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Emergency Observation of Magnitude-9.0 Earthquake off the Pacific coast of Tohoku-Kanto District in Japan in 2011 by AVNIR-2 onboard "Daichi" (ALOS)

Emergency Observation of Magnitude-9.0 Earthquake off the Pacific coast of Tohoku-Kanto District in Japan in 2011 by AVNIR-2 onboard "Daichi" (ALOS)

A magnitude 9.0 giant earthquake occurred off the Pacific coast of Tohoku-Kanto district in Japan accompanied by a massive tsunami at 14:46 (JST) or 5:46 (UTC) on March 11, 2011.

A magnitude 7.4 occurred at 15:15 (JST) or 6:15 (UTC) on March 11, 2011, and then aftershocks continuously have occurred. Tsunami caused by the giant earthquake seemed to be up to more than ten meters height and caused enormous damage in the coastal area.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has decided to observe here by the Advanced Visible and Near Infrared Radiometer type 2 (AVNIR-2)* onboard the Advanced Land Observation Satellite (ALOS, "Daichi") at 10:11 (JST) or 1:11 (UTC) on March 14, 2011 as an emergency observation further to March 12, 2011. The cloud-free image was taken in entire coverage on March 14, 2011.

Fig. 1 shows an observed image, which is assigned band 3, 2 and 1 of AVNIR-2 as the true color composite. The white colored areas show clouds or snow regions.

Fig.1

Fig.1: AVNIR-2 image with -23.0 degrees pointing angle acquired at 10:11 on March 14, 2011(JST).

Yellow squares show location of Figs. 2, 3 and 7.

(Click to view enlarged image)

Fig. 2 is image comparison between taken after earthquake on March 14, 2011 (left) and before earthquake on February 27, 2011 (right). They are assigned band 4, 3 and 2 of AVNIR-2 as the false color composite, which are able to identify land surface because vegetation (red) and cloud (white) areas can be clearly separated. Images are covered cities from Soma to Tagajyo, where coastal areas were widely submerged by tsunami (dark blue colored areas in the after earthquake image).

Fig.2

Fig.2: Enlarged image of flooded large areas including Sendai Airport, Miyagi Prefecture.

(1,875 square kilometers, left: March 14, 2011; right: February 27, 2011).

(Click to view enlarged image)

Fig. 3 shows enlarged image covered from Rikuzen-takada city to Minami-Sanriku-cho, which were taken after earthquake on March 14, 2011 (left) and before earthquake on February 27, 2011 (right). On purple circle over ocean, tsunami castaway could be seen.

Fig.3

Fig.3: Enlarged image of flooded areas from Rikuzen-takada to Minami-Sanriku-cho.

(2,500 square kilometers, left: March 14, 2011; right: February 27, 2011).

(Click to view enlarged image)

Fig. 4 shows enlarged image of Rikuzen-takada and south of Kesennuma city. Yellow squares indicate areas of widely submerged by tsunami.

Fig.4

Fig.4: Enlarged image of flooded areas from Rikuzen-takada to Kesennuma city.

(400 square kilometers, left: March 14, 2011; right: February 27, 2011).

(Click to view enlarged image)

Fig. 5 shows enlarged image of Motoyoshi-cho, where submerged deeply into inland.

Fig.5

Fig.5: Enlarged image of flooded areas at Motoyoshi-cho in Miyagi Prefecture.

(100 square kilometers, left: March 14, 2011; right: February 27, 2011).

(Click to view enlarged image)

Fig. 6 shows enlarged image of Minami-sanriku-cho, where the whole city was submerged.

Fig.6

Fig.6: Enlarged images at Minami-sanriku-cho in Miyagi Prefecture.

(100 square kilometers, left: March 14, 2011; right: February 27, 2011).

(Click to view enlarged image)

Fig. 7 shows enlarged image of Ishinomaki city, which were taken after earthquake on March 14, 2011 (left) and before earthquake on February 27, 2011 (right). The pair of image shows widely submerged along Kitakami River basin and plain near the coast of Ishinomaki bay.

Fig.7

Fig.7: Enlarged image of Ishinomaki city and Kitagami River basin in Miyagi Prefecture.

(1,500 square kilometers, left: March 14, 2011; right: February 27, 2011).

(Click to view enlarged image)

The acquired images were provided to the Cabinet Office of Japan, Government Agencies of disaster prevention and local governments.

JAXA plans continuous observation of these regions.

German satellite "RapidEye" imageries have been provided to JAXA via the International Charter "Space and Major Disasters". JAXA has analyzed them observed in Sanriku coast at 11:20 on March 13, 2011 (JST).

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* Advanced Visible and Near Infrared Radiometer type 2 (AVNIR-2):

AVNIR-2 is a visible and near infrared radiometer for observing land and coastal zones. It provides 10-m spatial-resolution image and 70-km swath on the ground. The pointing angle of AVNIR-2 is +44 and - 44 degrees. The image taken after disaster on March 14, 2011 was acquired by 23.0 degrees west.

Reference

2011/3/18: ALOS/PALSAR Observation Results of the Magnitude-9.0 Earthquake off the Pacific coast of Tohoku-Kanto District in Japan in 2011.

JAXA EORC