Japan on Thursday marked the 10th anniversary of the devastating earthquake and tsunami in northeastern Japan that left more than 15,000 people dead and triggered the world's worst nuclear disaster since the 1986 Chernobyl crisis, as captured in the following collection of photos.
Photo taken Dec. 24, 2020, shows the "Miracle Pine" monument in Rikuzentakata, northeastern Japan. The Iwate Prefecture city preserved the only tree that was still standing following the deadly tsunami of March 2011 as a monument for future generations after it died in 2012 due to severe damage from salt water. (Kyodo)
Photo taken on March 11, 2011 from a Kyodo News helicopter shows a coastal area near Natori, Miyagi Prefecture, inundated after a powerful earthquake triggered a massive tsunami the same day. (Kyodo)
Photo taken April 8, 2011 shows the sightseeing boat Hamayuri washed up onto the roof of a two-story inn in Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, following a huge tsunami in the wake of the March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. The process to demolish the inn began in earnest on Jan. 25, 2021, with the vessel already removed from the roof and scrapped in May 2011. (Kyodo)
Photo taken from a helicopter on March 12, 2011 shows rubble and destroyed houses that have been swept in front of a Miyako city government building, after tsunami devastated the area following Japan's strongest recorded earthquake with a magnitude of 9.0 that hit the country the previous day. (Kyodo)
Photo taken from a helicopter on March 12, 2011 shows an ambulance truck (C) and other vehicles that have been swept by tsunami along with rubble of collapsed buildings in Miyako in Iwate Prefecture, after Japan's strongest recorded earthquake with a magnitude of 9.0 hit the country the previous day. (Kyodo)
A large vessel is seen in a ruined urban area of Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, on March 12, 2011, a day after Japan's strongest recorded earthquake with a magnitude of 9.0 hit the country. (Kyodo)
Members of Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force evacuate a man in the tsunami-hit city of Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, on March 12, 2011, after Japan's strongest recorded earthquake with a magnitude of 9.0 hit the country the previous day. (Kyodo)
Train cars of the JR Joban Line are seen overturned on the ground on March 12, 2011, after being swept by tsunami in the town of Shinchi in Fukushima Prefecture after Japan's strongest recorded earthquake with a magnitude of 9.0 hit the country the previous day. (Kyodo)
A helicopter (front) of the Air Self-Defense Force flies near a destroyed building in the town of Minamisanriku in Miyagi Prefecture, during a rescue mission on March 12, 2011, a day after Japan's strongest recorded earthquake with a magnitude of 9.0 hit the country, triggering massive tsunami in coastal areas. (Kyodo)
Photo taken from a helicopter on March 12, 2011 shows rubble and destroyed houses in Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture, after a tsunami devastated the area following Japan's strongest recorded earthquake with a magnitude of 9.0 that hit the country the previous day. (Kyodo)
A boy carries water through the rubble in the tsunami-hit city of Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, on March 14, 2011, three days after Japan's strongest recorded earthquake hit the country. (Kyodo)
A petrochemical complex is engulfed in flames and smoke in a photo taken from a Kyodo News helicopter in Ichihara, Chiba Prefecture, on March 11, 2011. (Kyodo)
People wait to be rescued from the terrace of a residential building in Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture, on March 12, 2011, after a tsunami devastated the area following Japan's strongest recorded earthquake with a magnitude of 9.0 which hit the country the previous day. (Kyodo)
Photo shows burnt vehicles that have been swept together at the port of Hitachi in Ibaraki Prefecture on March 12, 2011, after Japan's strongest recorded earthquake hit the country the previous day, triggering massive tsunamis in coastal areas. (Kyodo)
Aircrafts are covered with mud in the Air Self-Defense Force base in Higashimatsushima in Miyagi Prefecture on March 12, 2011, a day after Japan's strongest recorded earthquake with a magnitude of 9.0 struck the nation. (Kyodo)
Photo taken from a Kyodo News helicopter shows Sendai airport in Miyagi Prefecture submerged by a massive tsunami triggered by a powerful earthquake on March 11, 2011. (Kyodo)
Aerial photo taken from a Kyodo News helicopter shows debris swept up by a tsunami and damaged buildings in an inundated area of Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, on March 12, 2011, a day after a magnitude 9.0 quake struck northeastern Japan. (Kyodo)
People sit on the floor at JR Tokyo Station on March 11, 2011, after train services halted due to a devastating earthquake that struck Japan earlier in the day. (Kyodo)
People walk on an elevated track in Tokyo as the Yurikamome transit system shut down following a powerful earthquake hit Japan on March 11, 2011. (Kyodo)
Handout photo shows the No. 3 reactor (C) of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station in Fukushima Prefecture on March 23, 2011. The upper part of the building housing the reactor was blown out by a hydrogen explosion. (Photo taken and supplied by the Ground Self-Defense Force)(Kyodo)
Handout photo from video taken by a compact unmanned helicopter shows the building housing the No. 1 reactor of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station in Fukushima Prefecture on April 10, 2011, nearly a month after the catastrophic quake and tsunami which devastated the power plant. A hydrogen explosion in March at the reactor blew off the roof and upper wall of the unit. (Photo courtesy of Tokyo Electric Power Co.)(Kyodo)
