Japan Earthquake and Tsunami 2011 - Term Paper Example

Japan Earthquake and Tsunami The world has progressed and there have been technological breakthroughs and advancements which have greatly empowered human beings. The human mind has progressed and people have started to utilize their knowledge and expertise for the achievement of excellence and developments in the field of science and technology. Man has tried to achieve total control over their lives and the happenings in the world. But certain happenings clearly indicate the fact that there are still certain fields over which there is no human control and man cannot avoid these inevitable circumstances that result due to the actions of nature. Natural disasters account as a perfect example signifying the limitations of the human knowledge and control over the world. Scientists and researchers have tried to devise techniques to find out a solution to these occurrences but they have not achieved success in this field. A tragic natural disaster hit the country of Japan on the 11 march 2011. This tragic occurrence was analyzed to be the worst earthquake that had occurred in the history of the country and was highlighted to have set up alarms up till the United States and the South America. The earthquake was accompanied with a tsunami and resulted in a nuclear disaster in the country which was termed to have a higher severity than the Chernobyl nuclear event. These disasters not only hampered the infrastructure of the country but led to the displacement and deaths of thousands of people and resulted in great economic losses for the country (Japan — Earthquake, Tsunami and Nuclear Crisis 2011). The earthquake in Japan has been ranked as the fifth most powerful earthquake of the world since the twentieth century. The earthquake was of the magnitude of 9.0 on the Richter scale. The earthquake had the highest severity in the northeastern part of Japan. Twenty four thousand people lost their lives or were missing following the earthquake. The tsunami, that resulted due to the earthquake, led to the destruction and drowning of complete villages in the northeastern part of the country. It was estimated that more than 3,400 buildings in the country had undergone destruction and damage. The power supply across the major cities was disrupted and people had to survive with no electricity and gas. Fires erupted across the areas that were hit mainly in the industrial locations as well as in places where there were oil reservoirs meant for storing the oil. The severity and strength of the earthquake did not settle and 100 minor earthquakes followed within a short period. The communication network across the areas that were hit was also disrupted. Immediately following the earthquake, it was understood by the nuclear experts that the tsunami that had resulted due to the earthquake had posed risk of damage to the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. The chaos that had resulted has not led to provide for a complete analysis of the situation. But owing to the risk, hundred thousands of people were moved from the areas that were close to the nuclear power plants to avoid the adverse effects that could have resulted due to the radiations from the power plants. The combined national organizations and the forces of the country set to work to save the people and move them to safer locations. These included the people from the fire department, police department as well as the armed forces of the country (Dawson et al 2011; Japan — Earthquake, Tsunami and Nuclear Crisis 2011). The earthquake and the tsunami caused enough destruction and negative effects in Japan but the devastation in the country was aggravated by a nuclear breakdown and leakage that occurred in the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. The nuclear power station had been affected by the tsunami as well as the earthquake. The day following the earthquake hit the country, there was a first blast reported from the nuclear power plant. This was accompanied by a second blast after three days. The issue in the nuclear power plant which resulted in this havoc was the inefficiency of the system to cool the nuclear reactors which resulted in excessive heating accompanied by the blasts. The first blast had a higher severity and led to the destruction of the infrastructure surrounding the reactor. Four employees present at the power plant were hurt owing to the blast in the nuclear reactor. The situation was announced to be critical and the International Atomic Agency directed the removal of 200,000 people who were lining close to the nuclear power plant so as to avoid the negative effects that may result owing to the leakages from the plants. This was accompanied by the findings that 3 people had already showed positive test results for contact with radiations. The situation was not considered to be large scale at first but with time the severity of the problem that resulted was highlighted. After a month of the incident, it was highlighted that the intensity of the nuclear leak was marked to be 7 according to a standardized international scale. On this same scale, the Chernobyl disaster of Ukraine in the year 1986 was marked with an intensity of 5. This showed the fact that the nuclear disaster had occurred on a very large scale. An important aspect was that despite of increased intensity, the radiations that were released into the atmosphere were not as high as were those of the Chernobyl reactor and were almost ten times less compared to those released in 1986. But it was seen that the radiations had continued to leak in the air following the incident till the month of April though the amount of radiations had consequently reduced. Another important factor was that there had been leakage of the hazardous material from the nuclear power plants into the oceans and this could be carried into the water reservoirs. But it was clearly presented that American nations were safe owing to the dilution of the substances by the time they would reach to the continent (Bradsher et al 2011; Grammaticas 2011; Japan — Earthquake, Tsunami and Nuclear Crisis 2011). The earthquake, tsunami and the nuclear power disruption led to the Prime Minister of Japan Naoto Kan as explaining the situation in the following words: “I think that the earthquake, tsunami and the situation at our nuclear reactors makes up the worst crisis in the 65 years since the war. If the nation works together, we will overcome.” He issued this statement only two days following the earthquake and it was a clear indication of the fact that the graveness of the issue had been analyzed at the state level. Japan received international support and help and it employed methods to prevent chaos in the country. This was indicated by the delay in the issuance of reports with regard to the severity of the nuclear incident to avoid further distress amongst the citizens of the country. The forces of the country worked hard to carry out the rescue operations and to assist in the relief effort (Dawson et al 2011; Japan — Earthquake, Tsunami and Nuclear Crisis 2011). The catastrophe that had hit Japan did not only result in the loss of lives, nuclear power disruptions and the infrastructure damages, but it also greatly altered the economic condition of the country. Just after two months of the