This work is supported by the National Science Foundation’s Transforming Undergraduate Education in STEM program within the Directorate for Education and Human Resources (DUE-1245025). Questions, contact education-AT-unavco.org

GREAT TOHOKU EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI, MARCH 11, 2011

Version: Sept 10, 2015

TOHOKU EARTHQUAKE & TSUNAMI FACTS

• Magnitude 9.0 – March 11, 2011• Societal preparation had

been for ~Mag 8• ~20,000 people dead or

missing• Fukushima nuclear disaster• >1 million buildings

damaged or destroyed• In 2015, >200,000 people

still displaced

HAZARD VERSUS RISK

• Hazard: Physical process that has the potential to cause loss or damage to something valued by an individual or a society

• Risk: Likelihood of asset or life damage/loss due to an extreme event

HAZARD RISK

SHAKING-RELATED HAZARD

Gray scale: Population per ~1 sq. km. from LandScan

USGS PAGER

FINANCIAL COST OF DAMAGE

Other

Utilities

Infrastructure

Buildings

$0 $20 $40 $60 $80 $100 $120 $140

Total = >$200 billion (16.9 trillion yen)Damage estimate as of June 2011Subsequent estimates are as high as $300 billionSource: Cabinet Office of Japan, 24 June 2011

FUKUSHIMA NUCLEAR DISASTER

TECTONIC SETTING

TSUNAMI

RUPTURE MODEL 100 km

COSEISMIC DISPLACEMENTSHorizontal Vertical

Preliminary highly smoothed model of coseismic slip for the 11 March main shock. Red and yellow vectors show horizontal (left) and vertical (right) predicted and observed displacements respectively. Model is constrained by both GPS displacements and 12 DART buoy tsunami records. GPS offsets are derived from 5 minute epoch time series processed by the ARIA team at JPL and Caltech. Displacements due aftershocks have been isolated and removed. This model was generated by Caltech Tectonics Observatory as part of the ARIA project. All original GEONET RINEX data provided to Caltech by the Geospatial Information Authority (GSI) of Japan. (https://www.unavco.org/highlights/2011/M8.9-Japan.html)

REFLECTING ON WHAT YOU HAVE LEARNED

• What surprised you most in what you have learned about the 2011 Tohoku Japan Earthquake?

• What else would you like to know about this earthquake?