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2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami

Coordinates: 38°19′19″N 142°22′08″E / 38.322°N 142.369°E / 38.322; 142.369
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2011 Great Eastern Japan Earthquake Disaster
An aerial view of tsunami damage in Tōhoku
An aerial view of tsunami damage in the Tōhoku region
2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami is located in Japan
2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
Tokyo
Tokyo
Sendai
Sendai
class=notpageimage|
Map showing the epicenter of the earthquake
UTC time??
Duration6 minutes[1]
Magnitude9.0 Mw[2][3]
Depth32 km (19.9 mi)
Epicenter38°19′19″N 142°22′08″E / 38.322°N 142.369°E / 38.322; 142.369
TypeMegathrust earthquake
Areas affectedJapan (primary) Pacific Rim (tsunami, secondary)
Total damageTsunami wave, flooding, landslides, fires, building and infrastructure damage, nuclear incidents including radiation releases
Peak acceleration2.99 g
TsunamiYes (10+ meters)
LandslidesYes
Foreshocks7+ (4+ above 6.0 MW)
Aftershocks837-838+ (56–57+ above 6.0 MW)
Casualties19,759 deaths,[4] 6,242 injured,[5] 2,553 people missing[6](all figures preliminary)

The 2011 Great Eastern Japan Earthquake Disaster (東日本大震災, Higashi Nihon Daishinsai[7], literally "Eastern Japan Great Earthquake Disaster"[fn 1]) was caused by a 9.0-magnitude undersea megathrust earthquake off the coast of Japan that occurred at 14:46 JST (05:46 UTC) on Friday, 11 March, 2011.[2][3][8] The epicenter was approximately 72 kilometers (45 mi) east of the Oshika Peninsula of Tōhoku, with the hypocenter at an underwater depth of approximately 32 km (19.9 mi).[2][9] The Japanese government has officially named the disaster resulting from the earthquake and tsunami the "Great Eastern Japan Earthquake" (東日本大震災, Higashi Nihon Daishinsai) on April 1, 2011.[10]

The earthquake triggered extremely destructive tsunami waves of up to Template:M to ft[11] that struck Japan minutes after the quake, in some cases traveling up to 10 km (6 mi) inland,[12] with smaller waves reaching many other countries after several hours. Tsunami warnings were issued and evacuations ordered along Japan's Pacific coast and at least 20 other countries, including the entire Pacific coast of the Americas.[13][14][15]

The Japanese National Police Agency has officially confirmed 19,759 deaths,[16] 6,242 injured,[17] and 2,553 people missing[18] across eighteen prefectures, as well as over 125,000 buildings damaged or destroyed.[19][20] The earthquake and tsunami caused extensive and severe structural damage in Japan, including heavy damage to roads and railways as well as fires in many areas, and a dam collapse.[12][21] Around 4.4 million households in northeastern Japan were left without electricity and 1.5 million without water.[22] Many electrical generators were taken down, and at least three nuclear reactors suffered explosions due to hydrogen gas that had built up within their outer containment buildings after cooling system failure. On 18 March, Yukiya Amano—the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency—described the crisis as "extremely serious."[23] 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. In addition, the U.S. recommended that its citizens evacuate up to 80 km (50 mi) of the plant.[24]

Estimates of the Tōhoku earthquake's magnitude make it the most powerful known earthquake to have hit Japan, and one of the five most powerful earthquakes in the world overall since modern record-keeping began in 1900.[8][25][26] Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan said, "In the 65 years after the end of World War II, this is the toughest and the most difficult crisis for Japan."[27] 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).[28][29] Early estimates placed insured losses from the earthquake alone at US$14.5 to $34.6 billion.[30] The Bank of Japan offered ¥15 trillion (US$183 billion) to the banking system on 14 March in an effort to normalize market conditions.[31] On 21 March, the World Bank estimated damage between US$122 billion and $235 billion.[32] Japan's government said the cost of the earthquake and tsunami that devastated the northeast could reach $309 billion, making it the world's most expensive natural disaster on record.[33][34]

Earthquake

Map of the Tōhoku earthquake and aftershocks

The 9.0-magnitude (MW) undersea megathrust earthquake occurred on 11 March 2011 at 14:46 JST in the western Pacific Ocean at a relatively shallow depth of 32 km (19.9 mi)[35], with its epicenter approximately 72 kilometers (45 mi) east of the Oshika Peninsula of Tōhoku, Japan, lasting approximately six minutes.[1][2] The nearest major city to the quake was Sendai, Honshu, Japan, 130 km (81 mi) away. The quake occurred 373 km (232 mi) from Tokyo.[2] The main earthquake was preceded by a number of large foreshocks, and hundreds of aftershocks were reported afterwards. The first major foreshock was a 7.2 MW event on 9 March, approximately 40 km (25 mi) from the location of the 11 March quake, with another three on the same day in excess of 6.0 MW.[2][36] Following the quake, a 7.0 MW aftershock was reported at 15:06 JST, followed by a 7.4 at 15:15 JST and a 7.2 at 15:26 JST.[37] Over eight hundred aftershocks of magnitude 4.5 or greater have occurred since the initial quake.[38] United States Geological Survey (USGS) director Marcia McNutt explained that aftershocks follow Omori's Law, might continue for years, and will taper off in time.[39]

One minute before the earthquake was felt in Tokyo, the Earthquake Early Warning system, which includes more than 1,000 seismometers in Japan, sent out warnings of impending strong shaking to millions. The early warning is believed by the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) to have saved many lives.[40][41]

