Tsunami in Japan: causes, consequences, victims

Very often history shows us how helpless a person is when it comes to natural disasters. Unfortunately, many of the disasters can not be predicted. This is exactly what happened with the tsunami in Japan, which claimed thousands of lives in 2011.

Earth of danger

At the very edge of East Asia is a small island country. Its territory consists of more than 6000 mountain and volcanic islands. The whole earth lies on the system of the Pacific volcanic fire ring. It is on this part that there are a lot of earthquakes. Scientists have determined that 10% of global cataclysms are associated with this phenomenon, which occurs off the coast of Japan.

Every day the country suffers from tremors. In general, over a year this land can bear about 1500 blows. Most of them are safe, since they range from 4 to 6 points on the Richter scale. Usually, the waves do not harm houses and high-rise buildings, but massive and high walls can only slightly sway. Critical marks for this country are from 7 points and above. During the tsunami in Japan in 2011, the magnitude of seismic waves with a magnitude of 9 was recorded.

Pages of History

Now there are about 110 volcanoes on the territory of the state. The activities of some of them from time to time leads to tragedies. So, for example, in 1896 the earthquake, whose strength indicator reached a mark of 7.2 points, caused a tsunami. Then the height of the waves was 38 meters. The element claimed 22,000 lives. However, this was not the worst catastrophe.

In September 1923, the Great Kanto earthquake occurred, named for the region that suffered most. Then more than 170 000 people died.

In 1995, the country suffered again. This time the epicenter was the city of Kobe. The blows then ranged from 7.3 points. The catastrophe claimed 6500 lives.

But the most terrible cataclysm occurred in the state in March 2011. The complexity of the natural disaster was also that this time the tremors were accompanied by high waves. The tsunami in Japan brought innumerable losses. Tens of thousands of people died, hundreds of thousands were left without homes and apartments.

Natural processes

The cause of the disaster was a clash of two plates - the Pacific and Okhotsk. It is on the second that the islands of the state are located. During the movement of the lithosphere, the more massive and heavy oceanic part is submerged under the continental layer. In connection with the displacement of these sites, tremors occur leading to earthquakes. At the same time, their strength is much higher than when the volcano is erupted.

Precisely to predict this process is impossible. Moreover , the country did not expect strikes with a strength of 8-8.5 points.

In connection with the constant presence of danger in Japan, the best seismologists and geophysicists of the world work. Their laboratories are equipped with modern equipment. And although professionals are not able to predict the danger long before the start of strong shocks, they are able to warn the people about trouble.

As early as March 9, 2011, an insignificant earthquake began. Tsunami with such shocks was impossible. The apparatus recorded several hits from 6 to 7 points.

Warning about trouble

According to experts, a fault in the plates arose in 373 km from Tokyo. A minute before the onset of the cataclysm on the island, seismic equipment detected a danger, and the information about this was urgently transmitted to all TV channels. Thus many human lives were saved. But the waves of blows moved at a speed of 4 km / s, therefore within a minute and a half the country was covered by an earthquake.

There was a push with force of 9.0 points. It happened on March 11 at 14:46. After that, repeated attacks with lower strength indicators were conducted. In general, there were more than 400 tremors, from 4.5 to 7.4 points, across the country.

The fracture of the underground plates caused a tsunami in Japan. It should be noted that the waves have spread all over the world. Even coastal countries of the Americas received warnings.

Work of professionals

After the formation of the first faults of the earth's crust meteorologists began to inform the people about the danger. The level of anxiety was very serious.

Specialists noted that the wave height will reach at least 3 meters. But the wall of water in various coastal cities had different heights. It is worth noting that only in Chile, which is located at a distance of 17,000 km from Japan, waves raging up to 2 meters high.

The earthquake occurred in 70 kilometers from the nearest point of land. Consequently, the areas that were near the epicenter of the event suffered first. The water lasted 10-30 minutes to reach some of the coastal parts of the country.

Strikes on the ground the Japanese felt as early as 14:46. And already at 15:12 the day the wave in height about 7 meters has reached the city of Kamais. Next, the water broke up settlements, depending on their geographical location. The largest tsunami wave was recorded in the Miyako region. There the height was from 4 to 40 meters. This city is also very badly affected by the cataclysm.

Ruthless water

The element almost did not leave the wounded. Those who did not manage to hide from the disaster immediately died in a whirlpool. The wall swept cars, pillars, trees and houses in its path. People who did not get out of the trap and did not get to a safe place, died among the huge debris.

Due to the tsunami in Japan, about 530 km² of built-up area were destroyed. On the ground, which used to be houses, shops and roads, there were piles of rubble. The water washed everything apart from the foundations.

According to recent reports, the number of victims is about 16,000. Another 2,500 people are still missing. Half a million souls were left homeless. Search work continued for a long time. At once teams of volunteers were formed, mobilization of soldiers took place, and the National Guard proceeded to work . Cases of looting were rare, and delinquent people delinquent detained themselves.

Despite the fact that the search work continued for a long time, many were not saved. The consequences of the tsunami were terrible.

Calculation of losses

The economy of Japan has suffered very much from the cataclysm. According to scientists, the last time such a strong blow in the financial plan the country received only during the Second World War. Hundreds of dams were destroyed. Only after their repair the coastal cities will again be able to rebuild. Some villages completely washed away with water. It should be noted that the cause of death of 95% of people were not tremors, namely high waves.

Due to powerful earthquakes, many fires occurred in factories. There was an accident at the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant, and a significant dose of radiation was thrown into the atmosphere.

In general, the consequences of the tsunami and earthquake cost the country $ 300 billion. In addition, the largest factories have ceased to operate.

Other countries helped to fight the disaster. South Korea was the first to send a detachment of rescuers, who began a search operation.

After the events of March, seismologists noted that the number of minor earthquakes in the entire Japanese archipelago increased significantly.

Works in the regions

Many troubles brought the tsunami in Japan in 2011. After the water came down, instead of once affable quarters lay garbage mountains. They were fragments of houses, furniture, household things and cars. To remove, sort and take out the remains of cities, had to allocate a huge amount of money. Garbage was more than 23 million tons.

The remaining homeless people were moved to temporary apartments. Families were given small houses for one or two rooms. In the winter it was very cold there. Many lost their jobs, so they had to live only on state payments. In general, 3% of the country's territory required a complete reconstruction. In regions where high waves have passed, only lonely houses have miraculously escaped, but they also need a huge repair.

Nevertheless, after the tsunami, Japan came in order very quickly. Experts argue that the catastrophe of such a force occurs every 600 years.

Irreversible damage to the environment was caused by the nuclear power plant. The radiation zone around the facility is more than 20 km. Part of the earth will be cleansed only after tens of years.

This event went down in history as the Great Earthquake of East Japan.