Earthquakes: Japan Earthquake, 2011 Flashcards
1
Q
What happened?
A
- Japan is on the edge of 4 plates with destructive boundaries.
- 30% of earthquakes a year are in Japan.
- Several foreshocks reaching up to 7.2 on 9th March.
- Main earthquake occurred at 14:46 local time on Friday 11th March 2011 in the Pacific Ocean.
- At 9 mw - largest recorded EQ in Japan, 5th largest in the world.
- Multiple aftershocks, including up to three at 7 mw on the same day - over 500 in the week after.
2
Q
When did the tsunami come?
A
- Plate movement triggered waves up to 20m high that struck Japan travelling up to 10km inland.
- People had just minutes to save their lives.
3
Q
What were the LONG TERM SOCIAL impacts? (5)
A
- Estimated 27,500 people were killed.
- Over 13,000 confirmed deaths - most were due to drowning, 65% were aged 60+ due to elderly people living on the coast.
- Led to decrease in population.
- 330,000 people in temporary accommodation
- 500 people in evacuation centres.
4
Q
What were the SHORT TERM SOCIAL impacts? (4)
A
- 4 million homes suffered power cuts.
- Hundreds of thousands of commuters stranded after train services suspended in Tokyo for 24 hours.
- Limited access to coastal areas in first week due to huge destruction.
- Destroyed homes, made people homeless.
5
Q
What were the LONG TERM ECONOMIC impacts? (4)(Fukishima..)
A
- Shockwaves disrupted electricity to Fukishima nuclear power station..
- Emergency generators started up to control electronics and water pumps to keep reactors cool.
- Generators were then all shut off as the 6m protective sea wall couldn’t with stand the 14m wave, so the plant flooded! - area had to be evacuated.
- Explosion took place and radioactive substances escaped and fires developed.
6
Q
What were the LONG TERM responses? (7)
A
- Not prepared for effects on nuclear plant, were unsure what to do - in response, managers sprayed seawater as an emergency coolant over the heating reactors.
- One month after the disaster, a recovery programme was established by the government, with 3 principles: safety, sustainability and compassion.
- Wanted to relocate onto higher ground - ‘compact cities’.
- Huge scale coastal levees to protect coastal plains.
- New govt. led disaster response.
- Restore community life and livelihoods.
- Reconstruction agency made, however only came together in Feb 2012 -took a long time.
7
Q
What were the SHORT TERM responses? (3)
A
- Shortages of food - slow getting to people.
- Government acted too calmly, slow response!
- Government disguised true extent of the damage and the possible danger of the meltdown - dented people’s confidence in govt.
8
Q
What were the 3 ways in which they were prepared/managed?
A
- Monitors and warning systems
- Physical defences and building features
- Community preparedness
9
Q
What were their monitors and warning systems like and their prediction? (5)
A
- World’s best earthquake early-warning system.
- More than 1,000 seisometer across Japan.
- Sent out texts, messages on internet and TV - however govt. too reliant on this (also not so good for elderly who may not have technology.)
- HOWEVER they under predicted the disaster..
They predicted the region having a magnitude of 7.7 with only 30-40% chance of there being one in the next 10 years. - Frequent aftershocks confused the systems.
10
Q
What were the physical defences and building design features like? (3)
A
- Sea walls were unsuccessful - tsunami wall completed in 2008 after 30 years, was 2km long, 8m high, 20m thick, 63m deep foundations, costing $1.4 billion.
- HOWEVER, they expected a tsunami of 4-5m high! They were completely wrong, leading to wide scale flooding.
- Fukishima was built in 1960’s designed to withstand a tsunami of 5.7m, so therefore flooded.
11
Q
What was the community preparedness like? (4)
A
- Everyone practiced evacuation plans once a month.
- Schools educated and practiced - taught to hide under desks if at school.
- Tsunami hazard maps given out to households.
- Sirens used to inform people to move to higher ground.
12
Q
What have they done to prepare NOW after the event in 2011? - Tokyo Disaster Parks?
A
- TOKYO DISASTER PARKS…
- Survival bunkers - fitted with solar powered charging stations for electric bikes and phones.
Public benches transform into cooking stoves.
Man-holes that double as emergency toilets.
Under hills and tees, water reservoirs and store houses containing enough food for district to survive first 72 hours after disaster.
13
Q
What have they done to prepare NOW after the event in 2011? - Sky villages?
A
- SKY VILLAGES…
- Form entire towns in tsunami affected region.
3 storey islands bolted into bedrock with steel pillars, oval shaped to force water to flow around it.
Most would be residential, some commercial.
Cost £160 million per island.
Would be a tourist attraction.
14
Q
What have they done to prepare NOW after the event in 2011? - Negative strategies?
A
- 1/4 of the £91 billion Japanese govt. allocated to re-build, been spent on unrelated projects. - caused frustration, more than 18 months after the disaster, 325,000 people still living in temporary accommodation - have no idea when/if they can move to their home towns.
- Unemployment is a huge problem in the area no - rate of 70%. Many workers left Fukishima area, including teachers and doctors, affecting areas education and health in particular.
15
Q
How many earthquakes a year are in Japan alone?
A
30% of all EQ’s
