May 11th Tsunami in Japan, Essay Example

Introduction

On March 11^th 2011 a devastating earthquake and tsunami hit the eastern coast of Japan. The resulting disaster killed over 20,000 people and created huge leaks of nuclear radiation from damaged nuclear power plants. It was the tsunami that was the most destructive part of the earthquake as it swept through coastal towns destroying everything in its wake. The destruction of the nuclear power plants was the worst disaster of its kind since Chernobyl as radiation leaked into the sea and vented radioactive materials into the atmosphere. This was a huge earthquake measuring 9.0 on the Richter scale. The crisis became compounded once the scale of the disaster was realized and contaminated water started to appear in Tokyo. This resulted in a change of leadership in Japan as they struggled to grasp with the enormity of the problem.

Japan is now on the road to recovery but in reality the infrastructure may take a decade or more to rebuild and many of the coastal towns will become inhabitable because of the nuclear radiation fallout problem. Equally much of the surrounding land has been contaminated making agricultural produce no longer a viable proposition in these areas. (New York Times)

Fukushima Nuclear Plant

The destructive forces that destroyed the Fukushima nuclear plant are likely to have the most lasting impact on Japan. In addition, this has caused a stir on the safety protocols of nuclear power and countries like Germany are planning to phase out this source of energy. In the area surrounding the plant some 90,000 people were displaced and lost their homes. A year on the plant still poses a significant threat and the meltdown damage is far greater than previously thought and the cleanup operations could take many years to complete.

The scientists felt that the earthquake was on a much large scale than could be predicted for the region, however it is accepted that this area is in a region for the potential of massive destructive earthquakes of this magnitude.

Post tsunami economic order

The scale of the earthquake in Japan has created a new economic reality for the country. One the economic powerhouse of S.E. Asia the country has had to face a new reality. A lot of foreign investment had to be diverted to deal with the domestic crisis problem and China surpassed Japan as the new economic powerhouse in the region. Despite this the Chinese have invested heavily into Japan with in excess of $314 million in 2010. The reality however is that the projected clean up and rebuilding of Japanese infrastructure will go into the 300 billions of $ and take in excess of a decade to complete. The picture to the right illustrates the extent of the tsunami damage to a coastal town. (Shah).

Conclusion

It is truly amazing how the destructive forces of nature can change both the landscape and fortunes of a country. The disaster in Japan was somewhat unprecedented but we have witnessed other serious earthquakes around the destructive ‘ring of fire’ in the Pacific Ocean. This including the devastating earthquakes in Indonesia. The global repercussions to the world economy have yet to be fully realised given Japans dominant position in the world economic community.

Works Cited

New York Times. Japan — Earthquake, Tsunami and Nuclear Crisis (2011). 29 3 2012. http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/japan/index.html. 17 4 2012.

Shah, Anup. Japan Earthquake, Tsunami and Nuclear Crisis. 6 5 2011. http://www.globalissues.org/article/794/japan-earthquake-tsunami-nuclear. 17 4 2012.