<P> An upthrust of 6 to 8 metres along a 180 - km - wide seabed at 60 km offshore from the east coast of Tōhoku resulted in a major tsunami that brought destruction along the Pacific coastline of Japan's northern islands . Thousands of lives were lost when entire towns were devastated . The tsunami propagated throughout the Pacific Ocean region reaching the entire Pacific coast of North and South America from Alaska to Chile . Warnings were issued and evacuations were carried out in many countries bordering the Pacific . However, although the tsunami affected many of these places, the heights of the waves were minor . Chile's Pacific coast, one of the furthest from Japan at about 17,000 km (11,000 mi) distant, was struck by waves 2 m (6.6 ft) high, compared with an estimated wave height of 38.9 metres (128 ft) at Omoe peninsula, Miyako city, Japan . </P> <P> The tsunami warning issued by the Japan Meteorological Agency was the most serious on its warning scale; it was rated as a "major tsunami", being at least 3 m (9.8 ft) high . The actual height prediction varied, the greatest being for Miyagi at 6 m (20 ft) high . The tsunami inundated a total area of approximately 561 km (217 sq mi) in Japan . </P> <P> The earthquake took place at 14: 46 JST (UTC 05: 46) around 67 km (42 mi) from the nearest point on Japan's coastline, and initial estimates indicated the tsunami would have taken 10 to 30 minutes to reach the areas first affected, and then areas farther north and south based on the geography of the coastline . Just over an hour after the earthquake at 15: 55 JST, a tsunami was observed flooding Sendai Airport, which is located near the coast of Miyagi Prefecture, with waves sweeping away cars and planes and flooding various buildings as they traveled inland . The impact of the tsunami in and around Sendai Airport was filmed by an NHK News helicopter, showing a number of vehicles on local roads trying to escape the approaching wave and being engulfed by it . A 4 - metre - high (13 ft) tsunami hit Iwate Prefecture . Wakabayashi Ward in Sendai was also particularly hard hit . At least 101 designated tsunami evacuation sites were hit by the wave . </P> <P> Like the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, the damage by surging water, though much more localized, was far more deadly and destructive than the actual quake . Entire towns were destroyed in tsunami - hit areas in Japan, including 9,500 missing in Minamisanriku; one thousand bodies had been recovered in the town by 14 March 2011 . </P>

How long did it take for the tohoku tsunami to arrive