4.b. case study japan impacts people experience as a result of earthquake activity

background

japan experiences around 5 earthquakes a day. vast majority of these are tiny and register only on specialised recording instruments. throughout history, japan has also been hit by many high magnitude quakes. these quakes have had huge impacts on its people and society. since 2000, 23 earthquakes of 7.0 Mw have occurred causing nearly 16,000 fatakiities. as with volcanoes, japanese culture, folklore and traditions are full of reference to earthquakes and their effects

same forces that generate japans volcanoes also release vast amounts of seismic energy. however unlike volanic eruptions, earthquakes bring with them the risk of tsunamis. the pacific coastal zone is especially vulnerable, being densely populated and containing 3 hufe conurbations- tokyo, osaka and nagoya

great east japan earthquake tohoku

11th march 2011 one of most significant seismic events in japanese history took place. 9.0 Mw earthquake occurred along the boundary between pacific and north american plates. its epicentre was 70km offshore of ne honshu island

reasons why people live in tectonically active locations

other japan

impacts people experienced

2011 tsunami claimed nealy 16,000 lives and injured another 6000 people. 2/3 of victims were over 60. ¼ over 70. 90% of deaths were due to drowning. of the remainder most died as a result of burns and being crushed by collapsing buildings.

mass mortality and destruction of crematories, morgues and the power infrastructure created problems of hw to dispose of dead bodies. traditional funeral traditions were waived- the authorities felt they had no choice but to bury bodies in mass graves as quickly as possible to reduce the chance of diseases being spread. peoples whereabouts was a major issue following the tsunami. children were separated from their families- Save The Children reported that 100,000 children were affected. the problem was made worse as most children were at school when the earthquake struck. some 2000 young people were either orphaned or lost one of theit parents. some of the smaller coastal schools were devasted by the tsunami: one elementary school lost 74/108 students and 10/13 staff.

destruction of infrastructure for example housing, schools and health centres, were on such a scale that reconstruction was till taking place 5 years after the disaster. some communities have even been relocated from their original settlement site

economic impacts on the country

cost of the earthquake, including reconstruction has been estimated at nearly £181 bil. japans national police agency issued an official figure of 45,700 buildings destroyed, with further 140,000 damaged; 230,000 vehicles destroyed or damaged; 15 ports were directly affected with 4 destroyed in the ne including sendai; 10% of japans fishing ports were damged, although most had reopened a year after the earthquake. perhaps the most serious impact was the disruption of power supplies- 4.4 mil households and 1000s of businesses lost electricity. major cause of this disruption was the immediate shutdown of 11 nuclear reactors. at the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant all 6 of its reactors were so severely damaged by tsunami that the plant was decommissioned. the plants cooling systems were disabled by sea water flooding which led to a meltdown of reactor cores and the release of radioactivity. 30km evacuation zone was established around the plant, and soils in the surrounding countryside were contaminated by radiation. even today radioactivity continues to seep into the pacific ocean, affecting the fishing industry

several weeks of power cuts lasting 3-4 hours at a time which added to the economic cost of the earthquake. 2 oiln refineries were set on fire during the earthquake; one fire taking 10 days to put out. transport infrastructure was badly hit. many road bridges were damaged or destroyed and in the ne train services were badly disrupted. 23 train stations were swept away while others suffered severe damage such as collapsed roofs. some 25 mil tonnes of debris was created by the earthquake, requiring a costly clean up operation. over large areas, farmland flooded by sea water has been contaminated by salr and made uncultivated. japans stock market fell as the implications for businesses such as sony, toyota and panasonic were realised. their production was hit by the shortage of electricity. overseas operations were also affected as supplies of parts exported from japan were interrupted

political impacts on the country

japanes gov injected bils of ye into the economy especially the financial sector, to bring some stability. this increased gov debt at a time when its reduction was a prime political aim. a large popular movement against nuclear power developed after the earthquake. concerns over safety standards and regulation of the nuclear industry became a political issue. the gov has yet to make a clear decision about the role of nulcear power in japans long term energy mix. several executions of companies involved in the fukushima power plant have resigned. it emerged that warnings about the inadequqcy of the defences against tsunami hazards had been made several years before the disaster. political fallout from the fukushima nuclear accident spread around the world. for example in western europe the antinuclear lobby in germany used the incident to support their arguements against nuclear power

environmental impacts on the country

largest recorded earthquake to have struck japan- lasted 6 mins; one of the top 5 in world since accurate recording began in 1900; undersea megathrust earthquake, epicentre= 70km east of oshika peninsula, focus= 30km, honshu island moved 2.4 m east; earth shifted on its axis by 15cm; a 400km stretch of coastline dropped vertically by 0.6m; sea bed rose by 7m and moved westward 45m; very large tsunamis were triggered reaching height of up to 40.5cm when hitting the coast; tsunamis travelled up to 10km inland in places (sendai); tsunami waves reached antarctica breaking off 125km² of ice as giant icebergs; tsunami waves of up to 2.4m affected the coastline of california and oregon cuasing $10 mil of damage; tsunami wave of 1.5m overwhelmed midway atoll drowning 110,000 nesting birds in a wildlife refuge; there were many aftershocks some of which were 7-8.0 Mw in strength

coastal flooding and habitat destruction with 500km² flooded. large amounts of debris and pollution like vehicles, plastics, wood and building materials- harms ecosystems and marine life. industrial and chemical contamination as oil refineries and cheical plants released pollutants into air and water. there were long term changes, especially due to the damage of fukushima. this needed years of cleanup and monitoring