At 2:46 PM on March 11, 2011, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake occurred 40 miles east of the Oshika peninsula of Tohoku Japan. This original earthquake lasted approximately 6 minutes, though there were hundreds of documented aftershocks that followed. The earthquake was felt throughout the majority of Japan, but Eastern Tohoku felt the earthquake much more intensely since they were closest to the source (Yoshida Testimony). The upthrust as a result of this earthquake created a massive tsunami that was considered "most serious" by the Japan Meteorological Society since the waves were over ten feet high. Some of these waves reached places like the Philippines, South America, and the United States, though the waves were much smaller than those that struck Japan. In the case of Japan, due to both the earthquake and the tsunami, approximately 16,000 people lost their lives and thousands more are still missing. Additionally, the disaster resulted in $300 billion in damage (Wall Street Journal). .
One major part of this damage was the destruction of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactor. Due to the earthquake and flooding, power was lost to the nuclear power plant and all of the backup generators were destroyed. Despite the efforts of workers, power could not be restored which meant that the ability to cool the reactors had been lost. While the reactors had been shut down relatively early, they were still releasing massive amounts of heat that the facility was unable to control. .
As a result, two of the 6 reactors overheated and exploded, forcing massive amounts of radioactive material into the atmosphere. Following this incident, a 20 km exclusion zone was put into place to insure the safety of those who lived near the reactors. Approximately 150,000 people were forced to move from their homes to live in temporary housing or apartments, or to live with family and friends outside the exclusion zone.
