On March 11, 2011, one of the most powerful earthquakes ever recorded struck beneath the Pacific Ocean off northeastern Japan. The U.S. Geological Survey measures the Great Tōhoku earthquake at magnitude 9.1, while Japan’s meteorological agency records it as magnitude 9.0. The enormous movement beneath the seafloor generated a devastating tsunami that raced toward Japan’s coastline.

Sendai and the surrounding areas of Miyagi Prefecture were among the places devastated by the tsunami. The earthquake’s epicenter was roughly 130 kilometers east of the Sendai area, and enormous quantities of seawater surged across the low-lying Sendai Plain. Researchers later found that the tsunami traveled more than five kilometers inland in parts of the plain.

Entire neighborhoods were inundated as water swept across roads, fields and communities. Vehicles, homes and debris were carried by the powerful current, while essential infrastructure across Miyagi suffered catastrophic damage. The disaster left hundreds of thousands of people in the prefecture displaced from their homes.

The destruction extended far beyond Sendai. Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima were among the hardest-hit prefectures, and the tsunami devastated communities along a huge stretch of Japan’s Pacific coastline. According to the USGS, the combined earthquake and tsunami killed thousands and destroyed or damaged hundreds of thousands of buildings.

The Great Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami became one of the defining natural disasters of modern Japanese history. For Sendai and the surrounding coastal communities, the events demonstrated how a massive offshore earthquake could transform into an even more destructive tsunami within minutes, permanently changing communities across northeastern Japan.