Mar 11, 2015

Small clusters of survivors, bundled up against a chilly wind, gathered along Japan’s northeast coast Wednesday to remember the nearly 19,000 lives lost in the March 11, 2011, tsunami and subsequent nuclear disaster. Four years later, the region is still struggling to recover.

: A house damaged by the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami, remains in Tomioka, Fukushima prefecture, northern Japan Wednesday, March 11, 2015. Japan marked the fourth anniversary on Wednesday of the devastating disasters that left nearly 19,000 people dead or missing. (AP Photo/Kyodo News)

: People keep warm by fires next to the numbers 311 lit by paper lanterns during a memorial service for tsunami victims at the Yuriage Junior High School on March 11, 2015 in Natori, Japan. On March 11 Japan commemorates the fourth anniversary of the magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami that claimed more than 18,000 lives, and subsequent nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

: People take photographs from a stairwell of the numbers 311 lit by paper lanterns during a memorial service for tsunami victims at the Yuriage Junior High School on March 11, 2015 in Natori, Japan. On March 11 Japan commemorates the fourth anniversary of the magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami that claimed more than 18,000 lives, and subsequent nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

: People offer prayers at the memorial site of the Minamisanriku Disaster Emergency Center on March 11, 2015 in Minamisanriku, Japan. On March 11 Japan commemorates the fourth anniversary of the magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami that claimed more than 18,000 lives, and subsequent nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

: Police officers observe a moments silence for victims of the 2011 quake-tsunami disaster during a memorial ceremony at Namie, near TEPCO’s Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant in Fukushima prefecture on March 11, 2015. Japan marked the fourth anniversary on March 11 of the quake-tsunami disaster that swept away thousands of people and sparked a nuclear crisis, a tragedy that has left visible scars on the landscape and continues to wreak misery for many. (AFP Photo/Yoshikazu Tsuno)

: Police officers search for the remains of missing people at Namie, near the striken TEPCO’s Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant in Fukushima prefecture on March 11, 2015 on the fourth anniversary day of massive earthquake and tsunami hit northern Japan. The 9.0 magnitude earthquake in 2011 sent a huge wall of water into the coast of the Tohoku region, splintering whole communities, ruining swathes of prime farmland and killing nearly 19,000 people. (AFP Photo/Yoshikazu Tsuno)

: Police officers observe a minute of silence on March 11, 2015 in Ukedo, Fukushima prefecture, Japan. On March 11 Japan commemorates the fourth anniversary of the magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami that claimed more than 18,000 lives, and subsequent nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. (Photo by Ken Ishii/Getty Images)

: Portraits of Takayuku Ueno’s two deceased children, daughter Erika (L) and son Kotaro (R), are displayed on an alter at his newly constructed home at Kaibama area in Minami-soma, north of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. In cold drizzle Takayuki Ueno combs a desolate winter beach for the bones of his three-year-old son, unable to move on in his grief until he finds the remains of a boy killed by Japan’s monstrous tsunami four years ago. (AFP Photo/Kazuhiro Nogi)

: Takayuku Ueno searches for missing bodies in a coastal area in Minami-soma, north of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. In cold drizzle Takayuki Ueno combs a desolate winter beach for the bones of his three-year-old son, unable to move on in his grief until he finds the remains of a boy killed by Japan’s monstrous tsunami four years ago. (AFP Photo/Kazuhiro Nogi)

: Police officers search for the remains of missing people with metal detector at Namie, near the striken TEPCO’s Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant in Fukushima prefecture on March 11, 2015 on the fourth anniversary day of massive earthquake and tsunami hit northern Japan. The 9.0 magnitude earthquake in 2011 sent a huge wall of water into the coast of the Tohoku region, splintering whole communities, ruining swathes of prime farmland and killing nearly 19,000 people. (AFP Photo/Yoshikazu Tsuno)

: Junichi Iwasaki, 42, and Noriko Iwasaki, 45, who lost her uncle by tsunami, walk toward an altar on March 11, 2015 in Ukedo, Fukushima prefecture, Japan. On March 11 Japan commemorates the fourth anniversary of the magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami that claimed more than 18,000 lives, and subsequent nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. (Photo by Ken Ishii/Getty Images)

