Japan is preparing to mark the sixth anniversary of the massive earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster that devastated swathes of the country.
At 2.46pm on 11 March 2011, Japan was struck by an earthquake with a magnitude of 9.0 – the biggest in the nation's recorded history and one of the five most powerful recorded ever around the world. The epicentre was located about 70km east of Tohoku in Miyagi prefecture, north-eastern Japan. The six-minute-long tremor and its thousands of aftershocks shook buildings across much of northern Japan and the nation's capital.
11 March 2011: Gas storage tanks explode after the earthquake hit the Cosmo oil refinery in Ichihara city, Chiba PrefectureAsahi/Reuters11 March 2011: Buildings burn following an earthquake in Yamada, Iwate prefectureYomiuri Shimbun/Reuters
The energy released by the earthquake produced a huge tsunami. Within an hour of the earthquake, towns lining the shore were flattened by the massive waves. Waves towering four-to-five-metres-high crashed through homes and fields, and engulfed fleeing vehicles. In Iwate prefecture's Miyako city, the tsunami reached as high as 40 metres.
The tsunami killed more than 15,000 people. More than 65% of casualties were elderly men and women who were not able to run to higher ground or swim to safety.
11 March 2011: A huge whirlpool is seen in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Oarai, Ibaraki prefectureKyodo/Reuters11 March 2011: A powerful wave crashes onto a street in Miyako in Iwate prefecture, sweeping all before itMainichi Shimbun/Reuters11 March 2011: Enormous tsunami waves hit the coast of Minamisoma in Fukushima prefectureJiji Press/AFP11 March 2011: The sea sweeps far inland in coastal areas of Iwanuma, Miyagi PrefectureKyodo/Reuters11 March 2011: Toya Chiba, a reporter for local newspaper Iwate Tokai Shimbun, is swept away by the tsunami as he was reporting at Kamaishi port, Iwate prefecture. Chiba managed to survive by grabbing a dangling rope and climbing onto a coal heapKamaishi Port Office via Kyodo/Reuters11 March 2011: Huge waves sweep ashore and flood Sendai AirportKyodo/Reuters11 March 2011: Fishing boats and vehicles are swept away by a tsunami wave at Onahama port in Iwaki city, Fukushima prefectureJiji Press/AFP11 March 2011: Houses that caught alight during the earthquake are swept out to sea by the tsunami in Natori, Fukushima prefectureKyodo/Reuters11 March 2011: Cars and aeroplanes are jumbled up among debris at Sendai AirportKyodo/Reuters12 March 2011: Total devastation is seen in an area of Kesennuma, Miyagi prefecture, the day after the earthquake and tsunamiJiji Press/AFP12 March 2011: People paddling a floating container in Miyagi prefecture are rescuedKyodo/Reuters12 March 2011: A soldier carries an elderly man on his back to a shelter in Natori, Miyagi prefectureYomiuri Shimbun/Reuters12 March 2011: A picture taken from a Japan Ground Self-Defense Force helicopter shows the town of Minamisanriku in Miyagi prefecture, thea day after it was flattened by a massive tsunamiKyodo/Reuters12 March 2011: A huge ship is washed up onto shore next to damaged homes in the city of Kamaishi in Iwate prefectureYomiuri Shimbun/AFP12 March 2011: A man looks out over an area devastated by the earthquake and resulting tsunami in SendaiKyodo/Reuters12 March 2011: A derailed train and a car are seen at a devastated station in Shinchi, Fukushima prefectureKyodo/Reuters12 March 2011: People paddle small boats down a road flooded by the tsunami waves in the city of Ishinomaki in Miyagi prefectureJiji Press/AFP12 March 2011: People waiting to be rescued spell out the letteres 'SOS' on top of a building in Kesennuma, Miyagi prefectureYomiuri Shimbun/AFP12 March 2011: Smokes rises from the badly damaged town of Yamada in Iwate prefectureYomiuri Shimbun/AFP13 March 2011: A plane and vehicles lie among the rubble outside Sendai Airport, Miyagi prefectureMike Clarke/AFP13 March 2011: A woman cries while sitting on a road amid the destroyed city of Natori, Miyagi prefectureAsahi Shimbun/Reuters
13 March 2011: A victim's hand sticks out from the rubble in RikuzentakataToru Hanai/Reuters
13 March 2011: A woman wrapped in a blanket surveys the damage caused by the earthquake and tsunami in Ishimaki, Miyagi prefectureYomiuri Shimbun/Reuters13 March 2011: One building rests on another in Minamisanriku, Miyagi PrefectureKyodo/Reuters13 March 2011: Debris covers a large area in Natori, Miyagi prefectureMike Clarke/AFP13 March 2011: A house is seen adrift in the Pacific Ocean off SendaiUS Navy/Reuters13 March 2011: The roof of a building is seen buried amid the rubble in Rikuzentakata, Iwate prefectureLee Jae-won/Reuters13 March 2011: A woman walks towards an overturned squid fishing boat that was tossed onto land by a tsunami in Hachinohe, Aomori prefectureKyodo/Reuters13 March 2011: Train cars that were swept away by a tsunami wave are seen in an aerial view of Onagawa, Miyagi prefectureKyodo/Reuters13 March 2011: An aerial view of people waiting for water at a school in Sendai, Miyagi prefectureKyodo/Reuters13 March 2011: Sixty-year-old survivor Hiromitsu Shinkawa is rescued by members of the Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force about 15km off Fukushima prefecture. He was spotted clinging to the roof of his house two days after the tsunami swept him out to seaJapan Maritime Self-Defence Force/Reuters
The tsunami also led to a nuclear disaster when the Fukushima Daiichi power plant was inundated by waves, causing a cooling system failure, followed by a nuclear reactor meltdown and the release of radioactive materials. Tens of thousands of people were forced to evacuate an area 20km radius around the reactor. The plant's owners, Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) said 45 metric tons of radioactive water were released into the ocean.
