A giant earthquake occurred off the northern coast of
Honshu, Japan, on 11 March 2011. With the largest
magnitude (Mw 9.0) in the history of Japan, it caused a
devastating tsunami disaster and serious damage to the
nearby Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Station. The
earthquake and subsequent tsunami caused approximately
18,500 dead and missing persons. The 2011 Tohoku
earthquake occurred at the Japan Trench where the
Pacific plate subducts beneath northern Honshu at a rate
of approximately 8 cm per year. This earthquake was also
an interplate earthquake with a thrust-type fault motion.