Earthquake In Japan

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Earthquake in Japan 2011 I have decided to take a closer look at the earthquake that happened in Japan on March 11, 2011. It is the 5th largest earthquake since 1900 that hit Japan. Its magnitude was 8.9. The quake struck at 2:46pm Tokyo time killing thousands of people (NY Times, 2011). It triggered a 23-foot tsunami in the Pacific Ocean, sweeping away boats, cars, homes and people (Boston, 2011). The tsunami moved across the Pacific at 800km/h (500mph) before hitting Hawaii and the US West Coast, but there were no major damages reported in those regions. Strong waves hit Japan's Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures, damaging dozens of coastal communities. A 10m wave struck Sendai, deluging farmland and sweeping cars across the airport's runway. In addition to tsunami, fires broke out in the centre of the city. Fire has engulfed swathes of the coast in Miyagi prefecture's Kesennuma city, 1/3 of which appeared to be under water (BBC News, 2011). Another fire took place in the Odaiba district of Tokyo where a large building was covered in smoke and fire (CBC News, 2011). The earthquake occurred in a subduction zone, where one of the Earth’s tectonic plates is sliding beneath another. I have learned that in this case, the Pacific plate is sliding beneath the North American plate at a rate of about 3 inches a year. According to Emily So, an engineer with the United States Geological Surveyin Golden, the quake happened at a depth of about 15 miles, which while relatively shallow by global standards is considered as normal for quakes in this zone. When such quakes start a tsunami, the devastation often comes from a succession of waves, which can cross oceans at 500 miles per hour or more (NY Times, 2011). One of the biggest damages was caused by a nuclear power plant. Because of the earthquake the Japanese government declared an emergency at the plant

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