Tsunami A case study on the earthquake in Fukusima (Japan)

Tsunami is a Japanese word with the English translation, "harbor wave." Represented by two characters, the top character, "tsu," means harbor, while the bottom character, "nami," means "wave." In the past, tsunamis were sometimes referred to as "tidal waves" by the general public, and as "seismic sea waves" by the scientific community. The term "tidal wave" is a misnomer; although a tsunami's impact upon a coastline is dependent upon the tidal level at the time a tsunami strikes, tsunamis are unrelated to the tides. Tides result from the imbalanced, extraterrestrial, gravitational influences of the moon, sun, and planets. The term "seismic sea wave" is also misleading. "Seismic" implies an earthquake-related generation mechanism, but a tsunami can also be caused by a non-seismic event, such as a landslide or meteorite impact. On Friday, 11 March 2011, with the epicenter approximately 70 kilometres (43 mi) east of the Oshika Peninsula of Thoku and the hypocenter at an underwater depth of approximately 32 km (20 mi).It was the most powerful known earthquake ever to have hit Japan, and one of the five most powerful earthquakes in the world since modern recordkeeping began in 1900. The earthquake triggered powerful tsunami waves that reached heights of up to 40.5 metres (133 ft) in Miyako in Thokus Iwate Prefecture, and which, in the Sendai area, travelled up to 10 km (6 mi) inland.The earthquake moved Honshu 2.4 m (8 ft) east and shifted the Earth on its axis by estimates of between 10 cm (4 in) and 25 cm (10 in). The tsunami caused a number of nuclear accidents, primarily the ongoing level 7 meltdowns at three reactors in the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant complex, and the associated evacuation zones affecting hundreds of thousands of residents.Many electrical generators were taken down, and at least three nuclear reactors suffered explosions due to hydrogen gas that had built up within their outer containment buildings after cooling system failure. Residents within a 20 km (12 mi) radius of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant and a 10 km (6.2 mi) radius of the Fukushima Daini Nuclear Power Plant were evacuated. In addition, the U.S. recommended that its citizens evacuate up to 80 km (50 mi) of the plant.

On 10 March 2012, a Japanese National Police Agency report confirmed 15,854 deaths, 9,677 injured, and 3,155 people missing[26] across eighteen prefectures, as well as 129,107 buildings totally collapsed, with a further 254,139 buildings half collapsed, and another 365,750 buildings partially damaged. The earthquake and tsunami also caused extensive and severe structural damage in north-eastern Japan, including heavy damage to roads and railways as well as fires in many areas, and a dam collapse. Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan said, In the 65 years after the end of World War II, this is the toughest and the most difficult crisis for Japan. Around 4.4 million households in northeastern Japan were left without electricity and 1.5 million without water. Early estimates placed insured losses from the earthquake alone at US$14.5 to $34.6 billion. The Bank of Japan offered 15 trillion (US$183 billion) to the banking system on 14 March in an effort to normalize market conditions. The World Banks estimated economic cost was US$235 billion, making it the most expensive natural disaster in world history.

Precautions for a tsunami

If you are at home and hear there is a tsunami warning, you should make sure your family is aware of the warning. Your family should evacuate your house if you live in an evacuation zone. Move to the evacuation site or to any safe place outside your evacuation zone. Follow the advice of local emergency and law enforcement. If you are at the beach or near the ocean and you feel the ground shake, move immediately to higher ground, DO NOT wait for a warning to be announced. Stay away from rivers and streams that lead to the ocean as you would stay away from the beach and ocean. A regional tsunami from a local earthquake could strike some areas before a tsunami warning could be announced. Tsunamis generated in distant locations will generally give people enough time to move to higher ground. For locally-generated tsunamis, where you might feel the ground shake, you may only have a few minutes to move to higher ground.