Japan

• general information

  • march 11th 2011
  • magnitude 9 earthquake in subduction zone off coast of Japan
  • worlds 5th largest earthquake since 1900
  • epicentre was 24km deep, 72km off coast of sendai
  • horizontal crustal displacement at 50m
  • pacific plate subducted under Okhotsk plate
  • tsunami developed within 20 minutes
• MAPP methods of reducing the hazard

  • Japan have the worlds densest seisometers
  • seawall of 2km long, 8m high, 20m thick with 63m deep foundations
  • Fukishima designed to withstand a tsunami of 5.7m
  • evacuation drills held to get to higher ground
  • earthquake resilient infrastructure
  • text message alert systems
  • earthquake survival kits
• economic impacts

  • seawall destroyed costing $300 billion
  • affected business supply chains, 6 Sony factories closed
  • 300,000 buildings destroyed
  • 4000 roads, 78 bridges and 28 railways affected - $300 billion in damage
• social impacts

  • 20,000 deaths, 3000 unaccounted
  • fukishima explosions caused 80,000 people to evacuate
  • 300,000 buildings and homes destroyed, loss of personal belongings
  • job loss
  • mental health repercussions
• environmental impacts

  • destroyed 95% of vegetation
  • triggered landslides and liquefactions
  • 25 million tonnes of waste created in 3 worst hit areas
  • fukishima radioactivity explosion, substances affecting local areas, contamination of food and water chains with caesium
  • huge amounts of sediment transported by tsunami and dumped on paddy fields and forests
• political impacts

  • trading and industrial production sharply dropped for the following dew months
• short term responses

  • within 30 minutes of earthquakes, 11 military aircrafts were assessing devastation
  • within 1 minute 20 seconds, all trains were stopped without derailments
  • evacuation shelters were providing food and blankets for 452,000 people
  • Japan self defence force cleaned up debris and delivered emergency aid
• long term responses

  • 24th of march the transport links to Tokyo were repaired
  • as of Nov 2011, 96% of energy supply, 98% of water supply and 99% of landline network was restored.