Japn's earthquake tsunami

causes of japan's tsunami

That earthquake happened on the ocean floor more than 200 miles from Tokyo. Arizona State University professor of earthquake geology Ramon Arrowsmith says sections of the ever-moving earth's crust, known as plates, began to lift after colliding. 

That earthquake happened on the ocean floor more than 200 miles from Tokyo. Arizona State University professor of earthquake geology Ramon Arrowsmith says sections of the ever-moving earth's crust, known as plates, began to lift after colliding. 

Arrowsmith says that energy gave birth to huge waves on the ocean's surface. Those waves became tsunamis when the crashed ashore in Japan.

While Friday’s horrific destruction caused by the quake and tsunami may seem a once-in-a lifetime disaster to us, Professor Arrowsmith says it's nature's way and has happened often in the past and will happen again in the future.

casualties
 
Tokyo, Japan, March 15, 2011 /WNCNews/ – The death toll from the earthquake that followed by  tsunami which flattened most of the northeastern coast of Japan, to reach at least 2,400 people.

Japan National Police Agency, on Tuesday (March 15, 2011) said, 2414 people are confirmed dead and 3118 missing, while 1885 were injured due to earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan on Friday (March 11, 2011) ago. Number of victims yesterday officially consisted of 1647 people.

On Sunday (March 13, 2011), police chief of Miyagi, one of the prefectures hardest hit disaster, said the number of death toll is estimated at more than 10,000 in its own territory.

In the midst of a mass rescue efforts, there has been data updates showing severe loss along the east coast of Honshu island, where the tsunami waves destroyed or damaged more than 55,380 homes and other buildings.

More than 3,000 houses were flooded by the sea water of tsunami, while about 130 other houses on fire, police said. They added that there are at least 68 landslides in those areas.

Hazardous earthquakes in california

The presence of the San Andreas fault was brought dramatically to world attention on April 18, 1906, when sudden displacement along the fault produced the great San Francisco earthquake and fire. This earthquake, however, was but one of many that have resulted from episodic displacement along the fault throughout its life of about 15-20 million years.

What Is It?

Scientists have learned that the Earth's crust is fractured into a series of "plates" that have been moving very slowly over the Earth's surface for millions of years. Two of these moving plates meet in western California; the boundary between them is the San Andreas fault. The Pacific Plate (on the west) moves northwestward relative to the North American Plate (on the east), causing earthquakes along the fault. The San Andreas is the "master" fault of an intricate fault network that cuts through rocks of the California coastal region. The entire San Andreas fault system is more than 800 miles long and extends to depths of at least 10 miles within the Earth. In detail, the fault is a complex zone of crushed and broken rock from a few hundred feet to a mile wide. Many smaller faults branch from and join the San Andreas fault zone. Almost any road cut in the zone shows a myriad of small fractures, fault gouge (pulverized rock), and a few solid pieces of rock.

Where Is It?

The San Andreas fault forms a continuous narrow break in the Earth's crust that extends from northern California southward to Cajon Pass near San Bernardino. Southeastward from Cajon Pass several branching faults, including the San Jacinto and Banning faults, share the movement of the crustal plates. In this stretch of the fault zone, the name "San Andreas" generally is applied to the northeastern most branch.

seismic waves

seismic wave, vibration generated by an earthquake explosion, or similar energetic source and propagated within the Earth or along its surface. Earthquakes generate four principal types of elastic waves; two, known as bodywaves, travel within the Earth, whereas the other two, called surfacewaves, travel along its surface. seismographs record the amplitude and frequency of seismic waves and yield information about the Earth and its subsurface structure. Artificially generated seismic waves recorded during seismicsurveys are used to collect data in oil and gas prospecting and engineering.