File:Remembering 2011’s Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami (NESDIS 2021-03-11 Japan-NTLCompare).jpg

English: Ten years ago today, a 9.1 magnitude earthquake struck off the northeastern coast of Honshu on the Japan Trench, a subduction zone. Subduction occurs when an oceanic plate dives under another plate. The activity generated a devastating tsunami , which reached Japan within 30 minutes. It was the largest magnitude earthquake ever recorded in the region, and was the third-largest in the world since 1900. The tsunami affected a 1,242-mile stretch of Japan’s Pacific coast, and the waves reached almost 130 feet in some places as they slammed into the Iwate Prefecture. The devastation resulting from this Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami event, often referred to as the Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami, not only caused an estimated $220 billion USD worth of damages (the most expensive natural disaster in history), but also more than 18,000 deaths, including several thousand victims who were never recovered. Additionally, the tsunami disabled the power supply and cooling systems of three Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactors, where all three cores largely melted within the first three days. The accident was rated level 7 (major accident) on the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale, due to high radioactive releases over days 4 to 6. The image below, captured via the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) satellite, shows an average nighttime view of Japan, followed by a view showing the decrease in nighttime lights due to power outagesafter the event.