Quote:The 2011 Sendai earthquake and tsunami (東北地方太平洋沖地震 Tōhoku Chihō Taiheiyō-oki Jishin, literally "Tōhoku region Pacific Ocean offshore earthquake") was an 8.9-magnitude megathrust earthquake that created tsunami waves of up to 10 metres (33 ft). It was measured at 7 on the Japan Meteorological Agency seismic intensity scale in the northern Miyagi Prefecture, Japan, with an initially-reported magnitude of 7.9, while the JMA's tsunami warning listed the magnitude as 8.4, later updated to 8.8. The earthquake focus was reported to be off the Oshika Peninsula, the east coast of Tōhoku on 11 March 2011, at 05:46 UTC (14:46 local time) at a depth of 24.4 kilometres (15.2 mi). News reports by Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) indicate that at least 300 people have died and another 530 are missing in six different prefectures, although it is feared the total number of dead could be far higher.
The magnitude of 8.9 made it the largest earthquake to hit Japan in recorded history and the seventh largest in the world since records began.