In March of 2011, a magnitude 9 earthquake hit Japan, releasing a dangerous tsunami. Japan was not expecting the magnitude of the earthquake and tsunami, and endured much hardship after the disaster. The effects of the tsunami can still be seen in Japan today through its residents, economy, and through actions that have been taken to further protect residents from future disasters. Though the Japan 2011 tsunami is one of the most destructive tsunamis ever recorded, dangerous tsunamis continue to take place across the globe. The Japan 2011 tsunami not only affected the inhabitants of Japan, but also affected people around the world. After disasters such as this, each area must endure the aftermath of the disaster and recover from the effects.
A tsunami is a series of huge waves occurring when there is a major disturbance on the ocean floor. Tsunamis often occur due to earthquakes, volcanoes, or landslides (Park 16). Underwater earthquakes may produce waves that travel in all different directions. Some tsunamis lose power and die out under water, others may produce large waves as they approach land. Tsunamis may look like an onrushing tidal wave as they approach land, but do not occur because of tides (Park 6). Their walls of water can move across the open ocean at speeds of up to 560 miles per hour. When the waves hit the coast, they can reach up to 100 feet (Park 5). The tsunami in Japan is believed to have occurred after two of Earth’s tectonic plates collided in the
The most noticeable difference between a tsunami and a hurricane is the cause of each. A tsunami is the aftermath of an underwater earthquake or volcanic eruption. The force of the earthquake or eruption, along with the moving of the tectonic plates, sends large amounts of water in all directions. The waves can be thousands of feet high when they reach the shoreline. These giant waves can arrive at a moment's notice with no warning. The tsunami is a large natural phenomenon originating from the ocean, but it is not the only phenomenon to start in the ocean.
Natural disasters are a huge challenge for the planet because of the adverse effects that are associated with them. One of the major earthquakes to have shaken the earth is the Great Sendai Earthquake or Great Tōhoku Earthquake that occurred in 2011. The event started when a powerful earthquake hit the northeastern Japan on March 11, 2011, and resulted in a widespread damage on land. A series of massive tsunamis later devastated many parts of the coastal regions of the country with the worst affected being the Tohoku region. The tsunami further resulted in a major nuclear accident that damaged distant regions on a power station located along the coast. The economic effects of the tsunami qualify it as one of the major natural disasters because it affected Japan’s economic stability as the country ended up resorting to importing as an alternative to cover the loss.
The Boxing Day Tsunami had occurred on the 26th of December 2004. The tsunami had started under water, in the Indian Ocean. The cause of the tsunami was that the Indo-Australian plate had subducted below the Eurasian plate, this process is called a convergent plate boundary. This resulted with an underwater earthquake, making waves approximately 20-30 metres high and travelling at speeds up to 500km/ph. Theses waves travelled throughout Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand and left each country in terrible conditions. The earthquake that occurred underwater had
Since these earthquakes are caused by tectonic plate movement therefore displacing the ocean floor they are almost always accompanied by massive ocean waves, sometimes reaching heights of over 100 ft and reaching speeds of 500 mph, known as seismic sea waves or more commonly known as Tsunamis4. Alongside the catastrophic events that megathrust earthquakes ensue on an affected region these colossal Tsunami waves further destruct costal lines in their path, sometimes reaching many miles inland.
The Tsunami that took place after the initial quake was caused by a portion of seabed rupturing upwards, and displacing a large portion of the water being displaced. This water traveled at 450 miles, at 8 feet tall, to the Chilean and Peruvian coast. Early viewers of the tsunami later reported waves being up to 10 feet tall. This rupture was believed to be caused by 2 unusually dense pieces of seabed that had been previously undetected by scientists, and consequently caused a large displacement of water. There were also small ruptures of seismic
The tsunami waves reached heights up to 128 feet at Miyako city and traveled inland as far as six miles. A tsunami is a series of large sea waves caused by a large displacement of water. The tsunami flooded an estimated area of approximately 217 square miles in Japan. The massive waves destroyed large three-story buildings where many people seeked for safety. Within hours of the first tsunami hit Hawaii and set off multiple warning to Canada, Alaska, South America, the United States, the Oregon coast, and the Pacific.
