Emergency Preparedness & Survival Guides

On Friday, March 11, 2011 at 02:46:23pm, a 9.0 magnitude earthquake struck about 80 miles east of Sendai, just off the northeast coast of Japan. This earthquake, which was the largest earthquake in recorded history for Japan, was caused by thrust faulting on or near the subduction zone plate boundary between the Pacific and North America plates. Modeling by the United States Geological Survey indicates that the fault moved 130 ft! This incredible movement triggered a huge tsunami which caused waves as high as 3ft clear across the ocean on the west coast of the United States and utterly devastated coastal towns and villages on Japan’s northeast coast with waves as high as 80ft traveling at 45mph!

This incredibly deadly earthquake/tsunami combo killed thousands. The current death toll is over 10,000 with nearly 3,000 injured and another 17,000 individuals possibly dead because their location is unknown. There have been 18,000 households destroyed and another 130,000 households damaged causing nearly 250,000 people taking refuge in various evacuation sites.

As if this devastation was not enough, nearly all of the reactors at the Fukishima I Nuclear Power Plant were severely damaged. As a result, there has been radiation detected in Japanese produce and milk produced in the region, which has halted shipments, and more than 150 miles away, the Tokyo water supply is now contaminated with radioactive Iodine-131 with measured levels past the limit for infants and near the limit for adults.

Now, a full two weeks later, the Fukishima nuclear facility is still not under control and at least one core containment vessels is now feared to be breached with highly radioactive material possibly leaking into the atmosphere.