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Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami: 11th March 2011 (KE) - Coggle Diagram
Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami: 11th March 2011 (KE)
Specific Tsunami Facts
up to 40m high in places
waves reached Antarctica, breaking off 125km² of ice
tsunamis travelled up to 10km inland in places like Sendai
waves of up to 2.4m affected the coastline of California and Oregon, causing damage of $10 million
a tsunami wave of 1.5m resulted in the deaths of 100,000 nesting birds in a wildlife refuge in Midway Atoll
Social Effects
16,000 people died (90% due to drowning)
some smaller coastal schools were devastated by the tsunami
one primary school lost 74 of 108 students and 10 of 13 staff
the authorities felt the need to bury bodies in mass graves to stop disease spreading
many families were separated
'Save the Children' reported that 100,000 children were affected
Japan's National Police Agency issued an official figure of:
45,700 buildings destroyed
143,300 buildings damaged
230,000 vehicles destroyed
Economic Effects
the destruction of infrastructure was so large, reconstruction was still taking place 5 years later
the cost of the earthquake, including the restoration, is estimated to be around £181 billion
over large areas, farmland flooded by sea water has been contaminated by salt and made uncultivable
Japan experienced several weeks of power cuts which added to the economic cost of the earthquake
2 oil refineries were set on fire, 1 of which took 10 days to put out
25 million tonnes of debris was created
transport infrastructure was hit badly
23 train stations were swept away
Japan's stock market fell as big businesses were hit by the shortage of electricity
Political Effects
the Japanese government put billions of Yen into the economy to bring stability
this increased governmental debt at a time when its reduction was the political aim
political fallout from the Fukushima nuclear accident spread around the world
e.g. the anti-nuclear lobby in Germany used it to support arguments against nuclear power
concerns over safety standards of the nuclear industry became a political issue