An earthquake occurs abruptly and causes severs damage to people, property, landscape and more. A great mega-thrust earthquake, known as the Great Tohoku Earthquake has shaken Japan at 5:46:24 UTC on March 11, 2011. It caused a severe disaster, including tsunami and nuclear radiation exposure.. This mega-quake located at the latitude 38.297 degree North and longitude of 142.372 degree East, near the east coast of Honshu, Japan (USGS, 2013). An earthquake and tsunami waves caused widespread damage to many areas of Japan. People in Japan are still recovering from the damages. The Tohoku earthquake caused by the movement of the Pacific plate slides underneath the Eurasia plate at the rate of three inches per year, associated with Japan Trench …show more content…
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, …show more content…
The earthquake with magnitude 9.0 and tsunami hit many regions of Japan and destroyed everything on its ways. The effects could feel over the world. Tsunamis hit Pacific coastal lines in many countries. Numerous people died, missing, or homeless. People lived in shelter, without clean water, power, telecommunication, etc. Japan is still recovering from the damages with the help of foreign relief. Radioactive from the meltdown and the aftermath debris affects the global environment. Learning the mega-thrust earthquake will help us improves the warning system that could save people and avoid serious
Out of all the natural disasters that we talk about in class, the most deadly would have to be a Tsunami. Compared to earthquakes, Tsunamis have cause more deaths since 1945. A Tsunami is likely to strike anywhere on the west coast, including Santa Cruz in California – United States – North America – 36:58:24N 122:02:09W. A Tsunami is a giant “wave” of water that is caused by a sudden shift in the sea floor. The wave is a result of the water attempting to regain its equilibrium, which is driven by gravity. The size of the wave is determined by how much the sea floor is moved vertically, and how quickly it shifts. A greater water depth helps as well. They can travel up to five hundred miles an hour and have wave heights of one hundred feet. Earthquakes are the leading cause of Tsunamis. People who live in California are well aware of earthquakes that are frequently caused by the San Andreas Fault. However, not many are aware of the results of earthquakes that occur out in the Pacific Ocean. Tsunamis have also been referred to in the past as seismic sea waves, but Earthquakes aren’t the only cause of this phenomenon. Landslides, nuclear explosions, volcanic eruptions, and extra terrestrial impacts also have great water displacement results.
...re situations, from a razed city to devastated citizens. The calamity caused the city to crumble and the government to pay extreme amounts of money. In addition, residents of San Francisco and other surrounding areas suffered the consequences. Thousands died, but even more faced the encumbrance of homelessness. The earthquake caused fires that went on for as long as three days. Nevertheless, San Francisco transformed its ashes into a beautiful city full of fascinating buildings in a matter of weeks. 1906, a year of a significant natural disaster, also became a year that spawned knowledge in the field of seismology. No one will ever forget the appalling chain of events that occurred during the early twentieth century. The San Francisco Earthquake of 1906 has not only educated scientists, but it has also made San Francisco the jewel of the West Coast that it is today.
Beginning with Chile, it affected the cities of Valdivia, Puerto Montt, Rio Negro, Temuco, to name a few. It also affected the coast of California, New Zealand, Australia and Kamchatka. This affected the people of Chile plenty. It is believed that most of the loss of life were caused by the tsunami. The earthquake affected by speeding up Earth’s rotation. It shorted earth days by 1.26 millionths of a second. It also shifted Earth’s figure axis by about three inches. While all this happen in 1960, it was a cause of the 2010 earthquake that occur in Chile. This time it was a magnitude of 8.8 and like I mentioned, all this occur from the earthquake in 1960. However, the diving tectonic plate at the epicenter of the 8.8 magnitude, helped to temporarily redistribute mass on Earth. Unfortunately, as every Earthquake, there is damages. $550 million damage in southern Chile. Different sources have estimated the monetary cost ranged from US$400 million to 800 million (or 2.9 to 5.8 billion in 2011 dollars, adjusted for inflation). Furthermore, besides the dollar amount in damages that was mentioned in this paper, the tsunamis played a factor on the
Hazards pose risk to everyone. Our acceptance of the risks associated with hazards dictates where and how we live. As humans, we accept a certain amount of risk when choosing to live our daily lives. From time to time, a hazard becomes an emergent situation. Tornadoes in the Midwest, hurricanes along the Gulf Coast or earthquakes in California are all hazards that residents in those regions accept and live with. This paper will examine one hazard that caused a disaster requiring a response from emergency management personnel. Specifically, the hazard more closely examined here is an earthquake. With the recent twenty year anniversary covered by many media outlets, the January 17, 1994, Northridge, California earthquake to date is the most expensive earthquake in American history.
