On Friday 11 March 2011, the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, the most powerful known earthquake to hit Japan at the time, and one of the five most powerful recorded earthquakes of which Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan said, "In the 65 years after the end of World War II, this is the toughest and the most difficult crisis for Japan." hit Honshu. The earthquake and the resulting tsunami not only devastated wide coastal areas in Miyagi Prefecture but also caused the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster triggering a widespread permanent evacuation surrounding the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant. German chancellor Angela Merkel immediately expressed her deepest sympathy to all those affected and promised Japan any assistance it would call for. As a consequence rescue specialists from the Technisches Hilfswerk as well as a scout team of I.S.A.R. Germany (International Search and Rescue) were sent to Japan, however parts of the German personnel had to be recalled due to radiation danger near the damaged power plant. Furthermore, the German Aerospace Center provided TerraSAR-X- and RapidEye-satellite imagery of the affected area. In the days after the disaster, numerous flowers, candles and paper cranes were placed in front of the Japanese embassy in Berlin by compassionates, including leading German politicians. Though never materialised, additional proposals for aid included sending special units of the German Bundeswehr to Japan, as the German Armed Forces' decontamination equipment is among the most sophisticated in the world.