The first many waves of tsunami hit Japan's coastline which was 60 kilometer in offshore East Tohoku coast. The massive tsunami suddenly appeared and submerged everything along the Pacific coast of archipelago northern Japan. "The tsunami waves reached run-up heights (how far the wave surges inland above sea level) of up to 128 feet (39 meters) at Miyako city and traveled inland as far as 6 miles (10 km) in Sendai. The tsunami flooded an estimated area of approximately 217 square miles (561 square kilometers) in Japan" ( ). Also, near Oarai, the tsunami generated a huge whirlpool offshore. The Tohoku to destroyed and immersed a lot of houses as well as high buildings. In addition, the Tohoku tsunami not only happened in Japan bit also spread across the Pacific at least 20 countries, including the western coast of North and South America. However, though it can affect many parts of the region, but it caused only relatively small impacts; Japan was the only countries that had to be influenced heavily. Although Japan had warning actions and rapid evacuation, they cannot avoid and reduce
Tsunamis occur when there is sudden movement in an extensive body of water such as earthquakes, landslides on the sea floor, major volcanic eruptions or meteorite impacts. The most common source of a tsunami is earthquakes, which are another type of geomorphic hazard that is caused by the friction and stress that tectonic plates put on each other. Tsunamis primarily occur in coastal or island regions where there is a tectonic border or what is known as the ring of fire. As shown in the diagram below the ring of fire is located along the coastal and island regions of the world.As a result of the Pacific Plate diving beneath the Eurasian plate, on March 11, 2011, there were 2 geomorphic hazards, a magnitude-9 earthquake struck north Japan, which caused a deadly tsunami that reached heights of 39 meters. The destructive dilemma was dubbed ‘The Great Sendai Disaster’. The earthquake was caused by multiple centuries of stress on the tectonic plates surrounding the island. The earthquake caused a tsunami that reached the height of 39 meters (128 feet). Japanese scientists had previously discovered that there was another tsunami just like the one in 2011 that took place in 869 AD. But their warning was unhindered. The tsunami, which occurred in 869 AD, was caused by the same tectonic fault as the 2011 tsunami. The epicenter of the earthquake was off the northeast cost of Japan leading to a devastating tsunami that killed many and left many wishing they were. The massive earthquake caused an upward wave that headed towards the city of Sendai. Researches have recently uncovered a thin layer of clay that lubricated the fault zone causing the deadly tectonic slip, thus creating a tsunami that could wipe out an entire city as it did in 2011.The aftermath of the 2011 tsunami and earthquake was not pretty; it caused many deaths, injuries, traumas, financial difficulties, destruction of property, health bills and the destruction of the landscape as a whole. The natural disaster caused nearly 16,000 casualties and there are an estimated 2,500 people still reported missing. Although drowning caused most deaths others include, crushed by debris, suicide and diseases caused by nuclear radiation (cancer) spilled from nuclear
The 2004 Indian Ocean and Tsunami, everyone has heard about this tragic experience before. It is the third-largest earthquake ever recorded on a seismograph and had the longest duration of faulting ever observed, between 8.3 and 10 minutes. A Tsunami is a long high sea wave caused by an earthquake, submarine landslide, or other disturbance. For the book, Wave, there was family of four where the brother, mom and dad went to Thailand to spend their winter break. The daughter had decided to spend her winter break in New York City. In Thailand, there was a Tsunami that had struck the resort where the family had been staying at. The dad and his son went out to go and help others while the mom stayed back in the hotel lobby. Or what was left of it.
The word tsunami comes from a Japanese word meaning “Long harbor waives”. Tsunami is much known and very common in Japan because thousands of Japanese have been killed and some suffered in recent centuries. Tsunami waves generally speaking cause a lot of damages such as, killing people, destroying building, and costing million of dollars. Moreover, a tsunami is a series of great sea waves caused by an underwater earthquake, landslide, or volcanic eruption. The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake that is located on epicenter off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia, is actually one of the worst disasters in the history of Indian Ocean that generated by the most powerful 9.0 magnitude earthquake. An aggressive
On Friday March 11, 2011 at 2:46pm, an earthquake struck Fukushima, Japan. The earthquake had a magnitude of 9.0 and did considerable damage in the region. This was a rare and complex double quake that lasted only about 3 minutes. Some events that happened that occurred after the earthquake are as followed: loss of power, loss of cooling, core damage, reactor pressure damage, and hydrogen explosion. This earthquake caused a 15-metre tsunami to strike the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant on Japan’s Tohoku coast. The tsunami caused much more damage than the earthquake. The tsunami resulted in 19,000 human deaths and destroyed millions of buildings.
On March 11, 2011, a 9.0 earthquake shook northeastern Japan. The earthquake was felt around the globe. Debris that was washed away still continues to wash up on the beaches of California and other beaches in the US. The residents of this small island are still recovering from this natural disaster. As a result of the earthquake, 19,000 lives were lost and 1.2 buildings were damaged. The earthquake/tsunami cost Japan $574 billion. To make matters worse, the waves of the tsunami damaged a nuclear power plant located in Japan and caused the radioactive material to leak out into the surrounding area.
A tsunami is a series of ocean waves that consist of very long wavelengths, they are caused by large-scale disturbances of the ocean, some including; earthquakes,
The Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami was a disaster considering, Japan had a magnitude 9 earthquake which then caused a massive tsunami. The earthquake was so powerful that it affected people from Norway to Antarctica. The tsunami waves surged to a towering one hundred and twenty eight feet tall . The tsunami went six miles inland from shore to the city. The tsunami went so far inland that is causing one of the nuclear plants to have a cooling meltdown, which then caused a level-7 meltdown. 15,894 people died in this natural disaster and there are still 2,500 people still missing. People still now in 2017 have no homes and are living in hotels and part time homes.
The Japanese word tsunami translates literally as “harbor wave”, because a tsunami can speed silently and undetected across the ocean, then unexpectedly arise as destructively high waves in shallow coastal waters.