Six years on, the operator continues the struggle of decommissioning the crippled reactors, which is likely to take decades and cost tens of billions of pounds.
13 March 2011: Damaged reactors are seen after an explosion at Tokyo Electric Power Co's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear PlantKyodo/Reuters14 March 2011: A girl who was isolated at a makeshift facility to screen, cleanse and isolate people with high radiation levels, looks at her dog through a window in Nihonmatsu, Fukushima provinceYuriko Nakao/Reuters20 March 2011: An aerial view of damaged reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power StationAir Photo Service/Reuters
At the latest count, 15,894 people were killed by the earthquake and tsunami, and 2,562 are still not accounted for across 12 prefectures.
14 March 2011: A survivor pushes his bicycle through the remains of the devastated town of Otsuchi in Iwate prefectureDamir Sagolj/Reuters14 March 2011: Boats that were washed ashore by the huge waves are seen in what remains of a residential area near Sendai in Miyagi prefectureNoboru Hashimoto/AFP14 March 2011: Destroyed houses and boats lie in a mass of splintered wood in Yamada, Iwate prefectureKyodo/Reuters14 March 2011: A patient's dead body lies in the hallways of a hospital in MinamisanrikuAdrees Latif/Reuters14 March 2011: A house drifts in the ocean east of SendaiUS Air Force/Reuters14 March 2011: Members of the Japanese Self Defence Air Force check a Mitsubishi F-2 fighter after it was pushed by the tsunami into a building, at the Matsushima Air Base at Higashimatsushima city in Miyagi prefectureJiji Press/AFP14 March 2011: Oil leaks from boats that were capsized by the tsunami in Fudai Village, Iwate PrefectureYomiuri Shimbun/Reuters14 March 2011: A man walks past the destroyed local government building in Tanohata, Iwate PrefectureKyodo/Reuters14 March 2011: A Japan Self-Defence Forces officer smiles as he holds a four-month-old baby girl who was rescued along with her family members from their home in Ishimaki City, Miyagi prefectureYomiuri Shimbun/Reuters
15 March 2011: Members of Japan's Self Defence Force walk past the covered body of a woman in Rikuzentakata, Iwate prefecture
15 March 2011: Rescue workers search through twisted wreckage in the fishing town of Otsuchi, Iwate prefectureAly Song/Reuters15 March 2011: South Korean rescue workers walk past a car on the rooftop of a house in SendaiJo Yong-hak/Reuters16 March 2011: Heavy snow falls as rescue workers search a devastated factory area in SendaiKim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters16 March 2011: Rescue workers search for bodies and survivors in the rubble in Kesennuma, Miyagi provincePaula Bronstein /Getty Images
16 March 2011: A woman cries as she holds the hand of her dead mother who was buried in the mud in Rikuzentakata City, Iwate PrefectureKyodo/Reuters
17 March 2011: A man cycles through an area hit by earthquake and tsunami in KesennumaKim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters17 March 2011: Covered bodies lie on the street after being recovered from the rubble of destroyed houses in Rikuzentakata, Iwate prefectureKazuhiro Nogi/Reuters17 March 2011: A man cries next to his destroyed house where his dead mother was still buried in the rubble in Onagawa town, Miyagi PrefectureYomiuri Shimbun/Reuters18 March 2011: Toyoki Sugawara looks out from his destroyed liquor shop in Kesennuma as he collects items he can salvagePaula Bronstein /Getty Images20 March 2011: A ship crushes a house in the port town of Higashimatsushima, Miyagi prefectureMike Clarke/AFP22 March 2011: A car is seen on top of a building in Minamisanriku town, Miyagi prefectureCarlos Barria/Reuters22 March 2011: A man walks his dog along a path cleared through rubble in a destroyed residential area of Kesennuma, Miyagi PrefectureIssei Kato/Reuters26 March 2011: A wrecked train carriage lies over a cemetery in Onagawa, Miyagi prefectureYasuyoshi Chiba/AFP26 April 2011: People look at a boat that was swept onto the roof of a tourist hotel in Otsuchi, Iwate PrefectureToru Yamanaka/AFP
According to the World Bank, the economic cost of the disaster tallied up to $235 billion (£192bn), making it the most expensive disaster in world history. Japan's then-prime minister, Naoto Kan, called the 11 March 2011 disaster the toughest crisis to hit Japan since the end of World War Two.