Soil liquefaction in Koto, Tokyo

Initially reported as 7.9 MW by the USGS, the magnitude was quickly upgraded to 8.8, then again to 8.9,[42] and then finally to 9.0.[3][43] This earthquake occurred where the Pacific Plate is subducting under the plate beneath northern Honshu; which plate is a matter of debate amongst scientists.[29][44] The Pacific plate, which moves at a rate of 8 to 9 cm (3.1 to 3.5 in) per year, dips under Honshu's underlying plate releasing large amounts of energy. This motion pulls the upper plate down until the stress builds up enough to cause a seismic event. The break caused the sea floor to rise by several meters.[44] A quake of this magnitude usually has a rupture length of at least 480 km (300 mi) and generally requires a long, relatively straight fault surface. Because the plate boundary and subduction zone in the area of the rupture is not very straight, it is unusual for the magnitude of an earthquake to exceed 8.5; the magnitude of this earthquake was a surprise to some seismologists.[45] The hypocentral region of this earthquake extended from offshore Iwate Prefecture to offshore Ibaraki Prefecture.[46] The Japanese Meteorological Agency said that the earthquake may have ruptured the fault zone from Iwate to Ibaraki with a length of 500 km (310 mi) and a width of 200 km (120 mi).[47][48] Analysis showed that this earthquake consisted of a set of three events.[49] The earthquake may have had a mechanism similar to that of another large earthquake in 869 with an estimated surface wave magnitude (Ms) of 8.6, which also created a large tsunami.[50] Other major earthquakes with tsunamis struck the Sanriku Coast region in 1896 and in 1933.

The strong ground motion registered at the maximum of 7 on the Japan Meteorological Agency seismic intensity scale in Kurihara, Miyagi Prefecture.[51] Three other prefectures—Fukushima, Ibaraki and Tochigi—recorded an upper 6 on the JMA scale. Seismic stations in Iwate, Gunma, Saitama and Chiba Prefecture measured a lower 6, recording an upper 5 in Tokyo.

Japan's National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention (NIED) calculated a peak ground acceleration of 2.99 g (29.33 m/s²).[52][fn 2] The largest individual recording in Japan was 2.7g, in the Miyagi Prefecture, 75.1 km from the epicentre; the highest reading in the Tokyo metropolitan area was 0.16g.[55]

Soil liquefaction was evident in areas of reclaimed land around Tokyo, particularly in Urayasu, Chiba. The liquefaction damaged houses in the town and trapped almost 30 cars in the Tokyo Disneyland parking lot. Nearby Haneda Airport, built mostly on reclaimed land, was not damaged. Odaiba also experienced liquefaction, but damage was minimal.[56]

Energy

This earthquake released a surface energy (Me) of 1.9±0.5×1017 joules,[57] dissipated as shaking and tsunamic energy, which is nearly double that of the 9.1-magnitude 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami that killed 230,000 people. "If we could only harness the [surface] energy from this earthquake, it would power [a] city the size of Los Angeles for an entire year," Marcia McNutt, director of the U.S. Geological Survey, said in an interview.[39] The total energy released, also known as the seismic moment (M0), was more than 200,000 times the surface energy and was calculated by the USGS at 3.9×1022 joules,[58] slightly less than the 2004 Indian Ocean quake. This is equivalent to 9,320 gigatons of TNT, or approximately 600 million times the energy of the Hiroshima bomb.

Geophysical impacts

The quake moved portions of northeast Japan by as much as 2.4 meters (7.9 ft) closer to North America,[28][29] making portions of Japan's landmass "wider than before," according to geophysicist Ross Stein.[29] Portions of Japan closest to the epicenter experienced the largest shifts.[29] Stein also noted that a 400-kilometer (250 mi) stretch of coastline dropped vertically by 0.6 m (2.0 ft), allowing the tsunami to travel farther and faster onto land.[29] The Pacific plate itself may have moved westwards by up to 20 m (66 ft), though the actual displacement will have diminished with greater distance from the site of the fault.[59] Other estimates put the amount of slippage at as much as 40 m (130 ft), covering an area some 300 to 400 km (190 to 250 mi) long by 100 km (62 mi) wide. If confirmed, this would be one of the largest recorded fault movements to have been associated with an earthquake.[60]

According to Italy's National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology, the earthquake shifted the Earth's axis by 25 centimeters (9.8 in). This deviation led to a number of small planetary changes, including the length of a day and the tilt of the Earth.[61] The speed of the Earth's rotation increased, shortening the day by 1.8 microseconds due to the redistribution of Earth's mass.[62] The axial shift was caused by the redistribution of mass on the Earth's surface, which changed the planet's moment of inertia. Due to the effects of conservation of angular momentum, such changes of inertia result in small changes to the Earth's rate of rotation.[63] These are expected changes[61] for an earthquake of this magnitude.[28][62]

Shinmoedake, a volcano in Kyushu, erupted two days after the earthquake. The volcano had previously erupted in January 2011; it is not known if the later eruption was linked to the earthquake.[64] In Antarctica, the seismic waves from the earthquake were reported to have caused the Whillans Ice Stream to slip by about 0.5 m (1.6 ft).[65]

