The March 2011 Japan Earthquake Analysis of Losses , Impacts , and Impli - cations for the Understanding of Risks

Socio-economic losses associated with the earthquake of magnitude 9 on March 11th, 2011 off the Tohoku coast of Japan are presented and discussed. These include presentation of building damage, casualtyand shelter needs disaggregated for the earthquake and tsunami, but also the implications of the loss of essential utilities in Honshu’s production capacity, and consequences of the Fukushima 1 nuclear power plant accident. We trace the Tohoku catastrophe from the initial triggering earthquake through the cascadingand network phenomena of the Tohoku event, and discuss the concept of cascading phenomena triggered by natural hazards in society and the economy. Following the analysis of the Tohoku event, a summary of the key interactions of three different types of disasters which occurred in 2010 are presented in comparison.