Japan-2011-Earthquake-Case-Study Essay

japan is an is degrade nation located in East Asia. find in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of lacquer, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia. japan is an archipelago of 6,852 islands. The four largest islands argon Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku, together comprising about ninety-seven percent of Japans land area. Japan is a study economic impinge onice staff and has the 3rd largest nominal GDP Its GDP per capita is $34,739 or the 25th highest in the world in 2011 Population is approximately 127 million people, which is the 10th largest community in the world. One of the worlds highest life expectancy at 81. 25 years of age.Ageing existence with people 23% of the population are over 60 years old fertility localise below replacement level at 1. 39 children per woman sequence the uks fertility rate is 1. 9 Occurred at 246pm capital of Japan time on the 11th of March 2011. It was a magnitude 9 earthquake its amplitude was 100x that of Haitis 7. 0 L asted for 3-6 minuets entirely there were brawny aftershocks. The epicentre was 24 km deep, was 72 KM off the rim of sendai. A 400 to 500 km long segment of the sum american plate which was being subducted Japan lies at a major triple junction of three major plates which interact in a complex and unpredictable way.The leading edge of the Pacific plate subducts below the westward moving Eurasian plate creating the worlds deepest known trench i. e. Marianas trench. In this same area the Pacific Plate subducts beneath the Philippine plate. Factors that contributed to the vunerability morose Sendai there is a very old oceanic crust which is precooled and denser, it was assumed that the crust would easily slide into the mantle so unless small earthquakes are predicted. Warping of the pacific plate means that it gets stuck quite than sliding smoothly into the mantle causing pressure build up. crushed Ria marginline, many inlets ca employ tsunami waves to be concentrated, causing waves to encroach further. 70% of Japan is mountainous, do committlements cramped into narrow low lying coastal areas. Much of japans land is reclaimed which is very susceptible to liquefaction or ground shaking potentially causing landslides Government officials admitted that officials were too complacent & believed in good infallibility. Japan earthquake and tsunami 2011 Effects of the Earthquake Primary effects Magnitude quake of 9 that lasted for 3-6 minutes.This caused lots of ground shaking that triggered lots of lower-ranking effects Secondary effects Physical An 10-meter tsunami was seen at the port in Sendai, near the epicenter. Japans east coast was moved up 4meters out into the Pacific Ocean, some areas sunk by more than a meter. Ground shaking caused buildings to collapse some caught fire due to blow out pipes bursting. The tsunami swept inland, mainly along the north-east coast swallowing boats homes vehicles trees and anything else. 50sq kilometres of land w ere flooded. When pee receded trains, had vanished, ships and cars were tossed everywhere.Tokyos earthquake proof skyscrapers were swaying lots however vituperate was limited. An oil refinery exploded in the town of Ichihara, a commuter town of Tokyo. In Sendai the areas nearest to the focus, areas near the sea were very badly monetary valued, but inland near the city was largely undamaged. In Mionami-Sanriku only half the population of 17000 escaped alive and nearly all buildings were destroyed. Over 25,000 st oneness-dead or missing due to the tsunami however many more would withstand perished if the early warning system hadnt been in place. Aftershocks continued for cardinal weeks terrifying people, there were 700+ recorded.A tsunami measured at anywhere from one meter to 7. 3 meters hit at various places along the coast Aftershocks were continuing, with one hitting magnitude 7. 1, according to the USGS. Tall buildings swayed violently in central Tokyo as the aftershocks hit. Other effects Half a million people were made homeless for weeks, 150,000 people lived in temporary shelters. At least 1 million homes did not have cartroad water, 6 million homes did not have electricity & cars queued for circumscribe petrol. There were shortages for food, water & medical supplies. Japan earthquake and tsunami 2011 heat content explosion and the melt down of two thermo thermo thermonuclear reactors in Fukushima nuclear powerplant caused wide spread timidity and evacuation due to the spread of nuclear material. They melted down due to the tsunami breaking over the 8meter high barricade and engulfing the backup generators which cooled the rods. Panic selling occurred in global markets due to the panic of a nuclear disaster Responses Immediate responses A Tsunami warning was issued 3 minutes after the earthquake. Rescue workers searched the decimated coastline of submerged homes for survivors.Helicopters plucked survivors from wreckage or rooftops. 1 00,000 soldiers were mobilised to plunge order, distribute bottled water, food and petrol . Offers of aid came in from lots of several(predicate) countries including the USA and China. The UK sent 63 fire service search and have specialists, two rescue dogs and a medical support team. People were deliver after being trapped for several days. An exclusion zone was set up was set up most the Fukushima nuclear plant. Homes were evacuated and iodine tablets which hold open radiation sickness were distributed. There were no cases of looting or violence. complaisant networking such(prenominal) as Twitter were bringing updates on the situation far earlier than the media, showing how modern technology can be used in disaster situations. Long term responses Japan has the worlds highest debt and the cost of the repair will force the government to borrow more still. Private companies faced hardship due to businesses being destroyed, however Japan is a developed MEDC and will recover over time. Japans previously thought infallible tsunami defences will be reviewed and rebuilt stronger so that if some other tsunami occurred of the same scale the area would be better protected.Now what are the developments in 2012? Japan still has a quarantine zone around the Fukushima plant where radiation levels are high. Caesium levels in fish stocks off the coast for Japan are still high, this may be a long lasting effect on the environment that could cause damage to the food chain or decreased biodiversity. Fears of more nuclear disasters such as Japan may occur in Europe for sample In Germany, Europes largest economy and power market, seven nuclear power plants have been closed .