When Tectonic Plates Shift
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ce/JAPAN_EARTHQUAKE_20110311.png
On March 3rd, 2011, the Pacific tectonic plate slipped under the North American tectonic plates releasing a force measuring on the moment magnitude scale a 9.0 earthquake (usgs.gov) 60 miles east of the coast of Northern Japan. Not only did this disturbance cause an earthquake that lasted for five minutes in some places, it created a tsunami that wiped out entire towns and cities along the eastern coast of Japan (Nova, 2011). It is very common for natural disasters to cause one another, the initial disaster usually acting as the catalyst to trigger other natural, and or, manmade disasters (Keller Blodgett, 2008), which is exactly what happened to Japan.
To understand the earth’s natural processes it is best to understand some basics about the earth at a “core” level. The earth starts literally with a core that has a mantle surrounding it, with the final layer being the tectonic plates (Keller Blodgett, 2008, 10). The tectonic plates are what the outer shell of the earth is made up of. These plates are what initially cause earthquakes by colliding into one another with the lighter of the two plates sliding underneath the other. The top plate starts to fold downward as the bottom plate slips under, and over a period of time, builds tension. When this tension is released, it’s like a diving board being released, but when it snaps back, it generates vibrations and pressure on a very large and powerful scale.
See an example at: NY Times website
Earthquakes are measured on a scale where, for example, "a magnitude 5 [earthquake] releases 1000 times more energy than a magnitude 3; a magnitude 7 releases 1,000,000 times more energy the a magnitude 3 (Hess, 2011, 409)." This generates an earthquake and, like in Japans case, if it’s under the ocean, it whips the water up all along the plate that slipped. The one in Japan shot out of the water thirty feet, and generated a ripple sixty miles long; this ripple is what generates a tsunami (Nova, 2011).
Like the disaster causing disaster, causing disaster, etc, mentioned above, the earthquake caused the north-east coast to sink three feet in some places, which means sea level just moved further inland. When a three foot wave is racing toward land at up to five hundred mph, sea level rising is one of the last things one would desire because it worsens damages by allowing the huge waves to surge further inland with higher water levels (Nova, 2011).
The magnitude 9.0 earthquake struck Japan at 2:46 PM Japan time and lasted a staggering five minutes! Once that settled tsunami alerts were going off all across the country. The first town was hit just twenty minutes after the earthquake (Nova 2011). When a tsunami is about to hit, one of the first signs is the ocean water suddenly receding. After that, a wave will rush in, and may even appear normal, until it doesn't stop moving in. wave after wave begins to hit pushing the water further on land and raising water levels pushing through whatever land it collides with. Tsunamis like this one can move inland for miles, destroying almost everything in its path (Hess, 2011). The water, leveling buildings, property, homes, trees, etc, begins to fill with debris. It is the debris in the fast moving water that makes it almost absolutely lethal to humans in it.
With so much devastation caused by the tsunami and earthquake, entire towns are wiped off the map, tens of thousands of people dead or missing, hundreds of thousands homeless(CBS News). It is apparent that not only is this disaster far from over but it will take decades for Japan to recover. It is apparent that mother nature is something that is always in control, and when she strikes, humans have no choice but to allow natural disaster to happen, and move on.
To understand the earth’s natural processes it is best to understand some basics about the earth at a “core” level. The earth starts literally with a core that has a mantle surrounding it, with the final layer being the tectonic plates (Keller Blodgett, 2008, 10). The tectonic plates are what the outer shell of the earth is made up of. These plates are what initially cause earthquakes by colliding into one another with the lighter of the two plates sliding underneath the other. The top plate starts to fold downward as the bottom plate slips under, and over a period of time, builds tension. When this tension is released, it’s like a diving board being released, but when it snaps back, it generates vibrations and pressure on a very large and powerful scale.
See an example at: NY Times website
Earthquakes are measured on a scale where, for example, "a magnitude 5 [earthquake] releases 1000 times more energy than a magnitude 3; a magnitude 7 releases 1,000,000 times more energy the a magnitude 3 (Hess, 2011, 409)." This generates an earthquake and, like in Japans case, if it’s under the ocean, it whips the water up all along the plate that slipped. The one in Japan shot out of the water thirty feet, and generated a ripple sixty miles long; this ripple is what generates a tsunami (Nova, 2011).
