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Japan marks 1st anniversary of devastating earthquake
Number of dead and missing caused by natural disaster reached more than 15,000
A year after the magnitude 9.0 earthquake unleashed a wall of water that hit Japan’s northeast coast, killing nearly 16,000 and leaving nearly 3,300 unaccounted for, the country is still grappling with the human, economic and political costs. (Getty Images)
In the port of Ofunato, hundreds of black-clad residents gathered at the town hall to lay white chrysanthemums at an altar dedicated to the town’s 420 dead and missing. (Getty Images)
“We can’t just stay sad. Our mission is to face reality and move forward step by step,” said petrol station owner Kosei Chiba, 46, who lost his mother and wife in the disaster. (Getty Images)
“But the damage the town suffered was too big and our psychological scars are too deep. We need a long time to rebuild.” (Getty Images)
Just a kilometer (half a mile) from Tokyo Electric Power Company’s (Tepco) wrecked Fukushima plant, where reactor meltdowns triggered the world’s worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl, residents of the abandoned town of Okuma were allowed back for a few hours to honor the dead. (Getty Images)
“It was a wonderful place. If it wasn’t for all that’s happened, I’d be able to come back. But thanks to Tepco, I wasn’t even able to search for the bodies of my relatives,” said Tomoe Kimura, 93, who lost four members of her family in the tsunami, two of whom were never found. (Getty Images)
Authorities have imposed a 20-km (12 mile) no-go zone around the plant and residents may never be allowed back. (Getty Images)
Along the northeast coast, police and coastguard officers, urged on by families of the missing, still search rivers and shores for remains even though the chances of finding any appear very slim. (Getty Images)
The nation observed a moment of silence at 2:46 p.m. (12.46 a.m. EST) when the quake struck. Ofunato, will pause again 33 minutes later to mark when a 23-metre (75-foot) tsunami ripped through this town of 41,000. (Getty Images)
