Great East Japan Earthquake, 2011

The Great East Japan Earthquake (GEJE) struck the northern coast of Japan on 11 March 2011 with a magnitude of 9.0 on the Richter scale. It overwhelmed Japan’s resilience measures because of its sheer scale and it had unprecedented impacts. GEJE’s ripple effects included a tsunami which hit the Tohoku coastline, leading to the loss of 20,000 lives and widespread destruction of infrastructure, agriculture, housing and industry. Cascading impacts resulted in a nuclear meltdown and hydrogen explosion at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.

Key services – critical infrastructure and facilities – the “lifelines” of society such as transportation, communication, sanitation, medical care – were disrupted. The disruption of water supply and complete submergence of the water treatment plant directly impacted 500,000 people in Sendai city. As a ripple effect, lack of clean water and sanitation facilities further impacted public health and emergency services, hampering response and recovery efforts.

Source: World Bank. (2018). Resilient Water Supply and Sanitation Services: The Case of Japan. World Bank. Retrieved February 21, 2023.