[58] The World Bank's estimated economic cost was US$235 billion, making it the costliest natural disaster in history. From the averaged coupling coefficient of 0.5–0.8 in the source area and the seismic moment, it was estimated that the slip deficit of this earthquake was accumulated over a period of 260–880 years, which is consistent with the recurrence interval of such great earthquakes estimated from the tsunami deposit data. [101], The first sign international researchers had that the earthquake caused such a dramatic change in the Earth's rotation came from the United States Geological Survey which monitors Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) stations across the world. The Geological Society of London is the UK's learned and professional body for Earth scientists, with over 12,000 members worldwide. Odaiba also experienced liquefaction, but damage was minimal. Many sections of Tōhoku Expressway serving northern Japan were damaged. [252] All 15 ports reopened to limited ship traffic by 29 March 2011. Without ventilation, gas accumulated within the reactor containment structures and eventually exploded. [39] One early estimate suggested that the Pacific plate may have moved westward by up to 20 metres (66 ft),[90] and another early estimate put the amount of slippage at as much as 40 m (130 ft). Of those who didn't heed the warning, 49% were hit by the water. Seismologists anticipated a very large quake would strike in the same place as the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake — in the Sagami Trough, southwest of Tokyo. [231][232], Japanese funerals are normally elaborate Buddhist ceremonies that entail cremation. [354][355] Within Japan, only a few websites were initially unreachable. [54][265] By 21 March 2011, this number fell to 1.04 million. [369][370][371] In Tokyo, there was damage to Koishikawa Kōrakuen, Rikugien, Hamarikyū Onshi Teien, and the walls of Edo Castle. [51] The earthquake and tsunami also caused extensive and severe structural damage in north-eastern Japan, including heavy damage to roads and railways as well as fires in many areas, and a dam collapse. However, the estimated intensities were smaller than the actual ones in some places, especially in Kanto, Koshinetsu, and Northern Tōhoku regions where the populace warning did not trigger. [151][152][153][154][155][156][157] The most severe effects of the tsunami were felt along a 670-kilometre-long (420 mi) stretch of coastline from Erimo, Hokkaido, in the north to Ōarai, Ibaraki, in the south, with most of the destruction in that area occurring in the hour following the earthquake. Calculations at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory determined that the Earth's rotation was changed by the earthquake to the point where the days are now 1.8 microseconds shorter.[102]. Just a few years after the … While the Japan Trenchwas known for creating large quakes, it had not b… [384], According to Jake Adelstein, most Japanese media accepted and parroted the misinformation put out by the Japanese government and TEPCO about the unfolding Fukushima nuclear crisis. [349] Service between Tokyo and Shin-Aomori was restored by May, but at lower speeds due to ongoing restoration work; the pre-earthquake timetable was not reinstated until late September.[350]. [112], As of 11 March 2016[update] there had been 869 aftershocks of 5.0 Mw or greater, 118 of 6.0 Mw or greater, and 9 over 7.0 Mw as reported by the Japanese Meteorological Agency. Evidence from the Great East Japan Earthquake", "Energy and resilience: The effects of endogenous interdependencies on trade network formation across space among major Japanese firms", Fault that Caused Japan's 2011 Earthquake is Thin and Slippery. "Spatial distribution and focal mechanisms of aftershocks of the 2011 off the Pacific coast of Tōhoku Earthquake" by Y. Asano, T. Saito, Y. Ito, K. Shiomi, H. Hirose, T. Matsumoto, S. Aoi, S. Hori, and S. Sekiguchi. [69] The seismic moment (M0), which represents a physical size for the event, was calculated by the USGS at 3.9×1022 joules,[85] slightly less than the 2004 Indian Ocean quake. [86][fn 2] The largest individual recording in Japan was 2.7 g, in Miyagi Prefecture, 75 km from the epicentre; the highest reading in the Tokyo metropolitan area was 0.16 g.