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2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami

  • Friday 2:46 PM Magnitude 8.9 earthquake 231 miles northeast of Tokyo.

    Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issues tsunami warning for the Pacific Ocean from Japan to the U.S. west coast. Tsunami alerts sound in more than 50 countries and territories
  • 10:48 PM Several thousand people are ordered to evacuate.

    Police report finding 200 -- 300 bodies in coastal city of Sendai.
    60,000 -- 70,000 city residents evacuated to shelters.
  • 11:40 PM

    National Police up the confirmed death toll to 93.
  • Saturday 12:59 AM

    4 million homes in Tokyo and surrounding areas are without power.
  • 1:07 AM

    Kyodo News Service puts number of confirmed deaths at 137.
  • 3:34 AM

    National Police up confirmed death toll to 151.
  • 4:21 AM

    6.2 magnitude earthquake hits Nagano and Niigata prefectures
  • 5:44 AM

    National Police now put death toll at at least 184.
  • 5:56 AM Another earthquake

    hits west coast of Honshu. The quake had a strength of 6.3 magnitude.
  • 8:15 AM

    Tsunamis continue to awash ashore on Japan's northeast coast. Death toll now put at at least 427.