In the destructive path of the 3/11 tsunami were two of the country’s largest nuclear plant facilities, and this was to prove the longest-lasting part of the disaster. A major quake will often produce no tsunami, while others will wreak havoc hundreds or thousands of miles away. Tsunamis are among the most unpredictable of natural disasters. Thousands of people were killed in the wave or its aftermath. Entire villages were subsumed in the water, which swept as much 6 miles inland, carrying tons of debris. It was followed by a tsunami wave of up to 30 feet across a broad swath of the Pacific coastline (and up to 90-100 feet in some remote areas). And yet, the structural damage from the severe shaking was remarkably limited, a testament to Japan’s building construction codes that had been tightened repeatedly over the years for just such an event.īut the quake itself was to prove the least damaging part of the disaster. If it had taken place closer to a city, the quake itself would have caused massive loss of life even as it was, it sent skyscrapers in central Tokyo 150 miles to the south rocking back and forth like ships caught in a storm, with office chairs gliding across the floor. Of the 160,000 residents evacuated at the time, 40,000 people were still displaced as of early 2019.Ī 6.0 quake is a strong one a 9.1-the scale increases exponentially-is catastrophic. “The magnitude of the damage brought about by the disaster is so profound that the unforgettable memory of the tragedy still persists in my mind,” Naruhito said, and he noted that even a decade later, work remains. In Tokyo, Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako led a moment of silence at 2:46 p.m., the time the quake hit 10 years ago. ![]() It was the largest ever on record to hit quake-prone Japan and left more than 18,000 people dead or missing. on Friday, March 11, 2011, was an astounding 9.1 on the moment magnitude scale, making it among the five strongest earthquakes ever recorded. The quake that hit off Japan’s northeast coast just before 3 p.m. But through the smallest amounts of good luck, it did not bring the country to its knees. Now often simply referred to as “3/11,” the events tested the resilience of the Japanese people and raised doubts about their trust in authority. On Thursday, Japan commemorated the 10th anniversary of the March 2011 earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear plant accident that was a defining moment even in a country well used to natural disasters.
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