How much damage was caused by the 2011 Japan earthquake?

Answer 1

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said the March 11, 2011 magnitude 9.0 earthquake (originally reported as 8.9) was the "biggest quake to hit Japan since record-keeping began in the late 1800s and one of the biggest ever recorded in the world".

According to several US news organizations including CBSNEWS, the USGS provided a comparison to gain perspective of Japan's recent earthquake.

It was cited that

"USGS compared Japan's earthquake with two well known quakes: last year's earthquake in Haiti and the historic 1906 San Francisco quake.

The USGS calculated Friday's magnitude 8.9 earthquake in Japan to be 700 times stronger than Haiti's recent magnitude 7.0 earthquake, which devastated Port-au-Prince and killed more than 300,000 people.

When comparing to the 1906 earthquake, the USGS has figured that Japan's earthquake is equivalent to 30 of the San Francisco earthquakes."

U.S. government scientists at USGS originally put the Japan quake at 8.9. The change to 9.0 means that the quake was about 1.5 times stronger than initially thought.

The Japan quake is now the fourth largest in the world since 1900 behind the 2004 magnitude-9.1 Sumatra quake.

UPDATE: Official magnitude was updated to 9.1 on Nov 7, 2016.

Answer 2

The shocks leading to the earthquake on 11th March started on 8th march.

The earlier ones were of magnitudes ranging from 6 to 7.5 but the major one which caused the most damage was of magnitude 9.0.

Answer 3

The tsunami also caused a cooling system failure at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, this resulted in a level-7 nuclear meltdown and the release of radioactive materials. Reports state that the electrical power and backup generators were overwhelmed by the tsunami, and this was in the main the reason for the plant losing its cooling capabilities. In July 2013, TEPCO, the Tokyo Electric Power Company, admitted that somewhere near 300 tons of radioactive water continues to leak from the plant on a daily basis into the Pacific Ocean.

Answer 4

The damage caused by Japan's March 2011 earthquake and tsunami was considerable in both lives, property, and environment.

The National Police Agency of Japan reported that the earthquake and tsunami resulted in 15,894 deaths and 6,152 injured. This surpasses the death toll for the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake. For more info see related link.

There were reports ranging from 7,400 - 350,000 buildingsand homes that were damaged or destroyed depending on the source. Save the Children reported that as many as 100,000 children were uprooted from their homes.

The damage to buildings and infrastructure due to the earthquake, tsunami, and resulting fires and explosions is estimated over $180 billion or 3 percent of Japan's annual economic output.