Earthquake and tsunami in Japan: how the country learned to live with the risk of the worst

2024-01-01 23:29:22

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In fact, this disaster struck a country regularly affected by natural tragedies. Japan alone experiences 20% of the largest earthquakes (greater than magnitude 6) in the world each year. The most powerful one, of magnitude 9.1 in March 2011, and especially the tsunami that followed, caused the death or disappearance of around 18,500 people. “Magnitude 7 earthquakes are quite common in Japan, generally one per year on average,” says Lucile Bruhat, risk management expert.