Cause And Effect Of Tsunami In Japan

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On May 11 2011 2:46pm (JST) a devastating magnitude 9 (originally recorded at 8.9) earthquake struck off the coast of Japan. The earthquake and following events such as the tsunami that soon followed had an extreme effect on all of earths systems. The Biosphere, Lithosphere, Hydrosphere and Atmosphere were all altered from their natural state. This event had an impact on not only Japan but many other places throughout the world. Thousands of people were affected in Japan and are still recovering. Some may never be the same again such as the radiation levels around Fukushima.
As a result of the earthquake through which was caused by the shifting of the tectonic plates a 10m tsunami was triggered off the East coast of Japan. This is what caused the most damage out of all the events that happened. The tsunami effected people as soon as it hit land and its effects are still being felt today. The tsunami along with the earthquake caused around 25 trillion yen ($30 billion) worth of damage. The earthquake was caused because of the Pacific Plate subducting below the North American plate. The top of the subduction zone moved slowly while the bottom of the subduction zone moved quickly causing the quake and the 10m movement in the sea level. The depth of the earthquake was a maximum of 17 miles (27.36km) and it was around 231 miles of north east of Tokyo. The tsunami was travelling at 500 miles per hour when it hit the shores of Japan at around 15 minutes after the initial earthquake and it reached the USA around 8:30am the next day.
The earthquake struck of the East coast of Japan and was felt as far away as Beijing. Immediate effects of the initial earthquake were landslides, collapsed buildings, flooding and fire. After this first qu...

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...e days following the earthquake and tsunami due to the explosions and meltdowns.
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The Japan earthquake had a negative feedback loop. It starts off with the Lithosphere with tectonic pressure and the earthquake. This then flowed on to the Hydrosphere with the Tsunami which headed towards Japan. The flow on effect of this was on the Biosphere this was the coastal destruction along with the Deaths and injuries of thousands. The Atmosphere then follows as it was polluted from all of the debris and the nuclear disaster caused by the tsunami and earthquake.
In conclusion Japan had severe amounts of destruction and is slowly on its way to recovering as are the lithosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere and atmosphere. This catastrophic event shows the flow on effects throughout the spheres and the amount of damage one single event can have on the Earth.

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