Tsunami

The earthquake which was caused by 5 to 8 meters upthrust on 180-kilometer wide seabed at 60 kilometers offshore from the east coast of Tōhoku[66] resulted in a major tsunami which wrought destruction along the Pacific coastline of Japan's northern islands and resulted in the loss of thousands of lives and devastated entire towns. The tsunami propagated across the Pacific, and warnings were issued and evacuations carried out in many countries bordering the Pacific, including the entire Pacific coast of North and South America from Alaska to Chile;[13][14][15] however, while the tsunami was felt in many of these places, it caused only relatively minor effects. Chile's section of Pacific coast is one of the furthest from Japan, at about 17,000 kilometers (11,000 mi) away,[67] but still was struck by tsunami waves 2 meters (6.6 ft) high.[68][69] A wave height of 29.6 meters (97 ft) was recorded at Ōfunato, Iwate.[11]

Japan

Wave height map of the tsunami from NOAA

The tsunami warning issued by the Japan Meteorological Agency was the most serious on its warning scale; it rated as a "major tsunami", being at least 3 m (9.8 ft) high.[70] The actual height predicted varied, the greatest being for Miyagi at 10 m (33 ft) high.[71] The tsunami inundated a total area of approximately 470 square kilometers in Japan.[72]

The earthquake took place at 14:46 JST around 67 km (42 mi) from the nearest point on Japan's coastline, and initial estimates indicated the tsunami would have taken 10 to 30 minutes to reach the areas first affected, and then areas further north and south based on the geography of the coastline.[73][74] Just over an hour after the earthquake at 15:55 JST, a tsunami was observed flooding Sendai Airport, which is located near the coast of Miyagi Prefecture,[75][76] with waves sweeping away cars and planes and flooding various buildings as they traveled inland.[77][78] The impact of the tsunami in and around Sendai Airport was filmed by an NHK News helicopter, showing a number of vehicles on local roads trying to escape the approaching wave and being engulfed by it.[79] A 4-meter (13 ft)-high tsunami hit Iwate Prefecture.[80] Wakabayashi Ward in Sendai was also particularly hard hit.[81]

Water column height on 11 March 2011 at DART Station, 690 NM Southeast of Tokyo

Like the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, the damage by surging water, though much more localized, was far more deadly and destructive than the actual quake. There were reports of "whole towns gone" from tsunami-hit areas in Japan, including 9,500 missing in Minamisanriku;[82] one thousand bodies had been recovered in the town by 14 March 2011.[83]

Among several factors causing the high death toll from the tsunami, one was the unexpectedly large size of the water surge. The tsunami walls at several of the affected cities were based on much smaller tsunami heights. Also, many people caught in the tsunami thought that they were located on high enough ground to be safe.[84]

Kuji and Ōfunato have been "swept away ... leaving no trace that a town was there."[85][86] Also destroyed was Rikuzentakata, where the tsunami was reportedly three stories high.[87][88][89] Other cities reportedly destroyed or heavily damaged by the tsunami include Kamaishi, Miyako, Ōtsuchi, and Yamada (in Iwate Prefecture), Namie, Sōma and Minamisōma (in Fukushima Prefecture) and Higashimatsushima, Onagawa, Natori, Ishinomaki, and Kesennuma (in Miyagi Prefecture).[90][91][92][93][94][95] The most severe effects of the tsunami were felt along a 670-kilometer (420 mi)-long stretch of coastline from Erimo in the north to Ōarai in the south, with most of the destruction in that area occurring in the hour following the earthquake.[96] Near Ōarai, people captured images of a huge whirlpool that had been generated by the tsunami.[97] The tsunami washed away the sole bridge to Miyatojima, Miyagi, isolating the island's 900 residents.[98] A two meter high tsunami hit Chiba Prefecture about 2 1/2 hours after the quake, causing heavy damage to cities such as Asahi.[99]

Tsunami flooding on the Sendai Airport runway

On 13 March 2011, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) published details of tsunami observations recorded around the coastline of Japan following the earthquake. These observations included tsunami maximum readings of over 3 meters (9.8 ft) at the following locations and times on 11 March 2011, following the earthquake at 14:46 JST:[100]

NOAA animation of the tsunami's propagation

These readings were obtained from recording stations maintained by the JMA around the coastline of Japan. Many areas were also affected by waves of 1 to 3 meters (3.3 to 9.8 ft) in height, and the JMA bulletin also included the caveat that "At some parts of the coasts, tsunamis may be higher than those observed at the observation sites." The timing of the earliest recorded tsunami maximum readings ranged from 15:12 to 15:21, between 26 and 35 minutes after the earthquake had struck. The bulletin also included initial tsunami observation details, as well as more detailed maps for the coastlines affected by the tsunami waves.[101][102]

On 23 March 2011, Port and Airport Research Institute reported tsunami height by visiting the port sites or by telemetry from offshore as follows:[103][104]

  • Port of Hachinohe - approx. 5 - 6 m (16.4 - 19.6 ft)
  • Port of Hachinohe area - approx. 8 - 9 m (26.2 - 29.5 ft)
  • Port of Kuji - approx. 8 - 9 m (26.2 - 29.5 ft)
  • Mooring GPS wave height meter at offshore of central Iwate (Miyako) - 6.2 m (20.3 ft)
  • Port of Kamaishi - approx. 7 - 9 m (22.9 - 29.5 ft)
  • Mooring GPS wave height meter at offshore of southern Iwate (Kamaishi) - 6.6 m (21.6 ft)
  • Port of Ōfunato - approx. 9.5 m (31.1 ft)
  • Run up height, port of Ōfunato area (Sanrikuchō-ryōrishirahama (綾里白浜)) - approx. 24 m (78.7 ft)
  • Mooring GPS wave height meter at offshore of northern Miyagi - 5.6 m (18.3 ft)
  • Fishery port of Onagawa - approx. 15 m (49.2 ft)
  • Port of Ishinomaki - approx. 5 m (16.4 ft)
  • Mooring GPS wave height meter at offshore of central Miyagi - could not measure
  • Shiogama section of Shiogama-Sendai port - approx. 4 m (13.1 ft)
  • Sendai section of Shiogama-Sendai port - approx. 8 m (26.2 ft)
  • Sendai Airport area - approx. 12 m (39.3 ft)