Handout photo from video taken by a compact unmanned helicopter shows the building housing the No. 4 reactor of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station in Fukushima Prefecture on April 10, 2011, nearly a month after the catastrophic quake and tsunami which devastated the power plant. The reactor was hit by an explosion and fire. (Photo courtesy of Tokyo Electric Power Co.)(Kyodo)
This handout photo shows the No. 1 reactor building of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station after an explosion following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Fukushima Prefecture on March 12, 2011. (Photo courtesy of Tokyo Electric Power Co.)(Kyodo)
Photo taken on Nov. 12, 2011 inside the premises of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Fukushima Prefecture, northeastern Japan, shows No. 4 reactor building. The government and the plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co., allowed reporters to enter the plant that day for the first time since it was badly damaged by a series of explosions just after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. (Kyodo)
Supplied photo shows the fourth floor of the building housing the No. 4 reactor of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Fukushima Prefecture on June 10, 2011. The building was hit by a hydrogen explosion. (Photo courtesy of Tokyo Electric Power Co.)(Kyodo)
Photo taken on Nov. 12, 2011 shows the No. 3 reactor building at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Fukushima Prefecture, northeastern Japan, which was damaged by an explosion after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. (Kyodo)
Photo taken from a Kyodo News helicopter shows the Nos. 1 (R) and 2 reactor buildings of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant crippled in the March 11, 2011, Great East Japan Earthquake, in Fukushima Prefecture, northeastern Japan, on Feb. 13, 2021. (Kyodo)
Streets are quiet in Namie in Fukushima Prefecture, northeastern Japan, on Feb. 13, 2021. The town near the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant remains deserted with access still restricted 10 years after the March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake that triggered the nuclear disaster at the plant. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
Photo taken Jan. 14, 2021, shows barricades installed in Tomioka in Fukushima Prefecture, northeastern Japan, near the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. The area seen behind the barricades remains restricted 10 years after the nuclear disaster triggered by the March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
Photo taken on March 13, 2011, shows a cargo ship swept onto the land by a tsunami in Kamaishi, Iwate Prefecture, northeastern Japan, two days after earthquake and tsunami disasters. (Kyodo)
Photo taken from a Kyodo News helicopter shows the letters ''SOS'' on an athletic field at Shizugawa High School, as people await rescue in tsunami-devastated Minamisanriku in Miyagi Prefecture on March 13, 2011, two days after Japan's strongest recorded earthquake. (Kyodo)
Members of the Self-Defense Forces rescue a family on a boat in an area inundated by a tsunami in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, on March 13, 2011, two days after Japan's strongest recorded earthquake hit the country. (Kyodo)
Japanese Emperor Akihito (L) and Empress Michiko bow during their visit to tsunami-hit Minamisanriku, Miyagi Prefecture, on April 27, 2011, about a month after a massive earthquake struck the country's northeastern region on March 11. (Kyodo)
Cameras washed away by tsunami waves following the March 2011 earthquake in northeastern Japan are seen at a local facility in Namie, Fukushima Prefecture, on Dec. 23, 2020. (Kyodo)
School bags washed away by tsunami waves following the March 2011 earthquake in northeastern Japan are seen at a local facility in Namie, Fukushima Prefecture, on Dec. 23, 2020. (Kyodo)
Members of the Japan Self-Defense Forces search for survivors and victims around a big ship moved by a tsunami in Higashimatsushima, Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan, on March 14, 2011. (Kyodo)
A woman walks through the rubble in Minamisanriku, Miyagi Prefecture on March 13, 2011, two days after Japan's strongest recorded earthquake hit the country. (Kyodo)
People walk through debris in Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture, northeastern Japan, on March 13, 2011, two days after a massive earthquake and tsunami destroyed the city. (Kyodo)
Photo taken from a helicopter on March 12, 2011 shows ships swept ashore by a tsunami in the city of Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, after Japan's strongest recorded earthquake with a magnitude of 9.0 hit the country the previous day. (Kyodo)
Monks pray in memory of the victims of the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake in Minamisanriku in Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan, on March 9, 2021, two days before the 10th anniversary of the disaster. (Kyodo)
Candles are lit on March 7, 2021, in Naraha in Fukushima Prefecture, a northeastern Japan town near the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, during a memorial event held for victims of the March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. (Kyodo)
Photo taken March 10, 2021, shows a monument in Iwanuma, Miyagi Prefecture, built in memory of the massive earthquake and tsunami in northeastern Japan in March 2011. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
The "Miracle Pine" monument pictured on March 9, 2021. (Kyodo)