Like the disaster causing disaster, causing disaster, etc, mentioned above, the earthquake caused the north-east coast to sink three feet in some places, which means sea level just moved further inland. When a three foot wave is racing toward land at up to five hundred mph, sea level rising is one of the last things one would desire because it worsens damages by allowing the huge waves to surge further inland with higher water levels (Nova, 2011).
The magnitude 9.0 earthquake struck Japan at 2:46 PM Japan time and lasted a staggering five minutes! Once that settled tsunami alerts were going off all across the country. The first town was hit just twenty minutes after the earthquake (Nova 2011). When a tsunami is about to hit, one of the first signs is the ocean water suddenly receding. After that, a wave will rush in, and may even appear normal, until it doesn't stop moving in. wave after wave begins to hit pushing the water further on land and raising water levels pushing through whatever land it collides with. Tsunamis like this one can move inland for miles, destroying almost everything in its path (Hess, 2011). The water, leveling buildings, property, homes, trees, etc, begins to fill with debris. It is the debris in the fast moving water that makes it almost absolutely lethal to humans in it.
With so much devastation caused by the tsunami and earthquake, entire towns are wiped off the map, tens of thousands of people dead or missing, hundreds of thousands homeless(CBS News). It is apparent that not only is this disaster far from over but it will take decades for Japan to recover. It is apparent that mother nature is something that is always in control, and when she strikes, humans have no choice but to allow natural disaster to happen, and move on.
The Moment of impact
Bibliography:
Russia today (2011, March 11) Japan Earthquake: Helicopter aerial view video of giant tsunami waves. Retrieved from youtube.com: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3AdFjklR50&feature=relmfu
Authors: JOE BURGESS, JONATHAN CORUM, AMANDA COX, MATTHEW ERICSON, XAQUÍN G.V., ALAN McLEAN, TOMOEH MURAKAMI-TSE, HAEYOUN PARK, GRAHAM ROBERTS, AMY SCHOENFELD, ARCHIE TSE, JOE WARD and JEREMY WHITE, 2011, March 15, How the shifting plates caused the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, New York Times, Retrieved Fromhttp://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/03/11/world/asia/maps-of-earthquake-and-tsunami-damage-in-japan.html
File:JAPAN EARTHQUAKE 20110311.png http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ce/JAPAN_EARTHQUAKE_20110311.png
Pioneer Productions, (Producer) For Nova. (2011, March 30). Japan's Killer Quake [ Nova ]. PBS Online By: WGBH. http://video.pbs.org/
Hess, D., Tasa, D., (2011). Physical geography: A landscape appreciation (10th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education Inc.
Keller, E.A., Blodgett, R.A., (2008). Natural Hazards: Earth's natural processes as hazards, disasters, and catastrophes (2nd Ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education Inc.
Author, Unknown (2011, March 16). Japan death toll climbs; Half a million homelessEven as aid pours in from around the world, nation struggles to manage growing humanitarian crisis. CBS News World. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/03/16/501364/main20043730.shtml
Authors: JOE BURGESS, JONATHAN CORUM, AMANDA COX, MATTHEW ERICSON, XAQUÍN G.V., ALAN McLEAN, TOMOEH MURAKAMI-TSE, HAEYOUN PARK, GRAHAM ROBERTS, AMY SCHOENFELD, ARCHIE TSE, JOE WARD and JEREMY WHITE, 2011, March 15, How the shifting plates caused the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, New York Times, Retrieved Fromhttp://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/03/11/world/asia/maps-of-earthquake-and-tsunami-damage-in-japan.html
File:JAPAN EARTHQUAKE 20110311.png http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ce/JAPAN_EARTHQUAKE_20110311.png
Pioneer Productions, (Producer) For Nova. (2011, March 30). Japan's Killer Quake [ Nova ]. PBS Online By: WGBH. http://video.pbs.org/
Hess, D., Tasa, D., (2011). Physical geography: A landscape appreciation (10th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education Inc.
Keller, E.A., Blodgett, R.A., (2008). Natural Hazards: Earth's natural processes as hazards, disasters, and catastrophes (2nd Ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education Inc.
Author, Unknown (2011, March 16). Japan death toll climbs; Half a million homelessEven as aid pours in from around the world, nation struggles to manage growing humanitarian crisis. CBS News World. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/03/16/501364/main20043730.shtml
