| Session Details | |
| Section | SE - Solid Earth Sciences |
| Session Title | The M9 off Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami on March 11, 2011 |
| Main Convener | Prof. Naoshi Hirata (University of Tokyo, Japan) |
| Co-convener(s) | Dr. Yukinobu Okamura (Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Japan) Prof. Yoko Ota (National Taiwan University, Taiwan) Prof. Kenji Satake (University of Tokyo, Japan) Prof. Kenji Satake (University of Tokyo, Japan) Prof. Kenji Satake (University of Tokyo, Japan) |
| Session Description | This session is urgently planned after the M9 off Tohoku earthquake, which caused tremendous damage from strong ground shaking and huge tsunami. The earthquake was generated by the rupture on plate interface along the Japan Trench and caused widespread tsunami on the northeastern coast of Japan. The tsunami inundation zone extends about 400 km along the coast and 5.5 km inland from the coast. In addition, the severe damage on nuclear plants provoked significant economic and social instabilities. Although the littoral zone destroyed in this event has been often wrecked by tsunami in recent geological past, this earthquake was much larger than those documented in instrumental records. It is certainly necessary to have interdisciplinary discussion by the scientists from various fields to learn what happened and discuss how we can do better jobs on hazard reduction. Our session aims to discuss: 1) the geology of the Pacific coast in northern Japan related to the occurrence of such a great earthquake, 2) submarine geological structure and sea-floor topography of Japan Trench in the source area of this event, 3) seismological characteristics of this event and its neighboring regions, 4) the temporal and spatial records or simulation on the tsunami inundation, 5) long-term forecast of earthquake occurrence and its limitation, and 6) paleotsunami study for understanding the tsunami reoccurrence history. |