Tohoku Earthquake, Japan, 2011 (HIC)

Question 1

What plate boundary did this occur on/

Answer 1

Destructive plate boundary

Question 2

How tall was the tsunami that formed because of the earthquake? Where did it strike?

Answer 2

Over 40 metres, striking the north-east coast of Honshu

Question 3

How many people died?

Answer 3

15,899

Question 4

How many homes were destroyed?

Answer 4

Over 150,000

Question 5

What were the effects of the earthquake?

Answer 5

• $235 billion in damages, one of the most expensive in history.
• Over 450,000 people left homeless.
• 4.4 million houses left with no electricity.
• The tsunami caused the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster, releasing radioactive material which contaminated farmland and food sources. Water supplies became unsafe to drink as it leached into them.
• Liquefaction occurred in Tokyo, 1,000 houses destroyed.
• Japan spent billions of dollars building flood defences up to 12m tall, but the tsunami went straight over it.

Question 6

What magnitude was the earthquake?

Answer 6

9, one of the strongest to ever occur.

Question 7

What were the responses to the earthquake?

Answer 7

• Japan’s early warning system sent out mass text messages minutes before the earthquake.
• 100,000 troops from the Japanese self defence force rapidly mobilised to deal with the crisis.
• No fly zone within a 30km radius around Fukushima nuclear plant. Anyone within 20km radius were evacuated.
• Japanese Red Cross received over $1 billion worth of donations.
• Tens of thousands temporary housing units set up in Sendai and other affected areas.
• The US responded with Operation Tomodachi for disaster relief, which involved 24,000 servicemen, 189 aircraft, 24 naval ships, and $90 million.