Japan Earthquake Triggers Tsunami and Nuclear Meltdown

A 9.0-magnitude earthquake struck 70 kilometers east of the Oshika Peninsula on March 11, 2011, generating a tsunami that reached heights of up to 40 meters along the Sendai coast. The wave traveled up to 10 kilometers inland, sweeping away entire towns. Nearly 20,000 people were killed, most by drowning. The tsunami also overwhelmed the seawall at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, knocking out the backup generators that cooled the reactors. Three of six reactors suffered meltdowns over the following days, releasing radioactive material that forced the evacuation of 154,000 people within a 20-kilometer radius. It was the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986. Japan shut down all 54 of its nuclear reactors for safety reviews. Over a decade later, most remain offline, and the cleanup at Fukushima is expected to take forty years. The disaster prompted Germany to permanently abandon nuclear power, while other nations reassessed reactor safety standards worldwide.