A joint research team from Yokohama National University and the University of Tokyo also reported that the tsunami at Ryōri Bay (綾里白浜), Ōfunato was about Template:M to ft high. They found fishing equipment scattered on the high cliff above the bay.[11]

Elsewhere across the Pacific

Shortly after the earthquake, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) issued tsunami watches and warnings for locations in the Pacific. At 07:30 UTC, PTWC issued a widespread tsunami warning covering the entire Pacific Ocean.[105][106] Russia evacuated 11,000 residents from coastal areas of the Kuril Islands.[107] The United States West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center issued a tsunami warning for the coastal areas of most of California, all of Hawaii and Oregon, and the western part of Alaska, and a tsunami advisory covering the Pacific coastlines of most of Alaska, and all of Washington and British Columbia, Canada.[108][109] In California and Oregon, up to 8 ft (2.4 m) high tsunami surges hit some areas, damaging docks and harbors and causing over US$10 million of damage.[110] Surges of up to 1 m (3.3 ft) hit Vancouver Island in Canada[109] prompting some evacuations, and causing boats to be banned from the waters surrounding the island for 12 hours following the wave strike, leaving many island residents in the area without means of getting to work.[111][112]

In the Philippines, waves up to 0.5 m (1.6 ft) high hit the eastern seaboard of the country. Some houses along the coast in Jayapura, Indonesia were destroyed.[113] Authorities in Wewak, East Sepik, Papua New Guinea evacuated 100 patients from the city's Boram Hospital before it was hit by the waves, causing an estimated US$4 million in damages.[114] Hawaii estimated damage to public infrastructure alone at $3 million, with damage to private properties, including resort hotels such as Four Seasons Resort Hualalai, estimated at tens of millions of dollars.[115] It was reported that a 5 ft (1.5 m) high wave completely submerged Midway Atoll's reef inlets and Spit Island, killing more than 110,000 nesting seabirds at the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge.[116] Some other South Pacific countries, including Tonga and New Zealand, and U.S. territories American Samoa and Guam, experienced larger-than-normal waves, but did not report any major damage.[117] However in Guam some roads were closed off and people were evacuated from low-lying areas.[118]

A Bonin Petrel, trapped in the sand on Midway Atoll by the tsunami

Along the Pacific Coast of Mexico and South America, tsunami surges were reported, but in most places caused little or no damage.[119] Peru reported a wave of 1.5 m (4.9 ft) and more than 300 homes damaged.[119] The surge in Chile was large enough to damage more than 200 houses,[120] with waves of up to 3 m (9.8 ft).[121][122] In the Galapagos Islands, 260 families received assistance following a 3 m (9.8 ft) surge which arrived 20 hours after the earthquake, after the tsunami warning had been lifted.[123][124] There was a great deal of damage to buildings on the islands and one man was injured but there were no reported fatalities. [125][126]

Casualties

Tsunami damage between Sendai and Sendai Bay.

The National Police Agency has officially confirmed 19,759 deaths,[127] 6,242 injured,[128] and 2,553 people missing[129] across eighteen prefectures.[19][20] These numbers are expected to increase, with the number of fatalities expected to reach tens of thousands.[130]

Prefectural officials and the Kyodo News Agency, quoting local officials, said that 9,500 people from Minamisanriku in Miyagi Prefecture—about a half of the town's population—were unaccounted for.[131] NHK has reported that the death toll in Iwate Prefecture alone may reach 10,000.[77]

Save the Children reports that as many as 100,000 children have been uprooted from their homes, some of whom were separated from their families because the earthquake occurred during the school day.[132]

On 14 March, Kyodo News Agency reported that some 2,000 bodies were found on two shores in Miyagi Prefecture.[133]

It was reported that four passenger trains containing an unknown number of passengers disappeared in a coastal area during the tsunami.[134] One of the trains, on the Senseki Line, was found derailed in the morning; all passengers were rescued by a police helicopter.[135] Der Spiegel later reported that five missing trains in Miyagi Prefecture had been found with all passengers safe, although this information could not be confirmed locally.[136]

By 9:30 UTC on 11 March, Google Person Finder, which was previously used in the Haitian, Chilean, and Christchurch, New Zealand earthquakes, was collecting information about survivors and their locations.[137][138] The Next of Kin Registry (NOKR) is assisting the Japanese government in locating next of kin for those missing or deceased.[139]

Japanese funerals are normally elaborate Buddhist ceremonies, and 99.9% of bodies are cremated; burials are often banned by law. The thousands of bodies, however, exceed the capacity of available crematoriums and morgues, many of them damaged,[140] and there are shortages of both kerosene—each cremation requires 50 liters—and dry ice for preservation.[141] The single crematorium in Higashimatsushima, for example, can only handle four bodies a day, although hundreds have been found there and hundreds of people are still missing.[142] Governments and the military have thus been forced to bury many bodies in hastily dug mass graves with rudimentary or no rites, although relatives of the deceased have been promised that cremation will occur later.[143]

The tsunami is reported to have caused several deaths outside of Japan. One man was killed in Jayapura, Papua, Indonesia after being swept out to sea.[144] At the mouth of the Klamath River, south of Crescent City, California, a man who is said to have been attempting to photograph the oncoming tsunami was swept out to sea and confirmed dead.[145][146][147]

Damage and effects

In Wakuya, Japan, search-and-rescue activities are visible amidst the debris left by the tsunami.

