1. Japan Earthquake and Tsunami

2. About Japan Japan is situated in northeastern Asia between the North Pacific and the Sea of Japan. The area of Japan is 377,873 square kilometers, nearly equivalent to Germany and Switzerland combined or slightly smaller than California. Japan consists of four major islands, surrounded by more than 4,000 smaller islands. Japan's topographical features include coastlines with varied scenery, towering mountains, which are very often volcanic and twisted valleys that invite visitors into the mysterious world of nature. There is only one official language spoken in Japan, which is of course Japanese. However, many Japanese are able to understand English to a certain extent since English is the foreign language that everyone must learn as part of compulsory education. Japan's population is over 126 million. Most Japanese reside in densely populated urban areas. Japan's capital city is Tokyo. The population of the Tokyo Metropolitan Area including the city, some of its suburbs and the surrounding area is approximately 12 million. Index Language There is only one official language spoken in Japan, which is of course Japanese. However, many Japanese are able to understand English to a certain extent since English is the foreign language that everyone must learn as part of compulsory education. Even if you don't understand Japanese, you can still certainly enjoy Japan. But if you know a few everyday Japanese phrases then it will make your trip even more memorable. A few words make a big difference. Index Population Japan's population is over 126 million. Most Japanese reside in densely populated urban areas. Japan's capital city is Tokyo. The population of the Tokyo Metropolitan Area including the city, some of its suburbs and the surrounding area is approximately 12 million.

3. What, When and Where On Friday 11 March 2011, at 8:46 amQatar time, an earthquake of magnitude 9 hit near the east coast of Honshu, Japancausing many buildings to collapse into obliberationas well as a tsunami to rise and hit the coast of Japan. This earthquake was the strongest of all earthquakes to hit Japan. The earthquake and tsunami combined also resulted into a huge blast at one of the two nuclear power plants in Japan and has resulted into radiation to slowly spread out. After the earthquake and tsunami, over 111 aftershocks were recorded across the country counting a magnitude of 5 and higher

4. Impacts The Japanese earthquake and tsunami lead to many impacts but the most important were the social and economic impact. Economically, the Japanese economy lost over $10 billion dollars. Toyota, Honda and Nissanhad to halt production at some of the assembly plants to avoid damage. Sony, Panasonic and other technology companies all had to halt their production and lose their money. Sony itself had 8 of it’s factories close down. Socially, it lead to 10 thousands of people stranded with the rail networks down. More than four million buildings were without powerin Tokyo and the suburbs. Also, many other people were treated with injuries and shocks.

5. News Reports Comparison Most of the news agencies reported the same news, that this was the biggest earthquake to hit Japan, then a tsunami followed and finished off by many, many aftershocks. There were many communities, which were blazing, and all news agencies reported the nuclear explosions. “The Guardian”, newspaper said that at least 5 were dead, which contradicts what the “The LA Times” said, which started off the article with “Hundreds are dead after the worst earthquake in generations struck off the northeast coast of Japan on Friday,” while all other news sources claimed that 200 to 300 people were confirmed as dead. Over 800 were injured and between 400-500 people have been reported missing. Some new’s sources have until now continued investigating the aspects of the disaster, “The Huffington Post”, was able to tell us that Toyota planned to continue it’s full production by November.

6. Recommendations There are no possible recommendations for the future since Japan is one of the most prepared cities for a disaster to strike. They all have to go through earthquake drills and they must all have a grab pack in their homes and everywhere else so that in case there is an emergency they just grab these bags and evacuate and contain all necessary items for survival. Their buildings are also prepared for earthquakes since they are made to sway with the earthquake which means they harness the movement’s energy and just sway with it until it’s done. This is done by adding shock or vibration absorbers to the building or building a pendulum in it to shift the buildings weight opposite of the earthquake and keep it stable just like the Taipei 101 building.

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