Question

Forma negativa interrogativa da frase they live in japan when the tsunami happened

Answer 1

Para fazer uma pergunta usando o pretérito/negação com o intuito de confirmar uma ação que aconteceu no passado mas cessou de ocorrer usamos essa estrutura

ex:

My mother was sick last week.
Weren't your mother sick last week

They were living in Japan when the tsunami arrived
Weren't they living in Japan when the tsunami arrived?

Were é usado pra todas as pessoas