That year, the Great East Japan Earthquake, also referred to as the Tohoku earthquake, took place. Flooding is often caused by typhoons, which regularly hit Japan. This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, financial, compliance or other professional advice. People around the world depend on us, so we must keep challenging ourselves to improve our understanding of seismic hazard and risk. Our view of seismic risk for Japan has been fundamentally improved by these learnings. There were almost 4,200 sites of road damage, 116 bridges damaged, and 29 locations of railway damage.
Figure 2 shows the ground shaking on the Modified Mercalli Intensity (MMI) scale and the coastal region impacted by tsunami inundation. The first tsunami wave reached the Japan coastline within 10 to 40 minutes after the earthquake. The 450-year historical earthquake record for the Japan Trench did not contain any earthquakes comparable to the size of the 2011 event in this region. This chicken road apk earthquake was so big that Earth’s day was shortened by 1.8 microseconds and shifted its figure axis by 7 inches (17 centimeters). Around 230,000 people were killed and 1.7 million were displaced by the quake and the tsunami in 14 countries in South Asia and East Africa, according to the US Geological Survey. It was the second-largest earthquake in world history in terms of insured losses at $31 billion, according to I.I.I.
The maximum fault displacement in the earthquake has been estimated to be as high 98 to 131 feet (30 to 40 meters), which explains the strong ground motions that radiated from the source as well as the extensive inundation zone generated by the tsunami. The earthquake created $10 billion in economic damage and 12 million cubic meters of rubble. Chile’s 8.8 magnitude earthquake on Feb. 27, 2010, one of the strongest earthquakes, was followed by a tsunami. The Great Hanshin earthquake, a 6.9 magnitude earthquake in Japan in 1995, led to a death toll of over 6,400 with $200 billion in economic damage.
Other statistics that may interest you Natural disasters in Japan
More than 13 million people in Türkiye have been affected by the quakes, which also hit Syria. The country had to contend with 27 million cubic meters of rubble and is still engaged in recovery efforts. Unlock full access to award-winning journalism tailored for senior risk professionals. Specifically, beyond damage to property and infrastructure, the estimate includes the costs of interrupted business processes and ports and a reduction in industrial and manufacturing production. Power outages have already caused intermittent closures of public transport systems, and some interruption of business and manufacturing processes.
Natural disasters in Japan
The M9.0 earthquake was located on the subduction interface plate boundary where the Pacific Plate is driven underneath Japan along the Japan Trench (see Figure 1). The epicenter was 80 miles (130 kilometers) east of Sendai and 231 miles (373 kilometers) northeast of Tokyo. Already have an account? The twin quakes produced 100 million cubic meters of rubble, according to the UNDP.
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A magnitude 7.8 earthquake in Nepal in 2015 killed around 8,964 people, injured 21,952, and caused about $10 billion in economic damage. The 2004 Chuetsu earthquake in Japan’s Niigata prefecture, with a magnitude of 6.6, killed 40 people and injured around 3,000 as it caused an economic loss of $28 billion. New Zealand’s 6.3 magnitude Christchurch earthquake in 2011, leading to the deaths of 185 people, resulted in property losses of $40 billion with $14 billion of the damage covered by insurance.
The economic damage was calculated as $50 billion. Exposure to loss in this Super Cat event includes large scale destruction of housing, agriculture, land contamination, auto and marine sectors, industrial production and infrastructure damage. Disruption in direct and emergency power supplies as a result of the tsunami at the Fukushima Daiichi plant led to damage at three reactors, overheating fuel ponds, and radiation releases. The March 11 Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami is a complex ‘Super Cat’ event, where the final costs will not only reflect the level of direct damage to property from strong shaking and the catastrophic tsunami but will also involve other significant secondary consequences. The total losses to the insurance industry will rival hurricane Katrina
Risk index for natural disasters Philippines 2025, by type Risk index for natural disasters APAC 2025, by country Since the number of typhoons has increased in recent years, the amount of damage caused by floods grew as well.
Cost of damage caused by natural disasters Japan 2006-2022
- It was the most powerful earthquake ever recorded in Japan and led to meltdowns at three reactors in the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Fukushima prefecture.
- Flooding is often caused by typhoons, which regularly hit Japan.
- Power outages have already caused intermittent closures of public transport systems, and some interruption of business and manufacturing processes.
- This event provided the opportunity to fundamentally improve the scientific and engineering communities’ understanding of megathrust earthquakes and their impacts.
- Very detailed building damage statistics tabulated by the government show that more than 122,000 buildings were destroyed, 283,000 buildings were very significantly damaged, and more than 740,000 buildings were partially damaged.
