essay about tsunami in japan

Impact of the Japan Tsunami 2011 Disaster on Tourism and Hospitality Industries Essay

Introduction, short term and long term effects of the tsunami, impact of the tsunami on the tourism and hospitality industries, existing risk management processes and disaster recovery processes, importance of a risk management strategic approach, importance of applying risk plans and strategies.

Many countries of the world have witnessed catastrophic disasters of one form or another. However, some countries have had to deal with several destructive natural and man-made occurrences that have in turn hit the economic progress in those countries quite hard (Murata& Katoh, 2010).

Japan, for instance has experienced highly destructive disasters like high magnitude earthquakes, atomic bombs during the Second World War, tsunami, and nuclear crisis, coupled with numerous consequences of aftermath usually resulting in humanitarian crisis (Fraser, 2011).For Japan, Tsunamis are one of the most destructive phenomena due to its vulnerability.

Tsunami is usually caused by the disturbances of the earth’s crust usually with a net vertical displacement of the ocean base or its surroundings (Bradley & Statler, 2011).

Japan is currently the third largest economy world wide as well as one of the highest consumers of oil. This essay discusses short term and long term effects of the Tsunami on tourism and hospitality industries in Japan.

It also focuses on the importance of a risk management strategic approach, the importance of applying risk plans and strategies like risk identification, analysis, monitoring, evaluating and reporting.

Furthermore, the existing risk management processes and disaster recovery processes by the Japanese government and other business operations as well as the necessary risk management processes for the management of a business in vulnerable regions are explored.

It is important to note that most countries found along the major oceans and seas are the most vulnerable to the most destructive tsunami.

Countries found along the Pacific Ocean have been the most affected but also those found along the Atlantic and Indian Oceans as well as in the Mediterranean Sea have felt the impact of tsunami (Satake & Borrero, 2007).

Most coastal regions in the Pacific countries are highly populated due to the fact that the inland regions are usually mountainous and inhabitable compared to the relatively flatland in the coastal areas (CRTWFSONTP & NRC, 2011).

Most economic activities in these countries involve international trade and a number of people operate large fleets of ships and the ports are well developed.

The countries in the Pacific Ocean especially those with extensive continental coastal areas use small coastal ships as means of transport.

This has necessitated the development of many small ports to facilitate inter-island economic activities. Japan for instance have numerous ports as well as well developed shipbuilding facilities, nuclear energy plants, engineering structures, aqua culture industries, electric plants, refineries and other crucial structures and infrastructure (Fraser, 2011).

With this wealth of resources, it is evident that Japan and other countries in the major oceans are socially and economically vulnerable to the effects associated with tsunami.

The earthquake and subsequent tsunami that visited Japan in March 11, 2011 will remain one of the most destructive occurrences over a very long period of time.

The earthquake was so huge that it read 8.9 magnitudes against the Richter scale setting off a massive tsunami (Prothero, 2011). Thousands of people have been confirmed dead, thousands have been displaced, similar range of number is still missing, and the infrastructure in the affected area has been massively destroyed.

These have numerous short and long term economic and social effects both at the national and international level.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped far below the daily support level which ranges between 11,000 and 12,000. This has been a key indicator for most traders and economists and hence has significant implications.

The price dynamics in any given market is of interest to participants and this has been witnessed in Japan as a result of the Tsunami crisis. They have been interested in determining the impact of the disaster on the Japanese as well as global economy (OECD, 2011).

Market volatility increased significantly causing a drop in major currencies and indexes which in turn reversed all the gains that had been made earlier on.

During the period, volatile short term impacts were felt with the dollar falling against the Japanese yen. The prices in the stock have rapidly dropped giving great opportunities only to those who may wish to buy shares.

The general economic growth may decrease just for a short period of time as a result of the post-disaster effects.

Tsunamis remain to be one of the most destructive phenomena usually with immediate and long-lasting effects. The recent Japanese tsunami caused great loss of lives and most coastal infrastructure were massively destroyed.

The rice fields were swept away when the tsunami waves spread over 8 kilometers into the inland regions (Bradley & Statler, 2011). The impacts of this natural phenomena range from human, social, economic, and cultural in nature.

The immediate effects may be too shocking and raising much uncertainty. However, it is generally believed that the impacts and recovery efforts could turn to be beneficial to Japan and even help the country surpass initial productive levels.

The disastrous effects of the tsunami that occurred in Japan have had direct impacts on the transport and tourism sector worsening the risks posed by the effects of a staggering economic recession since 2008/2009 financial year (Jones & Philips, 2011).

Shortly after the earthquake and tsunami were reported, both the inbound and outbound travel arrangements by hundreds of people were canceled.

This was expected to extend for many months due to the destruction caused by the tsunami and earthquake as well as the not-easy to fade fears of after-shock and similar catastrophic phenomena (Macdougall, 2011).

A number of countries in the world advised their citizens to avoid travelling to Japan during the disaster period until they are advised otherwise. This had direct impact on the Japanese tourism industry.

Regional tourism business association recorded reduced bookings from the affected regions of Japan (the North Eastern prefectures) and this was expected to go on for the better part of the year which will result in significantly low earnings.

The tsunami also triggered fears across other regions in the Pacific and hence many tour arrangements had to be temporarily suspended which in turn affected the tourism sector in those countries (Bradley & Statler, 2011).

For instance, tourists from Thailand cancelled their trips to Japan for fear of another earthquake and tsunami and related chain of effects like the nuclear power crises. Other airlines cancelled their flights to Japan soon after the country was hit by the earthquake and tsunami.

It is not possible to talk about the tourism sector without mentioning the hotel and hospitality industry (Satake & Borrero, 2007). Furthermore, major tourist reception centers were temporarily closed as well as other recreation and entertainment events which had been scheduled had to be abruptly halted.

This implied that the income that would be generated were lost as a result of the tsunami disaster. Many businesses and other investments were massively destroyed and hence several people lost their livelihoods.

Their appetite for travel would definitely be lost as a result of the tragic occurrences in Japan. The beach resorts in the affected areas were thriving before they were virtually wiped out by the earthquake and the subsequent tsunami (OECD, 2011).

During summer period, thousands of tourists would choose these as their destinations due to their attractive nature. The first class guest houses that shone on the Japan’s northeastern coastal region were no more after the devastating effects of the tsunami.

The accommodation services were strategically located since most tourists visit this region to collect shellfish, take boat tours of the numerous islands covered with pine, as well as eat the oysters commonly found in the bay (Jones & Philips, 2011).

They have remained to be the major Japanese tourist trails but they were no more after the wrecking impacts of the disaster (Satake & Borrero, 2007).

The major coastal towns in the northeast of Japan were literally washed away by the 10-meter tsunami waves that extended almost 10 kilometers inland, crushing down executive buildings, taking thousands of lives, and subsequently causing massive loss of jobs (Jayasuriya & McCawley, 2011).

The train network has also been a major facilitator of tourist activities in Japan. However, the major stations were jumbled up with the connecting tracks along the coastal region having been torn away and twisted beyond any immediate repair.

This has had immeasurable impact on both the hospitality and tourism industry in Japan, particularly the areas bearing the brunt of the tragic events (Bryant, 2008).

Moreover, the major tourist attraction features like the outstanding cliffs on the island of Miyatoshima were brought down by the forceful force of the tsunami waves.

The magnificent bridge connecting to the island was swept away and tourists will not be able to visit the island until it has been rebuilt (Macdougall, 2011).

This has direct impact on the tourism industry as it will take a while before the tourists chose this destination. As an inducement to woo tourists to visit Japan, holiday prices will have to drop significantly implying that the sector will get very low overall revenues.

Despite the fact that mankind has been faced with catastrophic physical phenomena since antiquity, it is evident that little can be done to prevent natural occurrences (Murata& Katoh, 2010).

These may include earthquakes, floods, droughts, volcanic activities, hurricanes, and high-magnitude tsunami. Although they may happen infrequently, their human, social, and economic effects are usually detrimental.

People in vulnerable areas have learnt how to adapt to the otherwise life-threatening conditions. Before man became inventive, such events were experienced passively with little if any effort to prevent them.

However, as the years went by, humankind has made effort to reduce the negative impacts of such activities like the number of lives lost, and property destruction (Macdougall, 2011).

There is need for proper planning in the vulnerable areas if the associated risks are to be significantly minimised. A number of factors must be considered when planning to deal with the tsunami crisis (Hebenstreit, 1997).

Apart from understanding the physical orientation of the tsunami itself including how it is usually manifested in each specific geographic area, it is paramount to be acquainted with the general physical nature, social and cultural factors (Edgar, 2011).

The areas in the identified vulnerable zones have relatively different degree of vulnerability from each other (OECD, 2011). The frequency of tsunami in the Pacific Ocean is usually very high and hence the regions in this part of the world have received much attention from the hazard management bodies.

There is need to consider the possibility of a tsunami when initiating development projects in the coastal regions. Land use practices along the coastlines have been greatly influenced by the unfavorable conditions in the rural or interior regions which are most mountainous (Satake & Borrero, 2007).

Despite the willingness to risk, government agencies in these countries ought to encourage people to live in the interior of the country where they are assured of safety and minimal risk compared to the coastal regions (Prothero, 2011).

This implies that governments should also distribute development projects to these areas in order to attract more people out of the comparatively populated coastal areas.

Furthermore, the government agencies should introduce land use policies which regulate investments in the coastal area with an aim of reducing the impact of tsunami once it occurs (Hebenstreit, 1997).

Areas which have been known to sustain the impacts of massive tsunami should be identified as the best area for investment. High risk regions should be classified as such and people as well as government discouraged from investing heavily.

Planning is therefore very important both to the government and industry development regimes since it helps in minimizing hazards related to tsunami and other natural events.

As already mentioned, technological advancements in the modern days have facilitated the prevention of massive destruction as a result of natural catastrophic phenomena.

It is possible to tell the possibility of a tsunami using sophisticated technological instrumentation (CRTWFSONTP & NRC, 2011). These devices are designed to collect important data which are in turn used to communicate warning signs of a probable tsunami.

Countries in the vulnerable regions have developed ultramodern technologies for issuing warning signs (Edgar, 2011). These countries include the Soviet Union, Japan, the United States, and Canada.

As a measure of enhancing preventive approaches, the countries have agreed to share sensitive but crucial information that may help in evading the impacts of tsunami and related disaster found in the Pacific (Hebenstreit, 1997).

They have developed specific oceanographic centers for this purpose and strategic positioned so as to enhance the accuracy of the data collected through regular observation and measurement (Satake & Borrero, 2007).

One of the major centers to have been developed is in Honolulu where there is the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) operated by the United States National Weather Service and is currently the most trusted international source of tsunami warnings (Tankut, 2009).

This station is linked to other stations dealing with specific factors associated with tsunami. There are a number of separate stations for monitoring seismic waves, others for observing ocean/sea tides and numerous information dissemination centers spread across the entire Pacific Basin in the different member countries (Bryant, 2008).

Basically, the International Tsunami Warning System aims to detect as well as tell the location/epicenter of major earthquakes occurring in the Pacific area, determine whether they have the potential of causing tsunami, and subsequently issue timely and effective warnings and other important information to the concerned populations in order to reduce the hazardous effects on humankind and property (CRTWFSONTP & NRC, 2011).

The earliest information about the Japan earthquake and subsequent tsunami was disseminated by the PTWC.

It is important to understand how this warning systems functions. First, any of the recognized seismic observatory system detects an earthquake of significant magnitude of about 6.5 or more on the Richter scale (Tankut, 2009).

Such earthquakes usually draw a lot of interest for investigation. The next step is for the PTWC to gather sufficient data of an earthquake and then determine its magnitude.

When the information indicates that a possible tsunami is a threat to the people living in a given region, a warning message is disseminated to other agencies which are responsible for transmitting to the members of the public (Kumar, 2009).

Thirdly, it is the duty of these agencies to act in advance in determining the appropriate immediate measures that will help move people to safe areas.

If in case the tide stations later reveal that the negligible tsunami was generated, the PTWC reverses earlier warning. In most Pacific areas where there are frequent tsunamis, several warning stations have been established (Satake & Borrero, 2007).

Although the tsunami warning systems cannot be said to be excellent in predicting tsunamis, they help in sensitising about the potential hazards of the tsunami and hence facilitate the conviction of the members of the public to evacuate (Bryant, 2008).

It is through these warning systems that many lives have been saved from the devastating effects of the tsunami and other natural catastrophes.

However, failure by the members of the public to have confidence in government agencies has caused varying awareness of the tsunami disaster.

This has been occasioned by the use of inadequate data and knowledge to make over-warning of tsunami which in turn unnecessary alarms.

Regular incidences of false warnings have caused laxity when it comes to responding to subsequent warnings (Murata & Katoh, 2010). Often, failure to comply with warnings has resulted in unnecessary loss of lives and destruction of businesses.

There is need, therefore, for the education of members of the public on the risks associated with tsunami. Fortunately, newer technologies are enabling more accurate prediction of tsunami and the potential risks.

Necessary Risk Management Processes for the Management of a Business in Vulnerable Regions

Being a seismically active region, Japan has over the ages enhanced its ability to deal with the various natural disasters associated with it like high-magnitude earthquakes, floods, tsunami, and so forth (Kumar, 2009).

It has developed mechanisms of detecting as well as responding to such natural crises in order to minimize their potential impacts. For a long period of time now, the legal system in Japan has not taken into consideration the risk posed by natural disasters (OECD, 2011).

