The Tsunami Of The Earthquake

In conclusion the recent conception and development of plate tectonic theory has greatly aided our understanding of the distribution of seismic events. We now understand that there is a correlation between earthquakes/volcanoes locations and their proximity to a plate boundary plates are continually moving and earthquakes and volcanoes are found along these boundaries. Exceptions to this rule such as Hawaii also help prove tectonic theory due to their unique creation. Whilst this has helped our understanding we also recognise the fact those in LEDCs with poor access to education are unaware of plate tectonic theory so they cannot understand the hazards that some countries face, nor have the means to mitigate against them thus worsening the

Elastic strain build up was shown in GPS stations across Japan, that measure the slow build-up of strain in the crust between big earthquakes. Centuries worth of elastic strain build-up had been placed on the plates that make up Japan, making Eastern Honshu move several metres to the east, this pushes the Japanese crust westward and upwards but was soon released in a matter of minutes during the disaster (Rowan, C. 2011).

The intensity of the earthquake was a major factor because its magnitude played a huge role in the damage that the disaster caused. It was reported to have hit a magnitude of 9-0 with the epicenter being located at least 80 miles away. The focus was 18.6 miles lower than the western Pacific. The result was a rapture of the subduction zone and thus led to the Japan Trench being affected. Several foreshocks reached as much as 6.0 and greater effects that ended up acting on the land in the following days and months even after the quake had subsided. The tsunami that accompanied the earthquake originated from a fault along the convergent plate boundary at the section where the Pacific plate joins with the west beneath Japan. The subduction zone was very active seismically at the time of the occurrence of the earthquake. Thus based on my understanding of earthquakes, the March 11 disaster was among the strongest earthquakes ever recorded because of the effects that followed because a portion of the ocean trench immediately went off-shore. In fact, it was later reported that a satellite that was orbiting around the Earth, infrasonics could be detected on the outer edge of the Earth’s atmosphere. The low-frequency waves meant that there were adverse effects that could be felt weeks after the real disaster had hit, hence the reporting that it was the

The Boxing Day Tsunami had occurred on the 26th of December 2004. The tsunami had started under water, in the Indian Ocean. The cause of the tsunami was that the Indo-Australian plate had subducted below the Eurasian plate, this process is called a convergent plate boundary. This resulted with an underwater earthquake, making waves approximately 20-30 metres high and travelling at speeds up to 500km/ph. Theses waves travelled throughout Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand and left each country in terrible conditions. The earthquake that occurred underwater had

On Friday March 11th, 2011 at 2:46 pm, the fifth largest earthquake recorded since 1900 with a magnitude of 9.0, 1.7 Richter scale points greater than the devastating Vancouver Island earthquake of 1946, struck the coast of Japan, 231 miles northeast of Tokyo1, causing a devastating regional and global catastrophe.

It had caused a Tsunami and a landslide and ports, schools, airports, and hospitals collapsed (Background Essay). Natural Disasters happen when Tectonic Plates

The first many waves of tsunami hit Japan's coastline which was 60 kilometer in offshore East Tohoku coast. The massive tsunami suddenly appeared and submerged everything along the Pacific coast of archipelago northern Japan. "The tsunami waves reached run-up heights (how far the wave surges inland above sea level) of up to 128 feet (39 meters) at Miyako city and traveled inland as far as 6 miles (10 km) in Sendai. The tsunami flooded an estimated area of approximately 217 square miles (561 square kilometers) in Japan" ( ). Also, near Oarai, the tsunami generated a huge whirlpool offshore. The Tohoku to destroyed and immersed a lot of houses as well as high buildings. In addition, the Tohoku tsunami not only happened in Japan bit also spread across the Pacific at least 20 countries, including the western coast of North and South America. However, though it can affect many parts of the region, but it caused only relatively small impacts; Japan was the only countries that had to be influenced heavily. Although Japan had warning actions and rapid evacuation, they cannot avoid and reduce

This generated one of the deadliest tsunamis known to mankind, killing over 230,000 people and leaving over two million people displaced. The epicenter of the earthquake was located in the Indian Ocean, right off the west coast of Sumatra. The tectonic plates beneath the ocean floor had been colliding and building up pressure for hundreds of years, until this day when subduction occurred between the Indian and the Burma plates. The process of subduction displaced billions of tons of water, creating waves that traveled towards the shorelines at hundreds of miles per hour and as high as sixty to one hundred feet. There was absolutely no warning for the people of Southeast Asia, as the tsunami progressed quite rapidly. (National Geographic,