- The magnitude 8 Sichuan earthquake in 2008 in southern China, which caused the deaths of more than 87,000 people, resulted in an estimated damage of $150 billion.
Not surprisingly, there was also extensive damage to infrastructure and lifelines. Very detailed building damage statistics tabulated by the government show that more than 122,000 buildings were destroyed, 283,000 buildings were very significantly damaged, and more than 740,000 buildings were partially damaged. Twenty-eight cities and towns in Miyagi, Fukushima, Ibaraki, and Tochigi Prefectures experienced JMA6+ intensity, causing significant damage over a large area. The “maximum credible earthquake” along this section of the Japan Trench was previously considered to be M8.3.
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Türkiye saw the most powerful and twin earthquakes on Feb. 6, 2023, that killed 45,968 people, including 4,267 Syrians. In one of the world’s largest earthquakes in the world, Sumatra, Indonesia was shaken by a 9.1 magnitude temblor on Dec. 26, 2004. The quake claimed the lives of more than 500 people and caused $30 billion worth of damage. The US experienced one of its most costly earthquakes, Northridge, on Jan. 17, 1994, when a magnitude 6.7 earthquake shook Los Angeles, California. It is still premature to estimate the total insured losses at this stage due to continuing uncertainties surrounding the event, but only a minor proportion of the economic loss will be covered by insurance.
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The magnitude 8 Sichuan earthquake in 2008 in southern China, which caused the deaths of more than 87,000 people, resulted in an estimated damage of $150 billion. In recent years, flooded houses accounted for the highest number of damage situations in natural disasters in Japan. For the local and international insurance and reinsurance communities, the earthquake and tsunami reflected the very significant insurance loss at an estimated cost of US$35 billion, making it the largest earthquake insurance loss in history. Communities across the Tohoku region suffered extensive damage from the earthquake ground motions and tsunami inundations.
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The most substantive of these reflect failures in emergency generators and non-operability at four nuclear power plant complexes situated along the northeast coast of Honshu in the direct path of the strongest shaking and tsunami impacts.
Economic damage from world’s major quakes nears $1T
In turn, we can mitigate risk more accurately in Japan and other vulnerable places in the world – and play our part in building a more earthquake-resilient society. Future events will help us continue to improve our understanding of megathrust earthquakes. The RMS® Japan Earthquake and Tsunami HD Model is founded on the research and observation data stemming from the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. The extensive ground motion observations across the dense network of seismic stations allowed for a comprehensive analysis of ground motion attenuation and frequency content, site amplifications, and basin characteristics. This event provided the opportunity to fundamentally improve the scientific and engineering communities’ understanding of megathrust earthquakes and their impacts.
Besides causing tens of thousands of deaths and unprecedented sorrow, the world’s major earthquakes in the last 50 years also created nearly $1 trillion in economic damage, according to data compiled by Anadolu. Because major earthquake disasters are so infrequent, utilizing the data to improve our representation of seismic risk is critically important. The comprehensive damage statistics linked with ground motion observations and with tsunami inundation depths also provided invaluable data points for the calibration of building vulnerability functions. Roughly 249 miles (400 kilometers) of the plate boundary ruptured due to a cascade of events on several adjacent fault ruptures, which had historically generated independent, smaller-sized earthquakes.
- Disruption in direct and emergency power supplies as a result of the tsunami at the Fukushima Daiichi plant led to damage at three reactors, overheating fuel ponds, and radiation releases.
- People around the world depend on us, so we must keep challenging ourselves to improve our understanding of seismic hazard and risk.
- The 450-year historical earthquake record for the Japan Trench did not contain any earthquakes comparable to the size of the 2011 event in this region.
- The highest cost of damage caused by natural disasters, as well as the highest number of people killed by natural disasters in Japan, was recorded in 2011.
- A magnitude 7.8 earthquake in Nepal in 2015 killed around 8,964 people, injured 21,952, and caused about $10 billion in economic damage.
The March 11, 2011 magnitude 9.1 earthquake and tsunami in Tohoku, Japan claimed the lives of nearly 20,000 people and caused 70 million cubic meters of rubble, data from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) shows. The highest cost of damage caused by natural disasters, as well as the highest number of people killed by natural disasters in Japan, was recorded in 2011. Since the country is situated along the Ring of Fire, an area where several tectonic plates meet, it is vulnerable to natural disasters like earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions. A magnitude 7.5 earthquake that hit Türkiye on Aug. 17, 1999, killed 17,480 people and led to economic damage of $17.1 billion, according to the Turkish Enterprise and Business Confederation. A magnitude 7.0 earthquake that hit Haiti in 2010 claimed the lives of more than 200,000 people, while its total property loss was $8.5 billion and it led to 10 million cubic meters of rubble.