2011 Tohoku

Earthquake and
Tsunami
AN EVENT THAT SHOOK THE WORLD

Overview

On March 11, 2011, a magnitude 9 megathrust earthquake hit north

eastern Japan, giving way to a monster 40.5m tsunami.

The effects of the earthquake were felt around the world, In places
like Norway's fjords to Antarctica. Tsunami debris continues to wash
up on North American beaches two years later.

Effects

The effects of the Earthquake was felt around the world from
Norways Fjords to Antarctica's sheets. Tsunami debris continue to
wash up on North American shores two years later. It wasnt just the
people effected, Radioactive boars are running wild and breeding
uncontrollably in the northern region of Japan contaminated by the
Fukushima nuclear disaster.

The animals have been devastating local agriculture and eating

toxic, nuclear-contaminated food from around the accident site.

What happened?
On March 11, 2011 a Whopping Magnitude 9.0 Mega thrust earth
quake hit North east Japan, After that it hadnt ended their a ravaging
700 km Tsunami hit and all the damage that had happened got worse.
The 2011 Tohoku earthquake struck offshore of Japan, where two of
Earth's tectonic plates collided. In a subduction zone, one plate slides
beneath another into the mantle, the hotter part beneath the crust.
The great plates are rough and stick together, building up energy that
is released as earthquakes. East of Japan, the Pacific plate dives
beneath the overriding Eurasian plate. The temblor completely
released centuries of built up stress between the two tectonic plates, a
recent study found.

How ?
2:46 p.m. local time, a magnitude-9.0 earthquake ruptured a 500kilometer-long fault zone off the northeast coast of Japan. Its epicentre
was 130 kilometres off Sendai, Honshu; it occurred at a relatively
shallow depth of 32 kilometres.

Time line - Friday

Friday, March 11

An undersea earthquake with a magnitude of 8.9, one of the

most powerful ever recorded, strikes off Japans northeastern
coast just before 3:00 pm local time. The authorities issue a
tsunami warning.
A 10-metre tsunami wave smashes over the northeastern
Japanese coast, causing massive damage and flooding. A
series of aftershocks follows, many exceeding a magnitude of
7.0.
Japanese authorities announce that four nuclear power
stations in quake-hit areas have been shut down. Eventually
11 of the nations roughly 50 plants stop producing power.
The U.S. Geological Service announces the quake was the
most powerful to hit Japan since records began.

Timeline - Saturday

The Japanese government orders the evacuation of residents living

close to the Fukushima nuclear power plant, where the disaster has
caused cooling systems to fail and raised fears of a meltdown.

Japan mobilizes some 100,000 military and other rescue personnel.

Aid pours in from around the world, including from the U.S. military
stationed in Japan.

Video images show the extent of the damage, with the tsunami
washing away houses and cars and hurling ships far inland, while
fires blaze over large areas.

Time line - Sunday

The Japanese government orders the evacuation of residents living close to

the Fukushima nuclear power plant, where the disaster has caused cooling
systems to fail and raised fears of a meltdown.

An explosion occurs in a building housing one of the plants reactors.

Japan mobilizes some 100,000 military and other rescue personnel. Aid pours in
from around the world, including from the U.S. military stationed in Japan.

Video images show the extent of the damage, with the tsunami washing away
houses and cars and hurling ships far inland, while fires blaze over large areas.

The U.S. Geological Survey says the force of the quake moved Honshu the
main Japanese island by 2.4 metres.

Time line - Monday

The government says 230,000 people have been evacuated from the vicinity of the
crippled nuclear reactors.

While the overall toll remains unclear, the police chief in badly-hit Miyagi prefecture
said the number of deaths was certain to exceed 10,000 in his region alone.

A man who was swept out to sea on a piece of the roof of his house is rescued by a
naval vessel.

The Japanese government announces energy rationing due to the shutdown of

nuclear power stations. Millions of residents are without any power or water.

The Japanese weather service says there is a 70% chance that a further aftershock
with a magnitude of 7.0 or higher could occur within three days.

Interesting facts

Deaths - 15,894 deaths

Injuries- 6,152 injured

Missing - 2,562 people missing

Cost 25 trillion Yen [309 Billion Dollars]

1.5 million houses without electricity

Energy released by the quake compared to the nuclear attack on

Hiroshima: 600,000,000 times the energy of the Hiroshima bomb

The quake moved the Earth's axis: 10 cm at least

The quake made earth days shorter by: 1.8 microseconds

Images

References

http://www.livescience.com/39110-japan-2011-earthquaketsunami-facts.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_T%C5%8Dhoku_earthquake_and_
tsunami

http://news.nationalpost.com/news/japan-quake-and-tsunamitimeline-of-key-events

http://www.japan-talk.com/jt/new/21-scary-statistics-about-the2011-japan-earthquake