The 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami (東日本大震災 Higashi Nihon Daishinsai[6], literally "Eastern Japan Great Earthquake Disaster"[fn 1]), officially named the Great East Japan Earthquake,[7] was a 9.0-magnitude undersea megathrust earthquake off the coast of Japan that occurred at 14:46 JST (05:46 UTC) on Friday, 11 March 2011.[2][3][8] The epicenter was approximately 72 km (45 mi) east of the Oshika Peninsula of Tōhoku, with the hypocenter at an underwater depth of approximately 32 km (19.9 mi).[2][9] On 1 April 2011, the Japanese government named the disaster resulting from the earthquake and tsunami the "Great Eastern Japan Earthquake" (東日本大震災 Higashi Nihon Daishinsai).[10] The earthquake triggered extremely destructive tsunami waves of up to 37.9 meters (124 ft)[11] that struck Japan minutes after the quake, in some cases traveling up to 10 km (6 mi) inland,[12] with smaller waves reaching many other countries after several hours. Tsunami warnings were issued and evacuations ordered along Japan's Pacific coast and at least 20 other countries, including the entire Pacific coast of the Americas.[13][14][15]
The Japanese National Police Agency has confirmed 14,133 deaths,[4][5] 5,304 injured,[4][5] and 13,346 people missing[4][5] across eighteen prefectures, as well as over 125,000 buildings damaged or destroyed.[4][5] 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.[12][16] Around 4.4 million households in northeastern Japan were left without electricity and 1.5 million without water.[17] 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. On 18 March, Yukiya Amano—the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency—described the crisis as "extremely serious."[18] Residents within a 20 km (12 mi) radius of the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant and a 10 km (6 mi) radius of the Fukushima II Nuclear Power Plant were evacuated. In addition, the U.S. recommended that its citizens evacuate up to 80 km (50 mi) of the plant.[19]
Estimates of the Tōhoku earthquake's magnitude make it 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.[8][20][21] Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan said, "In the 65 years after the end of World War II, this is the toughest and the most difficult crisis for Japan."[22] The earthquake moved Honshu 2.4 m (7.9 ft) east and shifted the Earth on its axis by almost 10 cm (3.9 in).[23][24] Early estimates placed insured losses from the earthquake alone at US$14.5 to $34.6 billion.[25] The Bank of Japan offered ¥15 trillion (US$183 billion) to the banking system on 14 March in an effort to normalize market conditions.[26] On 21 March, the World Bank estimated damage between US$122 billion and $235 billion.[27] Japan's government said the cost of the earthquake and tsunami that devastated the northeast could reach $309 billion, making it the most expensive natural disaster on record.[28][29]
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