Videos of a massive black sludge inundating an expanse of agricultural land in northern coast of Japan carrying with it houses, cars, ferries and everything that crossed its path failed to capture the human misery the devastating earthquake has left in its wake.
The 8.9 magnitude temblor that hit Japan on Friday also triggered a massive tsunami, with the north eastern coastal region of Japan bearing the brunt of the assault. CNN reported that the official casualty count stood at 1,647 on Monday. The count does not take into account the 2,000 bodies found in the Miyagi prefecture.
While the force of the earthquake has waned, after-shocks and an impending nuclear crisis still continues to terrorize the Japanese citizens. It is reported that possibly a 7.0 magnitude earthquake could hit Japan again. Also fresh sightings of smoke from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant have been reported further stoking fears of a nuclear calamity. Reuters reported that another hydrogen explosion was heard in the nuclear plant.
While the gargantuan effect of the geological violence unleashed on Japan with impunity can be measured in monetary terms the emotional and psychological cost cannot be encapsulated in figures.
Here is a slideshow which tells the human tale of the painful ordeal people of Japan are going through after the quake:
A man who was evacuated from the vicinity of Fukushima's nuclear power plants is screened for radiation levels at a makeshift facility to screen, cleanse and isolate people with high radiation levels in Nihonmatsu, northern Japan, March 14, 2011, after a massive earthquake and tsunami that are feared to have killed more than 10,000 people.ReutersPatients wait to be rescued from a hospital where there is no electricity or medicine in Otsuchi town in Iwate Prefecture after the magnitude 8.9 earthquake struck the area March 13, 2011. ReutersA woman looks at the damage caused by a tsunami and an earthquake in Ishimaki City, Miyagi Prefecture, after the magnitude 8.9 earthquake struck the area March 13, 2011.ReutersMitsuko Watanabe shows off her belongings she moved out of her house after a tsunami and earthquake in Hitachi, northeast of Tokyo March 13, 2011ReutersA resident talks on a temporarily-installed public phone at a temporary information centre organised by a local government after all communications are held up in their villages hit by the earthquake and tsunami in Sendai, northeastern Japan March 13, 2011. Japan was fighting to contain what could be the world's worst nuclear disaster in 25 years after the cooling failed at a second reactor crippled by a quake which may have killed over 10,000. Strong aftershocks continued to shake Japan's main island as the desperate search pressed on for survivors from Friday's massive earthquake and tsunami. State broadcaster NHK said more than 10,000 people may have been killed as the wall of water hit, reducing whole towns to rubble.ReutersBodies discovered by soldiers from Japan's Self Defence Force are flagged with red and yellow markers after a magnitude 8.9 earthquake and tsunami struck Rikuzentakata, northern Japan March 13, 2011. Strong aftershocks continued to shake Japan's main island as the desperate search pressed on for survivors from Friday's massive earthquake and tsunami. State broadcaster NHK said more than 10,000 people may have been killed as the wall of water hit, reducing whole towns to rubble.ReutersA patient is evacuated from a destroyed hospital after a magnitude 8.9 earthquake and tsunami hit Otsuchi Town, Iwate Prefecture in northern Japan March 13, 2011. Strong aftershocks continued to shake Japan's main island as the desperate search pressed on for survivors from Friday's massive earthquake and tsunami. State broadcaster NHK said more than 10,000 people may have been killed as the wall of water hit, reducing whole towns to rubble. ReutersA child who evacuated from the vicinity of Tokyo Electric Power Co's (TEPCO) Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant is pictured in Kawamata, Fukushima Prefecture, northern Japan, after an earthquake and tsunami struck the area, March 13, 2011. TEPCO says radiation levels at the nuclear power plant have risen above the safety limit but says this posed no "immediate threat" to human health.ReutersResidents buy food at a temporarily opened supermarket in Sendai, northeastern Japan March 14, 2011. The supermarket set a limit on buying items at five per person. Japan battled on Monday to prevent a nuclear catastrophe and to care for millions of people without power or water in its worst crisis since World War Two, after a massive earthquake and tsunami that are feared to have killed more than 10,000 people.ReutersPeople hug after finding relatives at an evacuation centre near Rikuzentakata, northern Japan after the magnitude 8.9 earthquake and tsunami struck the area, March 14, 2011.ReutersRescue workers move the body of a patient through the halls of a hospital in Minamisanriku town on March 14, 2011, days after the area was devastated by a magnitude 8.9 earthquake and tsunami. ReutersMother tries to talk to her daughter who has been isolated for signs of radiation after evacuating from vicinity of Fukushima's nuclear plants. 