Comprehensive Report: The 2011 Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Disaster

This report examines the devastating 2011 Japan earthquake and tsunami, which resulted in significant loss of life and widespread destruction. The report details the seismic event, the resulting tsunami, and the Fukushima nuclear disaster, highlighting the triple tragedy that unfolded. It analyzes th...Read More

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The Japan 2011 earthquake and tsunami
The earthquake and tsunami in Japan claimed more than 18,000 human lives and more than 120,
000 were left homeless. A lot of buildings that approximate to 110,000 destroyed and
properties worth billions of money lost. The earthquake was unexpected with a magnitude of
9.1. The crisis was so devastating especially because the predictions of the scientists had
prepared people for an earthquake of much smaller magnitude. The article analyzed by Nakajima
et al. describe the crisis that happened on March 11, 2011. The earthquake that happened in
Tohoku, Japan in 2011 was due to the stress released between two tectonic plates that had been
built up for centuries. The Pacific plate in Japan dived underneath the overriding Eurasian plate
which in turn led to an enormous earthquake and tsunami.
According to the article by Nakamura et al. 895, the Tohoku disaster was a triple tragedy;
tsunami, earthquake and the melting down of the nuclear power. Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear
Power Plant cooled as a result of the tsunami leading to failure of the system. The nuclear melted
down and released radioactive materials forcing an immediate evacuation of the towns that were
nearby. The Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant design was meant for a tsunami smaller than the
March 2011 tragedy. The accident brought about by the melting of the plant, therefore increased
both long-term and short-term effects of the earthquake and tsunami disaster significantly. This
crisis is described as the worst of all crises since the incident of World War II.

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Humanitarian Aid
The Tohoku earthquake and tsunami happened in March 2011, and as of September 15, 2011, 43
international organizations and 163 countries and regions had offered assistance to Japan
according to Japan’s foreign ministry report (Katzenstein et al. 2). As of March 2012, the areas
that were struck and affected by the disaster had received donations which totaled ¥520 billion.
Several people that approximated to 930,000 volunteered in the efforts to recover disaster
victims and administer medical assistance.
The Japan government made a specific request to other governments such as United States,
United Kingdom and New Zealand as well as South Korea, Canada and Australia. The
governments responded positively with some sending relief funds, rescuers and search dogs,
food, medicine and medical support teams. A country like Canada had staff that was ready with
the expertise of dealing with nuclear materials. The prime minister, therefore, offered chemical,
radiological and equipment for nuclear decontamination. Alongside were disaster victim
identification team and the Canadian Red Cross that ensured a continuous supply of fresh
drinking water to the injured and displaced victims.
The non-governmental organizations also provided humanitarian aid towards the earthquake and
tsunami disaster. Corporations, groups, and individuals from various countries donated relief
foods and recovery efforts. For instance, the Canadian volunteer medical assistance team availed
a medical team, medical supplies and a portable field hospital at the disaster point. The
humanitarian coalition together with the Red Cross also mobilized the Canadian citizens hence
collecting funds towards Japan relief efforts (Kovács et al. 520).The international non-
governmental organization, save the children also responded to the disaster swiftly. They took

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care of the interests of the children by providing their basic needs and relief food and medical
facilities.
Development of Japan
The earthquake and tsunami destroyed the affected areas of Japan especially the eastern regions.
The revival of the country, therefore relied on the rebuilding process of the towns in east Japan.
Several people evacuated from the cities neighboring Fukushima nuclear plant due to
contamination by the radiations (Ohnishi 10). Many displaced people still live in temporary
housing, and therefore the project of rebuilding these towns will provide homes for them.
The plans of recovering and reconstructing Japan consist of national, municipal and prefectural
and residential level to ensure the national land is used in a comprehensively and systematically
manner (Mochizuki 115). The total process of recovering and reconstructing Japan was budgeted
to cost USD 290 billion. The rebuilding project was estimated to take ten years.
Related studies analyzed by (Marjanovic et al. 34) based on new opportunities and challenges
in business process management and recovery from disaster. In this article, the authors analyze
restoration and reconstruction of disaster from the business process management. Japan was
both politically and socially impossible to change before the accident. Many therefore believed
that the catastrophe had presented an opportunity for the transformation of the society of Japan.
The disaster offered an opportunity for building a new Japan with the implementation of the
plans that were impossible to be effected.

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Works cited
Katzenstein, Peter J., and Nobuo Okawara. "Japan, Asian-Pacific security, and the case for
analytical eclecticism." International Security 26.3 (2001): 02.
Kovács, Gyöngyi, and Karen Spens. "Identifying challenges in humanitarian
logistics." International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management 39.6 (2009):
506-528.
Marjanovic, Olivera, and Petri Hallikainen. "Disaster Recovery–New Challenges and
Opportunities for Business Process Management Research and Practice." Pacific Asia Journal of
the Association for Information Systems 5.1 (2013).
Mochizuki, Junko. "Decision-making, policy choices and community rebuilding after the
Tohoku disaster." IDRiM Journal4.2 (2014): 103-118.
Nakajima, Junichi, and Akira Hasegawa. "Tomographic evidence for the mantle upwelling
beneath southwestern Japan and its implications for arc magmatism." Earth and Planetary
Science Letters 254.1 (2007): 90-105.
Nakamura, Akira, and Masao Kikuchi. "What we know and what we have not yet learned: Triple
disasters and the Fukushima nuclear fiasco in Japan." Public Administration Review 71.6 (2011):
893-899.
Ohnishi, Takeo. "The disaster at Japan's Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power plant after March 11,
2011 earthquake and tsunami, and the resulting spread of radioisotope contamination." Radiation
research 177.1 (2011): 1-14.