Watch a Road 'Breathing' in Mexico After an Earthquake By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica.Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. The event began with a powerful earthquake off the coast of Honshu, Japan’s main island, which initiated a series of large tsunami …

See incredible footage of the tsunami swamping cities and turning buildings into rubble. Video footage shot in various locations around north-east Japan shows raging tsunami waves rushing over embankments and flowing into cities and …

As these massively destructive and costly events become more frequent, scientific evidence points to climate change as a leading cause. All rights reserved. This video captures a first-hand perspective of the tsunami as it washes over the landscape, turning the infrastructure to rubble.the sudden shaking of Earth's crust caused by the release of energy along fault lines or from volcanic activity.an event occurring naturally that has large-scale effects on the environment and people, such as a volcano, earthquake, or hurricane.ocean waves triggered by an earthquake, volcano, or other movement of the ocean floor.The audio, illustrations, photos, and videos are credited beneath the media asset, except for promotional images, which generally link to another page that contains the media credit.

© 1996 - 2020 National Geographic Society. When those plates scrape against each other and cause an earthquake, the results can be deadly and devastating. While they can often be predicted, the loss of life and property take an emotional and economic toll on the community impacted. Japan earthquake and tsunami, severe natural disaster that occurred in northeastern Japan on March 11, 2011, and killed at least 20,000 people.

National Geographic HeadquartersNational Geographic Society is a 501 (c)(3) organization. Get exclusive access to content from our 1768 First Edition with your subscription. The movements of these plates can build mountains or cause volcanoes to erupt. Aerial view of damage to a portion of the northeastern coast of Honshu, Japan, following the offshore earthquake and resultant tsunami there on March 11, 2011.Map of the northern part of Japan's main island of Honshu depicting the intensity of shaking caused by the earthquake of March 11, 2011.A massive tsunami, generated by a powerful undersea earthquake, engulfing a residential area in Natori, Miyagi prefecture, northeastern Honshu, Japan, on March 11, 2011.John Rafferty, associate editor of Earth sciences at Encyclopædia Britannica, discussing tsunamis.Map prepared by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration depicting the tsunami wave height model for the Pacific Ocean following the March 11, 2011, earthquake off Sendai, Japan. As part of his master's program,... Building codes in California require builders to meet standards set to minimize structural damage in an earthquake and coastal cities have building code to reinforce roofs and walls to resist a storm’s high winds. © 1996 - 2020 National Geographic Society. The clash of these plates can also cause violent earthquakes, where Earth’s surface shakes.