Coordinates: 38.322°N 142.

369°E

2011 Tōhoku earthquake and

tsunami
The 2011 earthquake off the Pacific
coast of Tōhoku ( 東北地方太平洋沖地震
2011 Tōhoku earthquake and
Tōhoku-chihō Taiheiyō Oki Jishin) was a
tsunami
magnitude 9.0–9.1 (Mw) undersea
megathrust earthquake off the coast of
Japan that occurred at 14:46 JST (05:46
UTC) on Friday 11 March 2011,[5][11][12] with
the epicentre approximately 70 kilometres
(43 mi) east of the Oshika Peninsula of
Tōhoku and the hypocenter at an
underwater depth of approximately 29 km
(18 mi).[5][13] The earthquake is often Smoke from the Sendai Nippon Oil
referred to in Japan as the Great East refinery
Japan Earthquake ( 東 日 本 大 震 災
Higashi nihon daishinsai)[14][15][fn 1] and is
also known as the 2011 Tōhoku
earthquake,[30] the Great Sendai
Earthquake,[31] the Great Tōhoku
Earthquake,[31] and the 3.11 Sendai
earthquake.
Tokyo
It was the most powerful earthquake ever
recorded in Japan, and the fourth most
powerful earthquake in the world since
modern record-keeping began in
1900.[12][32][33] The earthquake triggered UTC time 2011-03-11 05:46:24
powerful tsunami waves that may have
ISC event 16461282 (http://isc-mirror
reached heights of up to 40.5 metres (133 ft)
.iris.washington.edu/cgi-bi
in Miyako in Tōhoku's Iwate
n/FormatBibprint.pl?evid=
Prefecture,[34][35] and which, in the Sendai
16461282)
area, traveled at 700 km/h (435 mph)[36]
USGS-ANSS ComCat (https://earthquak
for up to 10 km (6 mi) inland.[37] Residents
e.usgs.gov/earthquakes/e
of Sendai had only eight to ten minutes ventpage/official20110311
warning, and more than 19,000 were killed, 054624120_30)
many at evacuation sites, more than a Local date 11 March 2011
hundred of which washed away.[36]
Local time 14:46 JST
The earthquake moved Honshu (the main Duration 6 minutes
island of Japan) 2.4 m (8 ft) east, shifted the
Magnitude 9.0–9.1 (Mw)
Earth on its axis by estimates of between
Depth 29 km (18 mi)
10 cm (4 in) and 25 cm (10 in),[38][39][40]
increased earth's rotational speed by 1.8 µs Epicenter 38.322°N 142.369°E
per day,[41] and generated infrasound waves Type Megathrust
detected in perturbations of the low-orbiting Areas Japan (shaking, tsunami)
GOCE satellite.[42] Initially, the earthquake affected Pacific Rim (tsunami)
caused sinking of part of Honshu's Pacific
Total $360 billion USD
coast by up to roughly a metre, but after
damage
about three years, the coast rose back and
kept on rising to exceed its original Max. IX (Violent)
height.[43][44][45][46] intensity
Peak 2.99 g
The tsunami swept the Japanese mainland
acceleration
and killed over ten thousand people, mainly
Peak 117.41 cm/s
through drowning, though blunt trauma also
velocity
caused many deaths. The latest report from
the Japanese National Police Agency report Tsunami Up to 40.5 m (133 ft)
confirms 15,898 deaths,[47] 6,157 in Miyako, Iwate, Tōhoku
injured,[48] and 2,531 people missing[49] Landslides Yes
across twenty prefectures, and a report from
Foreshocks List of foreshocks and
2015 indicated 228,863 people were still
aftershocks of the 2011
living away from their home in either
Tōhoku earthquake
temporary housing or due to permanent
Aftershocks 13,386 (as of 6 March
relocation.[50]
2018)[1]
A report by the National Police Agency of Casualties 15,898 deaths,[2] +2
Japan on 10 September 2018 listed 121,778 (Overseas),
buildings as "total collapsed", with a further 6,157 injured,[3]
280,926 buildings "half collapsed", and 2,531 people missing[4]
another 699,180 buildings "partially [5][6][7][8][9][10]
Citations
damaged".[51] The earthquake and tsunami
also caused extensive and severe structural damage in north-eastern Japan, including heavy
damage to roads and railways as well as fires in many areas, and a dam collapse.[37][52]
Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan said, "In the 65 years after the end of World War II, this is
the toughest and the most difficult crisis for Japan."[53] Around 4.4 million households in
northeastern Japan were left without electricity and 1.5 million without water.[54]

