The Tohoku earthquake was a megathrust earthquake of magnitude 9.0 to 9.1 that struck off the Pacific coast of north-eastern Japan, the strongest ever recorded in the country. It was caused by the sudden slip of the Pacific plate beneath the plate carrying northern Japan. The quake generated a huge tsunami that reached heights of many metres and swept inland along the coast of Tohoku, destroying towns and killing roughly eighteen thousand people, with others missing. The waves also flooded the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, causing meltdowns and the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl. Japan rebuilt coastal defences and revised its disaster policies in response.
Before and after
- 15 February 2011War in the Sahel
- 22 February 2011February 2011 Christchurch earthquake
- 24 February 2011Launch of STS-133
- 11 March 2011Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster
- 11 March 20112011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
- from 15 March 2011 to 8 December 2024Syrian Civil War
- from 19 March 2011 to 31 October 20112011 military intervention in Libya
- 23 March 2011Death of Elizabeth Taylor
- 31 March 2011Creation of elementary OS
More in Earth & climate
- 1970Establishment of Salonga National Park
- 1985The Antarctic ozone hole is discovered
- 2001Establishment of Phong Nha–Ke Bang National Park
- 26 December 20042004 Indian Ocean earthquake
- 11 March 2020The WHO declares COVID-19 a pandemic
- 6 February 20232023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes
The era
This moment belongs to the Contemporary world (1945 CE to today), the world since 1945. You can also browse everything in the 21st century.