: Buddhist monks arrive at Soma in Fukushima prefecture to offer prayers for tsunami and earthquake victims on March 11, 2015 on the fourth anniversary day of massive earthquake and tsunami hit northern Japan. The 9.0 magnitude earthquake in 2011 sent a huge wall of water into the coast of the Tohoku region, splintering whole communities, ruining swathes of prime farmland and killing nearly 19,000 people. (AFP Photo/Yoshikazu Tsuno)

: Bags of soil contaminated with radiation are stacked on March 9, 2015 in Tomioka town, Fukushima prefecture, Japan. On March 11 Japan commemorates the fourth anniversary of the magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami that claimed more than 18,000 lives, and subsequent nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. (Photo by Ken Ishii/Getty Images)

: Noriko Iwasaki, 45, who lost her uncle by tsunami, prays on March 11, 2015 in Ukedo, Fukushima prefecture, Japan. On March 11 Japan commemorates the fourth anniversary of the magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami that claimed more than 18,000 lives, and subsequent nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. (Photo by Ken Ishii/Getty Images)

: Police walk along a seawall as they prepare to search for the remains of tsunami victims or any identifying personal items on March 11, 2015 in Rikuzentakata, Japan. Police from Iwate prefecture continue to search for remains, and personal items that could be returned to loved ones on the 11th of every month. On March 11 Japan commemorates the fourth anniversary of the magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami that claimed more than 18,000 lives, and subsequent nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

: Police listen to instructions as they prepare to search for the remains of tsunami victims or any identifying personal items on March 11, 2015 in Rikuzentakata, Japan. Police from Iwate prefecture continue to search for remains, and personal items that could be returned to loved ones on the 11th of every month. On March 11 Japan commemorates the fourth anniversary of the magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami that claimed more than 18,000 lives, and subsequent nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

: People look at paper lanterns during a memorial service for tsunami victims at the Yuriage Junior High School on March 11, 2015 in Natori, Japan. On March 11 Japan commemorates the fourth anniversary of the magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami that claimed more than 18,000 lives, and subsequent nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

: People keep warm next to fires while looking at paper lanterns placed in the shape of the numbers 311 during a memorial service for tsunami victims at the Yuriage Junior High School on March 11, 2015 in Natori, Japan. On March 11 Japan commemorates the fourth anniversary of the magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami that claimed more than 18,000 lives, and subsequent nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

: Soil is excavated from the side of a mountain on March 11, 2015 in Minamisanriku, Japan. The soil is being excavated to raise the land level of coastal areas devastated by the tsunami before rebuilding can commence. On March 11 Japan commemorates the fourth anniversary of the magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami that claimed more than 18,000 lives, and subsequent nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

: People offer prayers at the memorial site of the Minamisanriku Disaster Emergency Center on March 11, 2015 in Minamisanriku, Japan. On March 11 Japan commemorates the fourth anniversary of the magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami that claimed more than 18,000 lives, and subsequent nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

: A police officer searches the shoreline for the remains of tsunami victims or any identifying personal items on March 11, 2015 in Rikuzentakata, Japan. Police from Iwate prefecture continue to search for remains, and personal items that could be returned to loved ones on the 11th of every month. On March 11 Japan commemorates the fourth anniversary of the magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami that claimed more than 18,000 lives, and subsequent nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

: A signboard which reads “Nuclear power: the energy for a bright future” over a main street of Futaba town near crippled Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant in Futaba town in Fukushima prefecture. A Japanese town that has been evacuated since the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster has decided to remove street signs trumpeting the benefits of atomic power, an official said on March 10, 2015. Futaba town, which plays host to the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, has earmarked cash to remove huge signboards erected in 1988 and 1991, a town official told AFP. (AFP Photo/Yoshikazu Tsuno)

: Police officers search for the remains of missing people at Namie, near the striken TEPCO’s Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant in Fukushima prefecture on March 11, 2015 on the fourth anniversary day of massive earthquake and tsunami hit northern Japan. The 9.0 magnitude earthquake in 2011 sent a huge wall of water into the coast of the Tohoku region, splintering whole communities, ruining swathes of prime farmland and killing nearly 19,000 people. (AFP Photo/Yoshikazu Tsuno)

: The sun rises over tsunami damaged structures in Tomioka, Fukushima prefecture, northern Japan Wednesday, March 11, 2015. Japan marked the fourth anniversary on Wednesday of the devastating disasters that left nearly 19,000 people dead or missing. (AP Photo/Kyodo News)

Fourth Anniversary of Japan’s Fukushima disaster

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