A massive 9.0-magnitude earthquake and several powerful aftershocks struck the eastern coast of Japan on March 11, 2011 (12:46 a.m. in Washington), triggering a [[tsunami]] that devastated the coastline north of [[Tokyo]] with waves up to 20 meters (66 ft.) high. The earthquake epicenter was in the western Pacific Ocean, 130 kilometers east of [[Sendai]], [[Honshu]] island. The earthquake occurred along the subduction zone between two tectonic plates. | A massive 9.0-magnitude earthquake and several powerful aftershocks struck the eastern coast of Japan on March 11, 2011 (12:46 a.m. in Washington), triggering a [[tsunami]] that devastated the coastline north of [[Tokyo]] with waves up to 20 meters (66 ft.) high. The earthquake epicenter was in the western Pacific Ocean, 130 kilometers east of [[Sendai]], [[Honshu]] island. The earthquake occurred along the subduction zone between two tectonic plates. |