Japan on Wednesday commemorated the fourth anniversary of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami with prayers for the more than 18,000 people who died or who remain missing following the disaster, which devastated much of the Tohoku region.
The anniversary comes at a time when post-quake reconstruction in hard-hit Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures remains incomplete, with many evacuees still forced to live away from their hometowns amid decommissioning work at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant and decontamination work across Fukushima Prefecture.
A government-sponsored memorial service held in Tokyo was attended by Emperor Akihito and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, as well as representatives of people who lost family members. A moment of silence was observed at 2:46 p.m., the moment that the magnitude-9 quake struck four years ago.