The degree and extent of damage caused by the earthquake and resulting tsunami were enormous, with most of the damage being caused by the tsunami. Video footage of the worst affected towns shows little more than piles of rubble, with almost no parts of any structures left standing.[148] Estimates of the cost of the damage range well into the tens of billions of US dollars; before-and-after satellite photographs of devastated regions show immense damage to many regions.[149][150] Although Japan has invested the equivalent of billions of dollars on anti-tsunami seawalls which line at least 40% of its 34,751-kilometer (21,593 mi) coastline and stand up to 12 meters (39 ft) high, the tsunami simply washed over the top of some seawalls, collapsing some in the process.[151]

Nuclear power plants

Further information: 2011 Japanese nuclear accidents
A map showing epicenter of earthquake and position of nuclear power plants

The Fukushima I, Fukushima II, Onagawa Nuclear Power Plant and Tōkai nuclear power stations, consisting of a total eleven reactors, were automatically shut down following the earthquake.[152] Higashidōri, also on the northeast coast, was already shut down for a periodic inspection. Cooling is needed to remove decay heat after a reactor has been shut down, and to maintain spent fuel pools. The cooling process is powered by emergency diesel generators, as well as in the case of Rokkasho nuclear reprocessing plant.[153] At Fukushima I and II tsunami waves overtopped seawalls and destroyed diesel backup power systems, leading to severe problems at Fukushima I, including two large explosions and radioactive leakage. Over 200,000 people were evacuated.[154] Sea water was pumped onto the plant to attempt attempt to cool it.

Europe's energy commissioner Guenther Oettinger, in remarks to the European Parliament on 15 March, ignored the damage wrought by the tsunami along the coast and called the nuclear disaster an "apocalypse", saying that the word was particularly well chosen, and that Tokyo had almost lost control of events at the Fukushima power plant.[155]

Fukushima I and II Nuclear Power Plants

Main articles: Fukushima I nuclear accidents, Timeline of the Fukushima I nuclear accidents, and Timeline of the Fukushima II nuclear accidents

Japan declared a state of emergency following the failure of the cooling system at the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, resulting in the evacuation of nearby residents.[156][157] Officials from the Japanese Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency reported that radiation levels inside the plant were up to 1,000 times normal levels,[158] and that radiation levels outside the plant were up to 8 times normal levels.[159] Later, a state of emergency was also declared at the Fukushima II nuclear power plant about 11 km (7 mi) south.[160] This brought the total number of problematic reactors to six.[161]

File:Fukushima I by Digital Globe 2.jpg
Destruction at the Fukushima site

On 12 March a large explosion caused by the buildup of hydrogen gas, blew away the roof and outer walls of the Reactor 1 building, releasing a large cloud of dust and vapor, but the reactor itself was not damaged in the explosion.[162][163][164] A BBC journalist reported being stopped 60 kilometers (37 mi) from the blast site by police.[162]

On Sunday, 13 March, Japanese authorities said that a partial nuclear meltdown could be occurring in Reactors 1 and 3.[165] On 12 March at 01:17 JST (16:17 GMT), the Japan Atomic Energy Agency announced that it was rating the Fukushima accident at 4 (accident with local consequences) on the 0–7 International Nuclear Event Scale (INES),[166] below the Level 5 Three Mile Island accident in seriousness.[167] This was questioned by the French ASN nuclear safety authority, which said the accident could be classed as Level 5 or 6.[168] On 18 March, Japan's nuclear safety agency raised the severity level to 5.[169]

Another explosion occurred at Reactor 3 of the Fukushima I plant just after 11:00 JST on 14 March.[170] An exterior wall of the building collapsed, but the reactor vessel was not damaged according to a government spokesperson.[171] The local population was advised to stay home until the radioactive situation of the environment is totally clarified.[172] Unlike the other five reactor units, the fuel in reactor 3 contained plutonium, (MOX fuel), making it more dangerous, due to the neutronic effects of plutonium on the reactor and the carcinogenic effects in the event of release to the environment.[173][174][175] Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) tried to reduce the pressure within the plants by venting contaminated steam from the reactor vessels into the atmosphere. According to Tomoko Murakami, of the nuclear energy group at Japan's Institute of Energy Economics, this would not result in the release of significant radiation.[176] Residents living within a 20 km (12 mi) radius of the Fukushima I plant were evacuated, as well as residents within 3 km (1.9 mi) of the Fukushima II plant.[177][178][179]

USN sailors on humanitarian duty are checked for radiation exposure

It was reported on 14 March at 07:00 EDT that the fuel rods of Reactor 2 at the Fukushima I plant were fully exposed, and a meltdown of the fuel rods, with the risk of damage to the reactor vessel and a possible radioactive leak, could not be ruled out.[180] As of 14 March 2011, about 160 people have been exposed to dangerous radiation levels near the power stations. One plant employee was killed while operating a crane, eight others had been injured.[181] An additional eleven employees were injured when the Reactor 3 building exploded.[182] Several people received some radiation doses.[183]

