--- description: On Mar. 11, 2011, a 9.0-magnitude earthquake hit Japan title: Japan Earthquake and Fukushima Meltdown: 4 Years Later image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8f07429368220f34/69878172a988ca41126acb84/1101110328_400.jpg?branch=production&width=828&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [History](/section/history/) ## History Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [natural disaster](/tag/natural-disaster/) ## natural disaster Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Reflections on the Earthquake in Japan, 4 Years Later  by [Lily Rothman](/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Mar 11, 2015 11:00 AM CUT  The Mar. 28, 2011, cover of TIME The Mar. 28, 2011, cover of TIMECover Credit: PHOTOGRAPH BY ALY SONG / REUTERS  by [Lily Rothman](/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Mar 11, 2015 11:00 AM CUT It has now been four years to the day since an earthquake and tsunami upended Japan. These days, the country continues to rebound from the devastating natural disaster that struck on Mar. 11, 2011, with [cleanup](http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/radioactive-fukushima-water-leak-was-unreported-months-official-n312396 "undefined") — nuclear and otherwise — and [reflection ](http://www.dw.de/former-japanese-pm-naoto-kan-fukushima-radically-changed-my-perspective/a-18275921 "undefined")ongoing. In the days and weeks immediately following the earthquake, those questions were all the more urgent. TIME devoted a special report to the aftermath of the disaster, taking a look at Japan’s nuclear power industry as well as its national character. The insights drawn from those investigations are still worth heeding, even today. As TIME’s Nancy Gibbs wrote in the aftermath of the quake: --- > “” --- **_Read the full special report, here in the TIME Vault:_** [Japan’s Meltdown](http://time.com/vault/issue/2011-03-28/page/1/ "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3726563/japan-earthquake-anniversary/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3726563/japan-earthquake-anniversary/"},"headline":"Reflections on the Earthquake in Japan, 4 Years Later","datePublished":"2015-03-11T11:00:44.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T04:47:46.793Z","description":"On Mar. 11, 2011, a 9.0-magnitude earthquake hit Japan","url":"https://time.com/3726563/japan-earthquake-anniversary/","keywords":["natural disaster","Japan","Earthquake"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8f07429368220f34/69878172a988ca41126acb84/1101110328_400.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lily Rothman","jobTitle":"Rothman is managing editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8f07429368220f34/69878172a988ca41126acb84/1101110328_400.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"1101110328_400","caption":"Japan Earthquake cover","creditText":"Cover Credit: PHOTOGRAPH BY ALY SONG / REUTERS","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/natural-disaster/","name":"natural disaster"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3726563/japan-earthquake-anniversary/","name":"Reflections on the Earthquake in Japan, 4 Years Later"}}]}] ```