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.
The Great Chilean Earthquake, considered one of the largest registered in history happened on a Sunday of March 22, 1960 at around 3:11pm local time in Chile. Its epicenter was registered near the neighborhoods of the city of Valdivia, Chile and had a magnitude of 9.6 on the Richter scale. After the main shock, a series of major Earthquakes were registered between May 21 and June 6 that affected much of Southern Chile. The quake was felt in different parts of the planet and produced a tsunami that hit several towns along the Pacific Ocean, including Hawaii and Japan and caused the eruption of the Puyehue volcano in the Andean Mountains of Chile. The number of deaths is not concrete and there have been different figures of death tolls. Despite the fact, we know that more than 2,000 people dies and more than 2 million were left homeless because of the disaster.
Additionally, this earthquake occurred on a thrust fault. This fault was a subduction zone slip which occurred primarily beneath the ocean were the Pacific plate plunges underneath the North American plate. This sudden upward movement of the sea floor along the rupturing fault generated a massive tsunami. This vertical deformation
Mid-ocean ridges, which are the seafloor-spreading centers of tectonic plates, are the sites of many events of moderate intensity that take place at relatively shallow depths. These quakes are seldom felt by anyone and account for only 5 percent of the earth's seismic energy, but they are recorded daily on the instruments of the worldwide network of seismological stations. Another setting for tectonic earthquakes is an area stretching across the Mediterranean and Caspian seas, and the Himalaya, ending in the Bay of Bengal. In this zone, which releases about 15 percent of the earth's seismic energy, continental landmasses riding on the Eurasian, African, and Australian plates are being forced together to produce high, new mountain chains. The resulting earthquakes, which occur at shallow to intermediate depths, have often devastated areas of Portugal, Algeria, Morocco, Italy, Greece, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkey, and other countries partly or completely on the Balkan Peninsula, Iran, and India.
In regards to the natural hazard by earthquakes, nearly 1,500 earthquakes per year shake Japan and magnitudes larger than M 4 are routine; Japan was hit by 20 % of the most powerful earthquakes in known history. Currently almost 2,000 active faults are monitored in Japan, but, as previous earthquakes unfortunately proved, there must be many other, so far unknown, active faults in the region!
The Meteorological Agency warned against aftershocks of up to magnitude 6. The focus of the quake was about 9 km below the seabed in the Sea of Japan about 70 km off Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture. A tsunami warning issued by the Meteorological Agency immediately after the quake was lifted at noon. The initial shaking, which lasted as long as 30 seconds, toppled desks and knocked books off shelves and made it difficult to stand, a Fukuoka Prefecture Police spokesman said.
Sieh, Kerry. “Sumatran Megathrust Earthquakes: From Science to Saving Lives.” Philosophical Transactions: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences. 364.1845 (Aug. 15, 2006): 1947-1963. Extreme Natural Hazards. Web. 16 Nov. 2013
Plates on the outside layer of the Earth, called tectonic plates, are always moving and are roughly one hundred kilometers in thickness. In this case, an earthquake can happen as a result of the stress and movement caused by the plates rubbing back and forth. An earthquake can happen at measurements as great as seven hundred kilometers in length, when tectonic plates bump into each other. On the other hand, California for example, a place where its tectonic plates move past one another, experience shallower earthquakes. This type of earthquake is a result of the tectonic plates resisting and moving past one another along the ridges under the sea (“What causes earthquakes?”).
It was a beautiful day like any other with the clear blue sky and the
The Japan disaster was devastating, and it had an abundance of causes and effects. The nuclear disaster, the tsunami, and the earthquake were the causes of the disaster in Japan. In addition, the disaster had countless effects on the land and people in Japan. The disaster in Japan was as devastating and tragic as 9/11. Both events took a great number of lives and left their country shocked, but prepared them for anything similar that might happen in the future. Knowing the causes and effects of Japan’s disaster can prepare other people and countries around the world for a comparable disaster.
Earthquakes belong to the class of most disastrous natural hazards. They result in unexpected and tremendous earth movements. These movements results from dissemination of an enormous amount of intense energy in form of seismic waves which are detected by use of seismograms. The impact of earthquakes leaves behind several landmarks including: destruction of property, extensive disruption of services like sewer and water lines, loss of life, and causes instability in both economic and social components of the affected nation (Webcache 2).