NASA photos show flooded coast after Japan tsunami

By Jeffrey Van Camp Published May 11, 2011

Last week, Japan endured one of the worst earthquakes and tsunamis on record. We posted some information and videos on Friday, but today NASA has given us a look at the entire coastline before and after the waves hit.

nasa-japan-tsunami-photos — Image used with permission by copyright holder

The image on the right shows the coastline after the tsunami east of the city of Sendai. As you can see, the entire coast is eroded and far less defined with areas of water extending far into the mainland. These pictures were taken at 10:30 a.m. on March 12, 2011 by NASA’s MISR (Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer) on its Terra spacecraft. The region shown extends from the Abukama River to just south of Minamisoma, a town of 71,000.

nasa-japan-tsunami-topography — Image used with permission by copyright holder

This second photo shows the topography around the city of Sendai after the 8.9 magnitude quake struck 80 miles offshore. Sendai is the capitol city of Japan’s Miyagi Prefecture and has a population of about 1 million. The city lies in the center of this picture, between the mountains and the shore. It had little geographic protection from the oncoming waves.

Jeffrey Van Camp

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As DT's Deputy Editor, Jeff helps oversee editorial operations at Digital Trends. Previously, he ran the site's…

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