Mud-rich coastline made 2011 Japan tsunami far more destructive, study finds

Analysis of video footage reveals how wave changed as it travelled over mud-rich rice paddies, exerting more force It is just over 15 years since the devastating Tohoku earthquake and tsunami struck Japan, killing almost 20,000 people and triggering the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster. Fresh analysis of video footage of the wave has revealed that the mud-rich coastline made the tsunami far more destructive than it might otherwise have been. Patrick Sharrocks, from the University of Leeds, ...

By Kate Ravilious