All rights reserved. Photograph: NOAA/EPA. The earthquake struck below the North Pacific Ocean, 130 kilometers (81 miles) east of Sendai, the largest city in the Tohoku region, a northern part of the islandof Honshu. The stories of what happened at many elementary and junior high schools sadly provide tragic insights into the lack of preparation. The most devastating earthquake to strike Japan was in 1923, when a magnitude 7.9 tremor devastated Tokyo and Yokohama and killed an estimated 142,800 people. The earthquake that wrecked Christchurch in New Zealand last month was a magnitude 6.3 event. Nine years ago this week the island nation of Japan suffered the devastating Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. This was the sixth largest earthquake in the world since 1900, when seismological records began. Japan’s economy always seems to surprise – unfortunately, on the downside – and it has done so once again in the wake of the devastating quake and tsunami that hit the northeast coast on March 11. Why Japan's quake/tsunami was deadly Next Scientist J R Kayal explains the why the monster quake that hit Japan caused such havoc and why it gave rise to a tsunami … Those tremors are expected to be weaker and are less likely to produce another tsunami. 30,000+To anyone visiting the Portuguese capital, Lisbon, there is a poignant reminder … ], That Japan was not adequately prepared for the tsunami that hit the northeastern Honshu coast on March 11, 2011, first became apparent at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Scientists have uncovered clues about the origin of an unusual geological structure off the coast of Japan, believed to have contributed to the devastating tsunami that struck the country in 2011. How high to build those walls had been a financial decision. Nuclear power plants were shut down across the country and a state of emergency declared at the Fukushima nuclear power plant, where a cooling system failed. The hundreds of bodies already found are just the beginning of the toll this quake has taken — and could continue to take in aftershocks and tsunamis. The largest waves measured by instruments in the water were 7 metres (nearly 23ft) high in the north-east of Japan, according to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre (PTWC) in Hawaii. News Why the Japan Tsunami Was So Big The devastating tsunami that swept ashore in Japan after a massive 9.0 magnitude earthquake in March had … It's a common misconception that Tsunamis are hundreds of feet tall, when in fact the devastating force lies in the energy created by an unseen force rather than the height of the series of waves. ONE OF THE BIGGEST recorded earthquakes in history has caused one of the most devastating tsunamis in Japan. The resulting waves affected … You’re informed. Study of fault lines uncovers theory about why Japanese tsunami so devastating. Like the 2004 underwater earthquake, this too unleashed a massive tsunami. … Japan earthquake and tsunami, severe natural disaster that occurred in northeastern Japan on March 11, 2011, and killed at least 20,000 people. You care. Unbelievably those critical fuel tanks had been situated outside the buildings at ground level. On March 11, 2011, a 9.1 magnitude earthquake occurred 231 miles northeast of Tokyo. This works fine for warning people living along coast far from the epicenter of the submarine earthquake. And people forget. On March 11, 2011 at 2:45 local time, a 9.0 magnitude earthquake occurred 81 miles (130 km) off the east coast of Sendai, Japan, triggering a massive tsunami. We made it easy for you to exercise your right to vote! This leads to the rapid buildup of huge amounts of energy. 1. On March 11, 2011, Japan experienced the strongest earthquakein its recorded history. Former Chief Scientist, National Ocean Service at NOAA, Sign up for membership to become a founding member and help shape HuffPost's next chapter. How could it possibly kill thousands of people? The waves completely obliterated such coastal towns as Kuji and Ōfunato and severely damaged much of the infrastructure in eastern Sendai. But since then there had only been false alarms, tsunami warnings broadcast but followed by no tsunamis of any significant size. The plate tectonics of the region are complex, and geologists are not sure which plate Japan sits on. It is a story that demonstrates the critical importance of disaster preparedness in saving lives, especially for tsunamis, which are unpredictable. Also, most submarine earthquakes do not produce tsunamis, so to prevent false alarms an actual tsunami must first be detected (by a DART buoy or a real-time tide gauge) before a warning can be given. [143] Among the factors in the high death toll was the unexpectedly large water surge. 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