Tsunamis occur when there is sudden movement in an extensive body of water such as earthquakes, landslides on the sea floor, major volcanic eruptions or meteorite impacts. The most common source of a tsunami is earthquakes, which are another type of geomorphic hazard that is caused by the friction and stress that tectonic plates put on each other. Tsunamis primarily occur in coastal or island regions where there is a tectonic border or what is known as the ring of fire. As shown in the diagram below the ring of fire is located along the coastal and island regions of the world.As a result of the Pacific Plate diving beneath the Eurasian plate, on March 11, 2011, there were 2 geomorphic hazards, a magnitude-9 earthquake struck north Japan, which caused a deadly tsunami that reached heights of 39 meters. The destructive dilemma was dubbed ‘The Great Sendai Disaster’. The earthquake was caused by multiple centuries of stress on the tectonic plates surrounding the island. The earthquake caused a tsunami that reached the height of 39 meters (128 feet). Japanese scientists had previously discovered that there was another tsunami just like the one in 2011 that took place in 869 AD. But their warning was unhindered. The tsunami, which occurred in 869 AD, was caused by the same tectonic fault as the 2011 tsunami. The epicenter of the earthquake was off the northeast cost of Japan leading to a devastating tsunami that killed many and left many wishing they were. The massive earthquake caused an upward wave that headed towards the city of Sendai. Researches have recently uncovered a thin layer of clay that lubricated the fault zone causing the deadly tectonic slip, thus creating a tsunami that could wipe out an entire city as it did in 2011.The aftermath of the 2011 tsunami and earthquake was not pretty; it caused many deaths, injuries, traumas, financial difficulties, destruction of property, health bills and the destruction of the landscape as a whole. The natural disaster caused nearly 16,000 casualties and there are an estimated 2,500 people still reported missing. Although drowning caused most deaths others include, crushed by debris, suicide and diseases caused by nuclear radiation (cancer) spilled from nuclear

Tectonic activity varies due to geographical location and position of tectonic plate boundaries. The Earth's crust is made up of continental and oceanic plates, which move across the surface of the planet, meeting at plate boundaries. Plate tectonics cause volcanic activity, tsunamis and

In the article, ¨Indian Ocean Tsunami; Then and Now¨ by Lucy Rodgers and Gerry Fletcher the text says, ¨About 228,000 people were killed as a result of the 9.1 magnitude quake and the giant waves that slammed into coastlines.¨ Anything can happen at any time, and everybody living in that area were not expecting a tsunami to hit out of nowhere, causing 228,000 of them to get killed. On page 48, the text says, ¨For as far as Ruslan could see, Meulaboh had become a lake, clogged with floating debris.¨ Everything in the city was basically gone, all because nobody saw anything coming and nobody was prepared. Finally, on page 78, the text says, ¨A man stared at him with wide, and bulging eyes. Unblinking eyes, rigid with death. Around him were several more corpses, caught in the brush like debris.¨ Thousands people got killed and hurt, because a tsunami hit out of

on may 22, 1960, the world’s largest earthquake struck southern Chile, Hawaii, Japan,the Philippines, eastern New Zealand, southeast Australia, and the Aleutian Islands in Alaska.due to how widespread the earthquake and following tsunami was, the death toll is still unknown. This earthquake was a megathrust earthquake, which was a result of the release of stress between the Nazca Plate and the South American Plate, on the Peru–Chile Trench. The focus was relatively shallow at 33 km, considering that earthquakes in northern Chile and Argentina may reach depths of 70 km. The earthquake's rupture zone was 800 km long, stretching from Arauco to Chiloé Archipelago. The rupture velocity has been estimated as 3.5 km per second.

I have been a storm chaser for nearly thirty years. Hurricanes and Tsunamis have always greatly interested me because the force behind the water. When I lived in California, I would go out on the ocean with friends as they dove for scallops. What was most interesting to me, as I sat lookout on the boat, is how NOAA would position buoys to gather many types of data for the ocean’s behaviors. Years later one of the most interesting pieces of data came from an area in Fort Myers, Florida. The hurricane that hit there, was much like a Tsunamis where the Gulf waters literally appeared to dry up and you could see the ocean floor. As the waters rushed back in as a wave, canal homes were hit harder with a wave than they were with high winds. Typically,

The geological cause of the earthquake was the collision of two plates which caused a destructive earthquake and a tsunami. The 2011 earthquake struck Japan, along a subduction zone where two of Earth's tectonic plates collide, one plate sliding beneath another into the mantle. Energy is built through the plates sticking together, releasing the earthquakes. East of Japan, the Pacific plate dives beneath the North American plate. (LIVE SCIENCE, 2017) Japan is located in an area which is prone to earthquakes, being a seismically active nation. This is because it is situated on the

A tsunami is a series of huge waves occurring when there is a major disturbance on the ocean floor. Tsunamis often occur due to earthquakes, volcanoes, or landslides (Park 16). Underwater earthquakes may produce waves that travel in all different directions. Some tsunamis lose power and die out under water, others may produce large waves as they approach land. Tsunamis may look like an onrushing tidal wave as they approach land, but do not occur because of tides (Park 6). Their walls of water can move across the open ocean at speeds of up to 560 miles per hour. When the waves hit the coast, they can reach up to 100 feet (Park 5). The tsunami in Japan is believed to have occurred after two of Earth’s tectonic plates collided in the