Japan Earthquake: The Struggle to Recover
ALAN TAYLOR | MAR 16, 2011 | 37 PHOTOS | IN FOCUS
Nearly a week has passed since Japan suffered its worst crisis since World War II. More than 4,000 have been confirmed killed and more than 8,000 remain missing after the 9.0-magnitude earthquake struck the northeast coast of Japan six days ago. The hundreds of thousands now displaced by the quake, the ensuing tsunami -- and now, fears of radioactivity -- are scattered across the country, finding shelter and aid where they can, as they begin to rebuild their lives as survivors. Search-and-rescue teams from several countries have now joined Japanese forces, scouring the vast fields of rubble that were neighborhoods and towns just last week. Collected here are recent images of the ongoing recovery efforts and of Japanese citizens coping with this historic disaster.
A Japanese home drifts in the Pacific Ocean in this photograph taken on March 13, 2011 and released on March 14. Ships and aircrafts from the U.S. Navy's Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group are searching for survivors in the coastal waters near Sendai, Japan, in the wake of 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami that officials say claimed at least 10,000 lives. REUTERS/U.S. Navy/Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Dylan McCord
Medical staff use a Geiger counter to screen a photographer for possible radiation exposure at a public welfare center in Niigata, northern Japan March 16, 2011. Radiation has been released into the atmosphere at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant run by Tokyo Electric Power Co. on the country's northeast coast, which was badly damaged after a massive earthquake and tsunami on March 11. REUTERS/Yuriko Nakao
Tokyo Electric Co. employees in charge of public relations use a photo of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear complex to explain the situation during a press conference Wednesday, March 16, 2011 in Tokyo, Japan. The outer housing of the containment vessel at the No. 4 unit at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear complex erupted in flames early Wednesday, said a spokesman for the plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co. AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko
A member of a British search and rescue team looks out from the window of a damaged house surrounded by debris from the tsunami, as snow falls in Kamaishi, Japan, Wednesday, March 16, 2011. Two search and rescue teams from the U.S. and a team from the U.K. with combined numbers of around 220 personnel searched the town for survivors Wednesday to help in the aftermath of Friday's earthquake and tsunami. AP Photo/Matt Dunham