The tsunami caused nuclear accidents, primarily the level 7 meltdowns at three reactors in the
Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant complex, and the associated evacuation zones
affecting hundreds of thousands of residents.[55][56] Many electrical generators were taken
down, and at least three nuclear reactors suffered explosions due to hydrogen gas that had
built up within their outer containment buildings after cooling system failure resulting from
the loss of electrical power. Residents within a 20 km (12 mi) radius of the Fukushima Daiichi
Nuclear Power Plant and a 10 km (6.2 mi) radius of the Fukushima Daini Nuclear Power Plant
were evacuated.

Early estimates placed insured losses from the earthquake alone at US$14.5 to
$34.6 billion.[57] The Bank of Japan offered ¥15 trillion (US$183 billion) to the banking
system on 14 March in an effort to normalize market conditions.[58] The World Bank's
estimated economic cost was US$235 billion, making it the costliest natural disaster in
history.[59][60]

Contents
Earthquake
Geology
Energy
Geophysical effects
Aftershocks
Earthquake Warning System
Tsunami
Japan
Elsewhere across the Pacific
Land subsidence
Casualties
Japan
Overseas
Damage and effects
Ports
Dams and water problems
Electricity
Oil, gas and coal
Nuclear power plants
 Fukushima meltdowns
Incidents elsewhere
Wind power
Transport
Telecommunications
Defense
Space center
Cultural properties
Aftermath
Humanitarian response
Media coverage
Scientific and research response
See also
Notes
References
Further reading
External links

Earthquake

A seismogram recorded in
Massachusetts, USA A visual depiction of the type
of faulting that caused the
main tremor, low-angle
The 9.1-magnitude (Mw) undersea megathrust thrusting on a west-dipping
earthquake occurred on 11 March 2011 at 14:46 JST fault plane
(05:46 UTC) in the north-western Pacific Ocean at a
relatively shallow depth of 32 km (20 mi),[5][61] with its
epicenter approximately 72 km (45 mi) east of the Oshika Peninsula of Tōhoku, Japan, lasting
approximately six minutes.[5][6] The earthquake was initially reported as 7.9 Mw by the USGS
ways the earthquake may have had large scale effects on the planet. Calculations at NASA's Jet
Propulsion Laboratory determined that the Earth's rotation was changed by the earthquake to
the point where the days are now 1.8 microseconds shorter.[101]

Aftershocks
Japan experienced over 1,000 aftershocks since
the earthquake, with 80 registering over
magnitude 6.0 Mw and several of which have been
over magnitude 7.0 Mw.

A magnitude 7.4 Mw at 15:08 (JST), 7.9 Mw at

15:15 and a 7.7 Mw quake at 15:26 all occurred on
11 March.[102]

A month later, a major aftershock struck offshore

on 7 April with a magnitude of 7.1 Mw. Its
epicenter was underwater, 66 km (41 mi) off the
coast of Sendai. The Japan Meteorological Agency
assigned a magnitude of 7.4 MJMA, while the U.S.
Geological Survey lowered it to 7.1 Mw.[103] At Seismic intensity observations
least four people were killed, and electricity was resulting from mainshock

cut off across much of northern Japan including

the loss of external power to Higashidōri Nuclear Power Plant and Rokkasho Reprocessing
Plant.[104][105][106]

