The Japanese archipelago is located in the Pacific Ring of Fire, an area of intense seismic and volcanic activity, where the Pacific tectonic plate meets the North American plate and the Eurasian plate.
TECTONIC PLATES IN THE PACIFIC OCEAN
PACIFIC RING OF FIRE
As you may remind from 1º ESO, tectonic plates move and produce earthquakes. If earthquakes take place on the ocean floor, a tsunami ("harbor wave", in Japanese) can happen.
On these links you can see an animated explanation about why earthquakes and tsunamis happen:
Yesterday´s earthquake in the Pacific Ocean caused a tsunami that reached the Japanese coasts. The tsunami alert extended to all the Pacific coastal countries.
Nature reminds us from time to time that we, humans, are not here forever. We can´t avoid natural disasters, but we can use our knowledge to foresee and minimize them. Although the damages in Japan are huge, the Japanese technology and prevention has made the impact of this 8.9-degree- earthquake smaller in number of victims than the 2004 tsunami in Indonesia.
TSUNAMI WARNING IN JAPAN
Here you can observe some of the most impressive images of the tsunami caused by the earthquake:
However, the most important risk now comes from human beings: Fukushima nuclear power station. Is it safe to build nuclear power plants in seismic risk areas?
For further information about earthquakes:
- Euro Mediterranean Seismological Center:
- Instituto Geográfico Nacional (Spain):
- U.S Geological Survey:
2 comments:
Hello everybody!
My brother has found a site where you can see pictures of Japan before and after the tsunami, to see them you only have to move the mouse from left to right.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/events/japan-quake-2011/beforeafter.htm
Bye!
Thanks, Javi and Juanjo, for your contribution. The pictures are amazing!
Juanjo, you could also write a comment if you like ;)
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