Japan Tsunami: 20 Unforgettable Pictures

Leaving Home
Photograph by David Guttenfelder, AP
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 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.
(Related Photos: The Nuclear Cleanup Struggle at Fukushima)
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."
More Tsunami News, Pictures, Video, and Facts
Published March 15, 2011
Path Through Destruction
Photograph by Damir Sagolj, Reuters
A survivor walks his bicycle through the remains of the devastated Japanese town of Otsuchi on March 14.
Published March 15, 2011
Tsunami-Tossed Boat
Photograph by Yomiuri Shimbun, AFP/Getty Images
A tsunami-tossed boat rests on top of a building amid a sea of debris in Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, on March 14.
Published March 15, 2011
Communication Barrier
Photograph by Yuriko Nakao, Reuters
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.
Published March 15, 2011
Wave of Destruction
Photograph from Mainichi Shimbun/Reuters
A tsunami wave crashes over a street in Miyako City, Iwate Prefecture, in northeastern Japan on March 11.
Published March 15, 2011
Tearful Reunion
Photograph by Kimimasa Mayama, EPA
Tsunami survivors embrace to celebrate being alive in the destroyed city of Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, on March 11.
Published March 15, 2011
Miracle of Minamisoma
Photograph courtesy Japanese Defense Forces via Jiji Press/AFP/Getty
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.
Published March 15, 2011
Sendai Sunrise
Photograph by Kasahara Katsumi/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images
People search through debris at the Sendai airport on March 14, days after an earthquake-triggered tsunami left the Japanese city in ruins.
Published March 15, 2011
Cocooned Against the Cold
Photograph by Damir Sagolj, Reuters
Swaddled in blankets, evacuated tsunami survivors try to keep warm in a Japanese Red Cross hospital on March 13.
Published March 15, 2011
Broken Road
Photograph by Franck Robichon, EPA
A lone vehicle passes a train overpass mangled by the recent earthquake in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, on March 12.
Published March 15, 2011
Survivor List
Photograph by Lee Jae-Won, Reuters
A survivor of the recent Japan earthquake reads a list of other survivors in a shelter in Iwate Prefecture on March 13.
Published March 15, 2011
Protective Powder
Photograph by Aly Song, Reuters
An emergency worker throws disinfectant powder on the ground around earthquake-damaged buildings in Iwate Prefecture, Japan, on March 14.
Published March 15, 2011
Memories Amid the Rubble
Photograph by Alex Hofford, EPA
Coated with mud, a photo album lies amid debris in the earthquake-ravaged town of Natori, Japan, on March 14.
Published March 15, 2011
Muddy Wasteland
Photograph by David Guttenfelder, EPA
A rescue worker surveys the devastation on March 14 in the Japanese village of Saito, which was leveled by the earthquake-triggered tsunami.
Published March 15, 2011
Survivor's Sorrow
Photograph from Asahi Shimbun, Reuters
A woman mourns the devastation of Natori, Miyagi Prefecture, in northern Japan on March 13.
Published March 15, 2011
Power Plant Ablaze
Photograph by Kimimasa Mayama, EPA
Flames and smoke billow from a petroleum-refining plant damaged by the Japan earthquake in Shiogama, Miyagi Prefecture, on March 13.
Published March 15, 2011
Wrecked Cars
Photograph by Kazuhiro Nogi, AFP/Getty Images
A boy walks past vehicles damaged by the Japan earthquake and tsunami in Tagajo, Miyagi Prefecture, on March 13.
Published March 15, 2011
Houses Destroyed
Photograph from Kyodo/Reuters
Rescue workers search for Japan earthquake victims amid shattered houses in Nodamura, Iwate Prefecture, on March 14.
Published March 15, 2011
Japan Earthquake Victim
Photograph by Gregory Bull, AP
The hand of a man killed by the Japan earthquake juts out of jumbled concrete sea barriers on March 14 in Toyoma, Japan.
Published March 15, 2011
Search for Survivors
Photograph from Jiji Press/AFP/Getty Images
Japanese troops search for earthquake survivors in Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, on March 13.
More Tsunami News, Pictures, Video, and Facts
Published March 15, 2011
More Pictures: Where Will Next Mega-Tsunami Strike?
Photograph from European Pressphoto Agency
Published March 15, 2011