2.4 Japan Earthquake 2011

A 9.0 magnitude earthquake struck off the Japanese coastline, causing a massive tsunami with waves reaching over 40 metres. 

The earthquake was caused by the movement of the Philippine and Pacific plates towards the Eurasian and North American plates, forming a destructive plate margin and subduction zone 

• Death and injury - 15,894 people died, 6,152 people were injured, 130,927 were displaced.

• Nuclear crisis - A 9m high wave flooded the plants generators and electrical wiring. People lost energy immediately. 

• Damage - 332,395 buildings, 2,126 roads, 56 bridges and 26 railways were destroyed or damaged. 300 hospitals were damaged and 11 were totally destroyed. 

• Blackouts - Around 4.4 million households in North-East Japan were left without electricity. 

• Economy - The economic cost was US$235 billion, making this the most expensive natural disaster in world history. 

• Nuclear power - The damage caused by the earthquake resulted in the meltdown of seven reactors. Radiation levels at one point were over eight times normal levels. 

• Transport –  Rural areas remained isolated for a long time because the tsunami destroyed major roads and local trains and buses. 

• Rescue services - In the short term, the rescue services and army had to move very quickly into the affected area. They were able to clear roads and create access paths very quickly but the amount of silt caused by the tsunami made efforts to count the number of deaths very difficult 

• Shelter - Over 300,000 were left homeless and needed access to food, water, shelter and medicine. The army helped to build many temporary shelters very quickly.

• Rebuilding - The rebuilding of the worst affected areas began almost immediately. The government set up a Reconstruction Design Council who had a budget of over 23 trillion Yen to rebuild houses.

• International Aid - The Japanese Red Cross received over $1 billion in donations and they gave out over 30,000 emergency relief kits and 14,000 sleeping kits.

• The central government established the Reconstruction Policy Council to develop a national recovery plan

• Created ‘Special Zones for Reconstruction’. These aim to provide incentives to attract investment,  

• New seawalls were built

• The government invested heavily in new infrastructure to create jobs and stimulate the economy

Miconception: Japan was fully prepared for the scale of the 2011 disaster.

Reality: Despite high preparedness levels, the magnitude of the disaster overwhelmed existing measures.