Chilean buildings stand and fall
These two buildings in the Chilean city of Concepcion attest to the difference construction can make. The apartment complex in the foreground broke from its foundation and toppled, breaking in half. The building in the background suffered no damage.
Huge Chilean Earthquake Raised Country's Coast
Uplift of the ground is seen at the beach of Lebu. Uplift in this zone was about 71 inches (180 centimeters), which produced the uplift of a great marine platform.
Boat washed inland
The 8.8-magnitude Chilean quake generated a 4 to 5 meter (12 to 15 foot) tsunami in Concepcion Harbor.
Traveling Tsunami
The 8.9-magnitude (which may have been upgraded to a 9.0) earthquake that struck Japan triggered tsunamis across the region. Here, results from a computer model run by the Center for Tsunami Research at the NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory show the expected wave heights of the tsunami as it travels across the Pacific basin.
The largest wave heights are expected near the earthquake epicenter, off the coast of Sendai, Honshu, Japan. The wave will decrease in height as it travels across the deep Pacific but grow taller as it nears coastal areas. In general, as the energy of the wave decreases with distance, the near-shore heights will also decrease. For example, coastal Hawaii will not expect heights of that encountered in coastal Japan, according to NOAA.
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Tsunami strikes Sendai, Japan, March 11, 2011.
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Tsunami strikes Japan's coast, March 11, 2011.
Enormous Whirlpool
Whirlpool created by the earthquake off the coast of Japan, March 11, 2011.