Four days later on 11 April, another magnitude 7.1 Mw aftershock struck Fukushima, causing
additional damage and killing a total of three people.[107][108]

On 7 December 2012 a large aftershock of magnitude 7.3 Mw caused a minor tsunami, and
again on 26 October 2013 a small tsunami was recorded after a 7.1 Mw aftershock.[109]

As of 16 March 2012 aftershocks continued, totaling 1887 events over magnitude 4.0; a
regularly updated map showing all shocks of magnitude 4.5 and above near or off the east
coast of Honshu in the last seven days[110] showed over 20 events.[111]

As of 11 March 2016 there had been 869 aftershocks of 5.0 Mw or greater, 118 of 6.0 Mw or
greater, and 9 over 7.0 Mw as reported by the Japanese Meteorological Agency.[112]

The number of aftershocks was associated with decreased health across Japan.[113]
Earthquake Warning System
One minute before the earthquake was felt in Tokyo, the Earthquake Early Warning system,
which includes more than 1,000 seismometers in Japan, sent out warnings of impending
strong shaking to millions. It is believed that the early warning by the Japan Meteorological
Agency (JMA) saved many lives.[114][115] The warning for the general public was delivered
about 8 seconds after the first P wave was detected, or about 31 seconds after the earthquake
occurred. However, the estimated intensities were smaller than the actual ones in some places,
especially in Kanto, Koshinetsu, and Northern Tōhoku regions where the populace warning
did not trigger. According to the JMA Meteorological Research Institute, reasons for the
underestimation include a saturated magnitude scale when using maximum amplitude as
input, failure to fully take into account the area of the hypocenter, and the initial amplitude of
the earthquake being less than that which would be predicted by an empirical
relationship.[116][117][118]

There were also cases where large differences between estimated intensities by the Earthquake
Early Warning system and the actual intensities occurred in the aftershocks and triggered
earthquakes. Such discrepancies in the warning were attributed by the JMA to the system's
inability to distinguish between two different earthquakes that happened at around same time,
as well as to the reduced number of reporting seismometers due to power outages and
connection fails.[119] The system's software was subsequently modified to handle this kind of
situation.[120]

Tsunami
An upthrust of 6 to 8 metres (20 to 26 ft) along a
180 kilometres (110 mi) wide seabed at 60
kilometres (37 mi) offshore from the east coast of
Tōhoku[121] resulted in a major tsunami that
brought destruction along the Pacific coastline of
Japan's northern islands. Thousands of lives were
lost and entire towns were devastated. The
tsunami propagated throughout the Pacific Ocean
region reaching the entire Pacific coast of North NOAA tsunami energy map
and South America from Alaska to Chile.
Warnings were issued and evacuations were
carried out in many countries bordering the Pacific. Although the tsunami affected many of
these places, the heights of the waves were minor.[122][123][124] Chile's Pacific coast, one of the
furthest from Japan at about 17,000 kilometres (11,000 mi) away, was struck by waves 2
metres (6.6 ft) high,[125][126][127] compared with an estimated wave height of 38.9 metres
(128 ft) at Omoe peninsula, Miyako city, Japan.[35]

Japan
The tsunami warning issued by the Japan Meteorological Agency was the most serious on its
warning scale; it was rated as a "major tsunami", being at least 3 metres (9.8 ft) high.[128] The
actual height prediction varied, the greatest being for Miyagi at 6 metres (20 ft) high.[129] The
tsunami inundated a total area of approximately 561 square kilometres (217 sq mi) in
Japan.[130]

