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| January 2012 |
| Billie Silvey |
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| On March 11, 2011, the generally stable earth moved
in the Japan Trench between the Eurasian and the Pacific Plates just off the coast of Sendai, Japan. The magnitude 8.9 earthquake triggered a 30-foot tsunami that swept the coastline, carrying boats and buildings, houses and factories far inland, then drawing them out to sea again, together with over 12,000 people--mothers, fathers, children, grandparents--gone without warning. Earthquakes also shook New Zealand, Turkey and Washington, D.C. |
| EARTH / WATER |
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| A 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck Christchurch, New Zealand on February 22, killing 181 people. It was followed by a 5.2 and a 6.0 earthquake June 12, which destroyed buildings damaged in the previous quake. |
| An aid worker searching for survivors of an earthquake in Van, Turkey, was among over 600 victims of two earthquakes in October and November. |
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| Hundreds were killed and 200,000 left homeless when floods struck Pakistan's southern Sindh province in September. |
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| In November, flood waters in northern Thailand poured into the capital, Bangkok, killing some 800 people and impacting factory output and prices on consumer goods in Japan and the United States. Thailand supplies auto parts and computer components. |
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| D.C. office workers react to shaking. |