May 9, 2011
On March 11, the 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami struck northeastern Japan. As of today, nearly 15,000 deaths have been confirmed, and more than 10,000 remain listed as missing.
In some coastal communities, where the ground has sunk lower than the high tide mark, residents are still adjusting to twice-daily flooding. Many thousands still reside in temporary shelters because their homes were either destroyed or lie within the exclusion zone around the damaged Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant.
Yasuyoshi Chiba, Cherry blossoms cover a tree among tsunami wreckage in Natori city, Miyagi prefecture, Japan, on April 18, 2011
Japan has faded from the 24 news cycle. The clear-up that will last 3 years and cost billions has finally swung into gear. Fleets of bulldozers, dumper trucks, drills and cranes are clearing the wreckage with the focus of the clear-up being to remove the corpses of dead cities and towns. Residents are being allowed to salvage as many of their belongings as possible.
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