Page 86 - Prime Time 1-5 Leaflet

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Vocabulary & Reading
1 a) Read the headlines and fill
in: CLOSED DOWN, WASHES
AWAY, RUNNING WATER ,
UNDERSEA, STRIKES , FORCE,
EVACUATED.
Listen and check. Say the
headlines in your language.
MASSIVE 1) .........................
EARTHQUAKE 2) ........................
OFF THE COAST OF JAPAN
10-METRE TSUNAMI
3) ............................ HOUSES & CARS
4) ...................... OF JAPAN QUAKE
MOVES ISLAND BY 2.4 METRES
NUCLEAR POWER STATIONS IN QUAKE
AREAS 5) ...............................
HALF A MILLION JAPANESE 6) .................
THEIR HOUSES & 1.4 MILLION WITHOUT
7) ..................................
16
Disasters
b) Use the headlines to tell
the class what you think
happened in Japan in
March 2011.
In March 2011, an undersea earthquake
struck off the coast of Japan. Soon after, ... .
2 Write down three questions
you would like to ask about
this disaster then read the
text. Can you answer your
questions?
strike, devastating, nuclear meltdown, axis,
foreshock, exceed, shake, epicentre, authorities,
warning, head for, roll across, crash into, loaded
(with), debris, landslide, mud, pylon, evacuation,
explosion, courageous, technician, struggle,
aftershock, relief worker, desperate, collapse, rip
apart, blaze, force, sweep away, inland, slam into
Check these words
On 11th March, 2011, at 14:46 local time, an undersea earthquake struck
off the northeastern coast of Japan. The force of the earthquake, the most
powerful in Japan’s history, triggered a devastating tsunami. The
world faced a partial nuclear meltdown and the planet moved on its axis,
shortening the length of every day by 1.8 milliseconds. It was a terrible
national tragedy that the country will need a great deal of time to recover
from.
In the days before the main earthquake, Japan had experienced quite a
few foreshocks, some of which exceeded magnitude 7, but nothing
could prepare the nation for the main shock, a magnitude 9 quake. It
was strong enough to be felt hundreds of kilometres away in Tokyo
where buildings shook violently and many office workers ran out onto
the streets terrified. Much worse was yet to come as the
authorities issued a tsunami warning.
Frantic residents headed for high ground, rooftops or upper floors of
buildings. Soon after, a wall of water, 10 m high in some places, rolled
across the Pacific Ocean and crashed into the coast. One giant
wave even crashed through an airport in Sendai, leaving 1,300 people
stranded on the upper floors. The waters reached up to 10 km inland
before heading back out to sea, now loaded with debris and leaving a
swamp-like landscape of landslides and mud. TV viewers couldn’t
believe their eyes as these scenes were broadcast around the world.
By this time, many areas were without electricity as pylons had
crumbled which caused a major disaster at Japan's nuclear power
stations. The government immediately ordered an evacuation
of hundreds of thousands of residents. Explosions rocked the plant
as courageous technicians struggled to control the damage and
prevent a nuclear meltdown.
Over the next few days, a large number of aftershocks continued to
shake Japan, causing plenty of problems for rescue teams as they
raced to find survivors. Several countries sent relief workers and the
world held its breath while it waited to see how the tragedy would
end. Over 15,000 people died that day and thousands more
were missing. Several amazing tales of survival came to the
attention of the world’s press, though. A 4-month-old baby girl was
pulled alive from the rubble four days after the earthquake. A man
was found clinging to his rooftop as it was floating 14 km out at sea
2 days after the tsunami. And there was the Japanese student in
California, desperate for news of her lost family, who found them on
a YouTube news clip. It showed her sister holding up a sign and
sending a desperately-needed message of hope across the world:
“We all survived.”
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