As nearly 300,000 Japanese buildings were destroyed by a catastrophic tsunami in 2011, thousands of ozone-destroying chemicals , according to a new study released in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

The magnitude-9 earthquake left little damage, but it was the subsequent tsunami that ravaged the coastline, , mostly by drowning, according to Live Science.

When that tsunami began to wash away buildings, it damaged insulation, refrigerators, air conditioners and many more devices that contain atmosphere-harming chemicals known as halocarbons, the study found. In total, some 7,275 tons of halocarbons were released into the air during that horrific event, the study also discovered.

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"Halocarbon emissions , said Takuya Saito, lead study author and senior researcher at the National Institute for Environmental Studies in Tsukuba, Japan," said a separate Live Science report.

Among the halocarbons thrust into the atmosphere by the tsunami were chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), both of which are now banned gases, the study found. Saito told Live Science that some of these gases had been banned in Japan 15 years before the tsunami, so they were surprised to see such a marked increase in banned chemicals like CFC-11 during their study.

The study's authors told Science 2.0 on the release of greenhouse gases due to a specific natural disaster. Saito also told Live Science that no countries account for the pollutants released during natural disasters in their yearly estimates of greenhouse gas emissions.

Estimates showed the total halocarbons released during the tsunami accounted for just 4 percent of all halocarbon emissions worldwide in 2011, Saito told Live Science. Compared to carbon dioxide and methane, the halocarbons released in this disaster are relatively weak contributors to global warming, he added.

MORE ON WEATHER.COM: 2011 Japan Tsunami

In this image a man climbs onto a boat wedged on a bridge on March 18, 2011 in Ishinomaki, Japan. (Chris McGrath/Getty Images)