On 15 March, at 6:10 am JST an explosion occurred at Reactor 2 of the Fukushima I plant.[184] After the explosion, the radiation level spiked to 8,217 microsieverts (µSv) per hour.[185] The government admitted it was "very probable" that the cores of Reactors 1, 2 and 3 had experienced (partial) meltdowns due to high temperatures.[186] A fourth Fukushima I reactor, Reactor 4, was also rocked by an explosion on 15 March.[187] Radiation levels of up to 400 µSv per hour were recorded near Reactor 4; up to 100 millisieverts (mSv), or 100,000 µSv, per year is considered safe.[188]

Iodine distribution to recovery workers in Japan

A US Navy relief group moved from the immediate area after its helicopters detected low-level radiation while returning to their aircraft carrier from a search and rescue mission, 160 km (99 mi) offshore. The flight absorbed the equivalent amount of earthbound background radiation for a month in the span of about an hour.[189][190]

On 15 March, the radiation level in Tokyo reached 20 times the normal level. The highest level in the Kantō region was 40 times the normal level in Saitama at 11:00 JST but then receded to ten times the normal level. Local officials have assured the public that this is not a threat to human health.[191][192]

On 15 March, at 11:51 JST Japan suspended operations at the stricken Fukushima I nuclear plant after a surge in radiation made it too dangerous for workers to remain at the facility.[193] However, workers returned about an hour later after radiation levels decreased.[188] As of 16 March 2011, five plant workers have died and 22 others have been injured. Two others are reported missing.[194] The government raised the national safety standard governing radiation exposure from 100 to 250 mSv per year, so plant workers could continue their work.[195]

It was reported that radioactive iodine was detected in the tap water in Fukushima, Toshigi, Gunma, Tokyo, Chiba, Saitama, and Niigata, and radioactive cesium in the tap water in Fukushima, Tochigi and Gunma.[196][197][198] Radioactive cesium and iodine were also detected in the soil in some places in Fukushima. There may be a need to replace the contaminated soil.[199]

Onagawa Nuclear Power Plant

A fire occurred in the turbine section of the Onagawa Nuclear Power Plant following the earthquake.[153][200] The blaze was in a building housing the turbine, which is sited separately from the plant's reactor,[156] and was soon extinguished.[201] The plant was shut down as a precaution.[202]

On 13 March the lowest-level state of emergency was declared regarding the Onagawa plant as radioactivity readings temporarily[203] exceeded allowed levels in the area of the plant.[204][205] Tohoku Electric Power Co. stated this may have been due to radiation from the Fukushima I nuclear accidents but was not from the Onagawa plant itself.[206]

Tōkai Nuclear Power Plant

The number 2 reactor at Tōkai Nuclear Power Plant was shut down automatically.[152] On 14 March it was reported that a cooling system pump for this reactor had stopped working;[207] however, the Japan Atomic Power Company stated that there was a second operational pump sustaining the cooling system, but that two of three diesel generators used to power the cooling system were out of order.[208]

Ports

Vessel and facilities damage at the port of Ishinomaki near Matsushima Air Field

All of Japan's ports were briefly closed after the earthquake, though the ones in Tokyo and southwards soon re-opened. The north-eastern ports of Hachinohe, Sendai, Ishinomaki and Onahama were destroyed, while Chiba port (which serves the hydrocarbon industry) and Japan's ninth-largest container port at Kashima were also affected though less severely. The ports at Hitachinaka, Hitachi, Soma, Shiogama, Kesennuma, Ofunato, Kamashi and Miyako were also damaged and were expected to be out of action for weeks.[209] The Port of Tokyo suffered slight damage; the effects of the quake included visible smoke rising from a building in the port with parts of the port areas being flooded, including soil liquefaction in Tokyo Disneyland's carpark.[210][211]

Damn failure

The Fujinuma irrigation dam in Sukagawa ruptured,[212] causing flooding and washing away homes.[213] Eight people were missing and four bodies were discovered by the morning.[214][215][216] Reportedly, some locals had attempted to repair leaks in the dam before it completely failed.[217] On 12 March, 252 dams were inspected and it was discovered that six embankment dams had shallow cracks on their crests. The reservoir at one concrete gravity dam suffered a small non-serious slope failure. All damaged dams are functioning with no problems. Four dams within the quake area were unreachable. When the roads clear, experts will be dispatched to conduct further investigations.[218]

Water

In the immediate aftermath of the calamity, at least 1.5 million households were reported to have lost access to water supplies.[22][219] By 21 March 2011, this number fell to 1.04 million.[220]

Electricity

A map of Japan's electricity distribution network shows the geographic divide between 50 hertz systems and 60 hertz systems

According to Tōhoku Electric Power (TEP), around 4.4 million households in northeastern Japan were left without electricity.[221] Several nuclear and conventional power plants went offline after the earthquake, reducing TEPCO's total capacity by 21 GW.[222] Rolling blackouts began on 14 March due to power shortages caused by the earthquake.[223] The Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), which normally provides approximately 40 GW of electricity, announced that it can currently provide only about 30 GW. This is because 40% of the electricity used in the greater Tokyo area is now supplied by reactors in the Niigata and Fukushima prefectures.[224] The reactors at the Fukushima Dai-ichi and Fukushima Dai-ni plants were automatically taken offline when the first earthquake occurred and have sustained major damage related to the earthquake and subsequent tsunami. Rolling blackouts of three hours are expected to last until the end of April and will affect the Tokyo, Kanagawa, Eastern Shizuoka, Yamanashi, Chiba, Ibaraki, Saitama, Tochigi, and Gunma prefectures.[225] Voluntary reduced electricity use by consumers in the Kanto area helped reduce the predicted frequency and duration of the blackouts.[226] By 21 March 2011, the number of households in the north without electricity fell to 242,927.[220]

