.9 on the Richter scale (Doc. 8). The epicenter of this earthquake was just off the coast of Indonesia (Doc. 3). As is always a possibility with a large quake (Doc. 4), a massive tsunami, which extended about 1000 miles from its center, was formed (Doc. 1). This tsunami resulted in what according to the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator at the time, “may be the worst natural disaster in recent history” (Doc. 1).
The death toll climbs to over 10,000 and is still rising (Branigan 2). The disaster in Japan began without warning on Friday March 11, 2011 at 2:46pm with a 9.0 magnitude earthquake, the strongest ever recorded in the country (Fackler 3). A massive thirty-three foot high tsunami, generated by the earthquake, swept over lands in northern Japan, taking objects and debris with it. To make matters worse, the tsunami caused the cooling systems at several nuclear power plants to fail. The disaster in Japan was a tragic event, and it had a plethora of causes and effects.