Hi, geographers.

My name is Mr. Lawledge and I can't wait to get learning with you today.

We're gonna have a fantastic time learning all about earthquakes.

Today's lesson is Earthquakes and Tsunamis: Honshu, Japan, 2011, and this is from the unit Earthquakes: How do They Change the World? Some of our learning today is quite challenging, but I'm here to help and we can learn together.

Let's get started, shall we? By the end of the lesson, you will be able to describe and explain the causes and consequences of the earthquake in Honshu, Japan, 2011.

The keywords we will be using today are: tsunami, Pacific plate, North American plate, and impact.

Tsunamis are huge waves caused by earthquakes or volcanic eruptions under the sea.

The Pacific plate is the largest tectonic plate.

It is situated between North and South America to the east and Australia and New Zealand to the west.

The North American plate is the tectonic plate that includes most of North America.

To have an impact is to have an effect on someone or something.

Our lesson today will be split into two parts.

The first part is What Caused the 2011 Honshu Earthquake? The second part is What Was the Impact of the 2011 Honshu Earthquake? So let's begin with our first section, What Caused the 2011 Honshu Earthquake? On 11th of March, 2011, Japan's largest island, Honshu, was hit by a huge earthquake that had a severe impact on Japan and the rest of the world.

The earthquake, which is sometimes known in Japan as the Great East Japan Earthquake, lasted six minutes and had a magnitude of nine on the Moment Magnitude scale.

That's making it the fifth most powerful earthquake in the world.

Six minutes might not seem like an overly long time, but when you're in the middle of an earthquake, six minutes would feel like a lifetime.

You can try timing six minutes to see.

The Moment Magnitude scale ranges from one to 10 with 9.

5 being the strongest ever earthquake recorded to date.

Okay, we've got our first check for understanding here.

What was the magnitude of the 2011 Honshu earthquake? Was it A: seven on the Moment Magnitude scale, B: eight on the Moment Magnitude scale, or C: nine on the Moment Magnitude scale? Pause the video now and have a think about that question.

Okay, welcome back.

Let's see if you answered that question correctly.

The answer is C.

The 2011 Honshu earthquake was nine on the Moment Magnitude scale.

The 2011 Honshu Japan earthquake was caused as a result of tectonic plate movement between the Pacific and North American plate boundary.

This occurred underneath the sea, which is really important to further understand the impact of the earthquake on Honshu.

So there we have the North American plate and the Pacific plate.

Here at the plate boundary, the Pacific plate and North American plates are being pushed together.

We've got another check for understanding here.

Can you label the Pacific and North American plates on the diagram below? Pause the video now to see if you can answer that question.

Welcome back.

Did you correctly identify the Pacific plate and the North American plate? Well done if you did.

The plates being pushed together then lock due to friction.

The pressure to move past each other builds up and eventually they slip, causing an earthquake.

Okay, got another check for understanding here.

Can you identify the strongest point of the earthquake? Pause the video now to see if you can answer that question.

Welcome back.

Yes, the strongest point of the earthquake is the red dot there, and that is called the focus point of the earthquake.

And that is where the tectonic plates first slipped.

Well done if you answered that question correctly.

As the North American plate pushes upwards, seismic waves of energy spread out from the area.

We've got another check for understanding here.

Can you put the following statements in order to explain how the Honshu earthquake occurred? Our three statements are: Eventually the plates slip and an earthquake occurs.

Friction locks the plates together.

The Pacific plate and the North American plate are pushing against each other.

Pause the video now to see if you can put those statements in order.

Okay.

Welcome back.

So firstly, to explain how the Honshu earthquake occurred, the Pacific plate and the North American plate are pushing against each other.

Secondly, friction locks the plates together, and finally, eventually the plates slip and an earthquake occurs.

Well done if you put all those statements in the correct order.

We're now onto our first task for today's lesson.

Can you label the diagram and explain how the 2011 Honshu earthquake occurred? Try and use the words "Pacific plate" and "North American plate".

Pause the video now to complete that first task.

Welcome back.

Does your work include the following information? The Pacific plate is sinking below the North American plate.

The plates are being pushed past each other, but friction keeps them locked together.

Eventually, the plates slip and an earthquake occurs.

