Japan tsunami and nuke tragedy remembered seven years on

In remembrance: Local government workers praying in front of their town hall hit by the tsunami in Otsuchi, Iwate prefecture. — AP

Tokyo: Prime Minister Shinzo Abe led a sombre ceremony as Japan marked the seventh anniversary of a deadly earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster that devastated its northeastern coast and left around 18,500 people dead or missing.

The magnitude 9.0 quake – which struck under the Pacific Ocean on March 11, 2011 – and the resulting tsunami caused widespread damage and took the lives of thousands of people.