How did the Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami (or Japan Earthquake and Tsunami of 2011) affect Japan, including economic and physical impacts?

On March 11, 2011, a magnitude-9 earthquake (referred to as the Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami) hit Japan, and it created a tsunami. The earthquake was located 45 miles off the coast of Tohoku, 15 miles beneath the surface of the sea. It was centered in a subduction zone, where tectonic plates collide. Scientists had not predicted that an earthquake and tsunami of this magnitude would hit that area of Japan. Within about half an hour, the tsunami waves started hitting Japan, and they eventually spread 6 miles inland in some areas and up to 128 feet. Waves generated by the tsunami traveled across the Pacific Ocean to North and South America, bringing debris with them. 

The death toll to date for the earthquake and tsunami is 15,891, and most of the fatalities were the result of drowning. Over 2,500 people are still missing. A early-warning system allowed people in Tokyo to have a minute's warning about the earthquake, and high speed trains were stopped, preventing some injuries and deaths. The tsunami caused a meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. Radioactivity was leaked out, reaching as far as California, and it radioactive water continues to leak out of the plant. Together, the earthquake and tsunami caused an estimated $300 billion in damages, and much of the infrastructure in northeastern Japan was destroyed, including buildings, telecommunications, electricity lines, dams, and railroads. The Tohoku earthquake is estimated to have caused the greatest cost of any natural disaster in history.