Earthquake in Japan – 2011

Earthquakes are very common in Japan and they are very much prepared for these natural disasters. Every person in Japan is trained to face these earthquakes, but the recent one which happened this Friday was the biggest in recent times. The most tragic part was that this earthquake caused tsunami which did the big loss, displacing 1000 of people living in Japan

History of Earthquakes in Japan

As I mentioned earlier, Japan is very much used to earthquakes. The infrastructure built in Japan and done to withstand these earthquakes. The worst earthquake hit Japan was in 1923 which claimed about 100,000 lives which was near Tokyo. In 1995, there was an earthquake which took about 6000 lives and injured 415,000 people. 100,000 homes were completely destroyed and 185,000 were severely damaged. This earthquake was hit at the Tohoku Region on the 11th of March 2011 and is one of the deadliest in recent times. It measured 8.2 on the Richter scale.

The Japanese archipelago is located in an area where several continental and oceanic plates meet. This is the cause of frequent earthquakes and the presence of many volcanoes and hot springs across Japan. If earthquakes occur below or close to the ocean, they may trigger tidal waves (tsunami).

Japan being a well developed and financially strong country does not make it safe from such natural disasters, but they are strong enough to battle it down. 900 strong forces with the help of air support were put to rescue efforts immediately. There are about 25,000 Indians living in Japan. The telephone connectivity is down, but the internet is working well.

Check out this Video on the Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gF1MC7H-_4E&hl=en_US&fs=1
Update : March 12, 2011, 1:34 pm The nuclear power plants are the biggest threat now. Japanese media reported an explosion and smoke at one of the Fukushima plants. Many are reported dead (400) and missing (784 )

Update : March 13, 2011, 2:51 pm

Japan’s top government spokesman on Sunday warned of the risk of a second explosion at the quake-hit Fukushima nuclear plant, but said that reactor three could withstand it as reactor one did a day earlier. More info

Update : March 13, 2011, 2:58 pm

Things are getting worse in Japan after this earthquake. More than 10,000 people are reported to have lost their lives in Miyagi prefecture alone. India is sending its first plane load of blankets today. The nuclear power plants are the biggest threat now. Experts have been flown into Japan to help to handle the situation. We hope for the best and no more loss of life in Japan

Update : July 10, 2011, 4:34 am

A strong earthquake with a magnitude of 7.3 hit Japan’s northeastern coast today (Sunday) prompting a brief tsunami warning for the area still recovering from a devastating quake and killer wave four months ago. Residents in coastal areas were warned to evacuate for about two hours after the quake, but there were no immediate reports of damage.