Natalie+R

Projects n' Stuff

media type="custom" key="13227488" March 14, 2012

media type="custom" key="12238268"
 * Ecological Restoration Project**

__Japan's Tsunami__  The Great East Japan Earthquake that occurred on March 11, 2011 has been considered as one of the most powerful earthquakes since 1900, when earthquakes first began to be recorded. With a magnitude of 9.0, the epicenter being 70 kilometers off the coast of the Oshika Peninsula in Tohoku, and a hypocenter having a depth of 32 kilometers underwater, the earthquake was the source of a Tsunami causing waves to reach 133 feet above the ground. The tsunami traveled 6 miles inland, and tilted the Earth’s axis an estimated 5-10 inches. The earthquake itself is classified as a “Megathrust earthquake”, which means it occurred in the subduction zone at convergent boundaries. (Essentially, one plate was subducted by another tectonic plate.) What makes these earthquakes so massive is the fact that there is a shallow dip on the plate’s boundary, and it can cause the plate to get stuck. There are no other types of known earthquakes other than Megathrusts that can produce an earthquake of their large scales.

The effects of an earthquake of this size were devastating. While most dams were not irreversibly damaged, besides some six having minor cracks in the sides, one, the Fuijnuma Dam was destroyed by the tsunami, destroying five homes and killing eight people. Along with the dams, an oil refinery in east Tokyo was set on fire due to the earthquake, which thrived for ten days, killing six people, along with another 145,000 barrel refinery in Sendai. The city of Sendai, which was once a thriving port city, was completely destroyed and only remnants of the buildings, boats, and packing ships were left. Sea barriers were thrown around as if weightless, and fishing boats were reported to have been balancing atop buildings. Months later, a clean up of the region is still happening, and a reconstruction to a substantial state will take years of diligent work to rebuild. The rebuilding can get complicated when one takes into consideration the power plants and oil refineries that had fires, and the amount of power the city depended on those facilities for. Some towns have been turned into a muddy-wetland, while a large portion of the wildlife has been destroyed; trees ripped out of their roots, meanwhile the inhabitants of the fauna are either dead or without a home. A full restoration may never occur, but most importantly, the citizens of Japan are left in a horrid state. 

All of those effected will have to learn to find a new normal in their daily lives, as they rebuild everything they worked for. The Japanese National Police Agency was able to ensure that 3, 394 went missing, 5, 893 injured, and 15, 844 died, with about 150, 000 buildings being severely damaged or destroyed. There is an estimated damage costing up to an equivalent estimated $35 billion, and the Bank of Japan offered $184 billion dollars to be used towards stabilizing the market alone, making this tsunami the most expensive natural disaster in history of mankind.

All pictures found at National Geographic.

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Alabaster, Jay, and Todd Pitman. "Hardships, Suffering in Earthquake Zone | The Japan Times Online." //The Japan Times Online: News on Japan, Business News, Opinion, Sports, Entertainment and More//. 15 Mar. 2011. Web. 18 Jan. 2012. .

News, Roland Buerk BBC. "BBC News - Japan Earthquake: Tsunami Hits North-east."//BBC - Homepage//. 11 Mar. 2011. Web. 19 Jan. 2012. <[]>.