Tōhoku Electric Power cannot currently provide the Kanto region with additional power, because TEP's power plants were also damaged in the earthquake. Kansai Electric Power Company (Kepco) cannot share electricity, because its system operates at 60 hertz, whereas TEPCO and TEP operate their systems at 50 hertz; this is due to early industrial and infrastructure development in the 1880s that left Japan without a unified national power grid.[227] Two substations, one in Shizuoka Prefecture and one in Nagano Prefecture, can convert between frequencies and transfer electricity from Kansai to Kanto and Tōhoku, but their capacity to do so is limited to 1 GW. With the damage to so many power plants, it could be years before electricity productions levels in eastern Japan return to pre-quake levels.[228]

In effort to help alleviate the shortage, three steel manufacturers in the Kanto region are contributing electricity produced by their in-house conventional power stations to TEPCO for distribution to the general public. Sumitomo Metal Industries can produce up to 500 MW, JFE Steel 400 MW, and Nippon Steel 500 MW of electric power[229]

Oil, gas and coal

Fire at the Cosmo Oil refinery in Ichihara

A 220,000-barrel-per-day[230] oil refinery of Cosmo Oil Company was set on fire by the quake at Ichihara, Chiba Prefecture, to the east of Tokyo,[231] while others halted production due to safety checks and power loss.[232][233] In Sendai, a 145,000-barrel-per-day refinery owned by the largest refiner in Japan, JX Nippon Oil & Energy, was also set ablaze by the quake.[230] Workers were evacuated,[234] but tsunami warnings hindered efforts to extinguish the fire until 14 March, when officials planned to do so.[230]

An analyst estimates that consumption of various types of oil may increase by as much as 300,000 barrels per day (as well as LNG), as back-up power plants burning fossil fuels try to compensate for the loss of 11 GW of Japan's nuclear power capacity.[235][236]

The city-owned plant for importing liquefied natural gas in Sendai was severely damaged, and supplies were halted for at least a month.[237]

Three coal bulk carrier ships in Japanese ports were damaged by the tsunami.[238]

Transport

Japan's transport network suffered severe disruptions. Many sections of Tōhoku Expressway serving northern Japan were damaged. The expressway did not reopen to general public use until 24 March 2011.[239][240] All railway services were suspended in Tokyo, with an estimated 20,000 people stranded at major stations across the city.[241] In the hours after the earthquake, some train services were resumed.[242] Most Tokyo area train lines resumed full service by the next day-12 March.[243] Twenty thousand stranded visitors spent the night of 11–12 March inside Tokyo Disneyland.[244]

Damage to overhead lines on the Tōhoku Shinkansen

A tsunami wave flooded Sendai Airport at 15:55 JST,[75] about 1 hour after the initial quake, causing severe damage. Narita and Haneda Airport both briefly suspended operations after the quake, but suffered little damage and reopened within 24 hours.[211] Eleven airliners bound for Narita were diverted to nearby Yokota Air Base.[245][246]

Various train services around Japan were also canceled, with JR East suspending all services for the rest of the day.[247] Four trains on coastal lines were reported as being out of contact with operators; one, a four-car train on the Senseki Line, was found to have derailed, and its occupants were rescued shortly after 8 am the next morning.[248]

There were no derailments of Shinkansen bullet train services in and out of Tokyo, but their services were also suspended.[211] The Tōkaidō Shinkansen resumed limited service late in the day and was back to its normal schedule by the next day, while the Jōetsu and Nagano Shinkansen resumed services late on 12 March. The Tōhoku Shinkansen line was worst hit, with JR East estimating that 1,100 sections of the line, varying from collapsed station roofs to bent power pylons, will need repairs.[249] Services on the Tōhoku Shinkansen partially resumed only in Kantō area on 15 March, with one round-trip service per hour between Tokyo and Nasu-Shiobara,[250] and Tōhoku area service partially resumed on 22 March between Morioka and Shin-Aomori.[251] Services on Akita Shinkansen resumed with limited numbers of trains on 18 March.[252] Services on Yamagata Shinkansen resumed with limited numbers of trains on 31 March[253]

Stranded passengers on a Tokyo train are unloaded using a ladder

Minami-Kesennuma Station on the Kesennuma Line was obliterated save for its platform;[254] anecdotal evidence suggests severe damage to the line as well as other coastal lines (including the Ishinomaki Line and Senseki Line).

The rolling blackouts brought on by the crises at the nuclear power plants in Fukushima had a profound effect on the rail networks around Tokyo starting on 14 March. Major railways began running trains at 10–20 minute intervals, rather than the usual 3–5 minute intervals, operating some lines only at rush hour and completely shutting down others; notably, the Tokaido Main Line, Yokosuka Line, Sobu Main Line and Chūō-Sōbu Line were all stopped for the day.[255] This led to near-paralysis within the capital, with long lines at train stations and many people unable to come to work or get home. Railway operators gradually increased capacity over the next few days, until running at approximately 80% capacity by 17 March and relieving the worst of the passenger congestion.