[89], Portions of northeastern Japan shifted by as much as 2.4 metres (7 ft 10 in) closer to North America,[38][39] making some sections of Japan's landmass wider than before. While the Japan Trench was known for creating large quakes, it had not been expected to generate quakes above an 8.0 magnitude. [365], JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) evacuated the Tsukuba Space Center in Tsukuba, Ibaraki. The loss of electrical power halted cooling systems, causing heat to build up. [382], In this national crisis, the Japanese government provided Japanese Sign Language (JSL) interpreting at the press conferences related to the earthquake and tsunami. On March 11, 2011, a magnitude 8.9 earthquake struck off the east coast of Honshu, Japan, about 130 kilometers (80 miles) east of Sendai. JMA also implemented a simpler empirical method to integrate, into a tsunami warning, data from GPS tidal meters as well as from undersea water pressure meters, and there are plans to install more of these meters and to develop further technology to utilize data observed by them. [75] The hypocentral region of this earthquake extended from offshore Iwate Prefecture to offshore Ibaraki Prefecture. [160] A 2 metres (6 ft 7 in) high tsunami hit Chiba Prefecture about 2½ hours after the quake, causing heavy damage to cities such as Asahi. [108][109], On 7 December 2012 a large aftershock of magnitude 7.3 Mw caused a minor tsunami, and again on 26 October 2013 a small tsunami was recorded after a 7.1 Mw aftershock. YASAL UYARI: Yayınlanan yazılı haber, fotoğraf ve videonun tüm hakları İlke Haber Ajansı A.Ş. The break caused the sea floor to rise by several metres. The Japan Meteorological Agency announced the English name as. More than 5,000 aftershocks hit Japan in the year after the earthquake, the largest a magnitude 7.9. The M 7.6 subduction earthquake of 1896 created tsunami waves as high 38 m and caused 27,000 fatalities. Initially categorized as magnitude 8.9, the quake was later revised upward to magnitude 9.0 by the Japanese Meteorological Agency (JMA) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Warnings were issued and evacuations were carried out in many countries bordering the Pacific. So far, the largest aftershock has had a magnitude 7.1. [342] Minami-Kesennuma Station on the Kesennuma Line was obliterated save for its platform;[343] 62 of 70 (31 of 35) JR East train lines suffered damage to some degree;[253] in the worst-hit areas, 23 stations on 7 lines were washed away, with damage or loss of track in 680 locations and the 30-km radius around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant unable to be assessed. Scientific information about the Tōhoku earthquake, Satellite Photos of Japan, Before and After the Quake and Tsunami, Japan in Crisis: A Series of Interviews with Scholars by Peter Shea at the University of Minnesota, Special: The Tōhoku-Oki Earthquake, Japan, Japan Gigantic Earthquake and Tsunami 2011, The East Japan Earthquake Archive (Testimonies of survivors, Photographs and Videos on Google Earth), Gross, Richard. Magnitude: 9.2. Approximately 30 homes or buildings were destroyed and 1,046 other buildings were damaged to varying degrees. NHK BS News reported 2011-04-03-02:55 JST, One estimate of 10–15 minutes came from German seismologist Rainer Kind of the, Another estimate of 15–30 minutes came from Vasily V. Titov, director of the. This earthquake occurred where the Pacific Plate is subducting under the plate beneath northern Honshu. A magnitude-9.0 earthquake struck off Japan’s northeastern coast. [300], A report by the IAEA in 2012 found that the Onagawa Nuclear Power Plant, the closest nuclear plant to the epicenter of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, had remained largely undamaged. [393][394], The quake gave scientists the opportunity to collect a large amount of data to model the seismic events that took place in great detail. [40] The speed of the Earth's rotation increased, shortening the day by 1.8 microseconds due to the redistribution of Earth's mass. [143], Among the factors in the high death toll was the unexpectedly large water surge. [374], The aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami included both a humanitarian crisis and a major economic impact. [129] The actual height prediction varied, the greatest being for Miyagi at 6 metres (20 ft) high. [356] Several Wi-Fi hotspot providers reacted to the quake by providing free access to their networks,[356] and some American telecommunications and VoIP companies such as AT&T, Sprint, Verizon,[357] T-Mobile[358] and VoIP companies such as netTALK[359] and Vonage[360] have offered free calls to (and in some cases, from) Japan for a limited time, as did Germany's Deutsche Telekom. The Japan Meteorological Agency named this earthquake the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. The inundated areas closely matched those of the 869 Sanriku tsunami. The Tohoku earthquake caused a tsunami. [376], In April 2015, authorities off the coast of Oregon discovered debris that is thought to be from a boat destroyed during the tsunami. 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