The Aftermath of Tohoku Earthquake/Tsunami

October 18, 2014

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page
1. Introduction
1.1 What is a Megathrust Earthquake?
1.2 What is a Tsunami?
1.3 Statement of Aim

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2. The Megathrust Earthquake and Tsunami

2.1 Tectonic Setting
2.1.1 History of Fault Zone
2.2 Tsunami
2.3 Monitoring
2.3.1 Aftershocks

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3. Dealing with the consequences

3.1 The Aftermath and Consequences
3.1.1 Nuclear Power Plant Failure
3.2 Prevention Measures

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4. Conclusion

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5. References

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6. Illustrations
Figure 1- Pacific coast of Japan
Figure 2- Height and Speed of Tsunami

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Figure 3- Plate Boundaries

Figure 4- Plate interactions
Figure 5- Evacuation zone
Table 1 Strongest Earthquake since 1900
Table 2 Damages and causalities

1. INTRODUCTION

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The international community all focused on Japan as the pacific coast got hit hard by a
9.0 magnitude earthquake (Fig.1) on March 11, 2014 at 14:46 UTC east of Sendai.1 This
earthquake known as the Tohoku earthquake is ranked the fourth largest earthquake in the world
in terms of scale and largest to ever hit Japan since 1990.2 What unfolded shortly after the 9.0
earthquake was a tsunami, which in a matter of minutes, reached the eastern shore of Honsku,
Japan covering a vast amount of land making it the most widespread wave zone around the Sea
of Japan.3 After the flood waters receded the world watched on for the coming days for details on
how extinctive the damages these two natural disasters posed on the people in and near the
affected zones.
1.1 What is a Megathrust Earthquake?
A megathrust earthquake occurs on a subduction zone when one plate subducts
underneath another.4 During the process of two plates converging there is a buildup of strain and
as soon as the strain overpowers the friction between the two, there is a slippage in which
produces a megathrust earthquake.4 The strength of a megathrust earthquake can surpass 9.0 in
magnitude making them the most powerful earthquakes on earth.4 Megathrust Earthquakes have
occurred in other parts of the world (Table 1- Powerful earthquakes on earth) one in particular
was the 2004 Sumatra earthquake and tsunami off the coast of Indonesia which measured 9.1 in
magnitude.2 What differentiates these two major earthquakes are that the Tohoku earthquake and
tsunami had far more societal impacts and a completely different response time in respect to the
eminent threats posing to the coastal cities and towns on the pacific side of Japan.7

Fi
gure 1 Pacific coast of Japan

1.2 What is a Tsunami?

Table 1 Strongest Earthquakes since 19006

A tsunami is a large amount of water, in the form of a wave, that can travel long distances
across the ocean eventually reaching land; the causes of a tsunami can come for an earthquake or
a volcanic eruption that happens under the ocean.8 The mechanics behind the height and speed of
a tsunami all depends on the depth of the ocean floor it is currently on (Fig.2), in deep waters the
waves are small and travel quite fast, while in the shallow waters they are tall and move slow.9 A
tsunami is capable of flooding about one kilometer or more inland, carrying along debris in its
path.9 When contrasting the 2004 Sumatra earthquake and tsunami which reported approximately
230,000 deaths and $10 billion in damages to the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, the tsunami
that hit Japan was more deadlier.2
1.3 Statement of Aim
The major implications that resulted from the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami were quite
large and affected not only Japan but also other parts of the world (Chile, California, Hawaii
etc.).2 The focus of this report is to shed light on the outcome these two natural disasters caused
to Japan that made it a catastrophe.
2. THE MEGATHRUST EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI
The 9.0 magnitude megathrust earthquake that shook Japan on March 11 lasted
approximately six minutes, affecting for the most part the eastern coast of Japan, the epicenter
was located approximately 130km east of Sendai City (Fig.1) at a depth of 24.4 kilometres.10 The
intensity of the earthquake was so powerful that it moved Honshu, Japan 2.4 metres east as well
as produce a tsunami that reached the coast of Japan in a matter of 15 minutes after the
earthquake.10

