Case study: Japan tsunami 2011 (HIC)
On Friday 11 March 2011 at 14:46:24, an earthquake of magnitude nine on the The measure by which the strength of earthquakes is determined. occurred. It was at the point where the Pacific tectonic plate slides beneath the North American plate. The The point on the Earth's surface directly above the focus of an earthquake. was 30 kilometres below the Pacific Ocean seabed and 129 kilometres off the east coast of Honshu, Japan. 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.
The 2011 tsunami affected over 500 kilometres of the Japanese coastline
Water rushing into the Fukushima No.1 nuclear power plant, after a tsunami triggered by an earthquake
The tsunami flooded an area of approximately 561 square kilometres
Main impacts
Infrastructure
- The waves travelled as far as ten kilometres inland in Sendai.
- 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.
- A state of emergency was declared at the Fukushima nuclear power plant, where a cooling system failed and released radioactive materials into the environment.
- In July 2013, the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), admitted that about 300 tons of radioactive water continued to leak from the plant every day 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 (about 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 build capacity to reduce the risk
- The country unveiled a newly-installed, upgraded tsunami warning system in 2013.
- Earthquake engineers examined the damage, looking for ways to construct buildings that are more resistant to earthquakes and tsunamis. Studies are ongoing.