If you thought that the fallout from the Japanese earthquake and tsunami that took place on March 11, 2011 was all over, you are wrong. For a while, there was concern about radiation reaching the states. While it did, officials assured us that it was not at levels that would cause concern.
We are yet to know the results of the devastating earthquake, but one thing is for sure – it caused a lot of debris and some of that debris is headed straight for our coastline.
The bad news is the debris weighs about 100,000 tons. Image a wall of debris the size of California. The good news is we have time to prepare – the bulk of it won’t arrive for several years.
This is all stuff that was swept out to sea by the tsunami. The government has said most of the debris is underwater and won’t hit until 2013. After all, it has quite a trip to make! But, some of the larger debris – could arrive any day now. Oceanographic detective (who knew there was such?) Curt Ebbesmeyer said that objects such as “aircraft wings, boats, big buoys” could show up on the West Coast soon.
Ebbesmeyer said that debris that will float may arrive shortly and no one is paying attention to that. He says that the debris should be treated like that of the 9/11 tragedy – as mementos of families. He urges people to preserve the debris found. Ebbesmeyer rescued a fishing buoy that had made its way from a Japanese village to the Washington coast. The owners and fishermen came to Washington to see the buoy and Ebbesmeyer called it “moving.”
To help the effort, Ebbesmeyer has info listed on his website that will help beachcombers determine when and where the debris will land. He is asking that anyone who finds debris from Japan to let him know via his website so they can return as much as possible to Japan.