2011 Sendai Earthquake And Tsunami, Tōhoku Region, Pacific Ocean

Various train services around Japan were also canceled, with JR East suspending all services for the rest of the day. Four trains on coastal lines were reported as being out of contact with operators; one, a four-car train on the Senseki Line, was found to have derailed, and its occupants were rescued shortly after 8 am the next morning. There had been no derailments of Shinkansen bullet train services in and out of Tokyo, but their services were also suspended. The Tōkaidō Shinkansen resumed limited service late in the day and was back to its normal schedule by the next day, while the Jōetsu and Nagano Shinkansen resumed services late on 12 March; however, the Tōhoku Shinkansen remained suspended, with visible damage to electrical poles and elevated spans, and the state of the line in harder-hit areas still difficult to ascertain. A date for resumption of services has not been announced, but repairs are expected to take a considerable amount of time.
The rolling blackouts brought on by the crises at the nuclear power plants in Fukushima later had a profound effect on the rail networks around Tokyo starting on 14 March. Major railways began running trains at 10–20 minute intervals (normally 3–5 minutes), operating some lines only at rush hour, and completely shutting down others (notably, the Tokaido Main Line, Yokosuka Line, Sobu Main Line and Chuo-Sobu Line were all stopped for the day). This led to near-paralysis within the capital, with long lines at train stations and many people unable to come to work or get home.