2011 Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami; The Great East Japan Earthquake

On March 11, 2011, a magnitude 9.0-9.1 undersea earthquake occurred off the coast of Japan. It triggered a massive tsunami that caused catastrophic damage to the Tohoku region and led to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster. Over 15,000 people died, and thousands more were injured or missing. The disaster is the most powerful earthquake ever recorded in Japan and the fourth most powerful in the world since modern record-keeping began in 1900.