Figure 2 Height and speed of tsunami 11

2.1 Tectonic Setting

The pacific coast of Japan is located near a subduction zone; this plate boundary (Fig.3)
involves the interaction of two plates the Pacific and North American plate.12 The way these two
plates behave at the Japan Trench (subduction zone) is that the Pacific plate moves westward to
go beneath the eastern portion of Japan at a rate of 83mm/year.12 Two days leading up to the
megathrust earthquake on March 11, there were a series of four foreshocks one of magnitude 7.2
and three more on the same day of magnitude 6.12 The magnitude of the main earthquake does
not normally occurred at this subduction zone in fact in the 20th century no earthquake has
surpassed magnitude 8 or greater at the Japan Trench.12

Figure 3 Plate boundaries13

2.1.1_History of Fault Zone

At the Japan Trench earthquakes of magnitude 7 or greater have occurred since 1973, the
strongest before this megathrust earthquake measured at a magnitude of 7.8 on December 1994
just approximately 260 kilometres north of the Tohoku earthquake epicenter resulting in three
deaths and 700 injuries.12
2.2_Tsunami
Underneath the ocean floor a rupture of the fault plane traveled west under Japan
however, a rupture going east towards the sea floor (Fig.4) also occurred which caused sediments
on the seafloor to expand up from the sheer force of the rupture, that in turn pushed all the water
that was sitting on top of this deformed sediment up creating a dome on the surface of the ocean
which spawned a tsunami that was now traveling in all directions.14 The highest recorded height
of the tsunami wave reached 38 metres and managed to reach 10 kilometres inland destroying
towns and villages as well as causing flooding in these hard hit areas.15

Figure 4- Plate interactions16

2.3_Montioring
Japan is located in an area which experiences one of the high occurrences of earthquakes
and this has from time to time produced a lot of damages to the country.17 The Japan
Meteorological Agency (JMA) focuses on monitoring any seismic activity from earthquakes or
incoming tsunamis in order to alert the public on what precautions to take.17
2.3.1 Aftershocks
The day after the major earthquake a total of 50 aftershocks happened and of those fifty,
seven of them measured a magnitude of at least 6.3 however, by August 4, 2011 a total of 647
aftershocks had occurred.10 The aftershocks will continue to originate near or on the fault line
where the rupture occurred during the main earthquake and with each passing aftershock the
tendency of another occurring decreases since the main shock.12

3. DEALING WITH THE CONSEQUENCE

3.1 The Aftermath and Consequences

The economic cost from the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami reached $210 billion USD
setting a record as the most costly natural disaster ever.18 The destruction of the Tohoku
earthquake and tsunami caused 15,854 death and 3,203 missing in Japan according to the data
The National Police Agency of Japan released as of March 8, 2012.2 The number of dead and
missing has since been revised (Table 2-Damages) following a report from The National Police
Agency on October 10, 2014 which also illustrates property and infrastructure damages. There
were 4.4 million households in northeastern Japan that had no power and 1.5 million no drinking
water.19 These two natural disaster managed to cripple many of Japans resources including
communications, infrastructure, transportation and services (electricity, water etc.) posing many
challenges for a quick disaster response.10 One major implication that resulted after the
earthquake and tsunami was the accident at the Fukushima nuclear power plant which had a level
7 on the International Nuclear Event Scale, the highest ever, and prompted a possible public
health emergency of international concern.10

Tab
le 2 Casualties and damages

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3.1.1 Nuclear Power Plant Failure

Before the earthquake, eleven reactors at four nuclear power plants near the affected zone
were operational and as soon as the 9.0 megathrust earthquake hit, all of them automatically
shutdown.21 There were no reports of damages to any nuclear power plants as a result of the
earthquake however, once the tsunami came inland, a wave at a height of 15 metres flooded the
Fukushima Daiichi site which posed a serious problem to its three reactors as the flood waters
disabled twelve of the thirteen backup generators making it difficult for the reactors to maintain
reactor cooling and water circulation.21As the fuel rods overheated hydrogen began escaping
from reactor units 1, 3 and 4 which prompted an explosion, this lead to radioactive materials
escaping out of the power plant and into outside surroundings.22 An evacuation was issued for
residents living about 20 km from the plant(Fig. 4), that involved displacing over 100,000
residents.21,22 The government announced on December 19, 2011 that the damaged reactor had
achieved cold shutdown which signifies a decrease in radioactive particles releasing into the
atmosphere.22

