To be honest, it has been difficult for me to wrap my head around the Fukushima disaster that occurred on March 11, 2011. As someone who grew up in the southeastern United States, I have had very few personal experiences with earthquakes and even fewer (ie, "zero") with tsunamis and radiation spills. Thus, while I may not be the most qualified person to discuss the details of the Great Japan Earthquake, my experiences in Fukushima over the past four days have still (I hope) provided me with some insight into the event. Before describing my experiences in Fukushima this past weekend, though, I would first like to try and explain some of the unique features of this disaster that make it so important from a geological, environmental, and human perspective. For starters, the earthquake was an
... read more