In 1961, the Basic Law for disaster management was developed. With the continued emergence of both natural and artificial disasters, the public sector risk management took center stage in such cases.

In the 21 st century, there is need to develop appropriate risk management processes that will help in the management of businesses in the vulnerable areas.

It is ultimately necessary to have risk management strategic approaches in place in disaster prone areas. Businesses by multinational corporations, small-medium sized enterprises, the public sector, as well as communities are prone to disasters which may be beyond the control of the management and the policy makers (Murata & Katoh, 2010).

These risks range from high prices of commodities and services, business and market conditions, disruption of operations, technological changes, natural catastrophes, and so forth.

Available strategies that I would need to address these risks are varied. In the case of natural disasters, there is need for strategic risk management approaches.

Businesses should be prepared to respond accordingly to unexpected events by taking maximum precautionary measurers in advance (Edgar, 2011).

The management should be able to deal with market volatilities associated with the disasters through the formulation of appropriate risk management strategic approaches.

The risk plans and strategies must be applied in a systematic manner if risks are to be minimised and these include; Risk identification, Analysis, Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting.

The first step in setting up a formal risk management process involves the classification of factors that influence businesses in vulnerable regions.

Next, the vulnerability to the various types of risks are analysed and the potential effects estimated. The associated losses help in the determination of possible benefits if risks are mitigated (Jayasuriya & McCawley, 2011).

The success of risk management process requires continuous monitoring and evaluation of how the measures taken are performing.

This implies that the formal risk management strategy is an ongoing process and hence calls for regular reports of how the business under consideration is performing.

It is through these reports that new interventions are introduced in order to reduce risks and maximise the existing opportunities before the anticipated disasters strike.

Despite the fact that there has been advancement in technology over the past few decades, it is still not easy to issue timely warnings of earthquakes and tsunami in highly vulnerable Pacific regions like Japan.

The impacts of the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan are very significant. The effects were both short term and long term. However, the tourism and hospitality industries were the most affected with far reaching economic and social implications.

About 25,000 thousand people were left dead as well as missing, and thousands were left injured as a result of the destructive tsunami triggered by the 9.0-magnitude earthquake.

It has emerged from the discussion that the disastrous effects of the tsunami that occurred in Japan have had direct impacts on the transport and tourism industries.

This was expected to have long-term effects on the tourism industry. Many countries have also advised their citizens against travelling to Japan during the disaster period.

This has had direct impact on the Japanese tourism industry. The hospitality industry has also not been spared. Due to the reduced number of visitors into the country, many hotels and guest houses have recorded decreased number over the disaster period, particularly in the North Eastern prefectures.

A number of effects on the tourism and hospitality industries have been discussed broadly in the paper. The paper has also pointed out the importance of risk management strategic approaches, the importance of applying risk plans and strategies like risk identification, analysis, monitoring, evaluating and reporting.

Furthermore, the existing national and international risk management processes and disaster recovery processes by the member countries and how they function in vulnerable areas have been discussed.

Therefore, it is evident that the recent tsunami disaster in Japan has directly affected both the tourism and hospitality industries and a lot of reconstruction will need to be done if they are to thrive all over again.

Bradley, P. K. & Statler, M. (2011) Encyclopedia of Disaster Relief . SAGE

Bryant, E, (2008) Tsunami: the underrated hazard . Springer Committee on the Review of the Tsunami Warning and Forecast System and Overview of the Nation’s Tsunami Preparedness (CRTWFSONTP) & National Research

Council (NRC) (2011) Tsunami Warning and Preparedness: An Assessment of the U.S. Tsunami Program and the Nation’s Preparedness Efforts. National Academies Press

Edgar, T. (2011) The Pearson General Knowledge Manual 2011 . Pearson Education India

Fraser, T. L. (2011) Body Connection . Xlibris Corporation

Hebenstreit, G. T. (1997) Perceptions on tsunami hazard reduction: observation, theory and planning . Springer

Jayasuriya, S. & McCawley, P. (2011) The Asian Tsunami: Aid and Reconstruction After a Disaster . Edward Elgar Plc.

Jones, A. L. & Philips, M. (2011) Disappearing Destinations: Climate Change and the Future Challenges for Coastal Tourism. CABI

Kumar, M. J. (2009) Natural Disasters: Vulnerability, Preparedness and Mitigation . Springer

Macdougall, D. (2011) Why Geology Matters: Decoding the Past, Anticipating the Future . University of California Press

Murata, S. & Katoh, K. (2010) Tsunami: to survive from tsunami . World Scientific Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (2011). OECD economic surveys: Japan . Author

Prothero, D. R. (2011) Catastrophes!: Earthquakes, Tsunamis, Tornadoes, and Other Earth-Shattering Disasters . JHU Press

Satake, K. & Borrero, J. C. (2007) Tsunami and its Effects in the Indian and Pacific Oceans . Springer

Tankut, A. T. (2009) Tsunamis and Earthquakes: Civil engineering Disaster Management . Springer

• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2023, November 29). Impact of the Japan Tsunami 2011 Disaster on Tourism and Hospitality Industries. https://ivypanda.com/essays/impact-of-the-japan-tsunami-2011-disaster-on-tourism-and-hospitality-industries/

"Impact of the Japan Tsunami 2011 Disaster on Tourism and Hospitality Industries." IvyPanda , 29 Nov. 2023, ivypanda.com/essays/impact-of-the-japan-tsunami-2011-disaster-on-tourism-and-hospitality-industries/.

IvyPanda . (2023) 'Impact of the Japan Tsunami 2011 Disaster on Tourism and Hospitality Industries'. 29 November.

IvyPanda . 2023. "Impact of the Japan Tsunami 2011 Disaster on Tourism and Hospitality Industries." November 29, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/impact-of-the-japan-tsunami-2011-disaster-on-tourism-and-hospitality-industries/.

1. IvyPanda . "Impact of the Japan Tsunami 2011 Disaster on Tourism and Hospitality Industries." November 29, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/impact-of-the-japan-tsunami-2011-disaster-on-tourism-and-hospitality-industries/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Impact of the Japan Tsunami 2011 Disaster on Tourism and Hospitality Industries." November 29, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/impact-of-the-japan-tsunami-2011-disaster-on-tourism-and-hospitality-industries/.

• Tsunami Warning Management System
• Physical Aspect of Tsunami
• Damages of Tsunami to Human Beings
• Natural Hazard: Tsunami Caused by Earthquakes
• Tsunami's Reasons and Effects
• Tsunami Disasters in Okushiri Island
• Tsunami: Definition and Causes
• Effect of the 2004 Tsunami on Indonesia
• Causes and Effect of the Tsunami in Indonesia
• Natural Disasters: Tsunami, Hurricanes and Earthquake
• Ecotourism Resort at the Amazon: Amazon Eco-Tourist Resort
• Al Tayyar Travel Group-role in transforming Saudi tourism
• Tourism Industry in France
• Emerging Issue in Tourism and Hospitality
• Space Tourism from TUI Travel PLC Group

An official website of the United States government

Here's how you know

The .gov means it’s official. Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

The site is secure. The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

On This Day: 2011 Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami

On March 11, 2011, a magnitude (Mw) 9.1 earthquake struck off the northeast coast of Honshu on the Japan Trench. A tsunami that was generated by the earthquake arrived at the coast within 30 minutes, overtopping seawalls and disabling three nuclear reactors within days. The 2011 Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami event, often referred to as the Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami , resulted in over 18,000 dead, including several thousand victims who were never recovered.

The deadly earthquake was the largest magnitude ever recorded in Japan and the third-largest in the world since 1900. 

How It Happened

The 2011 event resulted from thrust faulting on the subduction zone plate boundary between the Pacific and North America plates, according to the U.S. Geological Survey .

This region has a high rate of seismic activity, with the potential to generate tsunamis. Past earthquakes that generated tsunamis in the region have included the deadly events of 1611 , 1896 , and 1933 .

The March 11, 2011 earthquake generated a tsunami with a maximum wave height of almost 40 meters (130 feet) in the Iwate Prefecture . Researchers also determined that a 2,000-kilometer (1,242-mile) stretch of Japan’s Pacific coast was impacted by the tsunami.

Following the earthquake, a tsunami disabled the power supply and cooling of three Fukushima Daiichi reactors, causing a significant nuclear accident . All three nuclear cores largely melted in the first three days. 

As of December 2020, the Japan National Police Agency reported 15,899 deaths, 2,527 missing and presumed deaths, and 6,157 injuries for the Great East Japan event.

In Japan, the event resulted in the total destruction of more than 123,000 houses and damage to almost a million more. Ninety-eight percent of the damage was attributed to the tsunami. The costs resulting from the earthquake and tsunami in Japan alone were estimated at $220 billion USD. The damage makes the 2011 Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami the most expensive natural disaster in history. 

Although the majority of the tsunami’s impact was in Japan, the event was truly global. The tsunami was observed at coastal sea level gauges in over 25 Pacific Rim countries, in Antarctica, and on the west coast of the Atlantic Ocean in Brazil.

The tsunami caused $31 million USD damage in Hawaii and $100 million USD in damages and recovery to marine facilities in California. Additionally, damage was reported in French Polynesia, Galapagos Islands, Peru, and Chile. 

Fortunately, the loss of life outside of Japan was minimal (one death in Indonesia and one death in California) due to the Pacific Tsunami Warning System and its connections to national-level warning and evacuation systems. 

From Peril to Preparedness

To learn from the tragedy in Japan, researchers collected extensive data on tsunami wave forces and building performance. This facilitated improvement in tsunami mitigation strategies, such as building codes. Over 6,200 tsunami wave measurements were collected in Japan and the Pacific region. 

Several thousands of lives across the world were lost to large, far-afield tsunamis prior to the establishment of the Pacific Tsunami Warning System in 1965. The Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami demonstrated that despite the severity of the natural hazard the investment in the warning system has been a success. 

Japan is often considered the country most prepared for tsunamis but still lost numerous lives in this event. Nonetheless, experts believe many lives were saved in Japan and elsewhere due to the existing warning and mitigation systems.

An effective tsunami warning system relies on the free and open exchange and long-term management of global data and science products to mitigate, model, and forecast tsunamis. NCEI is the global data and information service for tsunamis. Global historical tsunami data, including more information about the Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami, are available via interactive maps and a variety of web services.

For more information on how you can prepare for a tsunami, visit the National Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program . Also, visit NCEI’s Natural Hazards website for more earthquake and tsunami data, images, and educational materials.

Kong, L., P. Dunbar, and N. Arcos (2015). Pacific Tsunami Warning System: A Half-Century of Protecting the Pacific 1965-2015. Honolulu: International Tsunami Information Center.

Satake, K. (2014). Chapter 24, The 2011 Tohoku, Japan, Earthquake and Tsunami. Extreme Natural Hazards, Disaster Risks and Societal Implications, Cambridge University Press, p. 340-351.

UNESCO/IOC (2012). Summary Statement from the Japan - UNESCO - UNU Symposium on The Great East Japan Tsunami on 11 March 2011 and Tsunami Warning Systems: Policy Perspectives 16 - 17 February 2012

Broken links updated.

Related Links

Article tags, related news.

August 25, 2023

On This Day: 2009 Samoa Islands Tsunami

August 16, 2023

On This Day: Historic Krakatau Eruption of 1883

March 3, 2023

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

• View all journals
• Explore content
• About the journal
• Publish with us
• Sign up for alerts
• NEWS EXPLAINER
• 03 January 2024
• Correction 04 January 2024

Japan earthquakes: the science behind the deadly tremors

• Gemma Conroy

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

This week, a series of powerful earthquakes struck the west coast of Japan, killing dozens of people and reducing many buildings to rubble.

Access options

Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals

Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription

24,99 € / 30 days

cancel any time

Subscribe to this journal

Receive 51 print issues and online access

185,98 € per year

only 3,65 € per issue

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Nature 625 , 228 (2024)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-00010-1

Updates & Corrections

Correction 04 January 2024 : This article has been amended to correct Aitaro Kato’s affiliation.

Kato, A. Geophys. Res. Lett. 51 , e2023GL106444 (2024).

Article   Google Scholar  

Download references

Reprints and permissions

Related Articles

Protect funding for US earthquake early-warning system

What Turkey’s earthquake tells us about the science of seismic forecasting

Taiwan hit by biggest earthquake in 25 years: why scientists weren’t surprised

News 03 APR 24

Did ‘alien’ debris hit Earth? Startling claim sparks row at scientific meeting

News 13 MAR 24

Earthquakes are most deadly in these unexpected countries

News 26 FEB 24

The ‘Anthropocene’ is here to stay — and it’s better not as a geological epoch

Correspondence 26 MAR 24

Are we in the Anthropocene yet?

Editorial 20 MAR 24

Assistant Professor in Integrated Photonics

We offer you the chance to design a unique and autonomous research program, networking with specialists, students and entrepreneurs.

Gothenburg (Stad), Västra Götaland (SE)

Chalmers University of Technology

Postdoctoral Fellow (Aging, Metabolic stress, Lipid sensing, Brain Injury)

Seeking a Postdoctoral Fellow to apply advanced knowledge & skills to generate insights into aging, metabolic stress, lipid sensing, & brain Injury.

Dallas, Texas (US)

UT Southwestern Medical Center - Douglas Laboratory

High-Level Talents at the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University

For clinical medicine and basic medicine; basic research of emerging inter-disciplines and medical big data.

