Some economic analysts consider that , ultimately , the catastrophe will improve Japan 's economy , with increased job availability during restoration efforts . An analyst at JPMorgan Chase , citing the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake in the San Francisco Bay Area and the Southern California 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 2011 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 . Others are of the opinion that the catastrophe will harm the economy . Some analysts have argued that those who predict that the reconstruction effort could help Japan 's economy have fallen prey to the broken window fallacy . On 24 March , an executive of Bank of Japan 's Osaka branch said he expected " a big decline in production , leading to an adjustment in the economy initially with exports and inventories falling and imports rising ... Demand created by reconstruction projects will emerge after that . " The government said that reconstruction in the ongoing year could raise GDP by 5 trillion yen to 7.75 trillion yen
1994 Northridge earthquake
1994 Northridge earthquake
Aftermath of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami