On March 11th 2011, Japan was struck with a huge earthquake. It was a 8.9 magnitude earthquake, which is almost unimaginable. In order to put this scale in perspective, it needs to be known that a magnitude-8.9 earthquake releasesover 100 times more energy than a magnitude-7.5 quake does.This sort of earthquake was a huge surprise to the area.The earthquake occurred 130 kilometers east of Sendai and 373 kilometers northeast of Tokyo, along the boundary between two tectonic plates, where the Pacific plate is being drawn under the Japanese islands. As if this wasn't devastating enough- soon after the quake hit, a 23 foot tsunami was triggered. It killed hundreds and swept away cars, homes, buildingd and boats. For a place as structurally developed as Japan, the effects were devastating. The cooling systems of several reactors went off line, adding another layer of worry to people in Japan and across the world. This increases the risk for long term health issues stemming from radiation, something we have seen in different areas of the world, including Chernobyl, but it has never been on such a large scale before. This was definitely the biggest news story for the first week of our March Break.
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