The earthquake took place at 14:46 JST (UTC

05:46) around 67 kilometres (42 mi) from the
nearest point on Japan's coastline, and initial
estimates indicated the tsunami would have taken
10 to 30 minutes to reach the areas first affected,
and then areas farther north and south based on
the geography of the coastline.[131][132] Just over
an hour after the earthquake at 15:55 JST, a
Water column height on 11 March tsunami was observed flooding Sendai Airport,
2011 at DART Station, 690 NM which is located near the coast of Miyagi
southeast of Tokyo Prefecture,[133][134] with waves sweeping away
cars and planes and flooding various buildings as
they traveled inland.[135][136] The impact of the
tsunami in and around Sendai Airport was filmed by an NHK News helicopter, showing a
number of vehicles on local roads trying to escape the approaching wave and being engulfed by
it.[137] A 4-metre-high (13 ft) tsunami hit Iwate Prefecture.[138] Wakabayashi Ward in Sendai
was also particularly hard hit.[139] At least 101 designated tsunami evacuation sites were hit by
the wave.[36][140]

Like the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, the damage by surging water, though
much more localized, was far more deadly and destructive than the actual quake. Entire towns
were destroyed in tsunami-hit areas in Japan, including 9,500 missing in Minamisanriku;[141]
one thousand bodies had been recovered in the town by 14 March 2011.[142]

Among the factors in the high death toll was the unexpectedly large water surge. The sea walls
in several cities had been built to protect against tsunamis of much lower heights. Also, many
people caught in the tsunami thought they were high enough ground to be safe.[143] According
to a special committee on disaster prevention designated by the Japanese government, the
 Overseas
The tsunami was reported to have caused several deaths
Tsunami damage between outside Japan. One man was killed in Jayapura, Papua,
Sendai and Sendai Bay
Indonesia after being swept out to sea.[9] A man who is
said to have been attempting to photograph the oncoming
tsunami at the mouth of the Klamath River, south of Crescent City, California, was swept out
to sea.[241] His body was found on 2 April 2011 along Ocean Beach in Fort Stevens State Park,
Oregon, 530 km (330 mi) to the north.[10]

Damage and effects

The degree and extent of damage caused by the
earthquake and resulting tsunami were
enormous, with most of the damage being caused
by the tsunami. Video footage of the towns that
were worst affected shows little more than piles of
rubble, with almost no parts of any structures left
standing.[242] Estimates of the cost of the damage
range well into the tens of billions of US dollars;
Panorama of the Hirota Peninsula in
before-and-after satellite photographs of
Rikuzentakata swept away
devastated regions show immense damage to
many regions.[243][244] Although Japan has
invested the equivalent of billions of dollars on
anti-tsunami seawalls which line at least 40% of
its 34,751 km (21,593 mi) coastline and stand up
to 12 m (39 ft) high, the tsunami simply washed
over the top of some seawalls, collapsing some in
the process.[245]

Japan's National Police Agency said on 3 April

2011, that 45,700 buildings were destroyed and Aerial photo of Minato, devastated by
144,300 were damaged by the quake and tsunami. both the earthquake and subsequent
tsunami
The damaged buildings included 29,500
structures in Miyagi Prefecture, 12,500 in Iwate
Prefecture and 2,400 in Fukushima Prefecture.[246] Three hundred hospitals with 20 beds or
more in Tōhoku were damaged by the disaster, with 11 being completely destroyed.[247] The
earthquake and tsunami created an estimated 24–25 million tons of rubble and debris in
Japan.[248][249]
 An estimated 230,000 automobiles and trucks
were damaged or destroyed in the disaster. As of
the end of May 2011, residents of Iwate, Miyagi,
and Fukushima prefectures had requested
deregistration of 15,000 vehicles, meaning that
the owners of those vehicles were writing them off
as unrepairable or unsalvageable.[250]

