Fukushima: 10th anniversary of the catastrophe

Japan this month marks 10 years since the worst natural disaster in the country's living memory – the massive earthquake, deadly tsunami and nuclear meltdown of March 11, 2011.

A man sitting on the debris looks out over the destroyed city of Rikuzentakata in Rikuzentakata, Miyagi, Japan, March 17, 2011.

Fires burn in the port area of the city of Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture following an earthquake in northeastern Japan, March 11, 2011.

This combination of images taken on March 11, 2011, shows before (top) and during (bottom) as the tsunami hits the first rector building of TEPCO's No. 2 (Dai-Ni) Fukushima nuclear power plant in the town of Okuma in Fukushima prefecture, Japan.

Buddhist monks pray for the victims of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami at a beach in Iwaki, Japan, March 11, 2021.

A member of the Japan Self-Defence Forces carries a man in the city of Natori, in Miyagi prefecture, Japan, March 12, 2011.

Whirlpools are seen following a tsunami and earthquake in Iwaki city, Fukushima prefecture, Japan, March 11, 2011.

This combination of satellite images shows the Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings (TEPCO) Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant (top) at Okuma, Fukushima prefecture on Nov. 15, 2009, over one year before an earthquake and tsunami hit the area causing a nuclear disaster; and then the same view with smoke coming up from a reactor (C) on March 14, 2011, three days after the disaster; and then the same view (bottom) on Feb. 28, 2021, nearly 10 years later.

Houses are swept by water following a tsunami and earthquake in Natori City in northeastern Japan, March 11, 2011.

People evacuated from a nursing home located in an evacuation area around the Fukushima Daini Nuclear Power Plant rest at a temporary shelter in Koriyama, Japan, March 13, 2011.

A woman looks at the damage caused by a tsunami and an earthquake after a magnitude 8.9 earthquake struck the area, in the city of Ishinomaki, Miyagi prefecture, Japan, March 13, 2011.

A picture taken from the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force helicopter shows the central part of the town of Minamisanriku, Miyagi prefecture, Japan, on March 12, 2011, a day after it was flattened by massive tsunami following Japan's strongest recorded earthquake, with a magnitude of 8.9.

Officials in protective gear check for signs of radiation on children who are from the evacuation area near the Fukushima Daini Nuclear Power Plant in Koriyama, Japan, March 13, 2011.

A girl who has been isolated at a makeshift facility to screen, cleanse and isolate people with high radiation levels looks at her dog through a window in Nihonmatsu, northern Japan, March 14, 2011.

Survivors react after collecting their belongings at their destroyed house in a village hit by an earthquake and tsunami in Otsuchi, northeast Japan, March 17, 2011.

People wait in a long line to receive aid in a destroyed part of the town of Yamada more than two weeks after the area was devastated by the earthquake and the tsunami, Iwate prefecture in northern Japan, March 26, 2011.

An elderly woman is screened at an evacuee center for leaked radiation from the damaged Fukushima nuclear facilities, in Fukushima, Japan, March 22, 2011.

A man walks next to port area destroyed by the earthquake and tsunami in the town of Kessenuma, in Miyagi prefecture, Japan, March 28, 2011.

A man stands in front of the fully burned Kadonowaki elementary school after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Ishinomaki, northern Japan, April 7, 2011.

A volunteer cleans a family photo that was washed away by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami as baby photos are set out to dry at a volunteer center in Ofunato, Iwate prefecture, Japan, April 12, 2011.

An earthquake and tsunami devastated area is seen in Kesennuma, Japan, March 22, 2011.

Elderly women rest at an evacuee center after radiation leaked from the damaged Fukushima nuclear facilities, in Fukushima prefecture, Japan, March 21, 2011.

Emergency workers search through debris near the seaside in Rikuzentakata, Iwate prefecture, Japan, March 19, 2011.

Residents of Hisanohama change Gohei leave a paper offering to a god as part of the Shinto ritual, on a torii gate in front of a memorial monument for the victims of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami at Akiba shrine ahead of the disaster's 10-year anniversary in Iwaki, Japan, March 10, 2021.

Hundreds of vehicles line the highway in hopes of filling their gas tanks as massive shortages continue following fears of leaked radiation from the damaged Fukushima nuclear facilities, in Fukushima, Japan, March 20, 2011.

An earthquake and tsunami devastated area is seen in Kesennuma, Japan, March 22, 2011.

A local resident pays his respect to his parents at a cemetery on the 10th anniversary of the 9.0 magnitude earthquake in Namie, Fukushima prefecture, Japan, March 11, 2021.

Rubble remains a year after the tsunami in the abandoned town, within the 20km exclusion zone around Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Namie, Fukushima, ,Feb. 27, 2012.

An aerial view of Kesennuma after the earthquake and tsunami hit the area March 22, 2011.

Toyoki Sugawara looks out from his destroyed liquor shop where he is collecting the items he can salvage in Kesennuma, Miyagi, March 18, 2011.

Japanese military clear roads to bring in more cranes and bulldozers in Ofunato, Iwate, March 20, 2011.

A man prays in front of the sea in Hisanohama, Fukushima prefecture, March 11, 2021.

An empty shopping street is seen in Tomioka town, inside the exclusion zone of a 20km radius around the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, Fukushima prefecture, Jan. 15, 2012.

Cluttered desks are left abandoned in the city hall offices of the town of Namie, inside the 20-kilometer exclusion zone around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, northeastern Japan, July 8, 2011.

The rising sun and 'Miracle Pine', a tree which is said to symbolize hope and recovery after it survived the 2011 tsunami, are seen next to a seawall in Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture, northern Japan, Feb. 27, 2021.

A stray dog looks back at the ruins of a tsunami-destroyed neighborhood in the Odaka area of Minamisoma, inside the deserted evacuation zone established for the 20 kilometer radius around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactors, April 8, 2011.

This combination picture shows the tsunami (top L) as the tidal waves initially hit a section of TEPCO's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant (top R), and then flood the area (bottom L) and the begin to recede (bottom R), in the town of Okuma in Fukushima prefecture following the 9.0 magnitude earthquake which hit off the Japanese coast.

Mika Sato, 46, who lost her daughter Airi in the March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami, touches the characters spelling "Airi" that are carved on a memorial monument built for Sato's daughter and her kindergarten classmates in Ishinomaki, Miyagi prefecture, March 1, 2021.

Kunio Shiga walks near his home in Minami Soma, Fukushima prefecture, northeastern Japan, Friday, April 8, 2011. The 75-year-old man was stranded alone in his farmhouse ever since Japan's monstrous tsunami struck the previous month.

An abandoned Volkswagen Beetle inside the exclusion zone in Okuma, Fukushima Prefecture, Feb. 27, 2021 - an area declared a no-go zone after the 2011 nuclear disaster.

A collapsed building at a Buddhist temple lies in Futaba town, Fukushima prefecture, northeastern Japan, Feb. 28, 2021.