Human consequences
About 470,000 people evacuated in the following days.
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TsunamiTōhoku earthquake and tsunami
18,500Deaths
470,000Displaced / homeless
$235bnEstimated cost
- About 15,900 dead and 2,500 missing.
- World Bank estimate: the costliest natural disaster in history.
A magnitude 9.0 – 9.1 earthquake, the most powerful ever measured in Japan, triggers a tsunami whose waves reach about 40 m in places and overtop the coastal seawalls.
Consequences
Environmental consequences
Honshu shifts about 2.4 m to the east; debris drifts all the way to the American coast.
Economic consequences
Global supply chains (cars, electronics) are disrupted.
Political consequences
The tsunami causes the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident.
Tsunami waves
- Hawaii · ≈ 7 h
- Crescent City (California) · ≈ 10 h
- Chile · ≈ 21 h
Further reading
Similar disasters
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- Bam earthquakeEarthquake · Iran2003
In the rankings : The costliest disasters in history No. 3
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