Japan marks 2 years since quake with silence

TOKYO — Japan has observed a moment of silence to remember the nearly 19,000 people who died in the massive earthquake and tsunami that struck two years ago.

At a memorial service Monday in Tokyo attended by Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko, attendees stood in silence at 2:46 p.m., the precise moment the 9.0-magnitude quake struck off northern Japan on March 11, 2011. The earthquake was the strongest recorded in Japan’s history and unleashed a towering wave that wiped out entire coastal communities.

Police officers search for the remains of those who went missing in the March 11, 2011 tsunami on the coastline in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, northern Japan, Monday, March 11, 2013.. AP

The tsunami also set off a crisis at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, causing three reactors to melt down and spew radiation. More than 100,000 people had to evacuate.

All told, some 300,000 people remain displaced by the disaster two years later, and virtually no rebuilding has begun.