Learning outcomes: To understand the physical

nature of the hazard.

• To analyse how the economic, social and

political character of it’s community reflects the presence of the hazard.

• To assess the communities response to the risk.

• http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/8376492/Japanese-earthquake-and-tsunami-in-video.html

• http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/interactive-graphics/graphic-of-the-day/8954260/Graphic-before-and-after-the-Japan-tsunami.html

http://www.rgs.org/NR/rdonlyres/6A9EF740-3EC2-4548-BE31-

842A68C1927C/0/KS2_MVE_JapanEarthquakeCaseStudy6.pdf

Exemplar Slide on seismicity

past to present: Historical seismicity in Japan

The earthquake on March 11, 2011,

marked with a , took place

around the same location as the

the magnitude 7.2 earthquake on March 9,

2011, thus the earlier one was

redefined as a foreshock. In the

cluster, there were 3 earthquakes

greater than magnitude 6 before the

main shock and another 14 in the

first 6 hours after. The aftershocks

intensity decreased with time since

the main shock and followed a

predictable pattern.

3

Since 1900 March 2011

Further info on a detailed USGS poster on

“Seismicity of the Earth 1900—2007, Japan and Vicinity”

click on: http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2010/1083/d/

Earthquake Location: Coordinates for Tohoku, Japan (2011)

4

Location:

130 km (80

miles) east of

Sendai,

Honshu,

Japan and

373 km (231

miles)

northeast of

Tokyo,

Japan.

Source: USGS

Exemplar Country Profile: Japan (2011)

Country profile:

• Island nation in East Asia in the Pacific

Ocean

• Third largest economy in the world

• Politically stable with world-class critical infrastructure: physical assets that serve as foundation for effective governance*, economy and civil society.

• Capital: Tokyo

• Population: 126.5 million (UN, 2011)

• Very high life expectancy at birth, one of the oldest populations in the world (CIA World Factbook)

• Most structures built to resist earthquake shaking

5

* Governance: security, civil service, public management, core

infrastructure, corruption and legal and regulatory reforms.

Exemplar Template:

Tohoku, Japan Earthquake and Tsunami (2011)

Date and time: Friday, 11 March 2011 at 5:46 UTC*

Location: Japan, near northeast coast of Honshu

Epicentre: 130km east of Sendai

Magnitude: 9.0 on Richter scale

Speed of Onset: Foreshocks

and rapid main shock, aftershocks

Duration: Short

Areal extent: Extremely large area

Map: USGS summary map on following slide

Plates: Pacific plate subducting under Eurasian plate. Subduction zone very seismically active. Convergent margin, fairly high convergence rate. Earthquake shallow at the Japan trench.

Earthquake: 4th largest in the world since 1900 and largest in Japan since recording began 130 years ago (USGS)

History of Earthquakes: Japan trench

subduction zone has had 9 events 7+ on the

scale since 1973. 20% of world’s earthquakes

take place in Japan.

Risk profile: Country ranked

1st worldwide for human and

economic exposure to cyclones

and earthquakes, 1st (economic)

and 2nd (human) for tsunamis and

very high for drought, flood

and landslides (Prevention web)

Key points: Tsunami, Fujinuma

dam ruptured, Fukushima Daichii

nuclear accident.

References: IRIS:http://www.iris.edu/news/events/japan2011/

BBC:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific

14918801

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific

12711226

Prevention web:

http://www.preventionweb.net/english/countries/st

tistics/risk.php?iso=jpn

6

*Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) – primary time standard by

which the world regulates clocks and time, closely related

successors to Greenwich (GMT) mean time and for most purposes

synonymous with GMT. Unlike GMT, UTC is precisely scientifically

defined.

Annotated images: Tohoku, Japan Earthquake and Tsunami (2011)

7

Some of the burning houses swallowed by

tsunami in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture in eastern

Japan.

Burning oil refinery in Ichihara,

Chiba Prefecture.

New York Times

Los Angeles Times

Offset ocean floor

causes tsunami waves

8

Water and debris washed

away houses in Sendai,

Miyagi Prefecture.

Waves crashes over Natori,

Miyagi Prefecture.

New York Times

AP

What is an earthquake and tsunami?

Action for students: 1. Watch BBC News, “Animated Guide –

Earthquakes” and print out the PDF non-

animated version. Retain in your research folder,

as you will use it later:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7533950.stm

2. Watch National Geographic,

“Earthquake 101”: http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education

/media/earthquakes-101/?ar_a=1&ar_r=999

Source:http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/geography/natural

_hazards/earthquakes_rev1.shtml

3. Review BBC GCSE Bitesize, “What

causes a Tsunami?”:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize

/geography/natural_hazards/tsunamis_rev

1.shtml

And Japan Tsunami footage with

explanations

http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/news/e

nvironment-news/japan-tsunami-2011-vin/

9

Source: Edexcel Unit 4, Option 1,

Tectonic activity and hazards

Foreshocks, Main

shocks and aftershocks sequence • .

Source: USGS

Tohoku, Japan (2011) Map:

11 March - magnitude 9.0 main shock off

Tohoku followed by 166 aftershocks of

magnitude 5.5 and greater until May 20.

