The Tohoku Earthquake in Japan

The Tohoku Earthquake of 11 March 2011 was the strongest earthquake so far in the southern Japan Trench since the beginning of the measurements. With a magnitude of 9.0 (Moment-Magnitude) it is ranked fourth on the list of the strongest earthquakes worldwide. In Switzerland an earthquake with a magnitude of 9.0 is impossible. Strong earthquakes with severe consequences, however, are possible and might occur anytime.

Even though Japan belongs to the most prepared countries the earthquake and the related tsunami caused immense suffering. Nevertheless thanks to the good preparations Japan operates a dense network of seismic monitoring stations. The collected data before, during and after the earthquake provides opportunities for scientists to gain new insights.

Despite the intense media coverage of the Tohoku event and the Christchurch earthquake of 22 February 2011 a lot of questions remain unanswered. Prof. Domenico Giardini, head of the Swiss Seismological Service and his colleagues reported in the week after the event on the scientific state of knowledge for those events, the seismological conclusions, and what we may learn from them in particular also for Switzerland.