Student

On March 11, 2011, a magnitude nine earthquake hit approximately 80 kilometers off the coast of Fukushima, Japan. This was not an average earthquake that many places around the world experience. Thismagnitude is considered to be one of largest earthquakes experienced on earth. Thus, colossal damage was ensured. However, the earthquake in this situation is only once piece of the entire disaster.The island of Fukushima is home to 11 nuclear reactors that provide energy to the surrounding area and large portions of Japan. Multiple attempts to completely shut down every reactor entirely havebeen executed. The earthquake also elicited a tsunami, reaching reported heights of 15-24 meters. Needless to say, the series of events resulted in horrific death tolls, environmental destruction, andhundreds of thousands dollars worth of damage.
The final death toll of workers and civilians resulted in almost 20,000 people (Raghbed, 2012). Despite efforts of evacuation the government and localofficials were unable to save every life from this tragedy. In Japanese video, officials exclaimed, “the combined earthquake and tsunami left damage and destruction to around 20,820 structures”(Fukushima Japanese Explained, video). The combined damage from nuclear exposure, tsunami, and earthquake created the incredibly high death toll. There is difficulty in blaming one specific aspect fromthe entire catastrophe, but rather all three factors played a large role in this event.
Geological factors certainly need to be assessed when analyzing these environmental disasters. The earthquake,measuring in at a 9 on the Richter scale, was located at an epicenter 80 kilometers. We know that the initial P waves arrived first, affecting the reactors to shut down, then the S waves, and last thesurface waves, which most likely caused the majority damage from the earthquake. The Pacific Plate and the Okhostk Plate were the main plates involved in this event. The Pacific Plate bent down...