Japan's nightmare

Japan this month marks 10 years since the worst natural disaster in the country's living memory－the massive earthquake, deadly tsunami and nuclear meltdown of March 11, 2011. Here are some figures that help sketch out the magnitude of the catastrophe.

・ Magnitude 9.0

It was one of the most powerful quakes ever recorded. It was so powerful that it moved Japan's main Honshu Island 2.4 meters east.

・ 9.3-meter waves

The quake triggered a tsunami waves that began arriving on Japan's coast about 30 minutes later. The highest tsunami wave measured by Japan's weather bureau was 9.3 meters in Fukushima's Soma.

・ 18,426 dead or missing

As of December 2020, confirmed deaths were at 15,899, with another 2,527 missing and presumed to have been killed, according to Japan's national police agency.

・ 3 nuclear reactors in meltdown

The tsunami overwhelmed the cooling systems at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, sending three of its six reactors into meltdown.

・ 20-km evacuation zone

The crisis at the Fukushima plant forced the government to declare an evacuation zone in a 20-kilometer radius from the site.

Agencies Via Xinhua