Nanchang, Jiangxi, China

The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University

POSTDOCTORAL Fellow -- DEPARTMENT OF Surgery – BIDMC, Harvard Medical School

The Division of Urologic Surgery in the Department of Surgery at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School invites applicatio...

Boston, Massachusetts (US)

Director of Research

Applications are invited for the post of Director of Research at Cancer Institute (WIA), Chennai, India.

Chennai, Tamil Nadu (IN)

Cancer Institute (W.I.A)

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Quick links

• Explore articles by subject
• Guide to authors
• Editorial policies

An official website of the United States government

The .gov means it’s official. Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

The site is secure. The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

• Publications
• Account settings

Preview improvements coming to the PMC website in October 2024. Learn More or Try it out now .

• Advanced Search
• Journal List
• Proc Jpn Acad Ser B Phys Biol Sci
• v.85(8); 2009 Oct

A short history of tsunami research and countermeasures in Japan

Nobuo shuto.

*1 Environmental Science, Advanced Research Institute for the Sciences and Humanities, Nihon University, Tokyo, Japan.

Koji Fujima

*2 Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, National Defense Academy, Kanagawa, Japan.

The tsunami science and engineering began in Japan, the country the most frequently hit by local and distant tsunamis. The gate to the tsunami science was opened in 1896 by a giant local tsunami of the highest run-up height of 38 m that claimed 22,000 lives. The crucial key was a tide record to conclude that this tsunami was generated by a “tsunami earthquake”. In 1933, the same area was hit again by another giant tsunami. A total system of tsunami disaster mitigation including 10 “hard” and “soft” countermeasures was proposed. Relocation of dwelling houses to high ground was the major countermeasures. The tsunami forecasting began in 1941. In 1960, the Chilean Tsunami damaged the whole Japanese Pacific coast. The height of this tsunami was 5–6 m at most. The countermeasures were the construction of structures including the tsunami breakwater which was the first one in the world. Since the late 1970s, tsunami numerical simulation was developed in Japan and refined to become the UNESCO standard scheme that was transformed to 22 different countries. In 1983, photos and videos of a tsunami in the Japan Sea revealed many faces of tsunami such as soliton fission and edge bores. The 1993 tsunami devastated a town protected by seawalls 4.5 m high. This experience introduced again the idea of comprehensive countermeasures, consisted of defense structure, tsunami-resistant town development and evacuation based on warning.

1. Introduction

The 2004 Sumatra Earthquake and Indian Ocean Tsunami gave us a vivid description of menace of major tsunamis. It also suggested that tsunami science and engineering were inevitable to save human society, industries, and natural environment.

An answer can be found in Japan. Japan is the country the most frequently hit by tsunamis in the world. The experiences are well documented and are continued as the local legends. In 1896, the tsunami science started when the Meiji Great Sanriku Tsunami claimed 22,000 lives. An idea of comprehensive countermeasures was officially introduced after the 1933 Showa Great Sanriku Tsunami. The major works taken after this tsunami, however, were the relocation of dwelling houses to high ground and tsunami forecasting that started in 1941. The 1960 Chilean Tsunami opened the way to the tsunami engineering by elaborating coastal structures for tsunami defense. The 1983 Japan Sea Earthquake Tsunami that occurred during a fine daytime cleared the veil of actual tsunamis. The 1993 Hokkaido Nansei-Oki Earthquake Tsunami led to the practical comprehensive tsunami disaster prevention used at present, in which three components, defense structures, tsunami-resistant town development and evacuation based on warning are combined.

The present paper briefs the history of tsunami research in Japan that supports countermeasures.

2. Before the 1933 Showa Great Sanriku Tsunami

On December 23rd, 1854, the Ansei-Tokai Earthquake occurred at the east side of the Kii Peninsula. On the next day, the Ansei-Nankai Earthquake followed at the west side of the Peninsula. The two earthquakes generated tsunamis that gave heavy damages in the wide area. The height of tsunami was 5 m on an average with locally high value of 10 m. After this tsunami, a coastal dike was built at Hiro village in Wakayama Prefecture at the private expense of a local influential person who became world-widely well known as the hero of “The Fire of Rice Sheaves”, a story used in the public education after the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami. The construction of coastal dike was quite rare before 1960.

At night on June 15th, 1896, the Meiji Great Sanriku Tsunami hit the pacific coast of the north-eastern Japan, called as the Sanriku Region. The highest tsunami run-up height was 38 m at Ryori Shirahama in Iwate Prefecture. The earthquake was a typical “tsunami earthquake” that had negligibly weak ground shaking, and therefore, no residents tried to evacuate. This resulted in the death toll of 22,000. The economic damage amounted to about 10% of the national budget of those days. After this tsunami, several villages were relocated to high ground at private expenses of individual person or village leaders.

A research group of earthquake, the Council on Earthquake Disaster Prevention (CEDP) of the Ministry of Education had been established 5 years ago, after the 1891 Nobi Earthquake. In an article about the 1896 Meiji-Sanriku event published by the CEDP, earthquake was mentioned as one of forerunning phenomena of tsunami. After 1896, there was a hot academic debate about the generation mechanism of this tsunami. Because of the extremely weak ground shaking, many researchers doubted an earthquake but underwater eruption or landslide as the origin of the tsunami. The key to the solution was the tide records showing quite a long wave period. Only the large fault motion could explain the generation of such a long wave. In around 1910, researchers understood that a fault motion of earthquake was the cause of tsunami.

After the 1923 Kanto Earthquake that devastated the Tokyo Area, the central government fully led the restoration of the metropolis. At the same time, the central government and academic society participated in drafting countermeasures against earthquake and tsunami. The 1933 Showa Great Sanriku Tsunami was the first major tsunami under the modern knowledge and the modern system.

3. Age of the empirical total tsunami-mitigation from 1933 to 1960

In the early morning on March 3rd, 1933, 37 years after the Meiji event, another major tsunami struck the Sanriku Region. The maximum run-up height was 29 m at Ryori Shirahama. Most of coastal villages on the Sanriku Region suffered devastating damages again. Because the ground shaking was strong this time, many residents were awaken and evacuated to high ground; however, the death toll reached 3,000.

The CEDP proposed a total system of tsunami disaster mitigation three months later. 1) They listed the following 10 countermeasures with comments:

• Relocation of dwelling houses to high ground: This is the best measure against tsunami.
• Coastal dikes: Dikes against tsunamis may become too large, and financially impractical.
• Tsunami control forests: Vegetations may damp the power of tsunamis.
• Seawalls: These could be effective for smaller tsunamis.
• Tsunami-resistant areas: If the tsunami height is not so high in a busy quarter, solid concrete buildings are to be built in the front line of the area.
• Buffer zone: Dammed by structures, a tsunami inevitably increases its height. In order to receive the flooding thus amplified, rivers and low-lands are to be designated as buffer zone to be sacrificed.
• Evacuation routes: Roads to safe high ground are required for every village.
• Tsunami watch: Because it takes 20 minutes for a tsunami to arrive at the Sanriku coast, we may detect an approaching tsunami and prepare for it.
• Tsunami evacuation: The aged, children and weak should be evacuated to safe higher ground where they could wait for about one hour. Ships more than a few hundred meters offshore, should move farther offshore.
• Memorial events: Holding memorial services, erecting monuments, etc. may help keep events alive in people’s mind.

This idea proposed by researchers who worked in the field survey after the 1933 tsunami covers major necessary items in the tsunami prevention. It revived in 1997. See Section 7.

The central government made the restoration plan based on the above proposal. The basic policy was that cities could be restored at the original location surrounded by sea walls but the tsunami-resistant areas and buffer zones should be prepared, and fishing villages should be basically relocated to high ground.

In 1941, a tsunami warning organization was founded for the Sanriku coast. A tsunami forecasting chart was drafted empirically. By the Meteorological Business Act enacted in 1952, the forecasting system was made to cover the whole coast of Japan.

4. Impact of the 1960 Chilean Tsunami

4.1. chilean tsunami and research of far-field tsunamis.

On May 23rd, 1960 (in Japanese local time), an earthquake occurred off Chilean coast. The tsunami generated by the earthquake attacked the Japanese coast on the next morning. Coastal residents in Japan did not feel any ground shaking. The Japan Metrological Agency did not issue a tsunami warning. Thus, the residents were suddenly attacked by the tsunami. Among the Japanese Pacific coast from Hokkaido to Okinawa, the Sanriku Region was the most seriously damaged. The economic damage was 2.2% of the national budget of those days.

The wave period of the 1960 Chilean Tsunami was from 40 minutes to 1 hour, longer than that of near-field tsunamis that was usually 5 to 20 minutes. Its initial profile in the direction to Japan had the wave length longer than 700 km. Even if short components were included in the initial profile, they were more easily scattered by or trapped around islands and sea mounts during the travel over the Pacific Ocean. In addition, short components retarded due to dispersion effect and then long components arrived first.

The tsunami height, 3 to 6 m, was not so high in comparison of such near-field tsunami as the Meiji and Showa Tsunamis.

In order to judge whether the dispersion effect is non-negligible for a far-field tsunami or not, Kajiura theoretically introduced a criterion. 2) On assuming that an initial waveform is simply parabolic or rectangular, the non-dispersive theory, that is, a linear long wave theory is valid if (6 h /R) 1/3 ( a / h ) ≥ 4 is satisfied, where h is the water depth, a the horizontal scale of a tsunami source in the direction of propagation and R the distance to the tsunami source. Judged with this criterion, the linear long wave theory including the Coriolis force and dispersion effect expressed with longitude-latitude coordinates is used for the Chilean Tsunami. Imamura et al. numerically simulated the Chilean tsunami with this conclusion. 3)

Kajiura 2) also discussed the energy transfer from the sea bottom to the water in relation to the duration of the bottom movement. If the duration is less than several minutes, the deformation may be considered to be abrupt as far as the tsunami is concerned. However, if the movement is completed in a few second, the energy transferred to the compressional water waves might be larger than the tsunami energy.

His theoretical results are broadly known as the basis of the current tsunami research.

4.2. Chilean Tsunami countermeasures

Shore protection works started in 1950 and were legally authorized under the Seashore Act enacted in 1956. The Act stipulated to embody “the Standards on Construction of Shore Protection Facilities” that worked out in 1958.

In 1959, the Ise Bay typhoon generated a storm surge with the amplitude of 3.5 m at Nagoya port. This storm surge yielded the most serious damages to Nagoya area. This resulted in the death toll of 5,000 and the economic damage of about 9% of the national budget. Coastal embankments made of soil with solid covers only on the seaside surface were completely washed away by overflowing sea water. After this experience, the design standard was revised. Three surfaces (seaward slope, landward slope and crown) of soil embankment should be armored by concrete.

By the Chilean Tsunami, serious damage occurred in the areas that had been believed safe for the past near-field tsunamis. A good example is the area at the bottom of the Ofunato Bay, Iwate Prefecture. This area was hazardless for the past near-field tsunami and was being developed as the industrial and urbanized areas. The long Ofunato Bay became resonant to long wave period of the Chilean Tsunami, producing the largest inundation at the bottom of the bay. The response of bays in the Sanriku Region to the near- and far-field tsunamis was first cited by Watanabe. 4) Figure 1 shows the distinct difference in amplification characteristics between the near-field tsunami (the 1933 event, white circles) and the far-field tsunami (the 1960 Chilean Tsunami, black circles).

Relative run-up height at the bottom of a bay in Sanriku region; T 0 = period of natural oscillation of a bay, η x 1 = maximum run-up height at the bottom of a bay, η x 2 = maximum run-up height at the mouth of a bay (From Watanabe 4) ).

Major defense countermeasures after this tsunami consisted mainly of the construction of seawalls and coastal dikes, because the tsunami height was 5–6 m at most. Seawalls were made of concrete and coastal dikes had front, top and back covered with concrete, applying the experience of the Ise Bay typhoon.

It should be mentioned that the first tsunami breakwater was constructed at the mouth of the Ofunato Bay, where the maximum water depth was 38 m. The effect of this breakwater was investigated through numerical simulation. This was the first stage of computer in the tsunami science and engineering.

In addition, it should also be mentioned that an international cooperation of tsunami warning was started after the Chilean Tsunami.

In 1968 when all urgent Chilean Tsunami defense countermeasures were completed, the Tokachi-Oki Earthquake Tsunami struck Hokkaido and Sanriku Region. Fortunately, its tsunami height was not higher than the crown height of just completed structures, and there were no damages. But unfortunately, many person including coastal residents became to believe that there would be no threat of tsunami in the future, forgetting such huge tsunamis as the Meiji and Showa events.

5. Development of numerical simulation and the TIME project

Mansinha and Smylie developed a way to calculate the initial profile of a tsunami from fault parameters in 1971. 5) With this initial condition, a numerical tsunami simulation can be started, but the simulation should cover a wide area and be continued for a long time. Progress in the ability of computer since late 1970s assisted the development of tsunami numerical simulation.

In order to obtain reliable solutions, a simulation should be carried out without any instability and within allowable numerical errors. The stability is ensured by the CFL (Courant-Friedrichs-Lewy) condition that the artificially introduced propagation velocity Δx/Δt should not be smaller than the physical wave celerity of long waves.

