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A general view of Kamaishi, Iwate Prefecture, Japan on March 24, 2011 (before), and on September 10, 2011.
A destroyed shop in Otsuchi on March 15, 2011 (before) and on August 13, 2011, following the earthquake and tsunami that struck the area on March 11, 2011.
Soma city residents release lantern balloons during the "Tento" event to pray for victims of the March 11 tsunami in the city of Soma, Fukushima prefecture, on September 10, 2011.
People attend a memorial service for victims of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Minamisanriku town, Miyagi prefecture September 11, 2011. The banner reads: "Great East Japan Earthquake victims - Minamisanriku town Memorial Service."
A volunteer lights a candle by a damaged replica of the Statue of Liberty during an event to pay tribute to victims of both the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the March 11 earthquake in Ishinomaki, northeastern Japan, on September 11, 2011.
A devastated area is seen prior to the sixth month anniversary of the March 11 earthquake and massive tsunami on September 10, 2011 in Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan.
Katsuju Okata holds up a picture of his restaurant taken before it was destroyed by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, as he stands in front of what remains of the structure, in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, on September 11, 2011.
Cars crushed by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami are collected in a lot in Rikuzentakata, Iwate prefecture, on September 7, 2011.
A worker walks past the grounded cargo ship Asia Symphony, which was pushed onto the harbor wall in Kamaishi port by the tsunami of March 11, in Kamaishi, on August 24, 2011. Efforts to remove the Panama registered 4,724-ton freighter will be finished this October when it is returned to the sea by a marine crane, following repairs.
Buildings destroyed by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Rikuzentakata, Iwate prefecture, seen on September 7, 2011.
Divers of Japan Coast Guard continue the search for remains of victims at sea in an area that was devastated by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Kamaishi, Iwate prefecture, on September 9, 2011.
A crow flies over a pile of tsunami debris in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, on September 11, 2011.
An aerial view of houses damaged by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Onagawa town, Miyagi prefecture, on September 7, 2011.
Students wear masks at an elementary school outside of the 20-km (12 mi) radius zone from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Minami Soma, Fukushima Prefecture, on September 8, 2011. A line dividing the no-go zone around the Fukushima nuclear plant and the area deemed safe from radiation cuts right across this coastal city but the "good" part is starting to look very much like the ghost town on the other side. Six months after a magnitude 9.0 earthquake unleashed a deadly tsunami that triggered meltdowns and radiation leaks at the Tokyo Electric Power's complex, Minami Soma, a city just a half an hour's drive away, struggles to stay alive.
In this photo taken Friday, Aug. 19, 2011, Naoto Matsumura calls on cows in Tomioka town, Fukushima, northeastern Japan. Later, Matsumura, who routinely drives around the town to feed wandering animals, said he forgot to bring food for them. Nearly six months after Japan's catastrophic earthquake and tsunami, the 53-year-old believes he is the only inhabitant left in this town sandwiched between the doomed Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power station to the north and another sprawling nuclear plant to the south.
A child rides a tricycle at a temporary housing center for tsunami survivors in Rikuzentakata, in northeast Japan, on September 6, 2011. Almost six months after the tsunami all survivors have been moved out of shelters and into temporary housing.
An aerial view of Onagawa town that was devastated by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, in Miyagi prefecture, on September 7, 2011.
A man cycles on the tsunami-damaged main street in Rikuzentakata, Iwate prefecture, on September 9, 2011.
Kanako Abe, living in Tokyo, prays for victims of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami at a devastated area in Otsuchicho, north of Japan August 13, 2011, during Japan's annual Buddhist ceremony Obon that welcomes back the spirits of the dead. Abe returned to her hometown for the ceremony. In Otsuchicho, more 1,400 are either dead or missing due to the March natural disaster.
A truck drives past an devastated area prior to the sixth month anniversary of the March 11 earthquake and massive tsunami on September 10, 2011 in Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan.
A Buddhist monk pays respect to the victims of March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami in front of the ruined disaster control center of Minamisanriku town, Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan, on September 11, 2011. The facility destroyed by the tsunami became a place to remember the disaster after its 20 staff members, including a young woman who had been urging residents to flee from the tsunami through a public-address system until the last moment, were washed away and killed.
Piles of cars destroyed by the March 11th earthquake and tsunami in a devastated area in Rikuzentakata, Japan, on August 14, 2011.
Wakana Kumagai, age 6, smiles as she looks at a camera in front of a portrait and an urn containing ashes of her father Kazuyuki, who was killed by the March 11 tsunami, in Higashi-Matsushima, Miyagi prefecture on September 11, 2011. Kazuyuki had called his wife Yoshiko just after the March 11 earthquake to tell her to take their children to Omagari elementary school which was serving as a shelter. He was found near the shelter four days after the tsunami, Yoshiko said.