It all started with an earthquake. At 2:46pm, the ground underneath Japan’s Tohoku residents convulsed for 3 minutes. The 9.0-magnitude earthquake, the strongest on record in Japan, triggered a tsunami that measured as high as 30 meters in some areas. That’s a 9-story building. Waves rippled inland, swallowing homes, schools, people in its wake. The natural disasters killed more than 18,000 people and triggered the meltdown of nearby nuclear power plants. The triple disaster forced more than 160,000 to evacuate. 10 years later, a quarter of residents still can’t return home.
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These photos compare how much wreckage Japan’s Tohoku region endured. A decade on, residents are still recovering.
Minamisōma, Fukushima Prefecture
Kensennuma, Miyagi Prefecture
Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture
Natori, Miyagi Prefecture
Namie, Fukushima Prefecture
Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture
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