March 11 - The 2011 Sendai Earthquake, Tsunami and Nuclear Meltdown

It was the most powerful earthquake ever recorded in Japan, and the fourth most powerful earthquake in the world since modern record-keeping began way back in the year 1900. This 2011 earthquake off the Pacific coast of Tōhoku was a magnitude 9.0–9.1 undersea "mega-thrust" earthquake, meaning simply that this is a powerful quake that happens at a very precarious spot on the planet’s crust; subduction zones at destructive convergent plate boundaries. And it took down a nuclear reactor plant. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices