On March 11th 2011 a large earthquake Mw 8.9 similar to that of the Indian Ocean Earthquake in 2004, resulted in a huge tsunami. The earthquake was detected and warnings were given across Japan of an oncoming Tsunami, but the amplitude and sheer size of the tsunami was not anticipated, due to the fact that there had never been such a large tsunami in recent history and therefore inundation and flooding maps were not extensive enough. The models also produced a prediction of the tsunami that was less than the actual size and therefore warning systems only told to expect a smaller but still significant wave. This event cost the lives of over 15,000 and once again showed the world the destructive power of tsunamis. However it is still believed that thousands of lives were saved from the mitigation methods and warning systems.
The Tohuku Earthquake was one of the worst quakes to ever hit Japan and one of the worst disasters to hit in recorded history.
Its still shocking to see the full force of these waves and the scale of the disaster.
This was the first disaster in which videos, photographs and social network data could map the scale of the disaster across the country.
2 years on
No comments:
Post a Comment