In Pictures: Japan remembers victims of 2011 earthquake and tsunami

The disaster claimed the lives of over 18,000 people and triggered a nuclear disaster in Fukushima.

Updated

Published

Mar 11, 2021, 03:10 PM

People release dove-shape balloons into the sky to mourn earthquake and tsunami victims in Natori, Miyagi prefecture, on March 11, 2021, the 10th anniversary of the 9.0 magnitude earthquake which triggered a tsunami and nuclear disaster that has killed over 18,000 people. PHOTO: AFP

People observe a minute's silence across the country at 2.46pm local time, in front of the sea in Hisanohama, Fukushima prefecture on March 11, 2021, the exact time marking the 10th anniversary of the 9.0 magnitude earthquake which triggered a tsunami and nuclear disaster. PHOTO: AFP

Mariko Odawara prays to mourn the victims of the earthquake and tsunami that killed thousands and triggered the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl, during its 10th anniversary, in Iwaki, Fukushima prefecture, Japan, on March 11, 2021. PHOTO: REUTERS

A man offers prayers in front of the cenotaph of the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami victims near the shores of Arahama district in Sendai, Miyagi prefecture, at sunrise on March 11, 2021, the 10th anniversary of the 9.0-magnitude earthquake which triggered a tsunami and nuclear disaster which killed over 18,000 people. PHOTO: AFP

Local residents watch the sunrise in Sendai, Miyagi prefecture on March 11, 2021, the 10th anniversary of the 9.0 magnitude earthquake that hit Japan.
PHOTO: JIJI PRESS VIA AFP

People observe a moment of silence at 2:46 p.m, the time when the 9.0-magnitude earthquake struck off Japan's coast in 2011, during a memorial service at Hibiya Park in Tokyo, Japan, March 11, 2021, to mark the ten-year anniversary of the earthquake and tsunami that killed thousands and set off a nuclear crisis. PHOTO: REUTERS

Firefighters look for the remains of people who went missing after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that killed thousands and triggered the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl, during its 10th anniversary, in Namie, Fukushima prefecture, Japan. on March 11, 2021. PHOTO: REUTERS

Members of the Tomioka town fire brigade conduct operations to search for clues on people missing since the 2011 disasters, on the shores near the Fukushima Daini Nuclear Power Plant in Tomioka, Fukushima prefectue on March 11, 2021, the 10th anniversary of the 9.0-magnitude earthquake which triggered a tsunami and nuclear disaster which killed over 18,000 people. PHOTO: AFP

A photo issued on March 10, 2021, shows Ayaka Sasaki (L), 20-year-old tsunami survivor, and mother Kaori praying as brother Sotaro and grandmother Chiyoko adjust cape and mask of a Jizo, or popular Buddhist bodhisattva, set up by her grandfather near her old house and school in Ishinomaki, Japan, Feb 20, 2021. PHOTO: EPA-EFE

Staff members light paper lanterns for the victims of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake in Tokyo, Japan, March 10, 2021, on the eve of the 10th anniversary of the devastating earthquake and tsunami. PHOTO: EPA-EFE

This file picture taken by a Miyako City official on March 11, 2011 and released on March 18, 2011 via Jiji Press shows a tsunami breeching an embankment and flowing into the city of Miyako in Iwate prefecture, in the wake of the 9.0-magnitude quake.
PHOTO: JIJI PRESS VIA AFP

This file picture taken on March 14, 2011 shows residents carrying belongings from tsunami devastated homes in Natori, Miyagi prefecture, in the wake of the 9.0-magnitude quake and tsunami which hit the region on March 11. PHOTO: AFP

This file picture taken on March 12, 2011 shows people evacuating with small boats down a road flooded by the tsunami waves in the city of Ishinomaki in Miyagi prefecture, in the wake of the 9.0-magnitude quake and tsunami which hit the region on March 11.
PHOTO: JIJI PRESS VIA AFP

This file picture taken on March 11, 2011 by Sadatsugu Tomizawa and released via Jiji Press on March 21, 2011 shows tsunami waves hitting the coast of Minamisoma in Fukushima prefecture, in the wake of the 9.0-magnitude quake.
PHOTO: JIJI PRESS VIA AFP

This file aerial view picture taken on March 14, 2011 during an AFP-chartered flight shows an area destroyed by the tsunami in Minamisanriku, in Miyagi prefecture, in the wake of the 9.0-magnitude quake and tsunami which hit the region on March 11. PHOTO: AFP

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