One Month Later: Japan Still Recovering From Massive National Disaster

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1||April 8, 2011: One month ago, a massive 9.0 magnitude earthquake struck Japan, toppling buildings and unleashing a tsunami that caused widespread damage and claimed thousands of lives.

Shown here, students wearing face masks walk past the rubble of a ruined building in Onagawa, Miyagi Prefecture. ||Kyodo/Newscom&&

2||The 9.0 magnitude earthquake was the largest to hit Japan in recorded history.

The Joban Expressway near Naka, Ibaraki Prefecture, pictured shortly after the earthquake. ||n39/ZUMA Press/Newscom&&

3||Members of the Self-Defense forces searched for the bodies of missing people on April 8 in Miyagi Prefecture. ||Kyodo/Newscom&&

4||Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan said that it was Japan’s worst crisis since World War II. ||Kyodo/Newscom&&

5||Workers are still struggling to stave off a disaster at the quake-crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power reactor. The plant’s cooling system was knocked offline by the quake, forcing workers to scramble to prevent a potentially catastrophic meltdown. ||UPI/Newscom
&&

6||A first grader wears a face mask during a reception at a school in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, near the site of the damaged nuclear plant. ||Kyodo/Newscom&&

7||Members of the Self Defense Forces temporarily buried bodies in Higashimatsushima, Miyagi, Japan. ||jn1/ZUMA Press/Newscom&&

8||Over 10,000 people have been confirmed killed in the disaster. ||jn1/ZUMA Press/Newscom&&

9||The tsunami washed ships ashore, including here in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture. ||jn1/ZUMA Press/Newscom&&

10||Some 16,000 people are still reported missing in Japan. ||jn1/ZUMA Press/Newscom&&

11||Debris lies stacked inside of a home in Sendai. || Quirky China News/Splash/Newscom&&

12||Sendai was one of the hardest hit areas, with the tsunami nearly flattening some neighborhoods. ||Quirky China News/Splash/Newscom&&

13||A crushed car stands propped against a building in Sendai. ||Quirky China News/Splash/Newscom&&

14||The force of the tsunami waves washed cars into a heap in Fukushima Prefecture.||jn1/ZUMA Press/Newscom&&

15||||Quirky China News/Splash/Newscom&&

16||Japanese forces search for bodies in a flooded gutter filled with debris in the town of Shichigahama, Miyagi Prefecture. ||Kyodo/Newscom&&

17||||Quirky China News/Splash/Newscom&&

18||A man stands beside a toppled building in Onagawa, Miyagi Prefecture. ||Kyodo/Newscom&&

19||||jn1/ZUMA Press/Newscom&&

20||A few homes stand among the rubble of neighboring houses in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture ||n1/ZUMA Press/Newscom&&

21||A woman mourns at the funeral of a relative in Kesennuma Miyagi Prefecture. ||imago stock&people/Newscom&&

22||A member of Japan’s Self-Defense Forces raking debris from a clogged gutter to aid in the search for missing bodies. ||Kyodo/Newscom&&

23||The Japanese Coast Guard rescue a dog found found floating on a roof off the coast of Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, on April 1. ||Kyodo/Newscom&&

24||A family inspecting the remains of their home in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture. ||jn1/ZUMA Press/Newscom&&

25||Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan inspecting a disaster area in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture on April 2. || jn1/ZUMA Press/Newscom&&

26||A man walking among the remains of destroyed homes in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. ||jn1/ZUMA Press/Newscom&&

27||The earthquake split apart a road in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. ||jn1/ZUMA Press/Newscom&&

28||People dig through debris looking for their belongings in Watari, Miyagi Prefecture on April 7, nearly a full month after the disaster struck. ||Kyodo/Newscom&&

29||A fishing boat washed ashore by the tsunami was lowered b a crane back into the water in Watari, Miyagi Prefecture, on April 7. ||Kyodo/Newscom&&

30||A man rides a bicycle on a road in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture that was still flooded almost a month after the tsunami. ||Kyodo/Newscom&&

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