Fukushima disaster – Incredible pics show how Japan has risen from ashes of devastating tsunami and nuclear meltdown
INCREDIBLE images show how Japan has risen from the ashes of a devastating tsunami and nuclear meltdown.
A magnitude nine earthquake caused one of history's worst ever disasters on March 11, 2011.
The quake was the most powerful ever recorded in Japan and the fourth biggest in the world since 1900.
Terrifying 133ft waves smashed into the northeastern coast of the country, crashing into the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant.
More than 15,000 people died and nearly 230,000 were forced to flee for their lives during the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.
The waves travelled at up to 700km/h, reaching 10km inland.
The quake caused $360billion (£168billion) in damage, making it the most expensive disaster in world history.
Around 32.1 trillion yen (£212billion) has been spent by the Japanese government to rebuild the area ruined by the tsunami and three nuclear meltdowns.
Phenomenal pictures show the difference between the disaster zones when the tsunami first hit and how they look now, 10 years on.
A house was reduced to rubble and strewn across a street in Ofunato, and the same area now looks completely different after recovery efforts.
In Otsuchi, a catamaran boat spectacularly washed up on top of a two-storey house.
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Rebuilding efforts appear to still be going on a decade later, but the boat has been removed.
Another boat washed up on a street in Ishinomaki, and was left sitting in the centre of destroyed homes and other buildings.
Thick debris completely covering an area in Natori has now been completely transformed.
What was the Fukushima nuclear disaster?
The nuclear accident happened on March 11, 2011 at the Fukushima Dai-ichi site in northern Japan.
It is second worst nuclear accident in the history of nucelar power generation.
A tsunami that was triggered by an earthquake damaged the backup generators at the plant.
All three of reactors that were operating were successfully shutdown, but the loss of power caused the cooling systems to fail with in the first few days afterwards.
The government was forced to declare an 20-km evacation zone and nearly 230,000 residents had to flee.