In 1982, Goto and Ogawa proposed a numerical method to solve a near-field tsunami from its source to the final run-up on land with the hydrodynamic wave equations in the Eulerian description. 6) , 7) They used the linear long wave theory in the deep sea and the shallow-water wave theory in the shallow sea and on land. Their difference equations assume the staggered grid in space with the upwind scheme for the convection term and the leap-frog explicit scheme in time. A moving boundary condition necessarily introduced because of the Eulerian description is another source of instability and numerical errors.

The conditions to limit numerical errors in the Goto-Ogawa scheme are given by Shuto et al. 8) and more thoroughly by Imamura and Goto 9) in relation to local wave length, by Goto and Shuto 10) in relation to the moving boundary condition as well as by Fujima and Shigemura 11) in relation to the local bottom topography.

This scheme is used as the basis of the JMA tsunami numerical forecasting that began in 1999. 12)

Aida introduced two measures, K and κ, in order to judge whether or not a simulation gives satisfactory run-up heights. 13) The measure K is a geometric mean of the ratio of the measured run-up height to the computed, and κ is the corresponding standard deviation. If K falls between 1.2 and 0.8 and κ is less than 1.4, the simulation is judged satisfactorily carried out.

During the IDNDR (International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction) in 1990s, the tsunami committee of IUGG (International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics) and IOC/UNESCO carried out the TIME (Tsunami Inundation Modeling Exchange) project, by which the Goto-Ogawa’s TUNAMI (Tohoku University’s Numerical Analysis Model for Inundation) code had been transferred to organizations and countries that needed the numerical technique. The TIME project is still working under the supervision of Prof. Imamura, Tohoku University. The code was transferred to 43 organizations in 22 countries. It is used to predict tsunami damages and to produce hazard maps.

6. The 1983 Japan Sea Earthquake Tsunami

Just at noon, on May 26th, 1983, an earthquake occurred in the Japan Sea. It was a quite fine day, without wind and wind waves. In the Japan Sea, the tidal range is small. Under these conditions, if there were some abnormal sea phenomena, all of them were caused by the tsunami. Many persons witnessed the tsunami, recorded it by photos and videos. These data were energetically collected and analyzed to reveal the true face of the tsunami. 14)

The two facts gave impact to the tsunami research. One is the reliability of tide records and the other is necessity of the dispersion terms that are neglected in the analysis of near-field tsunamis regarded as a matter of course.

Tide gauges are designed to cut such short period oscillation as wind waves, the wave height of which is much bigger than that of tide. To avoid this disturbance, installed is a hydraulic filter consisted of a narrow and long conduit pipe. This hydraulic filter also acted to reduce much the tsunami records of near-shore origin. Satake et al. conducted a thorough survey of all the tide gauge stations in Japan and proposed the way to obtain the true tsunami from the filtered tide record. 15) Figure 2 shows the comparisons of the original tide gage records (solid lines) and the corrected waveforms (dotted lines). Fortunately, in the case of the 1960 Chilean Tsunami, this hydraulic filter was not effective due to the long wave period of the far-field tsunami.

The tide gage records of the 1983 Japan Sea Earthquake Tsunami (solid line) and the corrected waveforms for the tide gage response (dotted line) (From Satake et al. 15) ).

Another impact was the generation and development of a train of short waves at the tsunami front. The wave period of each wave is nearly 10 seconds, similar to wind waves. This phenomenon, so-called “soliton fission” was observed and recorded on a video. In the linear long wave theory and the shallow-water equations used in the tsunami numerical simulation, the vertical acceleration of water particle is assumed to be negligible. To include the effect of curvature of water particle path, a higher-order approximation is necessary, such as the Peregrine equation, the Goto equation 16) and the Madsen-Sørensen equation. Iwase et al. 17) and Iwase et al. 18) concluded that the integrated Peregrine equation or Madsen-Sørensen equation was appropriate for tsunami numerical simulation. Shigihara and Fujima showed the characteristics of several schemes theoretically and recommended an implicit scheme to solve the dispersive long wave equations without any instability. 19)

7. The 1993 Hokkaido Nansei-Oki Earthquake Tsunami and the modern comprehensive disaster prevention

7.1. revival of the comprehensive counter-measure planning.

At night on July 12th, 1993, an earthquake off west coast of Hokkaido generated a tsunami. The southernmost area of Okushiri Island was completely devastated by the tsunami, even though the area was protected by seawalls constructed after the 1983 Japan Sea Earthquake Tsunami. The crown height of seawalls was 4.5 m above sea water level, and the tsunami height was estimated to be over 11 m. This fact called for serious reflection to the conventional method after 1960 that relied mainly on structures.

In 1997, “A Guidance on Reinforcement of Tsunami Disaster Prevention Countermeasures in Local Disaster Prevention Planning” was agreed by National Land Agency and other six government offices concerned tsunami disaster prevention planning. 20) There are two points to be mentioned.

The first is the selection of the design tsunami. One candidate is the largest past tsunami from which credible materials can be obtained, and another is the possible tsunamis caused by the largest earthquake that can be supposed to occur based on present knowledge and science. After comparing both tsunamis, one with the higher water level on coast is selected as the standard tsunami to ensure safety insofar as possible.

The second is the combination of three components; defense structure, tsunami-resistant town development and evacuation based on warning, in an improved and revised form of those proposed by CEDP 1) in 1933.

7.2. 2D/3D hybrid simulation

The highest run-up was found at the bottom of a narrow valley on the west coast of Okushiri Island. At the entrance of the valley 50 m wide, the tsunami trace height was about 22 m, and the maximum run-up 31 m high was marked at a horizontal distance 50 m from the entrance. In this case, it is obvious that the assumption of long waves is no longer valid.

This accelerates the introduction of 2D/3D hybrid simulation; two-dimensional (2D) long wave equations for wide areas and three dimensional (3D) original wave equations for the area where vertical acceleration should be fully taken into consideration. If applied to the case of Okushiri Island, the two-dimensional simulation outside the valley is continued to the three-dimensional simulation in the valley in the neighborhood of the valley entrance.

The method of Fujima et al. 21) and the STOC (Storm surge and Tsunami in Oceans and Coastal areas) code developed by Tomita et al. 22) are typical 2D/3D hybrid simulation. Not only in run-up simulation but also in computation to simulate the deformation and destruction of structure, the idea of 2D/3D hybrid is now used enthusiastically to develop new numerical methods such as SPH (Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics), DEM (Discrete Element Method), and so on.

8. Other research topics

8.1. tsunami hazard map and cg animation in public education.

In order to make coastal residents recognize the tsunami risk, a useful means is tsunami hazard maps for the past tsunamis and the possible tsunamis in future. After the 1990s, many local governments have been publishing tsunami hazard maps, prepared with the numerical methods described above.

Cabinet Office et al. published “A Manual of Tsunami and Storm Surge Hazard Map” in 2004. 23) This manual recommends hazard map not only for residents but also for companies and fishermen.

Katada et al. introduced “moving hazard maps” in which every resident’s action is expressed as the movement of dot, being connected with the motion of the expected tsunami. 24) This gives a clear image of quick evacuation that can save many lives.

One of quite powerful means in public education is three-dimensional CG animations. Many coastal residents who know a huge tsunami in the past only as a tale become to recognize the natural threat and prepare for it at their own initiative.

8.2. Damage assessment and large scale hydraulic experiment

A rough estimate of damage caused by the past tsunamis was given in terms of tsunami intensity. 25) In order to obtain more detailed estimates, knowledge based upon theoretical and experimental consideration is required.

For example, damage to houses is caused not only by tsunami force but also by impact of drifted lumbers and boats. Matsutomi obtained a formula to evaluate the impact of lumbers as a result of large scale experiments. 26)

After the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, many examples were collected for coastal forests that might damp the tsunami power. In case of Japan, limit and effectiveness of pine forests is given. 27) Harada and Imamura introduced an equation to assess more quantitatively and be applicable to other kind of forests. 28)

Large scale hydraulic experiments are being carried out in many institutes and laboratories. Arikawa et al. conducted the experiments on deformation and destruction of a concrete slab and a framework of steel materials using their prototype wave channel. 29) Prior to Arikawa’s experiments, Asakura et al. carried out experiments on wave force by overflowing tsunamis. 30) Another example is Ikeno et al. ’s work that concerns the wave force of soliton on land. 31) Interesting is a human-related hydraulic experiment. Nishihata et al. measured the walking ability in an open channel flow, and discussed the possibility of evacuation if a man is caught by water flow. 32)

8.3. Tsunami archeology

After the 1980s, investigation on tsunami deposit was started. 33) Historical literatures tell us the events only in recent 1,000 years. With geological data, we can know events in prehistoric age. Sawai et al. succeeded to excavate geologically recorded tsunamis during the past 5,500 years in eastern Hokkaido. 34) This technique is being applied in countries where tsunami occurrence is rare and no documents are available.

8.4. Initial profile

The biggest problem we have to solve in the near future is the detailed profile of a tsunami when it is born.

When seismological data were not available, the inversion propagation method was used to determine the source area and rough estimate of the distribution of vertical displacement. For example, see Hatori. 35)

In case of the 1983 Japan Sea Earthquake Tsunami, Tanaka et al . obtained a profile with the Mansinha-Smylie method from fault parameters. The highest vertical rise was 1.5 m ( Fig. 3a ). 36) Aida carried out tsunami simulation and found that this rise was not enough to explain the tsunami measured and observed along the shore. 37) After several trials, he concluded that the highest rise of 4 m ( Fig. 3b ) was necessary to simulate well the measured data.

Initial tsunami profiles obtained by Tanaka et al. 36) and by Aida. 37)

When the Mansinha-Smylie is used, it is assumed that the fault motion is homogeneous in a fault plane. Satake introduced an inversion method to estimate heterogeneous fault motion, by using tide records. 38) This idea, if combined with the asperity model in seismology, may become a good tool in estimating the initial tsunami profile of large fault movement.

For the further development, inevitable is the accumulation of tsunami records near the tsunami source. The 2003 Tokachi-Oki Earthquake Tsunami was recorded by a tsunami gauge of pressure type just in the source area, as the first case of the tsunami birth. On November 5th, 2004, an earthquake occurred off Kii Peninsula. A tsunami was generated and recorded on a GPS tsunami gauge installed at the water depth of 100 m, 23 km offshore. The computed tsunami with the initial profile estimated by the Mansinha-Smylie method agreed very well with the recorded. 39)

9. Concluding remarks

So many vivid videos and data were taken in 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami. Those gave tsunami researchers various suggestions. However, the researchers who are going to use data of Indian Ocean Tsunami often face difficulties. Because some videos recorded the local event occurred nearby video-men, and those do not give a total information of the tsunami. In addition, there are some areas where accurate chart and map are not available.

Among recent tsunamis, the 1983 Japan Sea Earthquake Tsunami is the treasure house of actual faces of tsunami. In the 1983 event, several tsunami features were looked down from hills and airplanes, and they were recorded in videos and photos. Most of them are vividly shown in a video edited and published by NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation, Japan).

Both the 1983 Japan Sea Earthquake Tsunami and the 1993 Hokkaido Nansei-Oki Earthquake Tsunami were surveyed very accurately and in details. The latter was used as the data for an international bench mark test, in which many modelers competed to show the superiority of their numerical model. In order to support such competition, there is other necessary condition, that is, good charts and good maps are extremely important. Both are often lacked in many developing countries. However, in Japan, the Hydrographic Department of the Japan Coast Guard completed detailed bathymetric maps after the 1983 event. Accurate land maps are available from the Geographic Survey Institute.

Tsunami research has been developing in Japan, because the country suffers tsunami disaster frequently in comparison with other countries. That is why the tsunami research is of great importance in Japan. Basic materials such as bathymetric charts for the research easily obtained, and the seed and hint of the research can be found in well-filed documents and records.

Home Essay Examples Geography Japan

Tsunami As The Most Dangerous Natural Disaster In Japan

• Category Geography
• Subcategory Asia
• Topic Japan

On March 11, 2011, a 9.0 magnitude earthquake hit Japan at 2:46 pm. It continued for 3 minutes and is the greatest earthquake recorded in Japan. As a result, a massive tsunami around the height of 38m equivalent to a 12 story building flooded more than 517km² of Japan’s coast. The epicentre was located 130km off of Sendai Honshu, 32km below the sea. An estimated 28,000 people died with 90% of them drowning. According to national geographic, the water cascaded in a 5.5m sea wall which is also the deepest sea wall in the world. In the Naka River, the current of the water moved upstream. Consequently, all the water washed cars houses trees and countless other rubble away. The coastline of Sendai Honshu subsided about 1.5m. the land also shifted a few metres from its original place. In Fukushima, the waves corrupted the power supply of the nuclear generators.

Tsunamis are created by underwater earthquakes on the ocean floor. The earthquake creates a disturbance in the ocean and creates a wave. Waves start to build up as the reach the land and can travel up to the speed of a jet plane. The waters from the shore slow retract from the shores as the wave hits the coastline. The waves can create great damage.

Our writers can write you a new plagiarism-free essay on any topic

When the tsunami hit, it immediately destroyed buildings and washed away cars. The flooding contaminated the food supply and other human necessities. Majority of the population had no clean water or electricity. Many people had lost their lives. About 28,000 people died or were missing and 90% of deaths were from drowning. The area of Fukushima had a nuclear emergency and residents had to evacuate. To this day, about 52,000 evacuees are still living in temporary housing although the majority have bought or build new houses.

