2011 Sendai Earthquake And Tsunami, Tōhoku Region, Pacific Ocean

The quake has had significant immediate impacts on businesses such as Toyota, Nissan and Honda, who completely suspended auto production until 14 March. Nippon Steel Corporation also suspended production, Toyo Tire & Rubber Company and Sumitomo Rubber Industries shuttered their tyre and rubber production lines, while GS Yuasa closed its automotive battery production. This was expected to hinder supply availability for automakers. Tokyo Electric Power Company, Toshiba, East Japan Railway Company and Shin-Etsu Chemical Company were suggested as the most vulnerable companies as a result of the earthquake. Sony also suspended production at all its six plants in the area, while Fuji Heavy Industries discontinued production at most of its factories in the Gunma and the Tochigi Prefectures. Other factories suspending operations include Kirin Holdings, GlaxoSmithKline, Nestlé and Toyota amid power cuts. The northern Tohoku region, which was most affected, accounts for about 8 percent of the country's gross domestic product as it has factories that make products such as cars and beer as well as energy infrastructure. The factory shutdowns, power cuts and the consequent presumed impact on consumer confidence could hurt the national GDP for several months, although economist Michael Boskin predicts "only minimal impact on the Japanese economy overall."
On 14 March, The Bank of Japan, in an attempt to maintain market stability, injected 15 trillion yen into the money markets to assure financial stability amid a plunge in stocks and surge in credit risk. After it set up an emergency task force to ensure liquidity in the aftermath of the disaster, governor Masaaki Shirakawa and the bank's board also enlarged a programme to buy government bonds to exchange-traded funds to the tune of 10 trillion yen. The BOJ chief told reporters cash injections will continue as needed.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano has said that Japan's government will convene on 13 March to gauge the economic effects of the catastrophe. He also told NHK Television that about 200 billion yen that was remaining from the budget for the concurrent fiscal year that would end on 31 March would be used to fund the immediate recovery efforts. Additional measures could also hurt Japan's public debt (which is already the highest in the world). This additional spending could hurt demand for government bonds.
Economic analysts posit that, ultimately, the catastrophe will improve Japan's economy, with increased job availability during restoration efforts. An analyst at JPMorgan Chase, citing the 1989 San Francisco earthquake and the 1994 Northridge earthquake, noted that natural disasters "do eventually boost output." An analyst at Société Générale anticipated that Japan's economy will decline in March but will revive powerfully in subsequent months. After the Kobe earthquake, industrial output dropped 2.6%, but increased by 2.2% the next month, and 1% the following month. Japan's economy then accelerated substantially through the next two years, at more than its former rate. There are others who posit that this is harmful to the economy, and that the above analysts are falling prey to the broken window fallacy.