2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami data available from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/National Geophysical Data Center

Abstract

On 11 March 2011, at 05:46:24 UTC, a magnitude 9.0 Mw earthquake occurred near the east coast of Honshu, Japan. The earthquake generated a tsunami with wave heights up to 38.9 m. The earthquake and tsunami caused almost 20,000 deaths and missing in Japan. The tsunami was observed all over the Pacific Ocean and caused additional deaths in Indonesia and California, USA. The earthquake and tsunami also caused the worst nuclear emergency since Chernobyl. The damage costs resulting from the earthquake and tsunami in Japan will be between 16 and 25 trillion yen. The National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) and co-located World Data Center for Geophysics maintain a global historical eventdatabase of tsunamis, significant earthquakes, and significant volcanic eruptions (http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/hazards/). As of 3 October 2011, NGDC has collected 288 tide gauge observations, 34 Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunami (DART®) and bottom pressure recorder (BPR) station observations, and over 5,000 eyewitness reports and post-tsunami field survey measurements. These data will be useful for understanding and modelling tsunami generation, propagation, and inundation on land. © 2011 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.