Earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis in Japan (March 2011)

English Homework

On March 11, 2011, one of the most powerful earthquakes in recorded history, and the most powerful ever in Japanese history, hit the northern part of the island of Honshu, in the Japanese Archipelago. It occurred off the coast of Miyagi Prefecture, with a magnitude of 9.0 MMS, causing enormous damage and rocking the island of Honshu up to 400 kilometers away. Immediately following the earthquake a massive tsunami bored into the coastline, with waves up to 10 meters (33 feet) high, some estimates bring it up to 15 meters (49 feet) and even 20 meters (66 feet) at the forefront of the wave, inundating huge areas of city and farmland, destroying everything in its path and killing thousands of people.

Japan also faced with a nuclear crisis: The quake damaged a nuclear power plant on the coast 240km north-east of Tokyo (Fukushima Dai-ichi (No. 1)). Radiation levels rised after four explosions at the plant and the cooling systems for the six reactors were knocked by the tsunami. After the quake, 11 of roughly 50 nuclear plants stopped producing power. As of late March 26, some 99 products, including milk and vegetables, had been found to be contaminated in Tokyo and five prefectures to its north and east.