Japan- CASE STUDY

Developed country earthquake case study

what plate boundary did it occur on

the convergent plate boundary between the Pacific plate and Eurasian plate at the Japan trench

where was the epicentre and how far away

130km east of Sendai, on the coast

what date and time

14:47 on 11th March 2011

what was the magnitude on Richter scale

9.0

primary impacts (7)

• deaths due to direct result of earthquake, caused mostly by collapsed buildings

• buildings severely damaged or destroyed

• roads and railways damaged

• electric power, water and sewage systems disrupted

• reclaimed land in Tokyo suffered from liquefaction- caused more building damage

• people forced to evacuate

• hospitals damaged and destroyed

how many deaths as direct impact of earthquake

66-179

what is liquefaction

the ground turning liquid

how many buildings were damaged due to liquefaction

over 1000

how many people forced to evacuate

500,000

how many hospitals damaged and destroyed

over 300 damaged and 11 destroyed

secondary impacts (10)

• majority of deaths occurred from people drowning in tsunami, triggered by the earthquake

• people reported missing

• buildings collapsed or severely damaged

• Fukushima dam burst

• earthquake cut power to several nuclear power stations including Fukushima Daiichi plant

• tsunami waves damaged the backup generator, causing a nuclear meltdown as cooling systems failed

• most expensive disaster in history

• tsunami caused damaged and pollution inland

• stretch of coast dropped

• roads, bridges and rail lines along east coast of Honshu destroyed or damaged

how many deaths due to drowning

over 17000

how many people reported missing

over 5000

how many buildings collapsed

over 127,000

how many buildings severely damaged

1.2 million

how many roads on east coast of Honshu destroyed

2000

how many bridges on east coast of Honshu destroyed

56

how many rail lines on east coast of Honshu destroyed

26

cost of disaster overall and to Japan alone

$300B; £235B in Japan alone

length of coastline dropped and by how much

250km long, dropped by 0.6m

immediate/short term response (9)

• Rescue workers and Japanese soldiers mobilised to deal with the crisis 

• Japan Meteorological Agency issued earthquake warning 3 minutes after it hit 

• Scientists able to predict where the tsunami would hit after the earthquake occurred, using modelling and forecasting technology, so the response could be directed to the appropriate areas 

• Sniffer dogs sent out to help rescue people from under the rubble 

• Government declared evacuation zone around the Fukushima nuclear power plant to reduce threat of nuclear radiation exposure to residents- evacuated 

• Government requested international aid- Australia, China, India, South Korea, New Zealand and USA sent search and rescue teams 

• Difficult to provide immediate relief to some areas due to the amount of rubble and debris from the destruction caused 

• Hundreds of thousands of people who had lost their homes were evacuated to temporary shelters in schools and other public buildings or relocated to other areas 

• Those in the area of the Fukushima plant after the meltdown had their radiation levels checked and heath monitored; also given iodine tablets to reduce the risk of radiation poisoning 

size of evacuation zone around Fukushima nuclear power plant

20km

long term response (8)

• other countries, Red Cross and Red Crescent provided support, as well as private companies and NGO’s in Japan and around world

• tens of thousands of prefabricated and temporary houses set up in Sendai

• gov established the Reconstruction Policy Council to develop a national recovery and reconstruction outlook for tsunami-resilient communities

• Honshu’s communication and transportation partially restored

• power supply restored, but took a long time which reduced the regions manufacturing and business output

• gov set up agency to coordinate the rebuilding efforts in Tohoku area

• restoration of region expected to take 10 years

• work on seawall to protect low coastal zone

when was Reconstruction Policy Council set up

April 2011- a month after the disaster

when was the agency responsible to coordinate rebuilding efforts in Tohoku area

February 2012

what was the size of budget for restoration

23 trillion yen

when did the agency report nearly all disaster debris removed and work started on seawall to protect low coastal zone

early 2015

by Nov 2011, how much electricity supply, water supply and landline network been restored (in %)

• electricity- 96%

• water- 98%

• landline network- 99%

long term planning for earthquakes in developed countries

• rich enough to afford this

• education and training

• earthquake drills once a year

• earthquake resistant buildings

• people told to have emergency kits

• tsunami walls designed to protect coast