Japan: New fears as the tragedy deepens - The Big Picture

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Japan: New fears as the tragedy deepens

Continued aftershocks and new earthquakes bring new fears to the survivors of the tragedy. Residents prepare for radiation leaks as the Prime Minister asks everyone to remain indoors - in their homes, their offices and shelters. Ninety one countries have offered help to Japan. Search and rescue and recovery continue in the devastated landscape. The death toll rises, but some hope is realized in the reunions of family and friends. -- Paula Nelson (52 photos total)

Evacuees are screened for radiation contamination at a testing center, March 15, 2011, in Koriyama city, Fukushima Prefecture, northern Japan. (Wally Santana/Associated Press)

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A baby is tested for radiation in Nihonmatsu, Fukushima Prefecture, March 15, 2011. Panic swept Tokyo on Tuesday after a rise in radioactive levels around an earthquake-hit nuclear power plant north of the city, causing some to leave the capital or stock up on food and supplies. (Reuters/Kyodo) #

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A radiation detector marks 0.6 microsieverts, exceeding normal day data, March 15, 2011, near Shibuya train station in Tokyo. (Associated Press/Kyodo News) #

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An official wearing a protective suit helps usher people through a radiation emergency scanning center in Koriyama, Japan, March 15, 2011. (Mark Baker/Associated Press) #

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Officials, wearing clothing to protect against radiation, direct people to a center to scan residents who have been within 20 kilometers of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant damaged by Friday's earthquake, March 15, 2011, in Koriyama, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. (Gregory Bull/Associated Press) #

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Evacuees are screened for radiation exposure at a testing center, March 15, 2011, in Koriyama city, Fukushima prefecture, Japan, after a nuclear power plant on the coast of the prefecture was damaged by Friday's earthquake. (Wally Santana/Associated Press) #

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People queue up for buses at a station to get out of the city in Yamagata, Yamagata prefecture on March 15, 2011. Explosions and a fire at Japan's quake-hit nuclear plant in neighboring Fukushima prefecture unleashed dangerous radiation on March 15. (Mike Clarke/AFP/Getty Images) #

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A woman leaves a center to scan residents, who have been within 20 kilometers of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant damaged by Friday's earthquake, carrying a metal heat blanket, March 15, 2011, in Koriyama, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. (Gregory Bull/Associated Press) #

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Japan Ground Self-Defense Force soldiers, mobilized to wash away radioactive material emitted from a nuclear power plant damaged by Friday's earthquake, put on protective gear on their arrival in Nihonmatsu, Fukushima Prefecture, March 15, 2011. (Associated Press/Kyodo News) #

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A group of Chinese citizens at the City Hall await transport to leave the tsunami devastated city of Sendai, Miyagi prefecture on March 15, 2011. Japan's government on March 15 urged people against panic-buying of food and supplies, as the country grapples with an earthquake and tsunami and resulting nuclear crisis. (Mike Clarke/AFP/Getty Images) #

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Evacuees from radiation leaking from the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant take a rest at a shelter in Fukushima, northern Japan, March 15, 2011.(The Yomiuri Shimbun, Shuhei Yokoyama/Associated Press) #

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A woman reacts at the news of her relative's death in an evacuation shelter for survivors of Friday's earthquake and tsunami, March 15, 2011, in Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture. (Associated Press/Kyodo News) #

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People wait to receive medical treatment at a shelter for earthquake and tsunami evacuees in Rikuzentakata in Iwate prefecture, northeast Japan, March 15, 2011. (Lee Jae-Won/Reuters) #

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Survivors listen about ongoing recovery operations at an evacuation center in Minamisanriku, Miyagi Prefecture, March 15, 2011. (Shuji Kajiyama/Associated Press) #

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Two elderly couples greet each other at a shelter as they reunite, March 15, 2011. (Lee Jae-Won/Reuters) #

