Earthquakes III

On March 11th at approximately 12:45 a massive earthquake rocked the coast of Japan. the magnitude of this earthquake was 9.0 and occurred near the northeast coast of Honshu, Japan, resulted from thrust faulting on or near the subduction zone plate boundary between the Pacific and North America plates. The March 11th earthquake was preceded by a series of large foreshocks over the previous two days, beginning on March 9th with a M 7.2 event approximately 40 km from the epicenter of the March 11 earthquake, and continuing with another three earthquakes greater than M 6 on the same day. (U.S. Geologic Survey, 2011)
  
The March 11th earthquake was greater than any other post-1900 plate-boundary thrust-fault earthquakes in  Japan. No other earthquake had surpassed a magnitude of 8. However, the earthquake was not the end of the destruction. as a direct result of the quake a 30 foot tsunami. the tsunami alone killed hundreds of people as it swept away boats, cars and homes while widespread fires burned out of control. (The Huffington Post, 2011)
 Experts are saying that it may take up to five years for japan to recover from all of the damage caused by the earthquake. According to the world bank an estimated 235 billion dollars of damage has been done. Japan is also dealing with a crisis at a large nuclear power plant. authorities are trying to regain control of the plant after a fire had broken out after the earthquake. if a meltdown were to occur the amount of damage would be incredible. likely thousands more would be killed from radiation poisoning; after death tolls have already reached approximately 10,000. (Alertnet, 2011)



 AlertNet.org (2011) The Humanitarian News Site Japan Quake and Tsunami. Retrieved March 20 2011 from http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/special-coverage-japan-quake-and-pacific-tsunami/

TheHuffingtonPost.com (2011) Japan Earthquake 2011: 8.9 Magnitude Earthquake Hits, 30-Foot Tsunami Triggered. Retrieved March 20 2011 from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/11/japan-earthquake-tsunami_n_834380.html

USGS.gov (2011) Magnitude 9.0 - Near The Cost of Honshu, Japan. Retrieved March 20 2011 from http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eqinthenews/2011/usc0001xgp/#summary