Figure 5 Evacuation Zone23

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3.2 Prevention Measures

The cause of death of 90% of the deaths from the earthquake and tsunami was due to
drowning.10 The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) issues tsunami warnings to the public
whenever there is an eminent threat; one of the problems that resulted from an investigation JMA
conducted after the disaster was the fact that they underestimated the magnitude of the
earthquake and the height the tsunami waves could reach.24 Therefore in March 7, 2013 JMA
introduced a new and improved tsunami warning system that aims to provide updated and time
effective warnings of any tsunami and their wave height.24 Also the Japanese government after
three years since the tsunami, built one of the biggest anti-tsunami walls ever spanning 230 miles
and costing approximately $8 billion.25

4. CONCLUSION
The events that enfolded on the pacific coast of Japan caused major damage and affected
a lot of people both in Japan as well as across the pacific.15 Japan is one of the elite countries best

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prepared for reducing the risk of any natural disaster however, the events that unfolded on March
11, 2011 far surpassed anything they have ever experienced before.18 The entire eastern Pacific
coast of Japan received significant damage and has been noted as the worst natural disaster to
ever hit Japan.10 The challenges and serious emergency that came from the Fukushima Daiichi
nuclear power plant after the tsunami, managed to crimple the reactors posing a potential public
health emergency at both a national and international level.10

REFERENCES
1.

Facts on the Earthquake http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=49621 (accessed October 8, 2014)

2.

Damages of the Earthquake - http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/hazard/tsunami/pdf/2011_0311.pdf

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3.

After the Earthquake - http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13753-011-0004-9

(accessed October 8, 2014)
4.

Identifying a megathrust earthquake

http://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/News-Events/Latest-News/News-Archive/2011-Newsarchive/Megathrust-earthquake-rocks-Japan (accessed October 8, 2014)
5.

Map of the 2011 earthquake

http://media-2.web.britannica.com/eb-media/80/148480-004-E7E863D0.jpg

6.

Largest Earthquakes on earth http://www.jma.go.jp/jma/en/Activities/jishintsunami/jishintsunami_low1.pdf

7.

Difference to Sumatra 2004

http://www.earth.lsa.umich.edu/~jritsema/Reprints/183-188_ELEM_v8n3.pdf
8.

Tsunami facts - http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/tsunami.html (accessed October 8, 2014)

9.

Tsunami speed and height - http://tsunami.org/7science/03_what_is_a_tsunami.html (accessed

October 8, 2014)
10.

Earthquake Details - http://www.wpro.who.int/publications/docs/japan_earthquake.pdf?ua=1

11.

Tsunami mechanics http://www.jma.go.jp/jma/en/Activities/jishintsunami/jishintsunami_low5.pdf

12.

Tectonic Boundary http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eqarchives/poster/2011/20110311.php

(accessed October 10, 2014)
13.

Plate interaction near Japan http://media.economist.com/images/images-magazine/2011/03/19/fb/20110319_fbm974.gif

14.

Cause of Tsunami
http://news.stanford.edu/news/2011/may/japan-quake-tsunami-052411.html
(accessed October 10, 2014)

15.

Characteristics of the Tsunami http://www.earthmagazine.org/article/japans-megaquake-and-killer-tsunami-how-did-happen

(accessed October 10, 2014)
16.

Rupture of the fault - http://news.stanford.edu/news/2011/may/images/bigwave_news.jpg

17.

JMA Monitoring Agency - http://www.jma.go.jp/jma/en/Activities/brochure201403.pdf

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18.

Damages - http://cred.be/sites/default/files/2012.07.05.ADSR_2011.pdf

19.

Statistics on Affected People

http://www.opusa.org/japan-earthquake-and-tsunami-immediate-response-and-recoveryprojects/ (accessed October 12, 2014)
20.

Revised damages statistics - https://www.npa.go.jp/archive/keibi/biki/higaijokyo_e.pdf

21.

Nuclear disaster
http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/Safety-and-Security/Safety-of-Plants/Fukushima-Accident/
(accessed October 12, 2014)
22.

Radioactive Spread - http://fas.org/sgp/crs/nuke/R41694.pdf

23.

Radioactive Danger Zone

http://fukushimaontheglobe.com/wpcontent/uploads/evacuation_orders_and_restricted_areas_1.jpg
24.

Lessons learned
-http://www.data.jma.go.jp/svd/eqev/data/en/tsunami/LessonsLearned_Improvements_brochure.
pdf
25.

Seawall construction
http://www.npr.org/blogs/parallels/2014/03/11/288691168/in-tsunamis-wake-fierce-debate-overjapans-great-wall (accessed October 13, 2014)