Atlas · Today in history · earthquake
March 11 MMXI 2011
Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
Sendai, Japan — death toll estimated at 19,750.
The M9.1 megathrust earthquake off the Tōhoku coast at 2:46 p.m. JST on March 11, 2011 was the fourth-largest ever recorded. The tsunami it generated struck the Pacific coast of Honshu within 30 minutes, reaching run-up heights of 40.5 meters at Miyako. Roughly 19,750 people died or remain missing. The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant sustained catastrophic damage when its seawater cooling was knocked out, triggering the second-worst nuclear incident in history.