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Maps and on-the-ground views reveal the aftermath and its extent
March 11, 2011 | 1
An oil tank explosion in Tokyo Bay at 5:05pm local time captured by photographer Michio Endo.
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Amplitude forecast (in centimeters) for the tsunami waves as calculated by NOAA's MOST (Method of Splitting Tsunami) model. The gray contours show predicted wave arrival times.
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Children in Tokyo are evacuated to a park after the earthquake.
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An infrared image of the Pacific Ocean taken approximately six hours after the earthquake struck. The image was taken by NASA's GOES-11 (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite).
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Stranded passengers hunker down in the Shinjuku station, the main mass-transit hub in Tokyo.
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Based on estimated structural damage, the U.S. Geological Survey predicts serious human and economic costs from the earthquake: hundreds of fatalities in cities along the East coast of Japan and economic losses in the thousands of millions of U.S....[More]
This map from the U.S. Geological Survey shows 103 aftershocks ( red ) within 15 hours of the main quake ( yellow ). The sizes of the circles indicate the magnitudes of the shocks on the moment magnitude scale (MMS)....[More]
The water in a Tokyo swimming pool trembles and heaves from aftershocks of the earthquake.
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NOAA issued tsunami alerts for the West Coast of the U.S., which saw waves as high as two meters that resulted in damaged boats and marine facilities and at least one report of a person swept to sea....[More]
A tsunami warning seen from a freeway in San Francisco, CA.
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1 Comments
Add Commentadversity to opportunity - these are the only times when we can review how we do things and adjust our "standards". one such standard i would suggest is that all building along coastlines be built no lower on the land than 50'above mean sea level (varies depending on local conditions of soil, geology and function (such as buildings specific to the water connection). this standard accomplishes several things:
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this1) assures communities and cites a considerable buffer from storms and tsunami.
2) recreates the tidal and estuary zones which are highly productive and important to the health of the aquatic life.
3) provides much needed openspace for the public.
4) creates a climate change resilient zone so that sea level rise will not impact the built buildings and infrastructure for the next 100 + years.
this is an example of post disaster planning which is best done before the event but is also critical while recreating patterns for human habitation out of harms way.
we know what to do, we need elected leadership here!
best, dan