Which 2011 earthquake caused the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in Japan?

The 2011 Tōhoku earthquake caused the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in Japan.

The magnitude 9.0 earthquake struck offshore northeastern Japan on 11 March 2011. Rupture along the Japan Trench displaced the seafloor and generated a destructive tsunami. Waves inundated coastal communities and flooded critical equipment at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, causing loss of cooling and severe reactor accidents.

The event was Japan’s strongest instrumentally recorded earthquake and produced enormous human, economic, and environmental consequences. The earthquake itself caused widespread shaking damage, while the tsunami caused most of the direct fatalities and triggered the nuclear emergency.

It is often called the Great East Japan earthquake or the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. Tōhoku refers to the northeastern region of Honshu. The Fukushima disaster was therefore a cascading event involving seismic rupture, tsunami inundation, infrastructure failure, and nuclear accidents.