On March 11th, Japan suffered a 9.0 earthquake, followed by a massive tsunami. Just weeks later, NOVA has produced a 47 minute documentary that does an impressive job of explaining the science behind these twin geologic catastrophes. The program follows Roger Bilham, a seismologist at the University of Colorado, who arrived in Japan two days after the quake. And what you get is a blow-by-blow account of the unfolding events, coupled with some sound analysis and stunning footage (like the ground splitting open and pushing water to the surface.) This is by far the most substantive treatment of Japan’s quake/tsunami that we’ve encountered to date…
via Science Dump
Thanks for posting. A lot of these kinds of programs are not viewable outside of the U.S. for copyright reasons.
There’s one thing everyone should know. Fukushima nuclear power plant wasn’t generating electricity for ‘local grid’. It was for Tokyo and surrounding area. The locals did not get even 1 watt of electricity from that plant.
I believe it was Wendell Berry who said something like: if you set up a technological system whose failure will be disastrous, then you may be sure that that disaster will happen.
I’m not sure if this is the same show, but maybe this will also be of interest: http://www.channel4.com/programmes/japans-tsunami-how-it-happened/episode-guide/series‑1/episode‑1