1 / 20

Earthquakes and Tsunamis

Earthquakes and Tsunamis . A Case Study. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/03/110316-zoom-satellite-pictures-japan-tsunami-earthquake-world-before-after/. The Richter Scale.

teo
Download Presentation

Earthquakes and Tsunamis

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Earthquakes and Tsunamis A Case Study

  2. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/03/110316-zoom-satellite-pictures-japan-tsunami-earthquake-world-before-after/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/03/110316-zoom-satellite-pictures-japan-tsunami-earthquake-world-before-after/

  3. The Richter Scale The Richter magnitude scale was developed in 1935 by Charles F. Richter of the California Institute of Technology as a mathematical device to compare the size of earthquakes. The Richter magnitudes are based on a scale (base 10). What this means is that for each whole number you go up on the Richter scale, the amplitude of the ground motion recorded by a seismograph goes up ten times. Using this scale, a magnitude 5 earthquake would result in ten times the level of ground shaking as a magnitude 4 earthquake

  4. Tsunami • A tsunami is a series of great sea waves caused by an underwater earthquake, landslide, or volcanic eruption. • A tsunami is not a single wave but a series of waves, also known as a wave train.

  5. Why they are so dangerous • Where the ocean is deep, tsunamis can travel unnoticed on the surface at speeds up to 500 miles an hour (800 kilometers an hour), crossing an ocean in a day or less. •  A tsunami may be less than a foot (30 centimeters) tall on the surface of the open ocean, which is why they are not noticed by sailors. But the powerful shock wave of energy travels rapidly through the ocean

  6. Japan Earthquake 2011

  7. What and When • An earthquake measuring 9.0 on the Richter Scale struck off Japan's north-east coast, about 250 miles (400km) from Tokyo at a depth of 20 miles. • The magnitude 9.0 earthquake happened at 2:46pm (local time) on Friday March 11, 2011.

  8. Where? The earthquake occurred 250 miles off the North East Coast of Japan's main island Honshu.

  9. Why did this Happen? Japan is located on the eastern edge of the Eurasian Plate. The Pacific Plate, which is an oceanic plate, subducts (sinks under) the Eurasian Plate, which is a continental plate, to the east of Japan. This type of plate margin is known as a destructive plate margin. The process of subduction is not smooth. Friction causes thePacific Plate to stick. Pressure builds and is released as an earthquake.

  10. Effects The earthquake occurred at a shallow depth at 20 miles below the surface of the Pacific Ocean. Since this earthquake happened in the ocean, it also caused a tsunami.

  11. Damages • The Japanese Government confirmed a deat toll of 15, 833 people • More than 160,000 people were placed in evacuation centres • Total damage is estimated at 300 billion dollars!

  12. Nuclear Reactors • To make matters worse, the terrifying natural disaster has sparked a human-caused crisis, as radiation leaks from crippled reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, sparking fears of a meltdown.

  13. Nuclear Reactors still causing concern today! • More than two years after the tsunami, some of Japan’s nuclear reactors are still leaking radioactive waves that can have serious health risks to humans. • The solution was to cool down the nuclear reactors with millions of litres of cold water. • But now, the water being used to cool down the reactors is becoming radioactive as well as the groundwater surrounding the nuclear plants.

More Related