JAPANEarthquake and Tsunami

About JapanJapan is situated in northeastern Asia between the North Pacific and

the Sea of Japan. The area of Japan is 377,873 square kilometers, nearly equivalent to Germany and Switzerland combined or slightly smaller than California. Japan consists of four major islands, surrounded by more than 4,000 smaller islands.

Japan's topographical features include coastlines with varied scenery, towering mountains, which are very often volcanic and twisted valleys that invite visitors into the mysterious world of nature.

There is only one official language spoken in Japan, which is of course Japanese. However, many Japanese are able to understand English to a certain extent since English is the foreign language that everyone must learn as part of compulsory education.

Japan's population is over 126 million. Most Japanese reside in densely populated urban areas. Japan's capital city is Tokyo. The population of the Tokyo Metropolitan Area including the city, some of its suburbs and the surrounding area is approximately 12 million.

What, When and Where On Friday 11 March 2011, at 8:46 am Qatar time, an

earthquake of magnitude 9 hit near the east coast of Honshu, Japan causing many buildings to collapse into obliberation as well as a tsunami to rise and hit the coast of Japan. This earthquake was the strongest of all earthquakes to hit Japan. The earthquake and tsunami combined also resulted into a huge blast at one of the two nuclear power plants in Japan and has resulted into radiation to slowly spread out. After the earthquake and tsunami, over 111 aftershocks were recorded across the country counting a magnitude of 5 and higher

Impacts The Japanese earthquake and tsunami lead to many

impacts but the most important were the social and economic impact. Economically, the Japanese economy lost over $10 billion dollars. Toyota, Honda and Nissan had to halt production at some of the assembly plants to avoid damage. Sony, Panasonic and other technology companies all had to halt their production and lose their money. Sony itself had 8 of it’s factories close down. Socially, it lead to 10 thousands of people stranded with the rail networks down. More than four million buildings were without power in Tokyo and the suburbs. Also, many other people were treated with injuries and shocks.

News Reports Comparison Most of the news agencies reported the same news, that this was

the biggest earthquake to hit Japan, then a tsunami followed and finished off by many, many aftershocks. There were many communities, which were blazing, and all news agencies reported the nuclear explosions. “The Guardian”, newspaper said that at least 5 were dead, which contradicts what the “The LA Times” said, which started off the article with “Hundreds are dead after the worst earthquake in generations struck off the northeast coast of Japan on Friday,” while all other news sources claimed that 200 to 300 people were confirmed as dead. Over 800 were injured and between 400-500 people have been reported missing. Some new’s sources have until now continued investigating the aspects of the disaster, “The Huffington Post”, was able to tell us that Toyota planned to continue it’s full production by November.

Recommendations There are no possible recommendations for the future since

Japan is one of the most prepared cities for a disaster to strike. They all have to go through earthquake drills and they must all have a grab pack in their homes and everywhere else so that in case there is an emergency they just grab these bags and evacuate and contain all necessary items for survival. Their buildings are also prepared for earthquakes since they are made to sway with the earthquake which means they harness the movement’s energy and just sway with it until it’s done. This is done by adding shock or vibration absorbers to the building or building a pendulum in it to shift the buildings weight opposite of the earthquake and keep it stable just like the Taipei 101 building.

Bibliography Akiko Fujita. "Japan Earthquake: New Explosion at Fukushima Reactor - ABC News." ABCNews.com: Breaking News, Politics, World News,

Good Morning America, Exclusive Interviews - ABC News. Web. 06 June 2011. <http://abcnews.go.com/International/japan-earthquake-explosion-fukushima-reactor/story?id=13126081>.

"BBC News - Japan Earthquake." BBC - Homepage. Web. 06 June 2011. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12711226>. Demick, Barbara. "Japan Earthquake: Magnitude 8.9 Quake Rocks Japan - Los Angeles Times." Featured Articles From The Los Angeles

Times. 11 Mar. 2011. Web. 06 June 2011. <http://articles.latimes.com/2011/mar/11/world/la-fg-japan-quake-20110311>. "Earthquake in Japan - Alan Taylor - In Focus - The Atlantic." The Atlantic — News and Analysis on Politics, Business, Culture, Technology,

National, International, and Life – TheAtlantic.com. Web. 06 June 2011. <http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2011/03/earthquake-in-japan/100022/>.

"Earthquake: Japan Hit By 8.9 Earthquake | Japan Tsunami Warning." Sydney Morning Herald - Business & World News Australia | Smh.com.au. Web. 06 June 2011. <http://www.smh.com.au/environment/killer-tsunami-surges-across-japan-after-89-quake-20110311-1bqym.html>.

Foster, Malcolm. "Powerful Quake, Tsunami Kills Hundreds in Japan - Yahoo! News." The Top News Headlines on Current Events from Yahoo! News. Web. 06 June 2011. <http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110311/ap_on_re_as/as_japan_earthquake>.

Gibbs, Edwina, and Chisa Fujioka. "Daybreak Reveals Huge Devastation in Tsunami-hit Japan | Reuters." Business & Financial News, Breaking US & International News | Reuters.com. 11 Mar. 2011. Web. 06 June 2011. <http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/11/us-japan-quake-idUSTRE72A0SS20110311>.

"Hundreds of Bodies Found in Japan After Massive Tsunami Spawned by Earthquake - FoxNews.com." FoxNews.com - Breaking News | Latest News | Current News. Web. 06 June 2011. <http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/03/11/massive-7-magnitude-earthquake-strikes-japan/>.

"Japan Earthquake : Pictures, Videos, Breaking News." Breaking News and Opinion on The Huffington Post. Web. 06 June 2011. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/japan-earthquake>.

"Magnitude 9.0 - NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN." U.S. Geological Survey Earthquake Hazards Program. Web. 06 June 2011. <http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/usc0001xgp.php>.

News, Cbc. "Japan Quake, Tsunami Cause 'major Damage' - World - CBC News." CBC.ca - Canadian News Sports Entertainment Kids Docs Radio TV. Web. 06 June 2011. <http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2011/03/11/japan-quake-tsunami.html>.

"News Headlines." CNBC Mobile Home. Web. 06 June 2011. <http://www.cnbc.com/id/42024887/Scenes_From_the_Japan_Earthquake_and_Tsunami>.

"Powerful Earthquakes Hit Japan | World News | Guardian.co.uk." Latest News, Comment and Reviews from the Guardian | Guardian.co.uk. Web. 06 June 2011. <http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/11/japan-earthquake-miyagi-tsunami-warning>.