A massive, magnitude 8.9 earthquake struck the Japan Trench megathrust fault off the eastern coast of Honshu Friday, March 11 at 2:46 PM local time. The quake struck about 80 miles (125 kilometers) off Japan’s eastern coast, approximately 240 miles (380 kilometers) northeast of Tokyo. Damage from this event is focused on the prefectures of Chiba (northern), Ibaraki, Tochigi, Fukushima, Miyagi, and Iwate (southern). The city of Sendai (1 million people) experienced the worst damage. Over 12 million people (10% of the total population of Japan) have been significantly affected by this event. As issue by EQECAT in the CatWatch notification the aftermath of the event is estimated as: Economic losses continue to rise as significant earthquake-related events develop, including damage … [Read more...]