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Displaced residents sit on mats at an evacuation center after leaving their coastal homes in Sendai, Miyagi on March 15, 2011. (Mike Clarke/Getty Images) #

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A woman reunites with her relatives at a shelter for the first time after an earthquake and tsunami in Rikuzentakata in Iwate prefecture, March 15, 2011. (Lee Jae-Won/Reuters) #

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People receive emergency clothing aid at a makeshift shelter in Fukushima, March 15, 2011. (Associated Press/The Yomiuri Shimbun, Shuhei Yokoyama) #

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An evacuee reacts after being reunited with her daughter and her brother at a shelter in Rikuzentakata, Iwate, March 15, 2022. Masahiro Ogawa/Associated Press) #

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Evacuees exercise at a makeshift shelter in Minamisanriku, northern Japan, March 15, 2011. (Associated/The Yomiuri Shimbun, Tsuyoshi Matsumoto) #

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Residents eat emergency rations in a candle-lit shelter after leaving their tsunami devastated areas, in Minamisanriku, Miyagi prefecture on March 15, 2011. (Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP/Getty Images) #

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A man shops in a convenience store where shelves on food aisles are left empty in Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture, March 15, 2011. (Shizuo Kambayashi/Associated Press) #

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Evacuees crowd a makeshift shelter in Fukushima, northern Japan, March 15, 2011. Some 70,000 people have been evacuated from a 12-mile (20-kilometer) radius from the Dai-ichi complex. (Associated Press/The Yomiuri Shimbun, Koichi Nakamura) #

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A Japanese survivor of the earthquake and tsunami rides his bicycle through the leveled city of Minamisanriku, in northeastern Japan, March 15, 2011. (David Guttenfelder/Associated Press) #

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Rescue workers spray water on a damaged building still smoldering after the 9.0 magnitude strong earthquake struck on March 11 off the coast of north-eastern Japan, March 14, 2011 in Miyagi, Japan. The death toll continues to rise with fears that the official death count could well reach up to 10,000. (ChinaFotoPress/Getty Images) #

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Tsunami debris is scattered over a devastated area of Sendai, Miyagi prefecture. (March 14, 2011) (STR/AFP/Getty Images) #

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Japanese rescue workers pour over a map of Ofunato before beginning operations in the devastated city on March 15, 2011. Rescue teams from the US, Britain and China began assisting in the search for survivors. (Nocholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images) #

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Members of the Chinese International Search and Rescue Team (CISAR) search for victims inside a ruined house at the quake-shaken Ofunato city in Iwate prefecture, March 15, 2011. (Associated Press/Xinhua, Lui Siu Wai) #

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Rescuers end the day's search operation in the area hard hit by earthquake-triggered tsunami in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan, March 15, 2011. (Associated Press/Junji Kurokawa) #

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British search and rescue team member Rob Furniss and his search dog Byron try to find any trapped people still alive in a building in Ofunato, Japan, March 15, 2011. Two search and rescue teams from the U.S. and a team from the U.K. with combined numbers of around 220 personnel, searched damaged areas of the town of Ofunato for trapped survivors in the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami. (Matt Dunham/Associated Press) #

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A mother and her daughter leave a devastated area in Otsuchi, northern Japan, March 15, 2011. They said there was nothing left where their home used to be. (Associated Press/The Yomiuri Shimbun, Yoichi Hayashi) #

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Soldiers and a rescue worker carry the body of a resident through Kesennuma City on March 15, 2011, days after the area was devastated by a magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami. (Adrees Latif/Reuters) #

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The Sasaki family carry some of their personal belongings from their home that was destroyed after the devastating earthquake and tsunami, March 15, 2011 in Rikuzentakata, Miyagi province. (Paula Bronstein /Getty Images) #

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Neena Sasaki, 5, carries some of the family belongings from her home that was destroyed after the devastating earthquake and tsunami on March 15, 2011 in Rikuzentakata, Miyagi province. (Paula Bronstein /Getty Images) #

