Analysis of Japan Tsunami 2011 - Essay Example

The United States has ever since helped in aiding many operations to revive the situation in Japan (Foster 2011). In the late 1800s, Japan was struck by a similar high-intensity earthquake but the current earthquake broke all the previous records on the Richter scale. The earthquake spread on a large area of 1,300 miles and it shook large cities miles away from the epicenter. The epicenter of the earthquake was said to be in Miyagi Prefecture which is about 230 miles away from Tokyo (Widespread destruction from Japan earthquake, tsunamis 2011).

The intensity of the earthquake was such that one employee in Tokyo stated as saying “It felt like the whole structure was collapsing” (Foster 2011). The tsunami caused widespread chaos and halted several services being operated within Japan. Electricity was lost in almost 10% of the households in Japan. The official figures of the people dead in Sendai was calculated to be 185 with 741 missing people and 948 injured. The tsunami not only affected the residential areas but also affected the coastal areas where the ships were docked.

Ever since in Japan’s history, there has been no such emergency declared at the Japanese nuclear power plant but the tsunami led to the declaration of emergency at the nuclear power plant. The radiation levels inside the facility reached 1000 times that of normal. Radiation leaked from the plant and the authorities immediately ordered evacuating the citizens living nearby. An oil refinery was burnt down by the tsunami which led to flames being whipped all over the sky. The economy of Japan was also struck by the tsunami as it led many manufacturers to stop their production processes in the cities where the tsunami struck.

A global investment group in Japan estimated the losses due to the tsunami ranging to $10 billion (Foster 2011). Even after the days that the tsunami hit Japan it is seen that aftershocks are still expected in the country. The Japan Meteorological Agency has urged the citizens living nearby the coastal areas to be aware of the threats that the aftershocks pose to them. The meteorological official was stated as saying “We have to be ready for jolts with the intensity of 6 or so, and so people have to be on the alert". Japan suffered a massive blow after the tsunami and it is expected that it would take several years for Japan to recover from this loss (Japan calls off tsunami advisory 2011).