Japan Tsunami: 20 Unforgettable Pictures 15 Mar

Photograph by David Guttenfelder, AP

Leaving Home

 In 1 of 20 unforgettable pictures of Japan's tsunami aftermath chosen by National Geographic photo editors, rescue team members carry the body of a man through splintered remains of the village of Saito on Monday.  

 The town is just one of many nearly erased from Japan's northeastern coast, where water, electricity, and telecommunications are largely unavailable.

 As of Monday an estimated 350,000 people are reportedly homeless in the wake of Friday's magnitude 8.9 earthquake—Japan's biggest on record. According to the police chief of hard-hit Miyagi Prefecture, at least 10,000 are dead, the Washington Post reported.

 Meanwhile, Tuesday morning (local time) brought fresh cause for concern from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, where emergency efforts to use seawater to cool one of three malfunctioning nuclear reactors failed temporarily, the New York Times reported. As water levels dipped, fuel rods were likely exposed to air, increasing the chances of melting—and of a catastrophic meltdown.

 Add to this the threat of further earthquakes—the U.S. Geological Survey registered nearly a hundred aftershocks on Sunday alone—and, for now, there seems to be little light at the end of what Prime Minister Naoto Kan has called Japan's "worst crisis since World War II."

Photograph by Damir Sagolj, Reuters

Path Through Destruction

 A survivor walks his bicycle through the remains of the devastated Japanese town of Otsuchi on March 14.

Photograph by Yomiuri Shimbun, AFP/Getty Images

Tsunami-Tossed Boat

 A tsunami-tossed boat rests on top of a building amid a sea of debris in Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, on March 14.

Photograph by Yuriko Nakao, Reuters

Communication Barrier

 A mother tries to talk to her daughter, who has been isolated due to signs of radiation at a makeshift facility in Nihonmatsu, Japan, on March 14. The daughter is among people evacuated from the vicinity of Fukushima's damaged nuclear plants.

Photograph by Mainichi Shimbun, Reuters

Wave of Destruction

 A tsunami wave crashes over a street in Miyako City, Iwate Prefecture, in northeastern Japan on March 11.

Photograph by Kimimasa Mayama, EPA

Tearful Reunion

 Tsunami survivors embrace to celebrate being alive in the destroyed city of Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, on March 11.

Photograph courtesy Japanese Defense Forces via Jiji Press/AFP/Getty

Miracle of Minamisoma

 On March 13 rescue workers approach Hiromitsu Shinkawa, a 60-year-old man from Japan's Minamisoma City who washed out to sea during the recent tsunami and spent days clinging to a piece of roofing.

Photograph by Kasahara Katsumi/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images

Sendai Sunrise

 People search through debris at the Sendai airport on March 14, days after an earthquake-triggered tsunami left the Japanese city in ruins.

Photograph by Damir Sagolj, Reuters

Cocooned Against the Cold

 Swaddled in blankets, evacuated tsunami survivors try to keep warm in a Japanese Red Cross hospital on March 13.

Photograph by Franck Robichon, EPA

Broken Road

 A lone vehicle passes a train overpass mangled by the recent earthquake in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, on March 12.

Photograph by Lee Jae-Won, Reuters

Survivor List

 A survivor of the recent Japan earthquake reads a list of other survivors in a shelter in Iwate Prefecture on March 13.

Photograph by Aly Song, Reuters

Protective Powder

 An emergency worker throws disinfectant powder on the ground around earthquake-damaged buildings in Iwate Prefecture, Japan, on March 14.

Photograph by Alex Hofford, EPA

Memories Amid the Rubble

 Coated with mud, a photo album lies amid debris in the earthquake-ravaged town of Natori, Japan, on March 14.

Photograph by David Guttenfelder, EPA

Muddy Wasteland

 A rescue worker surveys the devastation on March 14 in the Japanese village of Saito, which was leveled by the earthquake-triggered tsunami.

Photograph from Asahi Shimbun, Reuters

Survivor's Sorrow

 A woman mourns the devastation of Natori, Miyagi Prefecture, in northern Japan on March 13.

Photograph by Kimimasa Mayama, EPA

Power Plant Ablaze

 Flames and smoke billow from a petroleum-refining plant damaged by the Japan earthquake in Shiogama, Miyagi Prefecture, on March 13.

Photograph by Kazuhiro Nogi, AFP/Getty Images

Wrecked Cars

 A boy walks past vehicles damaged by the Japan earthquake and tsunami in Tagajo, Miyagi Prefecture, on March 13.

Photograph from Kyodo/Reuters

Houses Destroyed

 Rescue workers search for Japan earthquake victims amid shattered houses in Tamura, Iwate Prefecture, on March 14.

Photograph by Gregory Bull, AP

Japan Earthquake Victim

 The hand of a man killed by the Japan earthquake juts out of jumbled concrete sea barriers on March 14 in Toyoma, Japan.

Photograph from Jiji Press/AFP/Getty Images

Search for Survivors

 Japanese troops search for earthquake survivors in Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, on March 13.

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