After the tsunami occurred, the Japanese governments established a contingency plan to help the population rebuild. One of the most important parts of the plan is designated evacuation sites for people. These sites are used to shelter people who have fled their homes because of a natural disaster. The government also created systems for different people with different needs. The system has different levels of housing damage which will sort residents into a more suitable home. For example, if a resident’s house has been completely damaged then they get to use the support fund which will replace, repair or lease a house for them. Government-funded temporary housing also gets bigger and residents can stay for even longer.

People from around the world started donating money and aid after hearing about the devastating tsunami. Many people gave donations and created fundraising to donate to organisations. The AAR Japan set up temporary housing and donated food and necessities within one day of the tsunami. On March 15th, 2011, the Direct Relief donated $15 million and an additional $600,000. On April 25th, 2011, JACL and Direct Relief gave an additional $1 million to those who still needed help.

The responses had a major impact on Japan and its people. The government and their contingency plan helped the residents and also will prevent another tragedy because of a tsunami. Without the temporary housing, many of the residents would be left without homes or shelter to live it. Many of the residents would not be able to get new houses, build or repair if they did not get help from temporary housing and the government. Without donations, the economy would not be able to restart again. Residents would not be able to get food, water or necessities if they weren’t donated.

After the earthquake occurred, the tsunami warnings were not properly managed or sent out. Although the earthquake warning worked perfectly fine, there was a large power outage after the earthquake hit. This because the cables weren’t strong enough. The tsunami warnings did not reach to the residents living in the coastal areas or people who have left their homes already. Despite the 30 – 60 minutes time the residents had to evacuate after the earthquake, the radios and TVs did not display the warning in time. In the future, Japan needs to upgrade its warning and alert system. They need more durable electrical systems that can be able to withstand earthquakes. Stronger radios and emergency connections need to be built so everyone is aware of the tsunami warning. Schools and public places need to be informed of the evacuation plan beforehand. Doings theses things will stop another preventable tragedy from happening.

We have 98 writers available online to start working on your essay just NOW!

Related Topics

Related essays.

By clicking "Send essay" you agree to our Terms of service and Privacy statement . We will occasionally send you account related emails.

By clicking "Receive essay" you agree to our Terms of service and Privacy statement . We will occasionally send you account related emails.

We can edit this one and make it plagiarism-free in no time

We use cookies to give you the best experience possible. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy .

Essay on Tsunami for Students and Children

500+ words essay on tsunami.

Tsunami is a phenomenon where a series of strong waves that are responsible for the surge in water sometimes reach the heights in many meters. This is a natural disaster that is caused due to the volcano eruption in the ocean beds. Also, a phenomenon like landslides and earthquakes contributes to reasons for a tsunami. Like other natural disasters, the impact of the tsunami is also huge. It has been seen throughout history how disastrous the tsunami is. The essay on tsunami talks about various factors that contribute to the tsunami and the damage it causes to mankind. 

Essay on Tsunami

The disaster that is caused due to waves generated in the ocean because of the earthquake and whose main point is under the water is known as ‘Tsunami’. Also, the term tsunami is associated with tidal waves. Thus, a tsunami is also called as the series of ocean waves that have a very long wavelength. Because of the tsunami, there are strong waves of water is formed and this moves landwards. So, this causes inland movement of water which is very high and lasts for a long time. Thus, the impact of these waves is also very high. 

Greeks were the first people on Earth to claim the effects of the tsunami. They claim that tsunami is just like land earthquakes. Also, the only difference between tsunami and earthquake is that tsunami is caused in oceans. Thus, the scale and ferocity of the tsunami are almost impossible to control. 

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

The History of Tsunami

The highest ever recorded tsunami was on 9th July 1958 in the record books. It took place in a bay which was located in the ligula bay along the coasts of Alaska. After the quake, a massive mass of rock fell into the bay waters from the cliff nearby. Thus, this created an impact and produced a wave that reached a height of 524 meters. Also, this is regarded as one of the highest recorded tsunami waves ever. 

The destructive waves responsible for the occurrence of tsunami is also produced in waters of bays or lakes. As this water approached the coast, it grows larger. However, the size of this wave is very low in deep-sea areas. Tsunami waves that are generated in the lakes or bays do not travel for a long distance. Thus, they are not as destructive as the ones produced in the ocean waters. There are various directions in which tsunami can travel from the main point. 

One similar devastating tsunami was experienced in India in 2004. However, the origin of this tsunami was located near Indonesia. Because of the tsunami, it was expected that a total of 2 lakh people lost their lives. The waves traveled extensively thousands of kilometers in countries like Thailand, India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and the Maldives. 

Tsunamis occur mainly in the Pacific Ocean. There are very chances that they take place in the area where there are larger bodies. Coastlines and open bays next to very deep waters may help tsunami further into a step-like wave. 

Customize your course in 30 seconds

Which class are you in.

• Travelling Essay
• Picnic Essay
• Our Country Essay
• My Parents Essay
• Essay on Favourite Personality
• Essay on Memorable Day of My Life
• Essay on Knowledge is Power
• Essay on Gurpurab
• Essay on My Favourite Season
• Essay on Types of Sports

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Download the App

We use cookies to enhance our website for you. Proceed if you agree to this policy or learn more about it.

• Essay Database >
• Essay Examples >
• Essays Topics >
• Essay on Disaster

Tsunami In Japan And Fukushima Nuclear Accident Essay Samples

Type of paper: Essay

Topic: Disaster , Accident , Authority , Nature , Japan , Economics , Environment , Atomic Bomb

Published: 03/17/2020

ORDER PAPER LIKE THIS

{Author Name [first-name middle-name-initials last-name]} {Institution Affiliation [name of Author’s institute]}

Social, economic and environmental effects of Fukushima Nuclear Accident

The year 2011 has been a year of extensive natural environmental disaster. Not only the Japanese Earthquake and consequent Tsunami have caused destruction, the following incident of Fukushima nuclear power reactors affected and implied a societal and economic disaster. A big question is that how Japan will fully recover from this environmental, social, agricultural as well as economic calamity? Destroyed buildings, ruined farmlands, collapsed economy and the threat of nuclear radiation in the air, how long it will affect the Japanese population (Hasegawa, 2013). The double disaster smacked the Tohoku region of Japan and caused a gigantic human dislocation in March 2011. Hydrogen explosions and nuclear meltdowns in Fukushima Nuclear Power plant occurred due to the loss of power supply after Tsunami. According to a report of IDDRI, (Hasegawa, 2013) more than 400,000 people had to vacate their homes, out of which 47% evacuation was caused by nuclear leak from Fukushima. The various reports concluded that the reaction of Japanese authorities and population were considerably diverse between a natural disaster and a man-made catastrophe (Hasegawa, 2013). This life-threatening disaster was so unpredictable that taking an immediate action for authorities was a difficult task. Several shortcomings were noticed after the incident. According to IDDRI report that the urgent situation did not give authorities enough time to get prepared. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) rated this at level 7 (which is maximum) on the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale (INES) defined as the largest nuclear disaster (Hasegawa, 2013).

Pre and post accident challenges and how to deal with them?

The post-accident rescue and management measures of latest natural catastrophe in Japan, which involve the cost of smashed reactors and compensation for the nuclear evacuees, are expected to be more than €200 billion. After an immense social, economic and environmental loss, it is time to think strongly to avoid such devastating incidences in the future, be it natural or industrial (Hasegawa, 2013). Strict guidelines and rules should be designed by the governments and international authorities to avoid such manmade disasters in the future, because these radioactive accidents not only affect the country, but the whole environment (Hogan & Burstein, 2007). A permanent committee should be planned to deal with issues concerning nuclear power in order to supervise the regulators and to assure the safety of the people. The suggested responsibilities for such committees are: 1- Setting of an advisory board that consists of independent experts with a global perspective, for the knowledge update of the committee while dealing with regulators,

2- Performing customary investigations and descriptive inquiries of regulatory agencies and stakeholders,

3-Keeping investigations continue on other applicable issues and make frequent reports on their actions and the implementation of the recommendations by advisory. (Matin, 2014) The risk discernment prior to the catastrophe played a key role in determining the consequences at the time of the crisis. Implementation of novel technologies like the global positioning system (GPS) can be applied for the prediction of tsunamis and earthquakes (Howell, 2014). It is necessary for the companies that plan to deal in nuclear technologies that they should only employ highly trained and qualified people. Prominently, an aspiring nuclear power country requires pre-planning an adequate and self-governing regulatory structure before establishing a nuclear construction program (Schneider, Froggatt & Thomas, 2012). Post-disaster challenges are also big, and it is the responsibility of all countries to solve them together as it impacts the whole ecology. Recently radioactive material from Japan was detected at some locations near North America and Europe, which was transported through oceanic currents. Although, the level of radiation dose in such garbage is sufficiently low to affect human health, but it directs toward a need of proper clean-up after incidents (Schneider, Froggatt & Thomas, 2012). Effective avoidance of health hazards caused by radiation exposure requires the development of competent and economical methods for decontamination of radioactive waste water and aquatic ecosystems (Hogan & Burstein, 2007).

References:

Hasegawa, R. (2013). Disaster Evacuation from Japan’s 2011 Tsunami Disaster and the Fukushima Nuclear Accident. IDDRI, Sciences Po Re port, (5), 1-54. Howell, E. (2014). GPS Could Issue Tsunami Alert in Minutes. Retrieved 26 November 2014, from http://www.livescience.com/34600-gps-tsunami-alerts.html Matin, A. (2014, April 30). Avoid 'man-made' nuclear disasters!. Thedailystar.net. Retrieved 27 November 2014, from http://www.thedailystar.net/print_post/avoid-man-made-nuclear- disasters-22169 Schneider, M., Froggatt, A., & Thomas, S. (2012). Nuclear Power in a Post-Fukushima World. Worldwatch Institute. Hogan, D. E., & Burstein, J. L. (Eds.). (2007). Disaster medicine. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

Cite this page

Share with friends using:

Removal Request

Finished papers: 476

This paper is created by writer with

ID 267180765

If you want your paper to be:

Well-researched, fact-checked, and accurate

Original, fresh, based on current data

Eloquently written and immaculately formatted

275 words = 1 page double-spaced

Get your papers done by pros!

Other Pages

Absurd critical thinkings, spell critical thinkings, cloud critical thinkings, meter critical thinkings, conversion critical thinkings, suppression critical thinkings, bath critical thinkings, harbor critical thinkings, social issues thesis statements, cover song essays, predominance essays, monitoring program essays, sexiness essays, sidereal day essays, litt essays, kanter essays, john smith essays, gavin essays, cadaverous essays, sextet essays, wonderer essays, ornette coleman essays, school of music essays, magic number essays, crowns essays, resin essays, luting essays, esthetic essays, calley essays, william calley essays, arcadia essays, example of preparation for research paper type directly on this proposal argumentative essay, example of five business requirements of the users include the following case study, example of social justice essay, sample term paper on banking regulation in canadian big five banks, good the plague essay example, red iphone covers market report for joinred literature review example, the media according to neil postman essay example, ace hardware essay example, architecture and disjunction article review, example of food pantry for needy college students literature review, free objection essay sample, good example of household food insecurity and food banks among low income toronto article review.

Password recovery email has been sent to [email protected]

Use your new password to log in

You are not register!

By clicking Register, you agree to our Terms of Service and that you have read our Privacy Policy .

Now you can download documents directly to your device!

Check your email! An email with your password has already been sent to you! Now you can download documents directly to your device.

or Use the QR code to Save this Paper to Your Phone

The sample is NOT original!

Short on a deadline?

Don't waste time. Get help with 11% off using code - GETWOWED

No, thanks! I'm fine with missing my deadline

Japan issues evacuation advisory for Okinawa areas after earthquake, tsunami

The Reuters Daily Briefing newsletter provides all the news you need to start your day. Sign up here.

Reporting by Rocky Swift, Kantaro Komiya, Kaori Kaneko; Editing by Himani Sarkar and Chang-Ran Kim

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. , opens new tab

Russia says Ukraine tried to strike nuclear power plant again with drone

Russia said on Monday that Ukraine had endangered European nuclear security by attacking the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station with a drone which was shot down over a reactor.

Swedish authorities have ordered the expulsion of a Chinese journalist, accusing her of posing a serious threat to national security, a lawyer representing the woman said on Monday.

Strong Taiwan Quake Kills 9, Injures Hundreds

The earthquake was the most powerful to hit the island in 25 years. Dozens of people remained trapped, and many buildings were damaged, with the worst centered in the city of Hualien.

• Share full article

• Hualien, Taiwan A landslide after the quake. Lam Yik Fei for The New York Times
• New Taipei City, Taiwan Books flew off shelves as a home shook. @Abalamindo via Storyful
• Taipei, Taiwan Passengers waiting at a train station as some services were suspended. Chiang Ying-Ying/Associated Press
• Hualien, Taiwan People are rescued from a building that had partially collapsed. TVBS via Associated Press
• Hualien, Taiwan Firefighters rescuing trapped residents from a building. CTI News via Reuters
• Taipei, Taiwan Students evacuated to a school courtyard after the earthquake. Lam Yik Fei for The New York Times
• Guishan Island, Taiwan Rocks tumbling down one side of an island popular for hiking. Lavine Lin via Reuters
• Hualien, Taiwan A building leaned to one side after the quake. Randy Yang via Associated Press
• Ishigaki, Okinawa, Japan Watching news on a rooftop of a hotel after a tsunami warning. Chang W. Lee/The New York Times
• Hualien, Taiwan Motorbikes damaged in the quake. TVBS via Associated Press
• New Taipei City, Taiwan Damage in an apartment Fabian Hamacher/Reuters
• New Taipei City, Taiwan Water cascading down a building during the quake. Wang via Reuters

Meaghan Tobin and Victoria Kim

Here’s what you need to know about the earthquake.

