Disaster in Japan: The Quake

DISASTER IN JAPAN A THE QUAKE km 100 Japan was hit by at least 20 earthquakes of a magnitude of air or more on the Richter seale Friday. The initial shock measured an incredible 8,9 and stirred up 10-metre tsunamis, remarkable even for a country in a hot corner of the Pacifie "Ring of Fire" that is subject to 20% A of the world's earthquakes. O KUNASHIR ELEVATION KEY HOKKAIDO • Aftershocks O Cnties O Damaged cities 1,000 - 1,500 Nuclear plants 2,500 - 3,000 • 2,000 - 2,500 4 SENDAI Between 200 and 300 bodies were reportedly found on the coast of Sendai, which was among the hardest hit cities. Ships were flung onto their sides, airport runways were deluged and a massive wave carrying cars, shipping containers and random debris cascaded through the city. Authorities said at least 1,200 homes were destroyed as residents struggling to cope in the cold and dark. 1,500 - 2,000 STRONG SHAKING ------- 800 - 1.000 OKHOTSK PLATE V Plate direction --- Plate edge A Active volcanoes Hakodate :4. 600 - 800 400 - 600 200 - 400 VERY STRONG SHAKING - 200 Aomori S OARAI A whirlpool formed by the tsunami threatened to engulf fishing vessels and other boats. ------. Below sea level JAPAN TRENCH 1. HAKODATE About 30,000 people were evacuated from the historic fishing port after a two-metre wave ripped through the centre of town. 6 FUKUSHIMA 1 NUCLEAR REACTOR Residents near Fukushima No. 1 plant were evacuated after reports of a malfunctioning coolant system. Japanese authorities announced the release of "slightly radioactive" vapour from the plant, according to reports. The U.S. Air Force delivered coolant to the plant. SEVERE SHAKING Akita Моенка 2. ТокуO The city's rail transport system completely stopped after the quake shook office towers, stranding millions of residents. People cleared the shops of food, queued for payphones and struggled to hire one of the few available taxis. 40-0:1030 GMT Kesennuma 7. ONAGAWA NUCLEAR REACTOR A fire broke out at Tohoku Electric Power Co.'s plant but was extinguished. 6.5- L1:363 GMT 3 Miyagi & WAKAYAMA Even hundreds of kilometres from the worst-hit areas, 20,000 residents in a city of 370,000 were evacuated to avoid tsunami waves. Namagatch 40lai TEPICENTRE 424 GMT 3. MIYAGI PREFECTURE A ship carrying 80 dock workers was washed away from a shipyard. All on board are believed 7.1- 00:251 GMTI Sendai Nikgata 3-6447 GM SADO- SHIMA O Soma O Minamisoma to be safe. . S. KESENNUMA The fishing city with a population of 74,000 was hit by widespread fires along its waterfront, still raging 15 hours after the quake. One-third of the city was submerged by tsunami waters. ULLUNG DO JAPAN - 0:11 GMT 62- 0IS41 GMT A Iwakio 63 -07:1459 OMT. Sea of Japan O Hitachi Nagann Mito 63 - 08:12:05 GMT IOGO AMUR PLATE 6a-0:1t0 GMT HONSHU 5. Oarsi DOZEN OKI SHOTO PACIFIC PLATE Kofi Teky 2 62 - 15:11:15 GMT Choshi - 06Shas CMT----- Okuyama Matsue Tottori North Pacific Oceun o Gifu Busan O Nagoya Kyotao Okayama Oкaузта Kobe O Osaka 8 O Wakayama O Takushima O Nara O Tku O-SHIMA CITIES IN DANGER Hiroshima Takamatsu 7SUSHIMA Vamagachi o VERY STRONG SHAKING Potential damage to structures moderate to heavy O Matsuyama MIYAKE-JIMA Fukuokag CITY Korna Strait POPULATION Sendai Kochi SHIKOKU 1,038,000 357,000 O Sauga Iwaki A Olta Koriyama Morioka 341,000 295,000 HACHIJO-JIMA A O Kiimamoto Nagasaki Fukushima 294,000 AMAKUS4- SHOTO Yamagata 255,000 KYUSHU PHILIPPINE PLATE NANKAI TROUGH JAPAN STRONG SHAKING Potential damage to structures ight to moderate A O Miyazaki OKngoshima KOSHIKLJINMA RETTO Utsunomiya Akita 450,000 320,000 247,000 Mito Hachinohe 239,000 ZANEGA Hitachi 186,000 13,000,000 Tokyo THE JAPAN TRENCH HOW A SUBDUCTION ZONE WORKS Japan's position at the centre of a slow-motion collision is to blame for its serious earthquakes. Hundreds of kilometres off the coast, the Pacific tectonic plate is sliding beneath the Okhotsk plate, on which the Japanese island of Honshu sits, at a rate of about nine centimetres per year - a relatively quick pace in geological terms. At the collision point is the Japan Trench, the seventh-deepest ocean trench on Earth with a maximum depth of about nine kilometres. When two oceanic plates collide, the heavier plate bends and plunges into the earth. When built-up stress and friction on the continental plate is released suddenly, an earthquake occurs. ОКНОТSK JAPAN TRENCH PLATE Okhotsk plate Subduction zone PACIFIC PLATE Pacific plate Lithosphere Lithosphere HOW THE TSUNAMI STRUCK JAPAN 1 At about 2:46 p.m. local time in Japan, an 8.9 magnitude earthquake struck approximately 24 kilometres below sea level and about 128 kilometres off the coast of Sendai. The motion 2 This energy forced the water toward the surface, which was several thousand metres above the quake site. The effects 3 That energized water moved across the ocean floor at speeds rivaling a jet plane. As it drew closer to the coast, the "mound" of water was squeezed by the sloping bottom of the ocean, causing a wave to form. 1 The mound of water is relatively safe for ships at this distance. were still small at the ocean's surface. But at the same time, from the quake, which the Japan Meteorological Society has called the strongest in the country's history, added energy to the water. the energized water started pushing beneath the surface toward the shoreline. 4 As that squeezing continued, the wave pushed higher while also slowing down. Wave heights increase as the depth of the water decreases, and when a wave's height is about equal to the depth of the water beneath it, the energized water wall breaks. That normally happens a few metres offshore. 5 At about 3:55 p.m., witnesses reported the biggest tsunami, about 10 metres tall, hitting the coast of Sendai. The massive amount of water behind the wave cast a devastating flood over dozens of cities and towns covering about 2,100 kilometres of shoreline. H The tide will seem to recede suddenly just prior to the wave. H Ships closer to the shore are in more danger.