Japan Tohoku 11.03.11 Barca Casa Boat HouseThe 11.03.2011 tsunami caused severe and widespread damage along Japan's coasts 

Tohoku2011 hmaxMaximum estimated tsunami height over the coast of Japan and propagation in the Pacific Ocean

Tohoku 3D runup

Perspective view of the fault zone of the 2011 earthquake. The yellow star is the event's epicenter. The colors over the Pacific Ocean represent the maximum amplitude of the tsunami as reconstructed by numerical simulation (Romano et al., 2014). Note the concentration of high amplitude values along the area where the fault deformed the ocean floor (lower right scale). Colored columns along the coast of Japan indicate tsunami run-up heights at various locations (top left scale). Observed maximum values reached nearly 40 meters.

On March 11, 2011, at 06:46 Italian time (14:46 in Japan), a 9.1 magnitude earthquake occurred offshore of Honshū, the largest Japanese island, generating a devastating tsunami

The 2011 earthquake is one of the five strongest earthquakes in the world since 1900 and the strongest recorded in Japan. However, due to the distance between the fault and the land, the greatest damage was caused by the tsunami that followed the earthquake.

First flooding occurred a few minutes after 14:46 local time. Tōhoku was the region most affected, which gave its name to this event.

The tsunami caused severe damage in Japan and minor but widespread damage in other countries. 
In Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures, tsunami waves reached amplitudes greater than 10 meters and run-ups up to 38 m, penetrating land up to 5 km in the Sendai plain.

The tsunami was observed throughout the Pacific Ocean. Coquimbo in Chile, more than 16000 km away, was affected by waves of more than two meters; in Crescent City, California, 7500 km away, run-ups of more than two and a half meters were recorded. Also in Russia, South America, Hawaii and the United States were observed run-ups up to 2 meters.

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