Fukushima Timeline: How an Earthquake Triggered Japanâs 2011 Nuclear Disaster
An earthquake, a tsunami.and then a devastating power plant failure.
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An earthquake, a tsunami.and then a devastating power plant failure.
The 2011 disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant was the worst nuclear event since the meltdown at Chernobyl in the former Soviet Union 25 years prior.
It started with an earthquake. It resulted in 465,000 evacuations, $360 billion in economic losses and increased radiation levels in Tokyo, 140 miles away.
As with most disasters, several things had to go wrong to produce such a catastrophic outcome. Below is a detailed account of how the devastation unfolded.