Aftershocks follow a statistically

predictable manner. In common with

almost all of the largest earthquakes,

this one is on a subduction zone.

Warmer colour for more recent events

Larger symbol for greater quake

magnitude.

10

GPS: measuring

plate motion Global Positioning system (GPS) is one of various

technologies used for studying earthquakes. Receivers placed

along fault lines measures movements of the Earth's crust with

a precision of one millimetre per year.

The length of the indicates the extent of the movement.

Source: UNAVCO 2000

Further info on GPS and plate motion calculators for your records: http://www.unavco.org/community_science/science-support/crustal_motion/dxdt/model.html

This GPS Slip model of Tohoku,

Japan (2011) was produced with

vertical GPS data.

Source:

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/worl

d/japan/031111_M9.0prelim_geodetic_slip.p

hp

The Geography

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/index00.asp

Primary effects Secondary effects

Economic The cost of recovery cost $235 billion.

The yen fell sharply but recouped most of its decline several

hours later. Tokyo stocks fell.

Economic loss from the nuclear meltdown

Social Panic caused by the massive earthquake.

Fewer than 20 people were killed by the

earthquake.

15,883 deaths, 6,150 injured, 2,651 people missing as a

result of the tsunami. 92.5% of these people died by

drowning.

45,700 buildings were destroyed and 144,300 were damaged

by the quake and tsunami.

1.2 million homes without power

1.4 million homes without water

582 roads cut off

32 bridges destroyed

The earthquake and tsunami created an estimated 24–25

million tons of rubble and debris in Japan

An estimated 230,000 automobiles and trucks were

damaged or destroyed in the disaster

At Fukushima the tsunami disabled emergency generators

required to cool the reactors triggering a nuclear meltdown.

People were evacuated from their homes.

Approximately 531,000 non-Japanese residing in Japan

departed the country after the quake and tsunami, including

approximately 25% of foreigners living in Tokyo

Environmental Liquifaction covered large areas in mud.

Ground ruptured.

The earthquake triggered a tsunami the had waves as high as

10m

Many animals would have been killed by the tsunami.

Immediate responses Long term responses

Three minutes after the quake a

tsunami warning was issued.

Meteorological Agency official

appeared on TV urging those

affected by the quake not to return

home because of possible tsunamis.

Fifty-nine search and rescue

experts, four medics and two sniffer

dogs flew out on a private charter

plane with 11 tonnes of equipment

on board.

Strong police presence

91 countries have offered aid, from

blankets and food to search dogs

and military transport.

According to Japan's foreign

ministry, 116 countries and 28

international organizations offered

assistance. Japan specifically

requested assistance from teams

from Australia, New Zealand, South

Korea, and the United States.

Jackie Chan donated $3 million.

How was the hazard managed?

• The p-waves from the earthquake were detected and a warning was sent to televisions and mobile phones seconds before the earthquake struck. This gave the Japanese time to execute will practiced earthquake drills, such as taking shelter under tables. A warning for the tsunami was given 3 minutes after the earthquake giving people approximately 20 minutes the evacuate.

Why did the tsunami had such a damaging effect despite the warnings and sea walls?

In places the land subsided by 1-2 m meaning that the sea walls were not as high as they were thought to be. This meant the tsunami easily swept over the walls. Also, in some places the waves were so large that they were larger than the walls anyway. People did not necessarily heed the tsunami warning, taking time to remove belongings, and help elderly people. It could be said that people may not have anticipated the scale of the tsunami and took longer to evacuate than advised.

Crisis mapping using

crowdsourcing- Japan “Within an hour of the Japanese earthquake, Google's

crisis response team — launched after the disaster in

Haiti — had posted a "Person Finder" website that

quickly grew to include 450,000 records. If you're

looking for someone, you can post, 'Hey, my cousin is

a teacher in Sendai, we're looking for him. Someone

else will post, "I've seen him in a shelter; he's fine." Jamie Yood of Google

Source:

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/tech/news/2011-04-11-japan-social-media_N.htm

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/tech/news/2011-04-11-japan-social-media_N.htm

Individual preparation:

Grab bag in Japan.

.

26 Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12759840

Modern

early warning system

Japan: satellite communication technology

Japan is the World leader in Earthquake

preparedness, the earthquake set off

the Pacific Ocean Tsunami Warning System

DART II and warned about a tsunami across

the Pacific. The warnings were more

coordinated than after the Indian Ocean Tsunami

in 2004, so more people could evacuate to

higher ground.

Satellite communication has improved which

has reduced the lag between data collection

and warning. A recorder on the seabed that

transmits data about anomalies to a buoy on the

surface. Then the data is transmitted every 15

seconds via satellite to ground stations.

But Japan had only planned and prepared for a 200

to 300-year tsunami, not a 1000 year one (1 in 1000 years).

27

Source: USGS and NOAA; http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/early-

warning-of-disasters-facts-and-figures/

Early warning response

in Japan

28

Source: http://www.jma.go.jp/jma/en/Activities/image/eew2.png

Discuss