Tsunami in Japan: causes, consequences, victims

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:53

Very often history shows us how helpless people are when it comes to natural disasters. Unfortunately, many of the disasters cannot be predicted. This is exactly what happened to the tsunami in Japan that claimed thousands of lives in 2011.

Danger Land

On the very edge of East Asia there is a small island country. Its territory consists of more than 6,000 mountainous and volcanic islands. The entire earth lies on the Pacific Ring of Fire system. It is in this part that a lot of earthquakes occur. Scientists have determined that 10% of the world's cataclysms are associated with this phenomenon, which occurs off the coast of Japan.

Every day the country suffers from tremors. In general, this land can withstand about 1,500 blows in a year. Most of them are safe, as they range from 4 to 6 on the Richter scale. Usually, in this case, the waves do not harm houses and high-rise buildings, and massive and high walls can only sway slightly. Critical marks for this country are from 7 points and above. During the tsunami in Japan in 2011, the magnitude of seismic waves with a magnitude of 9 was recorded.

History Pages

Now about 110 volcanoes operate on the territory of the state. The activities of some of them from time to time lead to tragedies. So, for example, in 1896, an earthquake, the magnitude of which reached 7.2 points, caused a tsunami. Then the height of the waves was 38 meters. The element claimed 22,000 lives. However, this was not the worst disaster.

In September 1923, the Great Kanto Earthquake took place, named after the region that suffered the most. More than 170,000 people died then.

In 1995, the country suffered again. This time the epicenter was the city of Kobe. Blows then fluctuated within 7.3 points. The disaster claimed 6,500 lives.

But the most terrible cataclysm occurred in the state in March 2011. The complexity of the natural disaster was also in the fact that this time the tremors were accompanied by high waves. The tsunami in Japan caused incalculable losses. Tens of thousands of people died, hundreds of thousands were left without homes and apartments.

Natural processes

The cause of the disaster was the collision of two plates - the Pacific and Okhotsk. It is on the second that the islands of the state are located. In the course of the movement of the layers of the lithosphere, the more massive and heavier oceanic part sinks under the mainland. In connection with the displacement of these areas, tremors occur, leading to earthquakes. At the same time, their strength is much higher than during a volcanic eruption.

It is impossible to accurately predict this process. Moreover, the country did not expect strikes with a force of 8-8.5 points.

Due to the constant presence of danger in Japan, the bestseismologists and geophysicists of the world. Their laboratories are equipped with modern equipment. And although professionals are not able to predict danger long before the start of strong aftershocks, they are able to warn the people about trouble.

Ever since March 9, 2011, a minor earthquake began. A tsunami with such shocks was impossible. The devices recorded several hits from 6 to 7 points.

Disaster Warning

According to experts, a fault in the plates occurred 373 km from Tokyo. A minute before the start of the cataclysm on the island, the equipment of seismologists recorded the danger, and data about this was urgently transmitted to all TV channels. In this way, many human lives were saved. But the impact waves were moving at a speed of 4 km/s, so after a minute and a half the country was covered by an earthquake.

There was a push with a force of 9.0 points. It happened on March 11 at 14:46. After that, repeated blows with lower strength indicators went on. In total, there were more than 400 aftershocks, from 4.5 to 7.4 points, across the country.

Fracture of underground plates caused a tsunami in Japan. It should be noted that the waves have spread all over the world. Even the coastal countries of North and South America have received warnings.

Professional work

After the formation of the first faults in the earth's crust, meteorologists began to inform people about the danger. The level of anxiety was very severe.

Specialists noted that the wave height will reach at least 3 meters. But the wall of water in various coastal cities haddifferent height. It is worth noting that only in Chile, which is located at a distance of 17,000 km from Japan, waves up to 2 meters high raged.

The earthquake occurred 70 kilometers from the nearest land point. Consequently, the areas that were close to the epicenter of the event were the first to be affected. The water took 10-30 minutes to reach some coastal parts of the country.

The Japanese felt the impact on the ground as early as 14:46. And already at 15:12 in the afternoon, a wave about 7 meters high reached the city of Kamaisa. Further, the water broke up settlements, depending on their geographical location. The largest tsunami wave was recorded in the Miyako region. There, the height ranged from 4 to 40 meters. This city was also hit hard by the cataclysm.

Ruthless Water

The element almost did not leave the wounded. Those who did not have time to hide from trouble, immediately died in a whirlpool. The wall swept away cars, poles, trees and houses in its path. People who didn't get out of the trap and didn't get to safety were dying among the huge rubble.

Due to the tsunami in Japan, about 530 km² of built-up area was destroyed. On the ground, where houses, shops and roads used to stand, there were piles of rubble. The water washed away everything but the foundations.

According to the latest data, the number of victims is about 16,000. Another 2,500 people are still missing. Half a million souls were left homeless. Search work continued for a long time. Detachments of volunteers were immediately formed, soldiers were mobilized, and the national guard began to work. Cases of looting were rare, and offenders were caught by brave people on their own.

Despite the fact that the search work continued for a long time, many were not saved. The consequences of the tsunami were terrible.

Calculation of losses

Japan's economy was hit hard by the cataclysm. According to scientists, the last time the country received such a strong financial blow was only during the Second World War. Hundreds of dams were broken. Only after their repair, coastal cities will be able to rebuild again. Some villages were completely washed away with water. It should be noted that the cause of death for 95% of people was not tremors, but high waves.

Due to powerful earthquakes, there were many fires in factories. There was an accident at the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant, and a significant dose of radiation was released into the atmosphere.

In general, the consequences of the tsunami and earthquake cost the country $300 billion. In addition, the largest factories stopped their work.

Other states helped fight the disaster. South Korea was the first to send a rescue team to launch a search operation.

After the events of March, seismologists noted that the number of minor earthquakes throughout the Japanese archipelago has increased significantly.

Works in regions

The tsunami in Japan in 2011 brought many troubles. After the water receded, instead of the once friendly neighborhoods, there were mountains of garbage. These were fragments of houses, furniture, household items and cars. Huge sums of money had to be allocated to clean, sort and take out the remains of cities. Garbage was more than 23 million tons.

The people left homeless were moved to temporary apartments. Families were given small houses for one or two rooms. It was very cold there in winter. Many lost their jobs, so they had to live only on government payments. In general, 3% of the country's territory required complete reconstruction. In regions hit by high waves, only isolated houses miraculously survived, but even they are in need of colossal repairs.

Nevertheless, Japan recovered very quickly after the tsunami. Experts say that catastrophes of this magnitude occur once every 600 years.

The nuclear power plant also caused irreparable damage to the environment. The radiation zone around the object is more than 20 km. The land will be partially cleansed only after decades.