*2.2.2. Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami*

The Pacific plate is subducting along the Japan Trench beneath Eastern Japan, whereas the Philippine Sea plate is subducting along the Nankai Trough beneath Western Japan [13]. The Philippine Sea plate is subducting along the Sagami Trough beneath the North American plate. The Pacific plate is converging with and subducting beneath the Okhotsk plate at about 40 mm per year, resulting in frequent and large earthquakes [13]. The Japan Trough has a long history of large events, including the 869 Mw 8.3 Jogan, 1896 Ms 7.2 Meiji Sanriku and 1933 Mw 8.4 Showa Sanriku events, all of which produced large destructive tsunamis [13].

On 11 March 2011, an earthquake with magnitude of 9.0 off the northeastern coast of Japan triggered a tsunami [6]. The waves reached up to 40 m high and penetrated up to 5 km inland. It caused a great loss of life (~20,000), strong environmental damage and infrastructural destruction. The tsunami has also severely affected the Fukushima nuclear power plant, causing serious risks of contamination from radioactive releases.
