Die Karte zeigt die größten Städte Japans sowie die Lage des Kernkraftwerkes in Fukushima. Es wurde durch den Tsunami am 11. März 2011 stark beschädigt.
Der Pazifische Feuerring ist ein Vulkangürtel rings um den Pazifischen Ozean.
Die Wellenhöhe und Fortpflanzungsgeschwindigkeit einer Tsunamiwelle (Grafik: GFZ)
The map shows the largest cities in Japan as well as the sites of nuclear power plants affected by the earthquake and tsunami in March 2011. (Map: Wissensplattform eskp.de, Licence: CC BY 4.0)
The "Ring of Fire" frames the Pacific. Plate boundaries and plate motions are causing earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. (Map: Wissensplattform eskp.de, Licence: CC BY 4.0)
The wave height is directly correlated to the water depth. (Illustration: Wissensplattform eskp.de, Licence: CC BY 4.0)

On March 11, 2011 a strong earthquake (M 8.9) occur off the coast of Japan. A tsunami triggered by the earthquake hit the nuclear power plant in Fukushima - a worst case scenario.

Scientistswith different scientific backgrounds with the Helmholtz-Association have summarized their data and information on this catastrophy: German Aerospace Centre (DLR),the GEOMAR HelmholtzCentreforOcean ResearchKiel,the German Resaerch Centre for Geosciences (GFZ)andtheKarlsruheInstituteof Technology (KIT).

Earthquake

Japan is an earthquake prone area. A subduction zone, were the Pacific plate subduct under the Eurasian plate runs close to the coastline off Japan.

On March 11, 2011 at 14:46 local time, an erathquake occur off the coast of Japan. The quake had a magnitude of (Mw) 8.9 and occurred approximately 345 kilometers northeast of Tokio in a depth of about 15 km. The fracture caused by the earthquake had a length of about 400 km.

Locally the coastline has been lowered up to 40 cm in Onahama, Iwaki and up to 120 cm on the Oshika Peninsula. This increases the flooding risk. Frederik Tilmann (GFZ) has been in Tokio during the quake and explained his experiences »

Tsunami

Animation der Tsunamiwelle, die sich im ganzen Pazifik bis nach Südamerika ausbreitet. Animation zum Starten anklicken.
Animation of the tsunami wave. The wave is propagating through the Pacific. Click on the picture to run the animation. ( A. Babeyko, GFZ)

A tsunami is generated by the sudden displacement of huge masses of water. Mostly it is triggered by a severe earthquake.
The earthquake on March 11 in 2011 caused a severe tsunami. The waves damaged the nuclear power plant at the coast, close to Fukushima. More infomation about the propagation of tsunami waves »

Radioactive cloud

After the nuclear accident in 2011 in Fukushima radioactive gas leaked. At the Karlsruher Institute for Technology the path of the radioactive cloud was simulated. See simulation »

Contamination of theOcean

Simulierte Ausdehnung des kontaminierten Wassers im Sommer 2012, 16 Monate nach der Reaktorkatastrophe. Die Farben illustrieren die Verdünnung relativ zur ursprünglichen Ausgangskonzentration in den japanischen Küstengewässern: die höchsten Werte (rot gefärbt) betragen noch etwa ein Tausendstel der Werte im April 2011.
Animation of the propagation of the contaminated radioactive water through the Pacific ( GEOMAR)

As a consequence of the Fukushima catastrophe, radioactive material was released into the Pacific Ocean. The spreading of the contaminated waters over the next decade was investigated by scientists at GEOMAR, Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel using numerical high-resolution Ocean models. View animation »

Damage Mapping

The German Aerospace Center (DLR) mapped the damage caused by the tsunami on March 11, 2011 in Sendai, Japan. (Illustration: ZKI/DLR)

Satellite images show the destruction of Sendai, a city a little bit north of Fukushima, were the tsunami damaged a nuclear power plant. The map shows the coastal are close to Sendai affected by the earthquake and tsunami. It indicates the flooded regions and debris zones as well as destroyed infrastructure. This change detection analysis is based on two TerraSAR-X radar images acquired on October 20, 2011 (presesaster) and March 12, 2011 (postdesaster) both at 20:43 UTC.
Read articlel »

Published: 11.03.2016, Vol. 3

Cite as: Babeyko, A., Lauterjung, J., Mühr, B., Strunz, G., Timan, F., Wenzel, F. & Villwock, A. (2016, 11. März). The catastrophy of Fukushima in 2011. Earth System Knowledge Platform [eskp.de], 3. https://www.eskp.de/en/natural-hazards/the-catastrophy-of-fukushima-in-2011-935502/

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