The earthquake did not cause much damage, because the location of the earthquake was Japan, so they were prepared. Japan is right in the middle of the Ring of Fire, so their buildings were more than capable of withstanding the powerful 9.0 magnitude earthquake that took place and lasted 6 minutes. The earthquake could be felt as far away as Tokyo, 250 miles from Sendai. The main earthquake was followed by thousands of aftershocks, many more than usual (He et al., 2013). Few, if any, died from the earthquake itself. What caused most, if not all, of the damage was the massive tsunami that followed. It only took about an hour after the earthquake to reach Miyagi, Japan. The fast-moving tsunami was estimated to be about 128 feet high in some locations. As of March 2015, nearly 16,000 people were killed in the tsunami and 2,500 are still missing. As if the tsunami itself hadn't caused enough damage, things got worse for the Japanese people. More than 4 million people were left without electricity. Fires were started in oil refineries by the earthquake and lasted for more than 7 days. In many places the tsunami hit, most phone signals were out so there was no way to communicate. There was also no way to travel by car, and with boats and debris on the roads this was made impossible. But the biggest problem caused by the earthquake and tsunami was the melting waters.