Case Study:

Earthquake in Japan
Tohoku (2011)

Marooden
Ahmed
Williem
Danial Z
Mehrdad A
Darya
Mostafa
Gimba

Introduction

On 11th of March 2011

One
of
the
5
most
powerful
earthquakes
in
the
world
(9.0
magnitude)
Recorded near the east coast of
Honshu, Japan
about 20,000 people died, 6000 were
injured as well as more than 4,225
were reported missing.

Introduction (2)

Following the main tremor above 1000

aftershocks occurred compromising of
70 shocks having magnitude above
-6.0.
The tsunami was created by the
earthquake (14 m) hit the coast of
Honshu and flooded Japan.

Prevalence and Location of

Occurrence

located north of Tokai. (frequently facing

earthquakes with magnitudes higher than
8.0.)
The main shock was headed by preshocks as well as huge aftershocks.

Prevalence and location of occurrence

(2)

Figure 1: Rupture model (Hayes,

2011).

Figure 2: Peak ground acceleration

(NIED, 2011)

Prevalence and location of occurrence

(3)

Figure 3: Seismic Intensity (JICA, 2011)

Causes of earthworks
occurrence in Japan

Japan is located in a conjunction

between several crustal plates.
Both the Pacific and Philippine Sea
plates fall below the North American
and Eurasian plates.
those with huge magnitudes
consistently cause tsunamis consisting
of destructive wave run-ups on coastal
global regions.

Causes of earthworks
occurrence in Japan

Figure 4: Plates surrounding Japan (Rowan, 2011)

Geophysical Impact

relocated the Honshu island of Japan

about 3.6 m to the east
the earths axis shifted by 25 cm
the planets rotations accelerated by
1.8 microseconds
Ojika-hantou of Miyagi-ken has
relocated about 5.3 m to the southeast
towards the epicenter

Geophysical Impact (2)

Figure 5. Tsunami caused by the 2011 Eastern Japan Great

Earthquake
Source: NOAA 2011.

Geophysical Impact (3)

Figure 6. Estimated seismic intensity from observation

stations right after 14:46 on 11 March 2011
Source: Japan Meteorological Agency 2011.

Humanitarian Impact

There were total of 13,392 people dead

nationwide and 15,133 missing, and
more than 335,000 refugees in
northeast japan are lacking in shelter,
food, medical care, water and even the
necessary.

Humanitarian Impact (2)

Hundreds of thousands of people have

been made homeless
An estimated 250,000 people are living
in emergency shelters
Loss of property and personal items
Abnormal radiation levels reported in
tap water, vegetables and milk with
concerns that fish may also be affected

Humanitarian Impact (3)

Table 1: Damage from the 2011 Eastern Japan Great

Earthquake and Tsunami (as of April 13) Source: Japan
National Police Agency 2011

Impact on Building

Up to April 3, there were 190,000

buildings damaged, among which 45,700
were totally destroyed.
About 250 million tons of rubble and
debris were produced in Japan because
of the earthquake and tsunami disaster.

Impact on Key
Infrastructures

Supply of power was reduced by 21GW,

and it effects on 4.4 million families in
eastern Japan.
Most of the ports in Japan were closed shut
downed for a short period of time.
70 railways was shut down and around 23
railway stations and seven lines were
completely destroyed.
The Sendai airport incurred massive losses
because it was attacked by the flood

Economic Impact

23,600 hectares of farmland were

demolished.
Decrease in worldwide auto production.
The financial global market had
significant fluctuations.
the total property damages are 14
trillion yen in the Tohoku region alone.

Environmental Effects

Drinking water contanimated due to

the powerplant explosion and release
of radioactive matieral.
The air now contains radioactive
material which can cause cancerous
diseases such as thyroid cancer.
Trees and other vegatation werelost
after the earthquake and the tsunami.

Environmental Effects (2)

Radiation and fires destroy crops and

other plants.
The release of radiation and other
gases interrupts the natural
ecosystems.
Food affected by the radioactive
material causing shortages of food and
plants and animals can't be used for
food anymore.

The Nuclear Power Plant

Crisis

All 11 nuclear reactors in northeast

japan were affected by the quake.
The radiation in the vicinity of the
reactor rose steeply, becoming a
deadly threat to the local residents, as
well as polluting vegetables, milk, and
water.
Thousand tons of low radiation nuclear
pollution was released in in the pacific.

The Nuclear Power Plant

Crisis (2)

the cooling system of nuclear power

plants failed.
Cooling system is done water
immersing the fuel rods and cycling in
the system with radioactive isotopes.
Tsunami damaged back up batteries
too which at least could last for eight
hours although they were spared from
damages.

The Nuclear Power Plant

Crisis (3)

Most of the cooling system water was

turned to steam due to high
temperature which in turn exposed the
fuel rods to air.
Fuel would escape away from control
rods, intensify decay, melt through the
reactor floor, and consequently induce
a massive release of radioactive
isotopes, a worst case scenario.

The Nuclear Power Plant

Crisis (3)

The Nuclear Power Plant

Crisis (4)

Figure 5. Illustrative chart of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear

crisis

Conclusion

Thank You