Well done if you included all of that information.

Okay, we are now onto the second part of our lesson today.

What was the impact of the 2011 Honshu earthquake? Remember, impact is one of our keywords and it means the effect on someone or something.

As a result of the Pacific plate slipping underneath the North American plate, the North American plate surged upwards.

The seismic waves, a movement of the North American plate, pushed a large volume of water upwards.

This created huge waves in the sea that travelled in the direction of Honshu.

This is also called a tsunami.

Tsunami in Japanese translates to "harbour wave" in English.

As the tsunami travels from deeper water to shallower water, it gets bigger and bigger before finally reaching land.

The tsunami wave caused by the earthquake travelled at speeds up to 500 miles per hour and reached 40 metres high as it hit the coast of Honshu.

Okay, we've got another pause and check for understanding here.

We've covered some really difficult learning so far, so well done.

What did the 2011 Honshu earthquake cause? Was it A: a hurricane, B: a volcano, or C: a tsunami? Pause the video now and let's see if you can answer that question.

Okay, welcome back.

Let's see if you are correct.

The 2011 Honshu earthquake caused C: a tsunami.

Well done if you got the answer correct.

The tsunami wave travelled 10 kilometres inland, causing great damage and destruction to everything in its path.

We've got another check for understanding now.

How high was the tsunami that hit Honshu, Japan, and how far did it travel inland? Was it, A: four metres high and 10 kilometres inland, B: 40 metres high and 10 kilometres inland, or C: 40 metres high and one kilometre inland? Hmm.

That's a tricky one.

Pause the video now and see if you can answer that question correctly.

Okay, welcome back.

So the correct answer to that question is B.

The tsunami was 40 metres high and travelled 10 kilometres inland.

Well done if you got that answer correct.

The resulting tsunami collapsed or damaged over 350,000 buildings.

More than 450,000 people became homeless in the earthquake, and over 15,000 people died.

The tsunami caused flooding at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, resulting in a nuclear disaster.

A substance called radiation, which is poisonous, leaked out into the surrounding area, and 150,000 people had to be moved to safety.

How do you think people felt during and after the Honshu earthquake? We have a few different words here to describe people's emotions during that time.

Scared, petrified, helpless, horrified, powerless.

We are now onto our second task.

Can you sequence the storyboard of the Honshu earthquake in the correct order and add a description for each stage to include important facts? Use these keywords to help you.

So we have the Pacific and North American tectonic plates, seismic waves, tsunami, and the additional information there is that it was up to 40 metres high and travelled 10 kilometres inland, the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, and more than 350,000 buildings were collapsed or damaged.

Pause the video now and see if you can have a go at completing that task.

Okay.

Welcome back.

Does your storyboard look a bit like this? So we have the Pacific and North American plate pushed together.

Remember, this is also called a convergent plate boundary.

The Pacific plate slipped underneath the North American plate, and that's also called a subduction zone.

The North American plate pushed upwards and the Pacific plate slipped underneath, as we've just said.

Seismic waves of energy pulsated towards the epicentre on the sea bed.

And remember, the focus point is the point where the tectonic plates first slip.

The seismic waves pushed a large volume of the sea upwards, making huge waves.

The tsunami was 40 metres high and travelled 10 kilometres inland.

The tsunami damaged over 350,000 buildings.

It caused a nuclear disaster at a power plant, and hundreds of thousands of people lost their homes or their lives.

That was a really tricky task, so, well done if you include that information correctly and managed to sequence your storyboard correctly.

That takes us to the end of our lesson.

It was a really challenging lesson today.

So let's quickly summarise what we have learned.

The 2011 Honshu, Japan earthquake was the fifth most powerful earthquake of all time.

It measured nine on the Moment Magnitude scale.

The earthquake's epicentre was on the seabed, 70 kilometres east of the Honshu coast.

The resulting tsunami was 40 metres high and came inland for 10 kilometres.

More than 350,000 buildings were collapsed or damaged, and over 15,000 people died.

That was a really difficult lesson.

So well done to you.

Well done for all your hard work today.

That was some really challenging learning and you did really well to concentrate.

I hope to see you again for some more fantastic geography.

Bye.