On March 11 2011, the strongest earthquake since the beginning of Japanese earthquake monitoring occurred near the Sanriku-coast of Japan‘s Tohoku prefecture. The distribution of aftershocks shows that the fault line length extended over 400km with horizontal shifting of up to five metres measured along Japans Eastern shore.

Calculations made by the GFZ earthquake modelling group show up to 27 m overall horizontal dislocation and vertical movement of up to seven meters. This resulted in a sudden uplift of the ocean bottom which caused the disastrous tsunami. The released total energy of the main earthquake was 3.9*1022 Joule, this being 83-times the global annual energy consumption. The tsunami waves traversed the Pacific in 22 hours, reaching a speed of 800km/h in the open ocean.

The globe map shows the maximum wave height according to the GFZ model in false colours to emphasize the tsunamis widespread impact on its path through the Pacific. The mapping is based on tsunami wave simulations by the GFZ-Scientists Andrey Babeyko and Andreas Hoechner.
The calculation of tsunami wave propagation is an important part of tsunami early warning: Repositories of pre-computed tsunami propagation data are used in early warning centres to identify coastal zones under threat, allowing to disseminate warning messages in time.

In the TRIDEC project, GFZ scientists are developing important components for a state-of-the-art tsunami early warning system for the Mediterranean Sea, based on innovative approaches in information technology. The globe map of the Tohoku-tsunami shows a real-world event as an example for the rapid and wide spreading of potential threat zones.

Globe-map of simulated wave heights of the Tohoku-Tsunami