Phenomena
2011 Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami
Also Known As Great East Japan Earthquake
Earthquake and Tsunami
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An undersea megathrust earthquake on March 11, 2011, that sent tsunami waves reaching 40.5 meters at Miyako against the Tohoku coast and triggered the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident. The most thoroughly instrumented great earthquake in history, it reshaped how seismologists model how much of a subduction zone can rupture at once.
Facts
Magnitude or ScaleMoment magnitude 9.0 to 9.1, the most powerful earthquake ever recorded in Japan 1 LocationOff the Pacific coast of the Tohoku region, about 72 kilometers east of the Oshika Peninsula, Japan 1 Disputed
Death Toll19,759 confirmed dead and 2,553 still listed as missing, per the 2021 official figures 1 Official counts were revised for a decade as missing persons cases resolved; totals differ by whether the missing and later indirect deaths are included. Cross-Tradition Connections
Caused By
A megathrust rupture where the Pacific Plate subducts beneath the plate carrying northern Honshu.
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