Ports
A fire which broke out in Tokyo after
the earthquake

All of Japan's ports were briefly shut down after

the earthquake, though the ones in Tokyo and
southwards soon re-opened. Fifteen ports were
located in the disaster zone. The north eastern
ports of Hachinohe, Sendai, Ishinomaki and
Onahama were destroyed, while the Port of Chiba
Ship and crane damage at Sendai
(which serves the hydrocarbon industry) and
port
Japan's ninth-largest container port at Kashima
were also affected, though less severely. The ports
at Hitachinaka, Hitachi, Soma, Shiogama, Kesennuma, Ofunato, Kamashi and Miyako were
also damaged and closed to ships.[251] All 15 ports reopened to limited ship traffic by 29 March
2011.[252] A total of 319 fishing ports, about 10% of Japan's fishing ports, were damaged in the
disaster.[253] Most were restored to operating condition by 18 April 2012.[254]

The Port of Tokyo suffered slight damage; the effects of the quake included visible smoke
rising from a building in the port with parts of the port areas being flooded, including soil
liquefaction in Tokyo Disneyland's parking lot.[255][256]

Dams and water problems

The Fujinuma irrigation dam in Sukagawa ruptured,[257] causing flooding and the washing
away of five homes.[258] Eight people were missing and four bodies were discovered by the
morning.[259][260][261] Reportedly, some locals had attempted to repair leaks in the dam
before it completely failed.[262] On 12 March 252 dams were inspected and it was discovered
that six embankment dams had shallow cracks on their crests. The reservoir at one concrete
gravity dam suffered a small non-serious slope failure. All damaged dams are functioning with
no problems. Four dams within the quake area were unreachable. When the roads clear,
experts will be dispatched to conduct further investigations.[263]

In the immediate aftermath of the calamity, at least 1.5 million households were reported to
have lost access to water supplies.[54][264] By 21 March 2011, this number fell to
1.04 million.[265]

Electricity
According to the Japanese trade ministry, around
4.4 million households served by Tōhoku Electric
Power (TEP) in northeastern Japan were left
without electricity.[266] Several nuclear and
conventional power plants went offline after the
earthquake, reducing the Tokyo Electric Power Dam failure at Fujinuma
Company's (TEPCO) total capacity by 21 GW.[267]
Rolling blackouts began on 14 March due to
power shortages caused by the earthquake.[268]
TEPCO, which normally provides approximately
40 GW of electricity, announced that it could only
provide about 30 GW, because 40% of the
electricity used in the greater Tokyo area was
supplied by reactors in the Niigata and
Fukushima prefectures.[269] The reactors at the
Fukushima Daiichi and Fukushima Dai-ni plants
were automatically taken offline when the first
earthquake occurred and sustained major damage
from the earthquake and subsequent tsunami.
Rolling blackouts of approximately three hours Geographic divide between 50 hertz
were experienced throughout April and May while systems and 60 hertz systems in
TEPCO scrambled to find a temporary power Japan's electricity distribution
network
solution. The blackouts affected Tokyo,
Kanagawa, Eastern Shizuoka, Yamanashi, Chiba,
Ibaraki, Saitama, Tochigi, and Gunma prefectures.[270] Voluntary reductions in electricity use
by consumers in the Kanto area helped reduce the predicted frequency and duration of the
blackouts.[271] By 21 March 2011, the number of households in the north without electricity
fell to 242,927.[265]
Oil, gas and coal
A 220,000-barrel (35,000 m3)-per-day[284] oil refinery of
Cosmo Oil Company was set on fire by the quake at
Ichihara, Chiba Prefecture, to the east of Tokyo.[285][286]
It was extinguished after ten days, injuring six people, and
destroying storage tanks.[287] Others halted production
due to safety checks and power loss.[288][289] In Sendai, a
145,000-barrel (23,100 m3)-per-day refinery owned by the
largest refiner in Japan, JX Nippon Oil & Energy, was also
set ablaze by the quake.[284] Workers were evacuated,[290] Fire at the Cosmo Oil
but tsunami warnings hindered efforts to extinguish the refinery in Ichihara
fire until 14 March, when officials planned to do so.[284]

