Aftermath of the Japan earthquake and tsunami - in pictures

A man walks past buildings destroyed by the magnitude 8.9 earthquake and tsunami in Sendai, Japan Photograph: Kyodo/Reuters

A person walks past an overturned squid-fishing boat tossed onto land by the tsunami in Hachinohe, Japan Photograph: Kyodo/Reuters

A resident is rescued from amid the rubble in Natori, Japan Photograph: Noboru Tomura/AP

Residents evacuated from areas surrounding the Fukushima nuclear facilities are checked for radiation contamination in Koriyama, Japan Photograph: Wally Santana/AP

Flames and smoke rise from a burning petroleum refining plant next to a power station in Shiogama, Japan Photograph: Kimimasa Mayama/EPA

People queue for water at a school in Sendai, Japan Photograph: Kyodo/Reuters

The scale of devastation at Ofunato is seen fromthe air Photograph: AP

Hiromitsu Shinkawa (right) who was swept out to sea by the tsunami is rescued by members of the Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force near Fukushima, Japan Photograph: Reuters

Residents walk along the debris-strewn streets of Tagajo, Japan Photograph: Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP/Getty Images

Debris covers a vast flattened area in Natori, Japan Photograph: Mike Clarke/AFP/Getty Images

A woman wrapped in a blanket looks at the damage in Ishimaki, Japan Photograph: Yomiuri/Reuters

Wrecked ships, houses and debris float in the sea in Kesennuma, Japan Photograph: Itsuo Inouye/AP