Tohoku Earthquake Study

• The earthquake started on March 11 2011 and triggered a massive tsunami.
• The Pacific plate was being forced under the Okhotsk plate until it snapped
• What magnitude was the 2011 Tohoku earthquake?

  9.1
• The earthquake was erratic; would stop start and stop again
• Aircrafts couldn't come down
• Water started to come up onto the streets because of the seismic activity. This is called liquefaction.
• What was the earthquake on the Richter Scale?

  9
• 250mi of ocean floor rose by 3m, and displaced 150 cubic m of water.
• The displaced 150 cubic m headed toward Japan at a speed of 500mph.
• The Japan coastline sunk 1m
• When the tsunami approaches Japan, it slows down.
• The waves get up to 14m tall
• The earthquake/tsunami potentially took the life of 20,000 people
• What was the third disaster of the Tohoku earthquake?

  A nuclear meltdown
• 3 nuclear generators were flooded by the water from the tsunami
• In order for nuclear generators to work, they need to stay dry.
• The plant was protected by sea walls, but it wasn't enough
• The water reached 38m above sea level
• The battery that cooled the nuclear reactors ran out of energy and it exploded.
• The threat of radiation at Fukushima was the same as Chernobyl.
• 15,670 people were killed
• 5,700 were injured
• 4,832 missing
• 62.2% over 60 who died
• 1.5 million households without water
• 4.4 million without electricity
• 200,000 were evacuated from Fukushima
• 122,000 buildings were destroyed
• 10 hospitals were completely destroyed
• What was the type of plate boundary for the Tohoku earthquake?

  Destructive
• Higher than normal radiation levels were recorded in Tokyo (220km away)
• Japan initially wanted to increase their nuclear generated power from 30% to 50% but since it is a very tsunami-prone country more renewable forms of energy are being considered
• Primary effects : Building collapse during the 5 minutes of land shaking
• Secondary effects : Total damages at 235 Billion dollars made it the costliest natural disaster ever
• Total damages at 235 Billion dollars made it the costliest natural disaster ever- What effect is this?

  Secondary
• Is building collapse a primary effect of the earthquake?

  Yes.
• Primary effects : the 10m high tsunami caused nearly all of the deaths and the 500,000 displaced people
• Secondary effects : Thousands of people were left without electricity, sanitation and water for months
• Thousands of people were left without electricity, sanitation and water for months - What effect is this?

  Secondary
• Immediate Responses: Power was soon restored at Fukushima but the supply was intermittent