On 17/03/2011 05:56, Alan wrote:
In message , "Nightjar
\"cpb\"@" wrote


Exactly. The sixth largest earthquake ever recorded in probably the
worst place it could happen.

So why didn't they design the facility for the worst ever earthquake
recorded (plus a large margin on top)?

It survived, virtually unscathed, an earthquake that was five times as
strong as it was designed for. It was the tsunami defences that let it
down. They were designed for around 7m, rather than the 10m that hit.

If you want them to build for the worst case, rather than the worst
probable case, the tsunami defences should have been built for 25m - the
largest tsunami ever to have hit Japan.

Colin Bignell