Case study: Japan tsunami 2011: Completed

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  • Created by: Janelle M
  • Created on: 05-06-18 21:49
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  • Case study: Japan tsunami 2011
    • What happened?
      • Friday 11 March 2011 at 14:46, an earthquake of magnitude 9.0 on Richter scale occurred.
      • The epicenter was 30 km below the pacific Ocean seabed and 129 km off the east coast of Honshu, Japan.
      • It was at the point where the Pacific tectonic plate slides beneath the North American plate.
      • This triggered a tsunami
      • High, powerful waves were generated and travelled across the Pacific Ocean
      • The area worst affected by the tsunami was the east coast of Honshu in Japan
    • Main impacts
      • Infrastructure
        • the waves travelled as far as 10 km inland in Sendai
        • the tsunami flooded an area of approx. 561 square km
        • ports and airports in Sendai were damaged and closed
        • the waves destroyed protective tsunami seawalls at several locations
        • The massive surge destroyed three- storey buildings where people had gathered for safety
        • The area worst affected by the tsunami was the east coast of Honshu in Japan
        • a state of emergency was declared at the Furushima nuclear power plant, where cooling systems failed and released radioactive materials into the environment .
        • In July, TEPCO, the Tokyo Electric Power Company, admitted that about 300 tons of radioactive water continued to leak from the plant everyday into the pacific Ocean
      • social and economic:
        • four years after the quake, around 230,000 people who lost their homes were still living in temporary housing
        • The total damages from the earthquake and tsunami are estimated at $300 billion (approx. 25 trillion Yen)
        • The number of confirmed deaths as of 10 April 2015 is 15,891. More than 2,500 people are still reported missing
    • Responses to the disaster
      • The country recently unveiled a newly-installed, upgraded tsunami warning system
      • Earthquake engineers examined the damage, looking for ways to construct buildings that are more resistant to quakes and tsunamis. Studies are ongoing

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