A ferocious tsunami spawned by one of the largest earthquakes even recorded 11th March,2011 slammed Japan's eastern coast on Friday, killing hundreds of people as it swept away boats,cars and homes while widespread fires burned out of control.
Hours later, the tsunami hit Hawali and warnings blanketed the pacific,putting areas on alert as far away as south American, Canada,Alaska and the entire US west coast. In Japan, the area around a nuclear power plant in the north east was evacuated after the reactors cooling system failed. More than 300 hundred bodies were found in the north eastern coastal city of Sendai, the city in Miyagi prefecture closest to the quake's epicenter.
More than 500 were missing. The death toll was likely to continue climbing given the scale of the disaster. The 8.9 off shore quake unleashed a 23-fit tsunami and was followed by more than 50 after shocks for hours. Many of them of more than magnitude 6.0. Dozens of cities and villages along a 2,100 km stretch of coastline were shaken away as Tokyo, hundreds of Kilometers from the epicenter.
A large section of kesennuma, a town of 70,000 people in Miyagi-burned furiously in to the night with no apparent hope of the flames being extinguished. The earthquake has caused major damage in broad areas in northern Japan.
The government ordered thousands of residents near a nuclear power plant in Onahama city to move back at least three km from the plant. The plant is 270 km northeast of Tokyo. Japan's coast guard said it was searching for 80 dock workers working on a ship that was swept away from a shipyard in Miyagi.
Large fishing boats and other sea vessels rode high waves in to the cities slamming against over passes or scraping under them and snapping power lines along the way. Upturned and partially submerged vehicles were seen bobbing in the water. The tsunami roared over embankments, washing anything directions and carrying the cars,homes and other debris out to sea. Flames shot from some of the houses. Probably because of burst gas pipes. Waves of muddy waters flowed over farmland near Sendai carrying buildings, some on fire,inland as cars attempted to drive away. Sendai air port was inundated with cars, trucks buses and thick mud deposited over its run ways.
The earthquakes magnitude 8.9, one of the worst to have struck the country in a century,The quake occurred just 120 km off shore, resulting in a tsunami with waves many meters high that safety barreled its way inland, producing some horrifying live television images. The unstoppable waters tossed boats aside swept away cars and huge trucks and left buildings marooned as they relentlessly continued to engulf more areas.
In Japan itself , the death toll will doubt less rise. There will inevitably also be the costs of destroyed houses, factories, farms and various kinds of infrastructure to reckon with. 1995 Earth quake near the city of Kobe, with a magnitude of 6.9 killed more than 6000 people and caused damages in excess of $ 100 billion. Decades earlier,in 1923, the Great Kanto Earth quake set off vast fires that claimed close to 140,000 lives Tokyo and surroundings areas.
The resourceful Japan picks itself up and rebuilds from the latest devastation, it will learn lessons about where improvements needed to be made. But this natural disaster raises issues that must concern countries like India too. Japans experience raped economic growth,how much of its vital infrastructure and buildings can withstand a powerful trembler? After the experience of the 2004 quake and the huge tsunami that it unleashed, India has put in place its own tsunami warning system. Japan's experience shows that even with preparation, loss to life and property can be tremendous. With out such preparedness how ever, the tragedy would be unimaginably greater
Prof. John Kurakar
Hours later, the tsunami hit Hawali and warnings blanketed the pacific,putting areas on alert as far away as south American, Canada,Alaska and the entire US west coast. In Japan, the area around a nuclear power plant in the north east was evacuated after the reactors cooling system failed. More than 300 hundred bodies were found in the north eastern coastal city of Sendai, the city in Miyagi prefecture closest to the quake's epicenter.
More than 500 were missing. The death toll was likely to continue climbing given the scale of the disaster. The 8.9 off shore quake unleashed a 23-fit tsunami and was followed by more than 50 after shocks for hours. Many of them of more than magnitude 6.0. Dozens of cities and villages along a 2,100 km stretch of coastline were shaken away as Tokyo, hundreds of Kilometers from the epicenter. A large section of kesennuma, a town of 70,000 people in Miyagi-burned furiously in to the night with no apparent hope of the flames being extinguished. The earthquake has caused major damage in broad areas in northern Japan.The government ordered thousands of residents near a nuclear power plant in Onahama city to move back at least three km from the plant. The plant is 270 km northeast of Tokyo. Japan's coast guard said it was searching for 80 dock workers working on a ship that was swept away from a shipyard in Miyagi.
Large fishing boats and other sea vessels rode high waves in to the cities slamming against over passes or scraping under them and snapping power lines along the way. Upturned and partially submerged vehicles were seen bobbing in the water. The tsunami roared over embankments, washing anything directions and carrying the cars,homes and other debris out to sea. Flames shot from some of the houses. Probably because of burst gas pipes. Waves of muddy waters flowed over farmland near Sendai carrying buildings, some on fire,inland as cars attempted to drive away. Sendai air port was inundated with cars, trucks buses and thick mud deposited over its run ways.
The earthquakes magnitude 8.9, one of the worst to have struck the country in a century,The quake occurred just 120 km off shore, resulting in a tsunami with waves many meters high that safety barreled its way inland, producing some horrifying live television images. The unstoppable waters tossed boats aside swept away cars and huge trucks and left buildings marooned as they relentlessly continued to engulf more areas.
In Japan itself , the death toll will doubt less rise. There will inevitably also be the costs of destroyed houses, factories, farms and various kinds of infrastructure to reckon with. 1995 Earth quake near the city of Kobe, with a magnitude of 6.9 killed more than 6000 people and caused damages in excess of $ 100 billion. Decades earlier,in 1923, the Great Kanto Earth quake set off vast fires that claimed close to 140,000 lives Tokyo and surroundings areas.The resourceful Japan picks itself up and rebuilds from the latest devastation, it will learn lessons about where improvements needed to be made. But this natural disaster raises issues that must concern countries like India too. Japans experience raped economic growth,how much of its vital infrastructure and buildings can withstand a powerful trembler? After the experience of the 2004 quake and the huge tsunami that it unleashed, India has put in place its own tsunami warning system. Japan's experience shows that even with preparation, loss to life and property can be tremendous. With out such preparedness how ever, the tragedy would be unimaginably greater
Prof. John Kurakar
1 comment:
The damage and destruction from the earthquake and tsunami in Japan looks massive! I hope the United States and other countries make substantial contributions to the relief efforts there.
Post a Comment