Taiwan was rocked Wednesday morning by the island’s strongest earthquake in a quarter century, a magnitude 7.4 tremor that killed at least nine people, injured more than 800 others and trapped dozens of people.

The heaviest damage was in Hualien County on the island’s east coast, a sleepy, scenic area prone to earthquakes. Footage from the aftermath showed a 10-story building there partially collapsed and leaning heavily to one side, from which residents emerged through windows and climbed down ladders, assisted by rescuers. Three hikers were killed after being hit by falling rocks on a hiking trail in Taroko National Park, according to the county government.

By late afternoon, officials said rescue efforts were underway to try to rescue 127 people who were trapped, many of them on hiking trails in Hualien.

One building in Changhua County, on the island’s west coast, collapsed entirely. The quake was felt throughout Taiwan and set off at least nine landslides, sending rocks tumbling onto Suhua Highway in Hualien, according to local media reports. Rail services were halted at one point across the island.

The earthquake, with an epicenter off Taiwan’s east coast, struck during the morning commute, shortly before 8 a.m. Taiwanese authorities said by 3 p.m., more than 100 aftershocks, many of them stronger than magnitude 5, had rumbled through the area.

In the capital, Taipei, buildings shook for over a minute from the initial quake. Taiwan is at the intersection of the Philippine Sea tectonic plate and the Eurasian plate, making it vulnerable to seismic activity. Hualien sits on multiple active faults, and 17 people died in a quake there in 2018.

Here is the latest:

The earthquake hit Taiwan as many people there were preparing to travel for Tomb Sweeping Day, a holiday across the Chinese-speaking world when people mourn the dead and make offerings at their graves. Officials warned the public to stay away from visiting tombs in mountain areas as a precaution, especially because rain was forecast in the coming days.

TSMC, the world’s biggest maker of advanced semiconductors, briefly evacuated workers from its factories but said a few hours later that they were returning to work. Chip production is highly precise, and even short shutdowns can cost millions of dollars.

Christopher Buckley

Lai Ching-te, Taiwan’s vice president, who is also its president-elect, visited the city of Hualien this afternoon to assess the destruction and the rescue efforts, a government announcement said. Mr. Lai, who will become president in May, said the most urgent tasks were rescuing trapped residents and providing medical care. Next, Mr. Lai said, public services must be restored, including transportation, water and power. He said Taiwan Railway’s eastern line could be reopened by Thursday night.

Meaghan Tobin

Taiwan’s fire department has updated its figures, reporting that nine people have died and 934 others have been injured in the quake. Fifty-six people in Hualien County remain trapped.

Shake intensity

Taiwan’s fire department reports that nine people have died and 882 others have been injured in Taiwan. In Hualien County, 131 people remain trapped.

Agnes Chang

Footage shows rocks tumbling down one side of Guishan Island, a popular spot for hiking known as Turtle Island, off the northeast coast of Taiwan. Officials said no fishermen or tourists were injured after the landslide.

The death toll has risen to nine, according to Taiwan government statistics.

Meaghan Tobin, Siyi Zhao

Officials in Taiwan warned residents to not visit their relatives' tombs, especially in the mountains, this weekend during the holiday, known as Ching Ming, meant to honor them. There had already been 100 aftershocks and the forecast called for rain, which could make travel conditions on damaged roads more treacherous.

Crews are working to reach people trapped on blocked roads. As of 1 p.m. local time, roads were impassable due to damage and fallen rock in 19 places, according to the Ministry of Transportation. At least 77 people remain trapped. A bridge before Daqingshui Tunnel appeared to have completely collapsed.

Taiwan’s worst rail disaster in decades — a train derailment in 2021 that killed 49 people — took place on the first day of the Tomb Sweeping holiday period that year, in the same region as the earthquake.

The earthquake hit Taiwan as many people here were preparing to travel for Tomb Sweeping Day, or Ching Ming, a day across the Chinese-speaking world when people mourn their dead, especially by making offerings at their graves. Now those plans will be disrupted for many Taiwanese.

The holiday weekend would typically see a spike in travel as people visit family across Taiwan. Currently, both rail transport and highways are blocked in parts of Hualien, said Transport Minister Wang Guo-cai. Work is underway to restore rail transportation in Hualien, and two-way traffic is expected to be restored at noon on Thursday, he said.

Taiwan’s preparedness has evolved in response to past quakes.

Taiwan’s earthquake preparedness has evolved over the past few decades in response to some of the island’s largest and most destructive quakes .

In the years after a 7.6 magnitude earthquake in central Taiwan killed nearly 2,500 people in 1999, the authorities established an urban search-and-rescue team and opened several emergency medical operation centers, among other measures .

And in 2018, after a quake in the eastern coastal city of Hualien killed 17 people and caused several buildings to partially collapse, the government ordered a wave of building inspections .

Taiwan has also been improving its early warning system for earthquakes since the 1980s. And two years ago, it rolled out new building codes that, among other things, require owners of vulnerable buildings to install ad-hoc structural reinforcements.

So how well prepared was Taiwan when a 7.4 magnitude quake struck near Hualien on Wednesday morning, killing at least seven people and injuring hundreds more?

Across the island, one building collapsed entirely, 15 others were in a state of partial collapse and another 67 were damaged, the island’s fire department said on Wednesday afternoon . Structural engineers could not immediately be reached for comment to assess that damage, or the extent to which building codes and other regulations might have either contributed to it or prevented worse destruction.

As for search-and-rescue preparedness, Taiwan is generally in very good shape, said Steve Glassey, an expert in disaster response who lives in New Zealand.

“ The skill sets, the capabilities, the equipment, the training is second to none,” said Dr. Glassey, who worked with Taipei’s urban search-and-rescue team during the response to a devastating 2011 earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand. “They’re a very sharp operation.”

But even the best urban search-and-rescue team will be stretched thin if an earthquake causes multiple buildings to collapse, Dr. Glassey said.

Taiwan has options for requesting international help with search-and-rescue efforts. It could directly ask another country, or countries, to send personnel. And if multiple teams were to get involved, it could ask the United Nations to help coordinate them, as it did after the 1999 earthquake.

Pierre Peron, a spokesman for the United Nations, said on Wednesday afternoon that no such request had yet been made as a result of the latest earthquake.

Meaghan Tobin contributed reporting.

At least seven people have died and 736 have been injured as a result of the earthquake, according to Taiwan’s fire department. Another 77 people remained trapped in Hualien County, many of them on hiking trails. Search and rescue operations are underway, said the fire department.

Aftershocks of magnitudes between 6.5 and 7 were likely to occur over the next three or four days, said Wu Chien-fu, director of the Taiwanese Central Weather Administration’s Seismology Center, at a news conference.

As of 2 p.m., 711 people had been injured across Taiwan, the fire department said, and 77 people in Hualien County remained trapped. The four who were known to have died were in Hualien.

Victoria Kim

Hualien County is a quiet and scenic tourist destination.

Hualien County on Taiwan’s east coast is a scenic, sleepy tourist area tucked away from the island’s urban centers, with a famous gorge and aquamarine waters. It also happens to sit on several active faults , making it prone to earthquakes.

The county has a population of about 300,000, according to the 2020 census, about a third of whom live in the coastal city of Hualien, the county seat. It is one of the most sparsely populated parts of Taiwan. About three hours by train from the capital, Taipei, the city describes itself as the first place on the island that’s touched by the sun.

Hualien County is home to Taroko National Park, one of Taiwan’s most popular scenic areas. Visitors come to explore the Taroko Gorge, a striated marble canyon carved by the Liwu River, which cuts through mountains that rise steeply from the coast. The city of Hualien is a popular destination as a gateway to the national park.

According to the state-owned Central News Agency, three hikers were trapped on a trail near the entrance to the gorge on Wednesday, after the quake sent rocks falling. Two of them were found dead, the news agency said. Administrators said many roads within the park had been cut off by the earthquake, potentially trapping hikers, according to the report.

Earthquakes have rattled Hualien with some regularity. In 2018, 17 people were killed and hundreds of others injured when a magnitude 6.5 quake struck just before midnight, its epicenter a short distance northeast of the city of Hualien.

Many of the victims in that quake were in a 12-story building that was severely tilted, the first four floors of which were largely crushed, according to news reports from the time. The next year, the area was shaken by a 6.1-magnitude earthquake that injured 17 people.

The area has some of the highest concentrations of Taiwan’s aboriginal population, with several of the island’s Indigenous tribes calling the county home .

The county government in Hualien released a list of people that had been hospitalized with injuries, which stood at 118 people as of midday Wednesday.

Across Taiwan, one building fell down entirely, in Changhua County on the west coast, and 15 buildings partially collapsed, Taiwan’s fire department said. Another 67 buildings were damaged. One of the partially collapsed structures was a warehouse in New Taipei City where four people were rescued, according to Taiwan’s Central News Agency. Another 12 were rescued at a separate New Taipei City building where the foundation sank into the ground.

Peggy Jiang, who manages The Good Kid, a children’s bookstore down the street from the partially collapsed Uranus Building in Hualien, said it was a good thing they had yet to open when the quake struck. The area is now blocked off by police and rescue vehicles. “Most people in Hualien are used to earthquakes,” she said. “But this one was particularly scary, many people ran in the street immediately afterward.”

Lin Jung, 36, who manages a shop selling sneakers in Hualien, said he had been at home getting ready to take his 16-month-old baby to a medical appointment when the earthquake struck. He said it felt at first like a series of small shocks, then “suddenly it turned to an intense earthquake shaking up and down.” The glass cover of a ceiling lamp fell and shattered. “All I could do was protect my baby.”

Chris Buckley ,  Paul Mozur ,  Meaghan Tobin and John Yoon

The earthquake damaged buildings and a highway in Hualien.

The magnitude 7.4 earthquake that struck Taiwan on Wednesday damaged many buildings and a major highway in Hualien, a city on the eastern coast, and it knocked out power as it rocked the island.

Across Taiwan, the quake and its aftershocks caused one building to completely collapse and 15 others to partially collapse, according to Taiwan’s fire department. Sixty-seven other buildings sustained damage.

Two tall buildings in Hualien that sustained particularly extensive damage were at the center of the rescue efforts there. Most damage across the city was not life-threatening, said Huang Hsuan-wan, a reporter for a local news site.

Where buildings were reported damaged in Hualien City

“A lot of roads were blocked off. There are a lot of walls toppled over onto cars,” Derik du Plessis, 44, a South African resident of Hualien, said shortly after the earthquake. He described people rushing around the city to check on their houses and pick up their children. One of his friends lost her house, he said.

One of the damaged buildings in Hualien, a 10-story structure called the Uranus Building that housed a mix of homes and shops, was tilted over and appeared to be on the verge of collapse. Many of its residents managed to flee, but some were missing, said Sunny Wang, a journalist based in the city. Rescuers were trying to reach the basement, concerned that people might be trapped there.

Photographs of the initial damage in Hualien showed another building, a five-story structure, leaning to one side, with crushed motorcycles visible at the ground-floor level. Bricks had fallen off another high-rise, leaving cracks and holes in the walls.

The quake also set off at least nine landslides on Suhua Highway in Hualien, according to Taiwan’s Central News Agency, which said part of the road had collapsed.

Taiwan’s fire department said four people had been killed in the earthquake.

Across Taiwan, 40 flights have been canceled or delayed because of the earthquake, according to Taiwan’s Central Emergency Operation Center.

President Tsai Ing-wen visited Taiwan’s national emergency response center this morning, where she was briefed about the response efforts underway by members of the ministries of defense, transportation, economic affairs and agriculture, as well as the fire department.

A look at Taiwan’s strongest earthquakes.

The magnitude 7.4 earthquake that hit Taiwan on Wednesday morning was the strongest in 25 years, the island’s Central Weather Administration said.

At least four people died after the quake struck off Taiwan’s east coast, officials said.

Here’s a look back at some of the major earthquakes in modern Taiwanese history:

Taichung, 1935

Taiwan’s deadliest quake registered a magnitude of 7.1 and struck near the island’s west coast in April 1935, killing more than 3,200 people, according to the Central Weather Administration. More than 12,000 others were injured and more than 50,000 homes were destroyed or damaged.

Tainan, 1941

A magnitude 7.3 earthquake in December 1941, which struck southwestern Taiwan, caused several hundred deaths, the United States Geological Survey said.

Chi-Chi, 1999

A 7.6 magnitude earthquake in central Taiwan killed nearly 2,500 people in September 1999. The quake, which struck about 90 miles south-southwest of Taipei, was the second-deadliest in the island’s history, according to the U.S.G.S. and the Central Weather Administration. More than 10,000 people were injured and more than 100,000 homes were destroyed or damaged.

Yujing, 2016

A 6.4 magnitude earthquake in February 2016 caused a 17-story apartment complex in southwestern Taiwan to collapse, killing at least 114 people . The U.S.G.S. later said that 90 earthquakes of that scale or greater had occurred within 250 kilometers, or 155 miles, of that quake’s location over the previous 100 years.

Advertisement

Japan says first wave of a tsunami is believed to have struck 2 of its southern islands after strong earthquake

TOKYO -- Japan says first wave of a tsunami is believed to have struck 2 of its southern islands after strong earthquake .

