Ian
priscilla 12011 Japanese Earthquake and Tsunami
May 9th 2011 23:13
People take shelter as a ceiling collapses in a bookstore during an earthquake in Sendai, northeastern Japan March 11, 2011.
The 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami was a 9.0 MW megathrust earthquake off the coast of Japan that occurred at 14:46 JST (05:46 UTC) on Friday 11 March 2011. The epicenter was 130 kilometers (81 mi) off the east coast of the Oshika Peninsula of Tohoku near Sendai, with the hypocenter at a depth of 32 km (20 mi).
A massive tsunami hits the coastal areas of Iwanuma, Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan, March 11, 2011.
The earthquake triggered tsunami warnings and evacuations along Japan's Pacific coast and in at least 20 countries, including the entire Pacific coast of North America and South America. The earthquake created extremely destructive tsunami waves of up to 10 meters (33 ft) that struck Japan minutes after the quake, in some cases travelling up to 10 km (6 mi) inland, with smaller waves reaching many other countries after several hours.
Houses swept by a tsunami smoulder near Sendai Airport in Japan March 11, 2011.
The earthquake and tsunami caused extensive and severe damage in Japan, including heavy damage to roads and railways as well as fires in many areas, and a dam collapse. At least three nuclear reactors suffered explosions due to hydrogen buildup within their outer containment buildings. Residents within a 20 km (12 mi) radius of the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant and a 10 km (6 mi) radius of the Fukushima II Nuclear Power Plant were evacuated.
Natural gas storage tanks burn at a facility in Chiba Prefecture, near Tokyo March 11, 2011.
The estimates of the Tohoku earthquake’s magnitude make it the strongest known earthquake to hit Japan, and one of the five strongest earthquakes in the world overall since modern record-keeping began in 1900. Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan said that "in the 65 years after the end of World War II, this is the toughest and the most difficult crisis for Japan." The earthquake moved Honshu 2.4 m (7.9 ft) east and shifted the Earth on its axis by almost 10 cm (3.9 in).
A member of the Japan Self-Defence Forces carries a man in Natori city, in Miyagi prefecture March 12, 2011.
*This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article for the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami.
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