Telecommunications

Cellular and landline phone service suffered major disruptions in the affected area.[256] On the day of the quake, American broadcaster NPR was unable to reach anyone in Sendai with working phone or Internet.[257] Internet services were largely unaffected in areas where basic infrastructure remained, despite the earthquake having damaged portions of several undersea cable systems landing in the affected regions; these systems were able to reroute around affected segments onto redundant links.[258][259] Within Japan, only a few websites were initially unreachable.[260] Several Wi-Fi hotspot providers have reacted to the quake by providing free access to their networks.[260] and some American telecommunications and VoIP companies such as AT&T, Sprint, Verizon [261]and VoIP companies such as netTALK [262]and Vonage [263] have offered free calls to (and in some cases, from) Japan for a limited time.

Space center

JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) evacuated the Tsukuba Space Center in Tsukuba, Ibaraki. The Center, which houses a control room for part of the International Space Station, has been shut down, with some damage reported.[264][265] The Tsukuba control center resumed full operations for the space station's Kibo laboratory and the HTV cargo craft on March 21.[266]

Aftermath

Main article: Aftermath of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami

Media coverage

Russian people take flowers to the embassy of Japan in Moscow amid a media presence

Japan's national public broadcaster, NHK, and Japan Satellite Television suspended their usual programming to provide ongoing coverage of the situation.[267] Various other nationwide Japanese TV networks also broadcast uninterrupted coverage of the disaster. Ustream Asia broadcast live feeds of NHK, Tokyo Broadcasting System, Fuji TV, TV Asahi, TV Kanagawa, and CNN on the Internet starting on 12 March 2011.[268] YokosoNews, an Internet webcast in Japan, dedicated its broadcast to the latest news gathered from Japanese news stations, translating them in real time to English.[269]

Non-Japanese media, such as CNN, have been noted for being more alarmist, exaggerated, and sometimes inaccurate in their coverage of the disaster's aftermath than the Japanese media. Fox News Channel at one point erroneously depicted "Shibuya Eggman", a concert hall in Tokyo, as a nuclear facility on a graphic of nuclear plants in Japan.[270] It has been speculated that exaggerated and inaccurate news reports by foreign media have heightened anxiety among foreign and native residents of Japan, provoking possibly unneeded evacuations.[271]

Scientific and research response

Fukushima radiation comparison to other incidents and standards, with graph of recorded radiation levels and specific accident events.(Note: Does not include all radiation readings from Fukushima I site)

According to the chief scientist for the Multi-Hazards project at the U.S. Geological Survey, the fact that the Tōhoku earthquake took place in Japan—a country with "the best seismic information in the world"—meant that large amounts of data were collected for an earthquake of this type and severity. Andreas Reitbrock, a professor of seismology at the University of Liverpool, agreed, stating, "It gives us, for the first time, the possibility to model in great detail what happened during the rupture of an earthquake."[28]

The effect of this data is expected to be felt across other disciplines as well. Tom Heaton, a seismological engineer, commented that "the tragedy would provide unprecedented information about how buildings hold up under long periods of shaking – and thus how to build them better. We had very little information about that before now". James Cave, Associate Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Harvard University, said that data retrieved from the earthquake could provide new details in "quake-proofing" large urban areas in the future.[272]

Seismologists had anticipated that the "big one" would strike the same place as the 1923 Kanto earthquake—in the Sagami Trough, southwest of Tokyo.[273][274] Since 1976, when Katsuhiko Ishibashi said a large earthquake in the Suruga Trough was forthcoming, the government tracked plate movements, in preparation for the so-called Tokai earthquake.[275] Occurring 373 km (232 mi) northeast of Tokyo, the Tōhoku earthquake came as a surprise to seismologists, since the Japan Trench was known for creating large quakes, but was not expected to generate quakes above an 8.0 magnitude.[274][275]

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ While the Japan Meteorological Agency officially announced the English name as The 2011 off the Pacific coast of Tōhoku Earthquake,[276][277] the Japanese nomenclature of the earthquake varies between media sources. NHK[278][279] uses Tōhoku Kantō Great Earthquake disaster (東北関東大震災, Tōhoku Kantō Daishinsai); Sankei Shimbun,[280] Asahi Shimbun,[281] Mainichi Shimbun,[282] Jiji Press,[283] Fuji Television,[284] Kyodo News,[285] Tokyo Shimbun,[286] Chunichi Shimbun[287] and Tokyo Broadcasting System[288] use East Japan Great Earthquake disaster (東日本大震災, Higashi Nihon Daishinsai); Tōhoku-Kantō Great Earthquake (東北・関東大地震, Tōhoku-Kantō Daijishin) has been used by Kyodo News,[289] Tokyo Shimbun[290] and Chunichi Shimbun;[291] East Japan Giant Earthquake (東日本巨大地震, Higashi Nihon Kyodaijishin) has been used by Yomiuri Shimbun,[292] Nihon Keizai Shimbun[293] and TV Asahi,[294] and East Japan Great Earthquake (東日本大地震, Higashi Nihon Daijishin) is used by Nippon Television,[295] Tokyo FM[296] and TV Asahi.[297]
  2. ^ The 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami has been assigned GLIDE identifier EQ-2011-000028-JPN by the Asian Disaster Reduction Center.[53][54]

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Live media coverage
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