Case Study - Tohoku Earthquake + Tsunami

March 2011

Mega disaster

Tohoku, Japan

Causes:

• magnitude 9.0 earthquake east of Sendai, under the sea in the north-west Pacific Ocean
• This earthquake took place on a subduction zone between the Pacific and Eurasian tectonic plates
• Within 45 minutes, a tsunami between 10 and 20 m high struck the eastern coast of Japan
• In some places, the tsunami was 40 m high and travelled up to 20 km inland

Impacts:

• The impacts of the tsunami were very severe:
  • There were 16,000 known deaths, 3,000 missing and 6,000 injured.
  • 130,000 buildings were destroyed and 145,000 damaged.
  • There was massive damage to ports, factories and services in coastal areas – over 26 million tonnes of debris was created.
  • Economic losses were US$300 billion.
  • A major secondary issue arose when a nuclear power station at Fukushima was flooded and failed. There were fears of a nuclear meltdown and severe pollution

Immediate responses:

• The immediate priority was search and rescue, and stabilisation and prevention of nuclear disaster from the failure of the affected nuclear plant at Fukushima
• A huge amount of temporary housing was provided
• The area around Fukushima was evacuated in the long-term because the effects of nuclear pollution on human health are severe for years after being exposed to it

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Long-term response:

• In the aftermath, a government report was commissioned to establish principles for recovery
• The report focused on future safety measures (e.g. a higher tsunami wall), greater environmental awareness for future planning (e.g. avoiding flat coastal areas) and long-term support for those who had lost relatives or been otherwise affected

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