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An Earthquake happened on 11 march 2011 in Japan, of magnitude 8.9 and off the coast of Honshu.
The earthquake had devastating effects and triggered a tsunami which aslo had devastating and unavoidable effects on the land.

Theory
The hazard caused by an earthquake depends on its energy released (magnitude) and depth at which it occurs, the closest to the surface it is, the more devastating it is.
The hazard caused by a tsunami is depends on its originative earthquake and its strenght but mainly on the coastal landscape and the depth of the shores, whether it is steep or shallow beaches and shores, the latter causing much higher waves and impact on the land.
An earthquake has devastating effects, considered usually from magnitude 5 and above, and it may or may not trigger a tsunami which has also devastating and unavoidable effects. Above magn. 6.3 it is considered it may trigger a tsunami, but that depends on the coast profile and slope.

Questions I ask :

-          Why do people live near the ocean in Japan as it is frequent earthquake and frequent tsunamis ?

-          Why are cities built near the sea as it is obvious an earthquake happens rapidly and not everybody could saved before the tsunami comes, especially then the land installations are also struck (roads, heliports, hospitals, etc) ?

-          Why are people so much interested into the internal functionning of a nuclear plant to make one’s mind about its real dangerosity, when it should be enough to see that the building has been severly damaged and has radioactive leaking that should already deny using such an energy source at such places ?

-          Why are nuclear power plants built in such a seismic zone as Japan and moreover next to the sea where they can be hit by a tsunami ? A simple question, but are humans able to bring a simple answer to it ?

 

I. Geological data and explanation :

USGS is usually one good reference for earthquake-related data in the world and in the US.

Ref. http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eqinthenews/2011/usc0001xgp/

 

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Good explanation teaching material (PDF)

Magnitude 8.9 - NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN

2011 March 11 05:46:23 UTC

Magnitude	8.9
Date-Time	Friday, March 11, 2011 at 05:46:23 UTC Friday, March 11, 2011 at 02:46:23 PM at epicenter Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones
Location	38.322°N, 142.369°E
Depth	24.4 km (15.2 miles) set by location program
Region	NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
Distances	130 km (80 miles) E of Sendai, Honshu, Japan 178 km (110 miles) E of Yamagata, Honshu, Japan 178 km (110 miles) ENE of Fukushima, Honshu, Japan 373 km (231 miles) NE of TOKYO, Japan

 

Read the good Summary : http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eqinthenews/2011/usc0001xgp/#summary

Get an informative Map : http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eqinthenews/2011/usc0001xgp/#maps

Poster of the Near the East Coast of Honshu, Japan Earthquake of 11 March 2011 - Magnitude 8.9
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eqarchives/poster/2011/20110311.php

 

Earthquake Summary

Earthquake Location

Location Maps

Did You Feel It? Tell Us

ShakeMap

PAGER Earthquake Impact

Historical Seismicity

Seismic Hazard Map

EQ Density Map

 

Additional Information

• Google Crisis Response webpage
• IRIS Educational Resources for Japan Earthquake
• NOAA Animation of Tsunami
• Person Finder (Google app)

 

Teachable Moment Presentation

• updated 12 Mar 21 slide Powerpoint presentation (zipped ppt with animation 3.62 MB)
• University of Portland/IRIS Earthquake Notice (pdf 1.16 MB)
• Converted powerpoint presentation (pdf 1.90 MB)
• Embedded animation from powerpoint (swf 356 kB)

Animations and Visualizations

• Seismic Wave Propagation (YouTube / Quicktime 5.6 MB)
• Aftershock Animation (YouTube / Quicktime MB)
• Subduction zone Animation (YouTube / Quicktime 1.9MB)
• USArray Ground Motion Visualization

II. Tsunami

• NOAA Pacific Tsunami Warning Center
• NOAA Animation of Tsunami
• IRIS explanations and animations http://www.iris.edu/hq/retm

Closeup View   Event Location   Travel Times   Alert Status

III. Before and After effects of the tsunami

Very impressive pictures from satellite, aerial photographs, Google maps demonstrating the unstoppable strenght a tsunami has on its path and the devastating effects it has on everything near the shore. it goes up to 2 to 5 Km inland.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/03/13/world/asia/satellite-photos-japan-before-and-after-tsunami.html

 

http://www.abc.net.au/news/events/japan-quake-2011/beforeafter.htm