Ryan Chiu

Affect of Natural Disasters on the Water Supply

The most recent natural disaster to affect the earth was the 8.9 - 9 magnitude earthquake that
happened in Japan. The earthquake happened on March 11, 2011 and this earthquake was the
strongest earthquake with the highest magnitude to ever hit Japan. The previous highest magnitude
earthquake to ever hit Japan was the 7.9 magnitude Great Kanto earthquake in 1923. One of the
consequences of this earthquake was that it caused a power plant in Fukushima to have a radiation leak.
The radiation leak caused nearby people to carry radiation and that radiation also got into the nearby
bodies of water. With radiation in Japan’s water supply, two factors are affected. The first factor is that
the life forms such as animals and plants in the water become toxic and will die. Then, larger creatures
that feed on those animals will die too. The second factor is that the water will become unusable for
drinking or other purposes. Drinking is the most important use for water and without it, people will die.
The second consequence caused by this earthquake was the tsunami. The earthquake triggered
enormous tsunami waves that were 10 metres high and travelled 10 kilometres inland. Also, minutes
after the earthquake started, the Fujinuma irrigation dam ruptured causing flooding of the homes and
erosion of the land. With all this flooding, the water has become contaminated and become
undrinkable. Also, the flooding damaged property and the land. This consequences caused by this
earthquake could also affect the rest of the world. When the radiation leaked from the power plant, the
radiation could have affected some creatures in the water. Then, the radiated animal could swim to
other places in the world and affect the ecosystem of the place where to arrive at. There could also be
people visiting from other countries and they could have carried some radiation back to their home
country. This natural disaster has caused many people to suffer and lose their homes. Sadly, this
disaster triggered other consequences which might have been just as bad as the natural disaster itself.