Japan Tsunami

United Nations Report

Japan Tsunami 1st October 2011

On 11th March 2011 Japan was struck by a tsunami, caused by Japans most powerful earthquake recorded in history. This was due to the shifting of tectonic plates sliding beneath Japan. Because the area is so complex geologists are not sure which plate Japan sits on, however they know that it’s around the pacific plate. The tectonic plates move very fast in this area, at a rate of 9cm each year. This leads to a huge amount of energy being produced. Most of the energy was released at the ocean floor and caused the earthquake.

The tsunami that hit Japan destroyed nearly everything off the Pacific Coast of Tohoku. As a result it also caused the reactors at Fulkshima Daiichi power plant to shut down. The reactor overheated and started to release huge amounts of radiation into the atmosphere. All the people living within 20 kilometres of the power plant had to be quickly evacuated. Very high levels of radiation have been found in many foods grown in Japan. 129,225 buildings were fully destroyed from the tsunami, 254,204 buildings were half collapsed and couldn’t be used anymore and 691,766 buildings were damaged.

This is just one picture that shows us the damage that has been done due to the disaster.

According to the National Agency of Japan (NPAT) there were 15,861 deaths, 6,107 injuries and 3,018 people missing. The numbers are still not confirmed as they are still growing. Unfortunately all the people who were said to be ‘missing’ were presumed to be dead.

The 9.0 magnitude earthquake hit japan, effecting countries in the north and east coast. Many cities were affected including Fuji, Tohoku, Ishinomaki and Minamisanriku, as well as others that were damaged or destroyed. This is the first time something like this has happened to Japan. There was no warning of the tsunami and people were caught by surprise with no way to evacuate in time.

This table is some of the tsunamis that have...