A major earthquake (Mw = 9) hits the port of Ishinomaki at 14h46, followed at 15h26 by a giant tsunami (waves height up to 8,5 m) which submerges a paper mill complex under 1 to 5 m of sea water. Thousands of cubic meters of logs and rolls of paper stored between the sea side and the mill are washed away and mix with debris (210 cars, 18 houses, several containers…) and sediment in the base floor of the production buildings and block the access of the mill. A fret train is also washed away and several cars are found in the settling basins. Before the arrival of the tsunami, 822 employees and subcontractors have stopped safely all the units and evacuated in good order on the hill behind the site. Rescue are on site 48 hours later, while food and blankets are running short for the employees as part of the local population survivors are supported by the mill. The mill operator calls for employees from other mills in Japan to clean the site early april : roads are cleared by bulldozers but employees have to hand clean the base floor of buildings. Mechanical parts of the paper machines are intacts, but sea water has damaged most of the eletronic and electrical equipments located in the base floor. All the stock is lost (raw materials and finished products). The operator assesses the damages and production losses in the order of 400 millions of Euros (2011). The mill starts again 6 months later but achieve full production only 18 months later. The operator resolves to put a maximum of electrical and electronic equipment on the first or second floor, when technically feasible, and to increase its stocks of relief food on the hill to reach 3 days of autonomy.