Top Stories

Southwest flight makes emergency landing after 'mechanical issue,' airline says

• Apr 7, 3:10 PM

Former members of Trump's inner circle likely to testify at trial: Sources

• Apr 8, 5:00 AM

Total solar eclipse 2024 facts: Path, time and the best places to view

• 2 hours ago

Solar eclipse weather and cloud forecast along the path of totality

'The sun has been eaten': Inside the history and mythology of total solar eclipses

• Apr 7, 3:00 PM

ABC News Live

24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events

• International edition
• Australia edition
• Europe edition

Taiwan earthquake: search for survivors continues into night after nine people killed in quake – as it happened

This live blog is now closed. You can read our latest full report below:

• Nine dead and hundreds injured amid landslides and collapsed buildings
• 5d ago Closing summary
• 5d ago Rescue operations continue into the night, with more than 100 people still trapped
• 5d ago Summary
• 5d ago Nine die and nearly 900 injured in quake, say fire agency
• 5d ago Death toll rises to nine
• 5d ago Death toll rises to seven
• 5d ago Summary of events so far
• 5d ago At least four killed in earthquake
• 5d ago 26 buildings reported "to tilt or collapse"
• 5d ago Philippines cancels tsunami warning
• 5d ago Key points
• 5d ago Japan lifts all tsunami advisories
• 5d ago Reports of 1 dead, 50 injured - Taiwan fire department
• 6d ago Pacific tsunami warning centre says threat passed
• 6d ago Japan tsunami alert downgraded to advisory
• 6d ago 87,000 in Taiwan without power
• 6d ago Aftershocks reported in Taipei
• 6d ago Worst quake since 1999 - Taiwan central weather bureau
• 6d ago Philippines tsunami warning relates to coastal areas
• 6d ago Magnitude revised up - JMA
• 6d ago 10,000 households without power - reports
• 6d ago Epicentre reported as 25km southeast of Hualien
• 6d ago Reports computer chip factory partially evacuated
• 6d ago Reports of damage to houses and water towers - Taiwan
• 6d ago Internet outages reported in Taiwan
• 6d ago Taiwan reports people trapped in buildings - local media
• 6d ago Philippines warns of high tsunami waves
• 6d ago Japan's national broadcaster issues evacuation warning
• 6d ago First images out of Taiwan emerge
• 6d ago Earthquake felt in China - reports
• 6d ago Taiwan reports collapsed buildings
• 6d ago Philippines issues tsunami warning
• 6d ago Japan issues tsunami advisory
• 6d ago Welcome and opening summary

Rescue operations continue into the night, with more than 100 people still trapped

Rescue operations continue into the night as more than 100 people remain trapped in tunnels and in collapsed buildings around Hualien county, near the epicentre of the 7.2-magnitude quake.

About 70 people trapped in tunnels near Hualien city have been evacuated, Taiwan’s national fire agency said.

But authorities lost contact with 50 workers aboard our minibuses heading to a hotel in the Taroko Gorge national park, it said.

At least 64 people were trapped in one rock quarry, and six in another, the fire agency said.

Closing summary

It’s 1am in Taipei. Here’s a recap of the latest developments:

At least nine people have been killed and more than 900 injured in Taiwan’s strongest earthquake in 25 years, which caused buildings to collapse, power outages and landslides on the island.

The quake, which started at 7.58am on Wednesday, struck about 18km south-southwest of Hualien , a city popular with tourists on Taiwan’s eastern coast, and was given a magnitude of 7.2 by Taiwan’s earthquake monitoring agency and 7.4 by the US.

More than 100 people remain trapped in tunnels and in collapsed buildings. The fire agency said 64 people were trapped in one coalmine, and six in another, while rescue workers had lost contact with 50 people who were travelling in minibuses through a national park as the earthquake wiped out phone networks.

Nearly 1,000 tourists and staff were stranded in mountains of Taroko national park in Hualien. Local media reported that three hikers and one driver died after rockslides in the park.

In Hualien city, all residents and businesses in buildings that were in a dangerous state had been evacuated, the mayor Hsu Chen-wei said. Rescuers worked across Hualien county, looking for people who may be trapped and using excavators to stabilize damaged buildings.

In the capital, Taipei, several people were rescued from a partly collapsed warehouse . Strong tremors forced the city’s subway system to close briefly, and damage was visible on some buildings in central Taipei. Aftershocks could still be felt in the capital, with more than 50 recorded, weather officials said.

The quake triggered initial tsunami warnings in southern Japan and the Philippines, but forecasts were later downgraded and lifted. Japan’s meteorological agency warned that aftershocks, with a similar intensity to those felt in Taiwan, may be likely over the next week.

A 7.2-magnitude earthquake that struck Taiwan on Wednesday was captured by the cameras in a newsroom during a live broadcast.

As the quake hit, anchors on air carried on delivering the news while the studio was visibly shaken and lights swayed violently overhead.

Taiwan’s president-elect and vice-president, Lai Ching-te, has thanked the president of the European Council, Charles Michel, for his support and condolences.

Posting to social media, Lai wrote:

Taiwan draws strength from your solidarity & friendship during this difficult time and deeply appreciates the support from the EU.

Thank you, @CharlesMichel , for your generous support and condolences. Taiwan draws strength from your solidarity & friendship during this difficult time and deeply appreciates the support from the EU. https://t.co/udxdZ6cHE1 — 賴清德Lai Ching-te (@ChingteLai) April 3, 2024

The US is monitoring the earthquake in Taiwan and is “ready to provide any necessary assistance”, a US national security council spokesperson has said.

A statement from NSC spokesperson Adrienne Watson reads:

We are monitoring reports of the earthquake impacting Taiwan and continue to monitor its potential impact on Japan. The United States stands ready to provide any necessary assistance. All those affected are in our prayers.

One reporter in Taiwan who was heading north towards Hualien after dark on Wednesday evening local time, came across huge holes in the road caused by the earthquake from that morning.

Nathaniel Taplin posted footage moments ago.

Road into #Hualien getting knarlier as we get closer from Taitung pic.twitter.com/8iNs3KK2jK — Nathaniel Taplin (@nate_taplin) April 3, 2024

Meanwhile TV channel TVBS posted a clip of rescue workers trying to clear debris in Hualien, where the earthquake hit hardest.

🚨🇹🇼 Rescue efforts continue following 7.2 quake in #Hualien , #Taiwan : 9 dead, 946 injured, 137 trapped in mountainous regions. #TaiwanEarthquake 💔🙏 pic.twitter.com/gahRjpN359 — TVBS World Taiwan (@tvbsworldtaiwan) April 3, 2024

One person caught up in the earthquake described watching a warehouse crumple like a house of cards on Wednesday and told the Agence France-Presse agency it “was like a mountain collapsed”.

And that was in New Taipei City, near the capital, Taipei, almost 190 miles (300km) from the hardest hit area of Hualien in east central Taiwan .

The witness, named by AFP only as Liu, watched intently as rescuers carefully picked their way through the remains of the warehouse.

Propping ladders against the debris, the rescue workers managed to pluck more than 50 survivors from the destroyed building in New Taipei City. The building was about 60 years old and had housed a printing press, said Liu, who lived next door.

Residents of nearby buildings appeared to be unaffected, though they felt the intense shaking from the morning quake.

Many of the decorations at home fell on the floor, but people were safe. We were very lucky,” said Chang, who lives near the printing press.

New Taipei City mayor Hou Yu-ih surveyed the scene with rescue workers, and told reporters that all 57 people in the building had made it out - with just one injured.

It has just passed 11pm in Taipei and Hualien.

Here is a quick summary of some of the key events so far today:

At least nine people are now reported to have been killed in Taiwan’s earthquake. At least another 900 have been injured.

The earthquake struck at 7:58 am local time , about 18km south-southwest of Hualien. It was about 35 km (21 miles) deep, according to Associated Press

Taiwan’s electricity operator – Taipower- has said more than 87,000 people across the country are now without power, according to the Reuters news agency.

People are trapped in collapsed buildings in Taiwan’s city of Hualien according to local media and the local government has suspended schools and classes in the region.

A witness has told the Reuters news agency that the earthquake was also felt in Shanghai, China. Chinese state media also reported that it was felt in Fuzhou, Xiamen, Quanzhou, Ningde in China’s Fujian province.

At least 64 people were trapped in one rock quarry , not a coalmine as was previously reported, and six in another, the fire agency said.

Authorities also lost contact with 50 people in minibuses after a powerful earthquake quake downed phone networks, Taiwan’s national fire agency said.

The Philippines seismology agency has issued a tsunami warning as well after that strong Taiwan quake, with Philippine coastal areas fronting the Pacific Ocean expected to experience “high tsunami waves”, according to the Reuters news agency. The tsunami warning issued by the Philippine authorities relates to people in coastal areas of the following provinces: the Batanes Group of Islands, Cagayan, Ilocos Norte and Isabela.

The Philippines’ seismology agency later cancelled its tsunami warning, saying “based on available data of our sea level monitoring stations facing the epicentral area , no significant sea level disturbances have been recorded since 07:58am up until this cancellation.”

Japan’s national broadcaster has issued an evacuation order – broadcasting warnings such as “Tsunami is coming. Please evacuate immediately,” an anchor on NHK said. “Do not stop. Do not go back”. This was later downgraded to advisory as the tsunami waves that had arrived by late morning were not as high as forecast.

A tsunami advisory has been issued in southern Japan after a powerful earthquake struck near Taiwan on Wednesday morning, according to Japan’s meteorological agency (JMA). This was later lifted.

Here are some more pictures showing the damage caused by the earthquake:

At least 64 people were trapped in one rock quarry, not a coalmine as was previously reported, and six in another, the fire agency said. The quake and aftershocks also caused 24 landslides and damage to 35 roads, bridges and tunnels, AP reports.

Here is the latest report from our video team on the earthquake in Taiwan . Footage released by the fire department there shows emergency personnel walking through dark corridors while going door to door and calling out to residents.

According to a report from Associated Press, Taiwan’s national fire agency appears to have confirmed that 70 miners are trapped in two coalmines in Hualien County after the earthquake.

Sixty-four people were trapped in one coalmine, and six people were in a different mine, AP reports the agency said.

More details soon …

Here is a clip of CCTV footage which shows a multi-storey building collapsing on a busy street in Hualien as Taiwan was hit by its strongest earthquake in 25 years.

• Earthquakes
• Asia Pacific

More on this story

‘People were screaming’: Hualien residents in shock after Taiwan earthquake

Taiwan 7.2 magnitude earthquake – in pictures

Taiwan earthquake: nine dead and 900 injured as buildings collapse

Most viewed.

Taiwan's strongest earthquake in 25 years kills nine, tsunami warnings lifted

Authorities say nine people, including three hikers, have been killed as a result of a magnitude-7.5 earthquake that struck the east coast of Taiwan on Wednesday morning.

Dozens of people were being slowly freed after being trapped by debris, rescue workers said, with about 60 of those caught in a tunnel just north of the city of Hualien.

Taiwan’s national fire agency said 64 people were trapped in one rock quarry, and six in another.

Authorities also said they had lost contact with 50 people who had been aboard four minibuses heading to a hotel in the Taroko Gorge national park.

The three hikers were killed by a rockslide in that same national park.

The Taiwanese government said more than 900 people were injured in the quake.

The quake and aftershocks also caused 24 landslides and damage to 35 roads, bridges and tunnels.

Japan and the Philippines have now lifted all tsunami warnings and advisories triggered by the quake.

The earthquake hit at 7:58am (local time) at a depth of 15.5 kilometres, according to Taiwan's Central Weather Administration.

Reuters news agency is reporting that Japan's Meteorological Agency has revised up the earthquake from a magnitude 7.5 to 7.7. 

Earlier, Reuters reported the earthquake had a magnitude of 7.2. 

Meanwhile, the United States Geological Survey were reporting it was a 7.5-magnitude earthquake before downgrading it to a 7.4. 

Taiwan's earthquake monitoring agency put it at 7.2. 

The quake knocked out power in several parts of Taiwan's capital Taipei, affecting 87,000 homes. 

At least 26 buildings have collapsed — more than half in Hualien — with 22 people rescued from one severe case and only one missing, the fire department said.  

The Central Weather Agency said it was the most powerful earthquake the island has experienced in 25 years, and numerous powerful aftershocks have been recorded.

Taiwan's air force said six F-16 fighter jets had been slightly damaged at a major base in the city from which jets are often scrambled to see off incursions by China's air force, but it expected the aircraft to return to service very soon.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong shared her condolences on X and said she didn't believe any Australians were harmed. 

"DFAT officials in Taipei and Tokyo are working with authorities but at this stage aren't aware of any Australians affected."

'Scared to tears'

Despite the quake striking at the height of the morning rush, the initial panic faded quickly on the island, which is regularly rocked by temblors and prepares residents through drills at schools and notices issued via public media and mobile phones.

“Earthquakes are a common occurrence, and I’ve grown accustomed to them," Taipei resident Hsien-hsuen Keng told AP. 

But this was the first time she was "scared to tears" by an earthquake, she said.

”I was awakened by the earthquake.

"I had never felt such intense shaking before.”

She said her fifth-floor apartment shook so hard that "apart from earthquake drills in elementary school, this was the first time I had experienced such a situation".

Tsunami warnings pass

The Japanese Meteorological Agency said the earthquake struck at a very shallow depth, making the impact worse.