earthquake, it was analyzed that there had been a reduction of 3.7 percent in the economic growth based on the annual rate in just the first 3 months of the year. It was further presented that the economy would suffer further blows throughout the year. The disaster had led to destruction averaging about three hundred billion dollars. To aggravate the situation, the nuclear power plants in the country were also closed and therefore there was a disruption in their production of electricity. This was owing to the blast in the nuclear power plant which had called for stricter measures to check the operations of nuclear units and it indicated the risk of decreased power for the country owing to reduction in the supply from the nuclear plants (Tabuchi et al 2011). The earthquake was not limited to Japan and other nations across the globe also became concerned regarding the earthquake. The earthquake in Japan triggered the waves in the sea and it was indicated that the Pacific Coast of the United States and Hawaii were put at high risk within a few hours of the earthquake in Japan. The process of evacuation was ordered in the high risk areas which included Hawaii, parts of Western United States and the British Columbian province in Canada. Thousands of people had to leave these localities. Vessels and other ships were damaged in California owing to the very high waves which were reported to be 6 feet. Emergency warnings kept on being issued in the high risk areas. Despite of these warnings, one person was missing in California. The naval forces as well as the airport operations were suspended in Hawaii. The President of United States was highly concerned regarding the danger to the states in the country and hence called for close monitoring of the high risk areas (BBC News U.S. and Canada 2011). I have always considered and believed in the powers of the human mind and have analyzed the strengths that the human beings possess. The human beings are supreme to all other beings in this world owing to their power of knowledge and their abilities to utilize logic and to implement methods via researches and extensive experiments. The human beings have moved from an era of Stone Age where they did not even understand the importance of language to an era where they have now explored the planets outside Earth. The human beings started implementing their skills by the simple lightning of fire in the Stone Age and have achieved goals that people in those times could not even have thought of. But I have always considered the fact that there are certain things which are beyond human control and there are a few happenings and occurrences that the human beings cannot avoid despite of extensive research. The disaster that resulted in Japan falls in the category of unwanted circumstances that the human beings cannot stay away from. Nature has a great role to play in the shaping of the world and these natural occurrences fall in the work of nature. The Japan Earthquake clearly relates to this view of the world that I hold. The advancement of technology could not prevent the loss of several lives that resulted owing to this disaster and the unwanted results had to be faced. The imperfection in the work of humans and the human error is always highlighted in our everyday life. This is another view regarding the world that I believe in. Human beings have devised methods and technologies to make life easy for them. Despite of the positivity of these developments, there are always certain drawbacks and these result in severe consequences for human beings at a certain stage. The nuclear energy is a perfect example to uphold this perspective. The nuclear energy is a means of making life easy for human beings by providing energy in different forms which include electrical energy. It is an alternative source as the extinction of fossil fuels is highly feared in today’s world. Despite of the positive effects of the nuclear plants for the humans, there have always been severe disadvantages associated with it. The misuse of nuclear power can result in the loss of many lives. In a similar manner, accidents in these plants can prove to be very hazardous and lethal for all forms of life on Earth. The earthquake in Japan was a natural disaster but it was worsened due to the nuclear disaster that accompanied this earthquake. The nuclear disaster only resulted due to the presence of the nuclear power plants in the area which were struck by the earthquake. Despite of their usefulness for the human beings, they created a very difficult situation for the government as well as the people residing in close vicinity to the reactors. There are many different countries on the globe but a few nations in the world have always had a superior role in shaping the politics and economics of the world. I believe in the fact and hold the view that the world is a changing place and a switch of events can lead to the downfall of one country and the subsequent increase in the strength and power of another nation. There has always been a switch in the superpowers across the globe and thus, I have a view about the world that the financial as well as the political situation of the world can be changed by only a few events. The earthquake in Japan led to weaken its borders owing to the recruitment of all its forces towards the purpose of assisting the relief efforts. Furthermore, the country faced a severe economic blow owing to the earthquake and the following events. The financial situation worsened to levels below the expectations of many economists and experts. This indicated the unpredictability of the global situation with regard to the economic as well as the political stand. A booming economy may suffer severe blows and reach to a level below many other countries. Thus, this world is actually a place characterized by changes in events which tend to strengthen one nation whereas weaken the other. The earthquake that hit Japan was truly a disaster and a tragic occurrence that led to the loss of many innocent lives. The infrastructure of the country was altered and a nuclear disaster accompanied the earthquake to worsen the situation. Thousands of people died and even more people were displaced. The economy of the country faced a down slope as well. The effects of the earthquake were felt up to the coastal areas of the United States. This earthquake will be marked as a dreadful disaster that hit the country. Works Cited BBC News U.S. and Canada. “Japan earthquake: Tsunami reaches US West Coast.” BBC News. 12 Mar. 2011. Web 8 Jun. 2011. Bradsher, Keith; Tabuchi, Hiroko and Pollack, Andrew. “Japanese Officials on Defensive as Nuclear Alert Level Rises.” 12 Apr. 2011. Web 8 Jun. 2011. Dawson, Chester, Wakabayashi, Daisuke and Osawa, Juro.“Quake, Tsunami Slam Japan.” The Wall Street Journal. 12 Mar. 2011. Web 8 Jun. 2011. Grammaticas, Damian. “Japan earthquake: Explosion at Fukushima nuclear plant.” BBC News. 12 Mar. 2011. Web 8 Jun. 2011. “Japan — Earthquake, Tsunami and Nuclear Crisis (2011).” The New York Times. 7 Jun. 2011. Web 8 Jun. 2011. Grammaticas, Damian. “Japan earthquake: Explosion at Fukushima nuclear plant.” BBC News. 12 Mar. 2011. Web 8 Jun. 2011. Tabuchi, Hiroko and Wassener, Bettina. “Earthquake and Aftermath Push Japan Into a Recession.” The New York Times. 18 May 2011. Web 8 Jun. 2011. Read More