At exactly 2:46 pm on Friday, March 11, 2011, a collision of the Pacific and Eurasian tectonic plates caused the earth to shift on its axis by 6.5 inches, moving the entire island of Honshu eight feet eastward and triggering a three-story-tall tsunami that jumped a sea wall 50 minutes later and crashed into the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant. When the VMs arrived hours later, they found 20 cities and numerous towns and villages washed away to sea. The Volunteer Ministers from Tokyo were one of the few volunteer organizations permitted in the disaster zone, where they set up 2,400 shelters in schools and coordinated and distributed donated food, water, medical supplies and blankets.
