The media I watched made it sound exactly like it was. Tokyo and the majority of Japan were not affected by the Tsunami, but felt the Earthquake. They highlighted the devastation on the coast, and since it's such a dense population I can see why. Also with the fall out from the Nuclear Plants.
Sometimes you gotta think for yourself too, we don't need to media to spell everything out for us.
I had a friend traveling in Japan at that time, and with little knowledge of Japan and her rough travel plans I pretty quickly found that she wasn't in the affected areas.