An analyst estimates that consumption of various types of oil may increase by as much as
300,000 barrels (48,000 m3) per day (as well as LNG), as back-up power plants burning fossil
fuels try to compensate for the loss of 11 GW of Japan's nuclear power capacity.[291][292]

The city-owned plant for importing liquefied natural gas in Sendai was severely damaged, and
supplies were halted for at least a month.[293]

In addition to refining and storage, several power plants were damaged. These include Sendai
#4, New-Sendai #1 and #2, Haranomachi #1 and #2, Hirono #2 and #4 and Hitachinaka
#1.[294]

Nuclear power plants

The Fukushima Daiichi, Fukushima Daini, Onagawa Nuclear Power Plant and Tōkai nuclear
power stations, consisting of a total eleven reactors, were automatically shut down following
the earthquake.[295] Higashidōri, also on the northeast coast, was already shut down for a
periodic inspection. Cooling is needed to remove decay heat after a Generation II reactor has
been shut down, and to maintain spent fuel pools. The backup cooling process is powered by
emergency diesel generators at the plants and at Rokkasho nuclear reprocessing plant.[296] At
Fukushima Daiichi and Daini, tsunami waves overtopped seawalls and destroyed diesel
backup power systems, leading to severe problems at Fukushima Daiichi, including three large
explosions and radioactive leakage. Subsequent analysis found that many Japanese nuclear
plants, including Fukushima Daiichi, were not adequately protected against tsunamis.[297]
Over 200,000 people were evacuated.[298]
None of Japan's commercial wind turbines, totaling over 2300 MW in nameplate capacity,
failed as a result of the earthquake and tsunami, including the Kamisu offshore wind farm
directly hit by the tsunami.[331]

Transport
Japan's transport network suffered severe
disruptions. Many sections of Tōhoku Expressway
serving northern Japan were damaged. The
expressway did not reopen to general public use
until 24 March 2011.[332][333] All railway services
were suspended in Tokyo, with an estimated
20,000 people stranded at major stations across
the city.[334] In the hours after the earthquake,
A highway bridge damaged and
some train services were resumed.[335] Most
severed
Tokyo area train lines resumed full service by the
next day—12 March.[336] Twenty thousand
stranded visitors spent the night of 11–12 March inside Tokyo Disneyland.[337]

A tsunami flooded Sendai Airport at 15:55 JST,[133] about 1 hour after the initial quake,
causing severe damage. Narita and Haneda Airport both briefly suspended operations after the
quake, but suffered little damage and reopened within 24 hours.[256] Eleven airliners bound
for Narita were diverted to nearby Yokota Air Base.[338][339]

Various train services around Japan were also

canceled, with JR East suspending all services for
the rest of the day.[340] Four trains on coastal
lines were reported as being out of contact with
operators; one, a four-car train on the Senseki
Line, was found to have derailed, and its
occupants were rescued shortly after 8 am the
Remains of Shinchi Station
next morning.[341] Minami-Kesennuma Station
on the Kesennuma Line was obliterated save for
its platform;[342] 62 of 70 (31 of 35) JR East train lines suffered damage to some degree;[252]
in the worst-hit areas, 23 stations on 7 lines were washed away, with damage or loss of track in
680 locations and the 30-km radius around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant unable to be
assessed.[343]
There were no derailments of Shinkansen bullet train services in and out of Tokyo, but their
services were also suspended.[256] The Tōkaidō Shinkansen resumed limited service late in the
day and was back to its normal schedule by the next day, while the Jōetsu and Nagano
Shinkansen resumed services late on 12 March. Services on Yamagata Shinkansen resumed
with limited numbers of trains on 31 March.[344]

Derailments were minimized because of an early warning system that detected the earthquake
before it struck. The system automatically stopped all high-speed trains, which minimized the
damage.[345]

