Japan marks anniversary of devastating quake, tsunami

Memorial services began on Sunday across the country to commemorate the victims of the twin disasters. At least 15,800 people were killed and more than 3,000 others remain unaccounted for.

The Japanese held a minute of silence to mark the exact moment of the quake that struck at 2.46 p.m. (0546 GMT).

In Iwaki City in Fukushima, thousands of candles were lit, ceremonial bells were rung and monks chanted.
Japan's Kyodo news agency also reported that some trains in and around Tokyo would stop to mark the moment.

The destructive 9-magnitude earthquake and a following tsunami struck Japan in March 2011, setting off a nuclear crisis by knocking out power to the cooling systems of reactors at the Fukushima plant, causing radioactive leaks.

A 20 km (12.5 mile) exclusion zone around the plant was put in place making tens of thousands of people homeless. Radiation means the area around remains uninhabitable.

The crisis also forced Japan’s then Prime Minister Naoto Kan to resign after he came under fire for failing to handle the nuclear crisis.

On Sunday, protesters gathered in front of the headquarters of the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), which runs the quake-hit Fukushima plant, demanding that all nuclear plants in Japan be shuttered.

Nine months after the nuclear disaster, TEPCO said dismantling the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant would take 40 years.

The nuclear crisis also revealed serious flaws in the nuclear industry's regulatory systems and safety standards.

On November 18, 2011, the Japan Times reported that large areas of eastern and northeastern Japan were probably contaminated with concentrations of caesium-137.

Caesium has a half-life of about 30 years and presents a high health risk in case of radiation leaks.