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Japanese military walk by a body lying in the rubble of a village destroyed, March 15, 2011 in Rikuzentakata, Miyagi province. (Paula Bronstein /Getty Images) #

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Family photo albums lie in the ruins of the devastated residential area of tsunami hit Otsuchi March 15, 2011. (Damir Sagolj/Reuters) #

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Rescue workers search through ruins of the devastated residential area of tsunami hit Otsuchi March 15, 2011. (Aly Song/Reuters) #

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A young Japanese survivor of the earthquake and tsunami searches her family home for any belongings she can find in the leveled city of Minamisanriku, in northeastern Japan, March 15, 2011. (David Guttenfelder/Associated Press) #

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Tsunami debris is scattered over a devastated area of Sendai, Miyagi prefecture. (STR/AFP/Getty Images) #

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Keijo Nakamura and his wife, Haruka, react as they stand on the remains of a dead relative's home after the house was washed away by the tsunami in Ofunato, March 15, 2011. Two search and rescue teams from the U.S. and a team from the U.K. with combined numbers of around 220 personnel, searched damaged areas of the town of Ofunato for trapped survivors Tuesday in the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami. (Matt Dunham/Associated Press) #

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Japanese recovery officials search through the ruins of the leveled city of Minamisanriku, in northeastern Japan, March 15, 2011. (David Guttenfelder/Associated Press) #

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British search and rescue workers search under a roof removed from a house for survivors of the tsunami in Ofunato, Japan, March 15, 2011. (Matt Dunham/Associated Press) #

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A man stands amidst the destruction in Kesennuma City on March 15, 2011, days after the area was devastated by a magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami. (Adrees Latif/Reuters) #

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A woman who lost her mother and her three-year-old son reacts after she confirmed their bodies under the rubble of her house in Miyako. (March 14, 2011) (Associated Press/Mainichi Shimbun, Daisuke Wada) #

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Members of Japan's Self Defense Force walk past the body of a woman at an area hit by an earthquake and tsunami in Rikuzentakata, Iwate prefecture, March 15, 2011. (Toru Hanai/Reuters) #

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Japanese survivors of Friday's earthquake and tsunami walk under umbrellas through the leveled city of Minamisanriku, in northeastern Japan, March 15, 2011. David Guttenfelder/Associated Press) #

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Soldiers and a rescue worker carry the body of a victim through Kesennuma City on March 15, 2011. (Adrees Latif/Reuters) #

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Soldiers carry the body of a victim as others prepare to retrieve more in Kesennuma City on March 15, 2011. (Adrees Latif/Retuers) #

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The bodies of victims are covered by blankets at a village destroyed by the earthquake and tsunami in Rikuzentakata in Iwate prefecture, northeast Japan, March 15, 2011. (Lee Jae-Won/Reuters) #

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Two women walk in a tsunami devastated street in Hishonomaki, Miyagi prefecture on March 15, 2011. (Philippe LopezAFP/Getty Images) #

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Local residents pass through a devastated street in Ishinomaki in Miyagi prefecture after the recent tsunami and earthquake, on March 15, 2011. (Kim Jae-Hwan/AFP/Getty Images) #

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Members of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force walk in a deployment line as they search tsunami damaged parts of Ofunato, Japan, March 15, 2011. Two search and rescue teams from the U.S. and a team from the U.K. with combined numbers of around 220 personnel, searched damaged areas of the town of Ofunato for trapped survivors Tuesday in the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami. (Matt Dunham/Associated Press) #

More links and information

Workers strain to Retake Control After Blast and Fire at Japan Plant - NYTimes.com, 3/15

In Fuel-Cooling Pools, a Danger for the Longer Term - NYTimes.com, 3/15

Satellite Photos - Japan Before and After Tsunami - Interactive Feature - NYTimes.com, 3/15

Tsunami - Wikipedia entry

via boston.com