200,000 people have been evacuated from homes close to the nuclear plant. ReutersAs of Tuesday, as many as 140,000 people have been forced to stay indoors. Thousands of others have been evacuated from the area around plants.Although the radiation levels remain under the legal limits for now, there are rising fears of the danger it poses for health."The level seems very high and there is still a very high risk of more radiation coming out," Kan said.Meanwhile, Tokyo reported slightly elevated radiation levels , but officials said the increase was too small to threaten the 39 million people in and around the capital. 100 times the normal levels of radiation was reported south of Fukushima Tuesday morning."A leak of nuclear material is feared," Japan's nuclear safety agency spokesman Shinki Kinjo had also warned Monday.(This is a live article, please revisit and refresh for the latest updates on Japan Nuclear Blasts)ReutersA woman cries while sitting on a road amid the destroyed city of Natori, Miyagi Prefecture in northern Japan.ReutersElderly people sleep on the floor at an evacuation center set in a gymnasium in Kawamata, Fukushima Prefecture in northern Japan, March 14, 2011, after an earthquake and tsunami struck the area.ReutersA boy plays with a balloon at an evacuation centre set in a gymnasium in Kawamata, Fukushima Prefecture in northern Japan, March 14, 2011, after an earthquake and tsunami struck the areaReutersElderly people warm themselves with blankets at a Japanese Red Cross hospital after being evacuated from the area hit by tsunami in Ishinomaki. Reuters reported that more than 450,000 have been evacuated and more than 1.8 million households were without power nationwide.ReutersA man reacts as he finds his wife and child at the Red Cross hospital after they were separated by earthquake and tsunami, in Ishinomaki,northern Japan March 14, 2011. ReutersA boy looks at an award certificate that he found among debris after an earthquake and tsunami struck Ofunato City, Iwate Prefecture in northern Japan.ReutersA woman looks at a picture as she stands on rubble after a magnitude 8.9 earthquake and tsunami hit Ofunato City, Iwate Prefecture in northern Japan March 13, 2011. Strong aftershocks continued to shake Japan's main island as the desperate search pressed on for survivors from Friday's massive earthquake and tsunami. State broadcaster NHK said more than 10,000 people may have been killed as the wall of water hit, reducing whole towns to rubble. ReutersAn injured child sleeps at a Japanese Red Cross hospital after being evacuated from the area hit by tsunami in Ishinomaki. USA Today reported that the Japanese Red Cross has 62 medical relief teams reaching out with mobile medical clinics to the most damaged areas.ReutersA Japanese woman breaks down in tears after her relative died in a Japanese Red Cross hospital after being evacuated from the area hit by tsunami in Ishinomaki. International support for the beleaguered nation flowed in as 70 countries have offered support. ReutersEmergency workers and doctors take notes by the dead bodies in a basement of a Japanese Red Cross hospital full of people evacuated from the area hit by tsunami in Ishinomaki. It is feared that earthquake could have claimed 10,000 lives.ReutersA man cries outside an evacuation center after learning that a friend perished after an earthquake and tsunami struck Higashimatsushima City, Miyagi Prefecture in northern Japan March 13, 2011. Strong aftershocks continued to shake Japan's main island as the desperate search pressed on for survivors from Friday's massive earthquake and tsunami. State broadcaster NHK said more than 10,000 people may have been killed as the wall of water hit, reducing whole towns to rubble.ReutersA evacuee who was injured during the earthquake and tsunami, is seen at the Red Cross hospital in Ishinomaki, northern Japan March 14, 2011. Reuters
