Emergency and disaster management concepts mentioned in this episode are blue-sky and gray-sky days. The popular 90s videogame that this podcast resembles uses a "save room" where all is quiet and safe. The save room is used to symbolize blue sky days; days when things are quiet and safe.

At 2:46 in the afternoon, on March 11th, 2011, a 9.0-magnitude

earthquake caused a 55.88 meters tsunami wave that reached 6 miles inland.

Houses and business buildings were reduced to piles of scattered wood, vehicles were carried away by the rushing water, and boats lay on the streets.

As

the water receded, debris and people were dragged back into the ocean. This

earthquake and the subsequent tsunami caused two of the nuclear reactors

closest to the epicenter to shut down. The inundation caused by the tsunami

also led to the failure of the backup generators.

With the power source and backup power source shut off, the reactor cores overheated

causing the fuel rods to partially melt and burn through the containment

vessels, exposing the nuclear material, releasing radiation into the atmosphere.

This and the accumulation of hydrogen gas set off a fire.

They

attempted to stabilize the reactors by pumping seawater into them. Drainage

from the water caused further contamination in the surrounding ocean causing the need for a mass evacuation from those lands as well. The official total of dead and missing was nearly 20,000.

My name is Daniel Jacobs, I have a BA in Emergency and Disaster Management. I am currently working on my Masters in Disaster management and Homeland Security. My podcast is for the layman; people who are not emergency managers but are interested in the topic. This episode talks about hazards and disasters.