RAPID: Reconnaissance Survey of Activity Concentrations Following the 11 March 2011 Japan Tsunami

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This Rapid Response Research Grant (RAPID) award is for the collection of ephemeral data from the March 11, 2011 Japanese earthquake and tsunami. Data will be collected from locations in Japan and the US Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. The PI and colleagues had visited the area following the 11 March 2011 Tohoku tsunami and recorded runup and tsunami currents. They also took soil and water samples for determination of concentrations of radioactive isotopes of Iodine and Cesium. A few of these samples suggested concentrations one order of magnitude higher than reported by others. In this project, additional data on tsunami runup will be obtained from Saipan, Tinian and Rota. Eyewitnesses to the tsunami will be contacted for additional information. Topsoil samples will be also obtained from the same sites previously sampled in Japan to validate the original findings.The data collected on tsunami runup will help to complete existing databases on runup measurements from the Tohoku tsunami. These data can be used to validate tsunami inundation maps produced by NOAA for the Northern Mariana Islands. The data on concentrations of radioactive Cesium will help determine the magnitude and areal dispersion of radioactive elements released from the damaged nuclear power plants in Japan.