Japan Aftermath of a Disaster

Japan had been waiting decades for "the big one" to hit, an earthquake
powerful enough to devastate the country.

Emergency services and the public were drilled in how to respond when
the earth moved; thousands of kilometers of sea walls were built to
protect the coast from tsunamis, the deadly after-effects of quakes
out at sea.

But when the earthquake came on March 11, few would have predicted the
devastation it caused.

The magnitude 9.0 quake, unleashed a tsunami so powerful, it tore
through Japan's defenses as though they were not there. The surge
turned towns and cities into matchwood, killed thousands of people and
caused a still-to-be resolved nuclear crisis.

Among the communities hit was the small port city of Miyako. In the
days after the disaster its surviving citizens somehow had to carry on
with their lives. This is their story.