The following is a chronology of events in the past 10 years related to the earthquake and tsunami that struck northeastern Japan on March 11, 2011. <READ FULL STORY>

March 11, 2011 -- Magnitude-9.0 earthquake strikes off Miyagi Prefecture, with subsequent tsunami hitting wide areas of northeastern Japan and triggering a nuclear crisis at Fukushima Daiichi power plant.

March 12 -- Hydrogen explosion occurs at the Fukushima plant's No. 1 reactor building.

The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is pictured from the town of Futaba, northeastern Japan, on March 11, 2021, the 10th anniversary of the earthquake-tsunami disaster that sparked the nuclear crisis there. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

March 13 -- Police say over 450,000 people have been evacuated.

March 14 -- Hydrogen explosion occurs at No. 3 reactor building. Tokyo Electric Power Co. begins planned power outages.

March 15 -- Hydrogen explosion occurs at No. 4 reactor building.

March 25 -- Death toll from disaster exceeds 10,000.

March 30 -- TEPCO unveils plan to scrap Nos. 1-4 units at Fukushima Daiichi plant.

April 12 -- Severity of Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident rated Level 7 in International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale, worst rating on par with Chernobyl disaster.

June 20 -- Basic law on scheme for reconstructing areas hit by March 11 disaster enacted.

July 1 -- Government issues order for restricting electric consumption by large-lot users in eastern and northeastern Japan to avert power shortages following the nuclear accident, in the country's first mandatory power-saving drive in 37 years, or since the first oil crisis.

July 29 -- Government adopts basic policy on reconstruction of areas hit by March 11 disaster.

Sept. 9 -- Restrictions on electricity consumptions fully lifted.

Dec. 16 -- Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda declares crippled-Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant brought to stable state of cold shutdown.

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda holds a press conference at his office in Tokyo on the night of Dec. 16, 2011. Noda said the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has achieved a stable state of cold shutdown, nine months after the outbreak of one of the world's worst nuclear accidents. (Kyodo)

Dec. 21 -- Government, TEPCO set road map toward decommissioning of Nos. 1-4 units at Fukushima Daiichi plant in up to 40 years.

Dec. 26 -- SDF ends relief mission in disaster-hit areas.

Members of Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force decontaminate areas tainted with radioactive substances from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station near the village hall in Iitate, Fukushima Prefecture, on Dec. 7, 2011. The GSDF began the decontamination operation that day. (Kyodo)

Feb. 10, 2012 -- Reconstruction Agency is formed to better deal with rebuilding disaster-hit areas.

Sept. 19 -- Nuclear Regulation Authority is launched.

April 5, 2013 -- Up to 120 tons of radioactive water found to have leaked from underground tank at Fukushima Daiichi plant.

Sept. 7 -- Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says issue of radioactive water leakage at Fukushima plant "under control" in International Olympic Committee conference.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe makes a presentation for Tokyo's bid to host the 2020 Summer Olympics at the International Olympic Committee's general session in Buenos Aires on Sept. 7, 2013. Tokyo was chosen as the host city later by the committee. (Kyodo)

April 11, 2014 -- Japan decides on Basic Energy Plan that stipulates support for resuming operation of nuclear reactors halted after the Fukushima nuclear crisis.

Dec. 22 -- TEPCO completes removal of nuclear fuel rods from No. 4 unit's pool at Fukushima plant.

Aug. 11, 2015 -- Kyushu Electric Power Co. resumes operation of Sendai nuclear power plant's No. 1 unit, first reactor reactivated in Japan under stricter safety regulations introduced after 2011 nuclear disaster.

Feb. 29, 2016 -- Three former TEPCO executives are indicted over failure to implement measures to prevent disaster at Fukushima Daiichi plant.

Sept. 19, 2019 -- Tokyo District Court acquits three former TEPCO executives who faced charges of failing to prevent Fukushima nuclear disaster.

Nov. 25 -- Pope Francis meets with people affected by 2011 disaster in Tokyo.

Pope Francis (2nd from L) shakes hands with high schooler Matsuki Kamoshita (R) in Tokyo on Nov. 25, 2019, during a meeting with victims of the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami that devastated northeastern Japan. Earlier in the day, 17-year-old Kamoshita, who evacuated to Tokyo amid the Fukushima nuclear disaster, delivered a speech, as did Toshiko Kato (L), head of a kindergarten who lost one of her students in the tsunami, and Buddhist priest Tokuun Tanaka (C), who survived the nuclear crisis. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Feb. 25, 2020 -- Shipping restrictions on seafood caught off Fukushima Prefecture fully lifted.

Feb. 28, 2021 -- TEPCO completes removal of nuclear fuel rods from storage pool of No. 3 reactor at Fukushima plant.

March 11 -- Japan marks 10th anniversary of earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster.