Earthquake in Japan

On the night of Friday, 10, Japan had the worst tsunami ever registered in the country’s history. The wave was ten meters tall and, up to now, over 300 bodies have been found in Sendai city, where the damage was the worst. The tsunami happened because of an 8.9 magnitude earthquake, which led to the creation of the waves.

Alerts have been sent to other countries that might be affected by the waves. The earthquake is now considered the 7th worst around the world. Because of the buildings that were brought down, a major power cut happened as the nuclear power plant was also destroyed by the quake. The lack of light made the search for victims even more complicated. At 2:45 p.m. local time, the quake was registered in the northeast region of Japan.

Consequences of the earthquake

As a consequence of the electricity situation, a power plant in Fukushima declared a state of emergency. Tokyo Electric Power says that there isn’t enough electric power to cool one of the reactors. In the same city, the Self Defense Force ordered the evacuation of local residents owing to the possibility of a radiation leak. In the city of Ichihara, the Cosmo oil refinery had to deal with the spreading of fires.

Other earthquakes in Japan’s history

After the first round of the strongest quake, other tremors were registered at magnitude 7. The worst quake before this is known as the Great Kanto Earthquake, which happened in 1923, and left over 100,000 dead on a 7.9 magnitude. In 1994 a 7.8 earthquake was registered and since 1973 a total of nine earthquakes has been registered on a scale of magnitude 7 or higher.

The difference between other occasions and what Japan is facing now is the proportion of the country’s structure which has been damaged and the consequent effect on the services to its population, not only the nuclear power plants, but also transportation and communication networks. Tens of thousands of people have already been affected by the interruption of train services.