The Tōhoku Shinkansen line was worst hit, with JR East estimating that 1,100 sections of the
line, varying from collapsed station roofs to bent power pylons, will need repairs. Services on
the Tōhoku Shinkansen partially resumed only in Kantō area on 15 March, with one round-trip
service per hour between Tokyo and Nasu-Shiobara,[346] and Tōhoku area service partially
resumed on 22 March between Morioka and Shin-Aomori.[347] Services on Akita Shinkansen
resumed with limited numbers of trains on 18 March.[348] Service between Tokyo and Shin-
Aomori was restored by May, but at lower speeds due to ongoing restoration work; the pre-
earthquake timetable was not reinstated until late September.[349]

The rolling blackouts brought on by the crises at

the nuclear power plants in Fukushima had a
profound effect on the rail networks around
Tokyo starting on 14 March. Major railways began
running trains at 10–20 minute intervals, rather
than the usual 3–5 minute intervals, operating
some lines only at rush hour and completely
shutting down others; notably, the Tōkaidō Main
A KiHa 40 Train washed away uphill
Line, Yokosuka Line, Sōbu Main Line and Chūō-
from Onagawa Station
Sōbu Line were all stopped for the day.[350] This
led to near-paralysis within the capital, with long
lines at train stations and many people unable to come to work or get home. Railway operators
gradually increased capacity over the next few days, until running at approximately 80%
capacity by 17 March and relieving the worst of the passenger congestion.

Telecommunications
Cellular and landline phone service suffered major disruptions in the affected area.[351]
Immediately after the earthquake cellular communication was jammed across much of Japan
due to a surge of network activity. On the day of the quake, American broadcaster NPR was
unable to reach anyone in Sendai with working phone or Internet.[352] Internet services were
largely unaffected in areas where basic infrastructure remained, despite the earthquake having
damaged portions of several undersea cable systems landing in the affected regions; these
systems were able to reroute around affected segments onto redundant links.[353][354] Within
Japan, only a few websites were initially unreachable.[355] Several Wi-Fi hotspot providers
reacted to the quake by providing free access to
their networks,[355] and some American
telecommunications and VoIP companies such as
AT&T, Sprint, Verizon,[356] T-Mobile[357] and
VoIP companies such as netTALK[358] and
Vonage[359] have offered free calls to (and in
some cases, from) Japan for a limited time, as did
Germany's Deutsche Telekom.[360]
Damaged utility pole in Ishinomaki

Defense
Matsushima Air Field of the Japan Self-Defense Force in Miyagi Prefecture was struck by the
tsunami, flooding the base and resulting in damage to all 18 Mitsubishi F-2 fighter jets of the
21st Fighter Training Squadron.[361][362][363] 12 of the aircraft were scrapped, while the
remaining 6 were slated for repair at a cost of 80 billion yen ($1 billion), exceeding the original
cost of the aircraft.[364]

Space center
JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) evacuated the Tsukuba Space Center in Tsukuba,
Ibaraki. The Center, which houses a control room for part of the International Space Station,
was shut down and some damage was reported.[365][366] The Tsukuba control center resumed
full operations for the space station's Kibo laboratory and the HTV cargo craft on 21 March
2011.[367]

Cultural properties
754 cultural properties were damaged across nineteen prefectures, including five National
Treasures (at Zuigan-ji, Ōsaki Hachiman-gū, Shiramizu Amidadō, and Seihaku-ji); 160
Important Cultural Properties (including at Sendai Tōshō-gū, the Kōdōkan, and Entsū-in, with
its western decorative motifs); one hundred and forty-four Monuments of Japan (including
Matsushima, Takata-matsubara, Yūbikan, and the Site of Tagajō); six Groups of Traditional
Buildings; and four Important Tangible Folk Cultural Properties. Stone monuments at the
UNESCO World Heritage Site: Shrines and Temples of Nikkō were toppled.[368][369][370] In
Tokyo, there was damage to Koishikawa Kōrakuen, Rikugien, Hamarikyū Onshi Teien, and the