The Japan Meteorological Agency said a tsunami wave of 30 centimetres was detected on the coast of Yonaguni island, about 15 minutes after the quake struck.

Smaller waves were measured in Ishigaki and Miyako islands.

Japan sent military aircraft to gather information about the impact around the Okinawa region.

Flights were suspended at Japan's main airport in Okinawa from 9:25am (local time) as a precautionary measure, a transport ministry official stationed at Naha Airport said.

The quake was felt in Fuzhou, Xiamen, Quanzhou and Ningde in China's Fujian province, according to Chinese state media.

• X (formerly Twitter)
• Disasters, Accidents and Emergency Incidents
• Earthquakes

Taiwan hit by its strongest quake in quarter-century, but death toll is low

TAIPEI, Taiwan — A 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck the east coast of Taiwan on Wednesday morning, killing nine people and leaving at least 143 trapped by rubble and debris, as the temblor triggered tsunami warnings as far away as Japan and the Philippines.

More than 70 quarry workers remained trapped overnight, authorities said.

The earthquake, the strongest to hit Taiwan in 25 years, struck in Hualien county — a scenic, sparsely populated coastal region — just before 8 a.m. The quake, which the U.S. Geological Survey said measured 7.4 in magnitude, was felt in Shanghai and China’s southeastern provinces. Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration recorded the earthquake at 7.2 in magnitude.

Taiwan earthquake

Taiwan sits on the Ring of Fire, a region of the Pacific Ocean that is the world’s most seismically active zone. The quake was felt across the island, as far as 200 miles from the epicenter. In Taipei, shaking that lasted more than a minute sent panicked residents out of their homes. Students were evacuated from schools and sat in rows along sidewalks and playgrounds. More than 900 people were injured, mostly by falling objects, according to Taiwan’s National Fire Agency.

Previous, deadlier earthquakes

hit more densely populated areas

POPULATION DENSITY

DEATHS IN PREVIOUS QUAKES

Apr. 3, 2024

Fault lines

Sources: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

SAMUEL GRANADOS AND JÚLIA LEDUR / THE WASHINGTON POST

Previous, deadlier earthquakes hit more

densely populated areas

DEATHS IN PREVIOUS EARTHQUAKES

Ryukyu Islands

Officials said the quake was the strongest to hit the island since 1999, when a 7.6-magnitude tremor struck central Taiwan, killing more than 2,400 people. After that earthquake, one of the worst in the island’s recent history, authorities mandated stricter building codes.

Those efforts could explain Wednesday’s relatively low death toll. Lu Chin-wen, an architect who helped with reconstruction after the 1999 quake, said structures built according to the new regulations were stronger and that may have helped. “If buildings are damaged but not destroyed, the casualties will be relatively fewer,” he said.

In recent years, city governments have launched campaigns to upgrade older buildings to make them more earthquake-resistant. Since 2019, the government has been reviewing 36,000 buildings across Taiwan that were built before 1999 and providing subsidies to upgrade them.

Even in Hualien, one of Taiwan’s most earthquake-prone areas, residents were shocked by the strength of the shaking. On social media, users posted photos of partly collapsed buildings tilting dangerously as rescue workers raced to reach people inside. Local media reports also showed residents escaping their homes through windows.

Shi Yi-rong, 34, quickly left her apartment in a 16-story building in Hualien when she smelled gas leaking after the quake hit. She spent the day at a breakfast cafe with other terrified residents and planned to spend the evening at a friend’s place, where she could easily evacuate if needed. “I’m not going home today,” she said.

Another resident, Liang Kai-xiong, who runs a bed-and-breakfast, ran from his building when the earthquake struck. “I was panicking. There hasn’t been one that big for a long time,” he said.

Lin Yuh-der, 36, a former political campaign worker in Hualien, said his first instinct when the shaking began was to evacuate all elderly family members from their home.

“Hualien is a place where earthquakes are frequent, but this one immediately struck me as unusual because it was long and shook vertically, up and down,” he said.

Within less than five hours after the quake, Taiwan recorded 76 aftershocks, some with a magnitude as high as 6.4. More than 300,000 households lost power, and commuters were stranded as metro lines and the island’s high-speed rail system suspended operations. Wu Chien-fu, director of the Central Weather Administration’s Seismology Center, said aftershocks of magnitude 6.5 to 7.0 were possible in the next three to four days.

At least 24 landslides were recorded across the island, bringing traffic to a standstill on the east coast as three highways were cut off and at least one bridge collapsed. Taiwan’s military was deployed to work with local governments on rescue efforts, while President Tsai Ing-wen advised residents not to take elevators and to “pay more attention” to their safety.

On Yonaguni, one of Japan’s Okinawa islands, an 11-inch tsunami hit 20 minutes after the initial quake, prompting Japanese authorities to advise residents to evacuate to higher ground. The Japanese Meteorological Agency later downgraded the tsunami warning for Okinawa to a tsunami advisory, indicating that anticipated tsunamis would not be as high as originally estimated.

Officials in the Philippines also initially warned residents in coastal areas to move to higher ground. About three hours after the earthquake, Taiwanese officials downgraded their tsunami warning and the U.S. Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said the threat had “largely passed.”

Taiwan, home to more than 23 million people, is a key manufacturing hub for many of the world’s advanced computer chips. A spokesperson for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., or TSMC, said that some plants had been evacuated and that some operations were suspended. Production was set to resume shortly , and none of the company’s high-end “lithography” machines, which can cost hundreds of millions of dollars and are among the most complex pieces of equipment in the world, were damaged, TSMC said.

All nine casualties on Wednesday were in Hualien, a popular tourist destination, and were caused by falling rocks. Among them were three hikers and a worker at Taroko Gorge; two drivers whose cars were crushed by falling boulders; and one person at a mining site.

The quake comes just ahead of a four-day public holiday known as Tomb Sweeping Day, when residents travel home to honor late relatives and tend to their graves. Taiwan’s transportation minister, Wang Kwo-tsai, said authorities would use boats to transport people to and from Hualien for the holiday because of the blocked roads.

Inuma reported from Tokyo. Gerrit De Vynck in San Francisco contributed to this report.

• How a steel ball protected Taiwan’s tallest skyscraper in an earthquake April 4, 2024 How a steel ball protected Taiwan’s tallest skyscraper in an earthquake April 4, 2024
• Huge Taiwan quake caused few deaths thanks to preparedness — and luck April 4, 2024 Huge Taiwan quake caused few deaths thanks to preparedness — and luck April 4, 2024
• In photos and videos: Taiwan hit with strongest earthquake in 25 years April 3, 2024 In photos and videos: Taiwan hit with strongest earthquake in 25 years April 3, 2024

• Skip to main content
• Keyboard shortcuts for audio player

Taiwan is hit by its strongest earthquake in nearly 25 years

John Ruwitch

In this image taken from a video footage run by TVBS, residents rescue a child from a partially collapsed building in Hualien, eastern Taiwan on Wednesday. AP hide caption

In this image taken from a video footage run by TVBS, residents rescue a child from a partially collapsed building in Hualien, eastern Taiwan on Wednesday.

TAIPEI, Taiwan — A major earthquake struck Taiwan during the morning rush hour on Wednesday, collapsing buildings and triggering tsunami warnings in Japan and the Philippines.

At least 9 people were reported dead and 963 were injured in the strongest earthquake that has not seen since 1999, Taiwanese officials said.

The Picture Show

Photos: see the aftermath of the taiwan earthquake.

The quake hit near the eastern city of Hualien at 7:58 a.m. local time (2358 GMT) and had a magnitude of 7.4, according to the U.S. Geological Survey , making it the strongest quake to hit since 1999. The depth was about 35 kilometers (22 miles), which is considered shallow. Taiwan's earthquake monitoring agency gave the magnitude as 7.2.

Strong shaking was felt in Taipei, the capital, some 100 miles away, with aftershocks continued for roughly two hours. And there were reports in China that people as far away as Shanghai, about 500 miles to the north, could feel the earthquake.

Earthquakes happen all over the world. Here's how to start preparing for one

Images on television showed extensive damage, including buildings listing to the side after having been shaken off their foundations. The authorities suspended work and school in Hualien, an area with about 300,000 residents. Officials also closed down eight power plants for safety, and 87,000 residents in Hualien, the epicenter, were without power, though electricity remains on for the rest of the island.

TSMC, the world's leading maker of cutting edge microchips, temporarily evacuated production lines after the quake.

In this image taken from a video footage run by TVBS, a partially collapsed building is seen in Hualien, eastern Taiwan on Wednesday. A powerful earthquake rocked the entire island of Taiwan early Wednesday, collapsing buildings in a southern city and creating a tsunami that washed ashore on southern Japanese islands. TVBS via AP hide caption

In this image taken from a video footage run by TVBS, a partially collapsed building is seen in Hualien, eastern Taiwan on Wednesday. A powerful earthquake rocked the entire island of Taiwan early Wednesday, collapsing buildings in a southern city and creating a tsunami that washed ashore on southern Japanese islands.

Taiwan's transportation authorities said train service was suspended island-wide, as well as subway service in Taipei. Videos from the epicenter show rockslides covering roads and houses that were knocked off-kilter.

An initial tsunami warning issued by the Japan Meteorological Agency was lifted later on Wednesday. The AP reported that a wave of 30 centimeters (about 1 foot) was detected on the coast of Yonaguni island about 15 minutes after the quake struck. JAMA said waves likely also hit the coasts of Miyako and Yaeyama islands.

Taiwan earthquake briefly halts chip factories that power the global economy

In the Philippines, no tsunami warning was issued, but residents in various coastal areas were advised to move to higher ground or move inland.

According to Taiwan media, the last earthquake of a magnitude 7 or greater to hit the island was the Sept. 21, 1999, "Jiji" earthquake that measured 7.3, which destroyed thousands of buildings and killed more than 2,400 people.

John Ruwitch contributed reporting from Beijing.

At least nine dead, hundreds injured after Taiwan hit by strong earthquake

Taiwan authorities say nine people killed in Hualien County, including three hikers and an engineering worker, and more than 900 injured.

At least nine people have been killed and more than 900 others injured after Taiwan was rocked by its biggest earthquake in a quarter-century.

The magnitude 7.2 tremor on Wednesday shook buildings off their foundations and caused landslides in the eastern part of the island. Dozens of buildings in the eastern city of Hualien collapsed.

Keep reading

Photos: taiwan rocked by most powerful quake in 25 years, girl, 8, pulled alive from taiwan earthquake rubble, taiwan quake cuts communications, for many chinese, there are ‘more important things’ than taiwan unification.

Fire safety officials were quoted by Taiwanese media as saying that at least nine people were killed in Hualien County, including three hikers and one engineering worker struck by falling rocks while on a trail, and at least 946 were injured.

Rescue teams were working to free at least 137 people believed to be trapped in rubble or needing rescue, according to the news channel SETN.

Since the quake struck, more than 100 aftershocks have been recorded, unnerving the island of around 23 million.

The National Fire Agency said authorities have lost contact with 50 people in minibuses after the quake downed phone networks.

In the capital, Taipei, vehicles pulled over on the side of the road and the city’s subway service was briefly suspended while tiles fell from older buildings and furniture was knocked over from the force of the earthquake.

A series of aftershocks were felt in the capital about 15 minutes later and continued over the next hour. Authorities said aftershocks could continue for the next three to four days due to the earthquake’s intensity.

Stacy Liu, a Chinese teacher in Taipei who was teaching a class online when the earthquake struck, said it revived childhood memories of Taiwan’s worst quake in recent memory in 1999 when more than 2,400 people were killed.

“I was freaking out. I felt like scary things were going to happen all over again because I’ve been through 1999, so I know how scary it can be,” Liu told Al Jazeera.

“I was taking out [construction] helmets, prepping our guinea pigs, and putting some water and snacks under the table in case something crazy happened.”

Kimmie Phan-Stattmen, a user experience designer in Taipei, said she was caught off-guard by the quake.

“I thought it was just going to be a small earthquake at first, but then it definitely became a lot more violent than I’m used to. We have a sliding glass door, which is the entry to our balcony and apartment, and it swung open, which I did not know was possible,” Phan-Stattmen told Al Jazeera.

“Then [our cat] Beef ran around and ran to the bedroom, and all the books started to fall.”

Wu Chien-fu, the director of Taiwan’s Seismological Center, said the earthquake was the strongest to hit the island since the 1999 quake.

“The earthquake is close to land, and it’s shallow. It’s felt all over Taiwan and offshore islands,” Wu told reporters.

Taiwan’s earthquake alert system, which typically provides warnings minutes in advance, did not activate before the quake.

After tsunami warnings in Taiwan, Japan and the Philippines, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii in the United States said that the threat had “passed”. No damage or casualties were reported from quake-generated waves.

The Japan Meteorological Agency lifted all tsunami advisories after earlier urging residents on the islands of Okinawa, Miyakojima and Yaeyama to evacuate as it warned of waves of up to 3 metres (9.8ft) high.

The agency said a wave measuring about 0.3 metres (1ft) high was detected on the coast of Yonaguni island about 15 minutes after the earthquake.

Okinawa’s main airport suspended flights after the alert.

The Philippine seismology agency cancelled its alert after warning that coastal areas would experience “high tsunami waves”.

Taiwan lies on a tectonic belt, known as the Pacific Ring of Fire, where about 90 percent of all earthquakes occur.

The self-governed island has strict building regulations and disaster awareness programmes to reduce casualties from earthquakes.