The Tohoku, Japan, Tsunami of March 11, 2011: Effects on Structures

September 2011. Earthquake Engineering Research Institute, and American Society of Civil Engineers.

The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) sponsored several reconnaissance teams to survey effects of the great East Japan earthquake and Tohoku tsunami. The first of these was the tsunami team, led by Gary Chock, which traveled to Japan from April 15 to May 1, 2011, and focused on tsunami effects on coastal buildings, bridges, port facilities and coastal protective structures. This report is a summary of their observations, which is being published by EERI’s Learning from Earthquakes Program.