11 March 2011, at Japan time 1446hrs (GMT 0546Z), an earthquake occurred in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of northeastern Japan. The magnitude of the earthquake was 9.0 (revised upwards from the original assessment of 8.9) and caused some damage in northeastern Japan (specifically Iwate, Miyagi, Fukushima prefectures, though areas in Aomori, and as far south as Kanagawa were affected). Shortly after, huge tsunami waves up to 10m in height crashed onto the coastal areas of northeastern Honshu (largest main island of Japan) causing widespread devastation, leveling whole towns. Coupled with this disaster was a nuclear incident at Fukushima Number 1 nuclear plant, where cooling systems of the nuclear reactors started to fail and radiation leaked into the environment.
This is the largest earthquake to have ever hit Japan since records were kept, and coupled with the tsunami and nuclear incidents, the largest scale disaster in recent years. The images of the devastation and the victims are heart-wrenching. It will take years for Japan to recover from this disaster. Even now, rescue operations are on-going and people are trying to contain the situation at the nuclear plant. Let's try to do what we can to help them.
This is the largest earthquake to have ever hit Japan since records were kept, and coupled with the tsunami and nuclear incidents, the largest scale disaster in recent years. The images of the devastation and the victims are heart-wrenching. It will take years for Japan to recover from this disaster. Even now, rescue operations are on-going and people are trying to contain the situation at the nuclear plant. Let's try to do what we can to help them.
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