TSUNAMIS
A tsunami is another natural disaster. They occur in Japan for two reasons, one because Japan is surrounded by water. Two, because Japan has a lot of earthquakes which cause tsunamis.
A tsunami is a tidal wave. When a tsunami approaches shore it starts to slow down and grow in height. Like other water waves, tsunamis start losing energy as they get closer to shore. Some of the water energy is bounced off shore. Though this happens tsunamis still reach the coast with major amounts of energy. Tsunamis can strip beaches of sand that might have taken years to form there. They can also suck up trees and other plants. Tsunamis are capable of flooding hundreds of meters of land. Tsunamis can crush homes and structures along the coast. The tsunamis' height can reach up to 10, 20, and even 30 meters.
One tsunami took place in Hokkaido on July 12, 1993 at 17 minutes past 10 p.m.. A 7.8 earthquake occurred off the west coast of Hokkaido in the Sea of Japan. The earthquake formed a tsunami which hit the coast line of nearby Okushiri Island and the central west coast of Hokkaido within minutes. There was an estimate of $800 million in property loss. Over 120 people were killed in Japan by the tsunami.
VOLCANOS
Japan is covered in mountainous arcs. Volcanoes are common in Japan. The volcanoes throughout the Kuril Islands, northeastern Honshu and down to the Bonin Islands form one big island arc which form the northeastern Japan. The arcs of southeastern Honshu and the Ryukyu Islands form the oldest part of southwestern Japan.
Japan has about one-tenth of the worlds active volcanoes and hundreds of inactive volcanoes. Mount Fuji is the highest mountain and most famous mountain in Japan. This mountain is still active as are Asama, Aso, Banai, Miharaand and Sakurajima. There are actually more then 40 active volcanoes out of a told of 180.
Because of the potential dangers of volcanic eruption, the Japan Government monitors the activity of these volcanoes closely. Once a year, usually in January, they have volcano evacuation drills. They will actually practice using helicopters to fly people out of the villages. Scientists measure every change in the volcanoes' activity and record and study this information. They hope to be able to give enough advance notice so people can escape.
1945:
The Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima
Photo Gallery
The clock stopped at 8:15 a.m., the moment the world's second atomic bomb, Little Boy is detonated 1,900 feet above Hiroshima, Japan.
DAMAGE REPORT
Some 90,000 to 100,000 persons are killed immediately; about 145,000 persons will perish from the bombing by the end of 1945.
This bronze Buddha was melted by heat from the Hiroshima bomb. Bronze melts at around 1600 degrees F. The temperature on the ground beneath the exploding Hiroshima bomb reached about 7000 degrees
The Atomic Bombing of Nagasaki
This black stone monolith marks the hypocenter of the atomic bomb that destroyed Nagasaki. At 11:02 a.m., August 9, 1945 "Fat Man" exploded 500 meters above this spot.
The fierce blast wind, heat rays reaching several thousand degrees, and deadly radiation generated by the explosion crushed, burned and killed everything in sight and reduced this entire area to a barren field of rubble.
DAMAGE REPORT
Levelled Area: 6.7 million square meters
Damaged Houses: 18,409
Casualties
Killed------73,884
Injured-----74,909
Total------148,793
(Large numbers of people died in the following years from the effects of radioactive poisoning.)
Japan’s Real per-Capita Growth
1990-2004 – 1.0%, cycles of stagnation and recession.
1970-1990 – 3.4%, slowing but still rapid growth after OPEC oil
embargo and world recessions. By 1991, Japanese per-capita
income was seven times greater than the 1940 peak – an
average growth rate of 4%.
1950-1970 – 8.4%, recovery and beyond. Largely fueled by rapid
capital investment combined with high technology.
1910-1950 – 1.0% average in spite 10% decline in 1930-31 and
53% decline from 1940-1945.
1870-1910 – 1.3% average during the Meiji Restoration -- among
the fastest growing economies during the period.
1820-1870 – 0.1% average in the late Tokugawa.