The 2011 Tohoku earthquake, officially named the Great East Japan Earthquake, was a magnitude 9.0 undersea earthquake off the coast of Japan that occurred at 14:46 Japan time on Friday, 11 March 2011, with the epicentre approximately 70 kilometres east of the Oshika Peninsula of Tohoku (North-eastern Japan). It was the most powerful known earthquake to have hit Japan, and one of the five most powerful earthquakes in the world overall since modern record-keeping began in 1900. The earthquake triggered extremely destructive tsunami waves of up to 38.9 metres that struck Japan, in some cases travelling up to 10 km inland. In addition to loss of life and destruction of infrastructure, the tsunami caused a number of nuclear accidents, of which by far the most serious was an ongoing level 7 event and 20 km evacuation zone around the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant. The overall cost could exceed $300 billion, making it the most expensive natural disaster on record.
The Japanese National Police Agency has confirmed 15,057 deaths, 5,282 injured, and 9,121 people missing across eighteen prefectures, as well as over 125,000 buildings damaged or destroyed. The earthquake and tsunami caused extensive and severe structural damage in Japan, including heavy damage to roads and railways as well as fires in many areas, and a dam collapse. Around 4.4 million households in north-eastern Japan were left without electricity and 1.5 million without water. Many electrical generators were taken down, and at least three nuclear reactors suffered explosions due to hydrogen gas that had built up within their outer containment buildings after cooling system failure. Residents within a 20 km radius of the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant and a 10 km radius of the Fukushima II Nuclear Power Plant were evacuated.
Japanese Prime Minister Naoko Kan said, “In the 65 years after the end of World War II, this is the toughest and the most difficult crisis for Japan.”The earthquake moved Honshu 2.4 m east and shifted the Earth on its axis by 10 cm. Early estimates placed insured losses from the earthquake alone at US$14.5 to $34.6 billion.
Help us support Japan by coming to our charity dinner or by donating to the Red Cross
GANBARE JAPAN! 