Hannah Timpe
News Editor
On Friday, Mar. 11, at 2:46 p.m. Japan was hit with an 8.9 magnitude earthquake. This earthquake was the strongest earthquake to hit Japan in recorded history.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the epicenter was located off Miyagi Prefecture, which is about 230 miles northeast of Tokyo.
The earthquake caused a 30-ft. tsunami that according to CNN, “swept across rice fields, engulfed entire towns, dragged houses onto highways, and tossed cars and boats like toys.” Some of these waves reached six miles inland on Japan’s east coast. The earthquake and tsunami also damaged the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station and affected stock markets worldwide.
“As of Mar. 24, the official death toll had been raised to more than 9,500 and more than 16,000 people are listed as missing, although there may be some overlap between the two groups. The final toll is expected to reach nearly 20,000,” said The New York Times.
Being an archipelago on the Pacific Ring of Fire, which is made up of continuous oceanic trenches and tectonic plates, Japan is accustomed to earthquakes. To help prevent devastation in large urban areas, many large buildings in Japan’s cities have been built to withstand earthquakes.
“Huge shock absorbers, walls that slide and Teflon foundation pads that isolate buildings from the ground all help explain why medium and high-rise structures in Japan remained standing,” said Brian Vastag of the Washington Post.
“It could have been a lot worse without the special buildings that sway with the earthquake,” said junior Lexi Knight.
Japan has been inundated with international support. According to CNN.com, “By early Saturday, [Mar. 12] more than 50 countries had offered help, said Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
President Barack Obama offered his condolences and said the United States was standing by to help ‘in this time of great trial.”
“It’s so tragic what happened over there, I hope that they can recover quickly as a nation,” added senior Emery Fall.
To help the people of Japan there are many organizations taking donations. To donate to American Red Cross Relief, you can text REDCROSS to 90999. Also to donate to World Relief Corp., text WAVE to 50555.