Tsunami Power - Engineering Lessons from the 2011 Japan Tsunami

摘要

On March 11, 2011, a large earthquake of magnitude 9.0 took place, generating a tsunami that caused a severe damage to the east coast of Japan. As of June 20, 2012, 15,863 people lost their lives due to this event, while 2,492 are still unaccounted for. The total economic losses were in excess of $200 billion which makes this the costliest natural disaster in the history of humankind. To comprehensively record tsunami trace heights along the coastal region, the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake Tsunami Joint Survey Group was organized. As part of this group, the authors conducted field surveys in Iwate, Miyagi, Fukushima, Ibaraki and Chiba prefectures. Inundation heights were more than 15 to 20 m in Iwate and in the north part of Miyagi, 5 to 15 m along the coast of Sen-dai Bay and around 5 to 10 m in Ibaraki and Chiba. Buildings, including reinforced concrete structures, were washed away and ships were stranded inland. Coastal structures such as dikes and coastal forests also suffered extensive damage.