Describe the tectonic cycle

The Tectonic Cycle
Name
Institutional Affiliation

The Tectonic Cycle
One of the most disastrous and most significantly recent earthquakes was the March 2011 earthquake that occurred in Japan. The quake was referred to as the Tohoku earthquake. The earthquake was later discovered to have caused the Hamdori Fukushima earthquake as an aftershock. The earthquake was measured to have an estimated 9.0 magnitude according to the Richter scale. Since then, it has been considered as the third most massive earthquake recorded in the surface of the earth during the last decade. The tremor was as a result of the slipping of the Pacific plate under Japan. The USGS recorded that the Tohoku tremor had an epicenter 80 miles of the Sendai coast. Prior to the earthquake, the Pacific plate had been continually shifting as it proceeded west at an estimated rate of 3.5 inches per annum. The movement caused a pressure buildup that eventually erupted when the overhead plate broke away from the Pacific plate. The breakup released an estimated 1.9 X 1017 Joules of energy which generated the subsequent tsunami. The tsunami reached an estimated height of 38 meters. Consequently, the Tohoku earthquake caused a shift of the Japanese landscape. The Honshu Island is recorded to have shifted its position towards North America with 12 feet. The 200-mile eastern Japanese coastline also moved its position southwards with a few feet. The overall inertia of the tremor caused a shift in the earth’s axis by an estimated 25 centimeters.

The alteration of the earth’s axis caused an increased rotational speed of the earth (Yamanda et al., 2013).
Nohara (2011) shows that the waves caused by the tsunami were observed to travel over the Pacific reaching distances such as Alaska, Chile, and Hawaii. In Chile, the waves were recorded to be at the height of 6.6 feet. The water surge was so immense that it deposited an estimated 5 million tonnes of debris into the sea. Following the earthquake, an estimated 5,000 aftershocks were felt in Japan alone. The aftershock caused the meltdown of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. The nuclear disaster reached a level 7 classification of the international nuclear event scale. The atomic accident contaminated the surrounding environment such that the water samples collected had over 4,000 times radiation over the legally accepted limit. The alarmingly high radiation levels were also found in vegetables in the surrounding Fukushima region.
In Antarctica, the waves caused a quick jolting of the Whillans iceberg by an estimated 1.5 feet. It also broke off icebergs in the Sulzberger ice shelf. As a result of the 5-foot wave over the Pacific, midway atoll national wildlife range lost an estimated 110,000 nesting birds. On the other hand, the Norwegian fjords sloshed forth and back as a result of the seismic waves. Overall, the destruction caused by the tsunami caused a release of numerous ozone-destroying particles and chemicals into the air (Nohara, 2011). The adverse effects of the earthquake led the displacement of an approximated 200,000 households in Japan. An overall death toll was approximated at around 19,000 people while thousands of others were injured. Over 500,000 people were left homeless while others had their livelihoods destroyed (Yamanda et al., 2013). Nevertheless, those that had their houses intact did not have access to basic utilities such as clean drinking water, power supply, and food. Withal, the aftermath of the Tohoku earthquake had devastating adverse effects that were felt by the entire population of Japan and the world at large. The severity of the earthquake has continued to be felt for many years since its occurrence.

ReferencesNohara, M. (2011). Impact of the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami on health, medical care and public health systems in Iwate Prefecture, Japan, 2011. Western Pacific Surveillance and Response Journal, 2(4), e1-e1.
Yamanda, S., Hanagama, M., Kobayashi, S., Satou, H., Tokuda, S., Niu, K., & Yanai, M. (2013). The impact of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake on hospitalisation for respiratory disease in a rapidly aging society: a retrospective descriptive and cross-sectional study at the disaster base hospital in Ishinomaki. BMJ Open, 3(1), e000865.