On March 11, 2011 at 2:45 local time, a 9.0 magnitude earthquake occurred 81 miles (130 km) off the east coast of Sendai, Japan, triggering a massive tsunami. It is estimated that the initial tsunami wave took 10 to 30 minutes to make its first landfall. Forecasted wave heights were up to 33 ft (10 m) and there were many reports of tsunami waves three stories high in parts of Japan. Across the Pacific Ocean, many countries issued evacuations along the coasts because of the predicted tsunami

waves.