Japan Tsunami's Impact

Have you ever tried to make a long domino snake, putting all the pieces in a line so when the first tile is tumbled, it tumbles the second and on? This very well known game result in all tiles falling down and is also used as an analogy. The domino effect is referred to a linked series of events that occurred in a very short period of time. Nowadays, the perfect example is the Japan tsunami’s impact in the entire world.

Japan is located over a high risk coast; from volcanoes, being part of the ‘Pacific Ring of Fire’, to earthquakes and tsunamis as a result of the subduction of the Amurian Plate, Okhotsk, Pacific and Philippine Sea Plate. Last March 11^th, Japan suffered a massive 8.9 earthquake followed by a 10 meter tsunami that destroyed everything on its way. After 4 weeks, another earthquake hit Japan, this time measured with a 7.4 magnitude. However, the last tile of this domino effect has still not touch ground.

For a country like Japan, recovering from a tragedy like this should be as quickly as we can imagine. The Gross Domestic Product growth could decline over 0.5 points this year. Although, if the nuclear crisis continues Japan would start facing a whole new level of problems.

As Japan is considered the third largest economy in the world, this catastrophe hit the entire globe. For Western Europe, the major concerns are not the imports and exports from this country, but the rising crude oil prices and high food costs are. Energy exporters, like Australia and Indonesia will be beneficiated as well as Vietnam and its fishing industry. On the other hand, countries like South Korea and Thailand will suffer a major impact as their imports come entirely from Japan. Furthermore, commodities such as steel might experience some changes on its prices, as demand increases for reconstruction.

Nevertheless, many countries and international organizations offered their support to the Japanese people. Uruguay, for example, sent two tons of tinned meat as well as medical supplies.

All in all, this domino effect will not end soon, but we will see consequences of this natural disaster for a few more years.