Mark Zaleski Photography

Tsunami Aftermath; Sendai, Japan

  • When a 9.0 earthquake struck off the coast of northern Japan on March 11, 2011, most of Sendai survived the shaking. But then about 20 minutes later, a powerful tsunami swept ashore, obliterating homes, businesses and farms. The death toll surpassed 25,000 and about 90,000 homes were destroyed. A month after the disaster, residents of the Sendai area begin to clean up, cope and salvage their lives. A Sendai firefighter walks through a debris field searching for victims in the Arahama ward of Sendai in the Miyagi Prefecture. Sendai is a sister-city of Riverside, Calif. (The Press-Enterprise/ Mark Zaleski)
  • Japan's Ground Self-Defense force members search through debris near the Sendai Airport looking for victims after a 9.0 earthquake and tsunami devastated Sendai in the Miyagi Prefecture of Japan. (The Press-Enterprise/ Mark Zaleski)
  • Thousands of people were unaccounted for a month after the tsunami hit Sendai, Japan. A team looks for the remains of those missing.(The Press-Enterprise/ Mark Zaleski)
  • A woman walks past a fishing boat that washed ashore in Shichigahama, a fishing town of northern Sendai, Japan. (The Press-Enterprise/ Mark Zaleski)
  • A dried muddy line above a Big Boy statue shows how high the water rose during the tsunami in Sendai, Japan. (The Press-Enterprise/ Mark Zaleski)
  • Shida Hitoshy picks mud off a Japanese fan or a Akomeogi after his wife, Mine, found it among the debris. Their home was split open and moved morethan a mile from its foundation during the devastatingtsunami that hit the neighborhood in the Arahamawardof Sendai in the Miyagi Prefecture of northern Japan. (The Press-Enterprise/ Mark Zaleski)
  • Photographs found in the tsunami ravaged areawere brought to Wakabayashi Gym in Sendai, Japan, with the hope someone would claim them. (The Press-Enterprise/ Mark Zaleski)
  • Kimio Sugai, 71, searches through the ruins of his home hoping to find anything he can use after a 9.0 earthquake and tsunami devastated Sendai in the Miyagi Prefecture of northern Japan on March 11, 2011. Kimio and his wife, Katsuko,lost their son, who was firefighter working when the tsunami hit. (The Press-Enterprise/ Mark Zaleski)
  • Shusuka Kikushi lifts a dresser onto a pile of damaged furniture while cleaning out his friend's destroyed homein Sendai, Japan. (The Press-Enterprise/ Mark Zaleski)
  • Ichio Hirayama pauses while trying to salvage any personal belongings from his home that was destroyed when the massive tsunami hit Sendai, Japan. (The Press-Enterprise/ Mark Zaleski)
  • A car moves along a road where homes and farmland were wiped out when the tsunami came ashore in the Arahama ward of Sendai in the Miyagi Prefecture ofnorthern Japan. (The Press-Enterprise/ Mark Zaleski)
  • The Japanese flag is displayed as a fishing boat rests on top of a damaged building in Shichigahama, a fishing town of northern Sendai, Japan. (The Press-Enterprise/ Mark Zaleski)
  • Kimiko Daigaku, 68, prays during a moment of silenceat the Wakabayashi Gym in Sendai on the one month anniversity of the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan at 2:46 p.m. March 11, 2011. She is one of 320 evacuees living in the gym since their homes were destroyed in a 9.0 earthquake and tsunami. (The Press-Enterprise/ Mark Zaleski)
  • 320 evacuees have been living in makeshift cardboard partitions at the gym since their homes were destroyed when a 9.0 earthquake and tsunami devastated Sendai, Japan. (The Press-Enterprise/ Mark Zaleski)
  • A Japanese man spends his time coloring in his cardboard partition at the Wakabayashi Gym in Sendai, Japan. (The Press-Enterprise/ Mark Zaleski)
  • A Japanese doctor helps an elderly man get comfortable on his bed of blackets at the Wakabayashi Gym in Sendai, Japan. (The Press-Enterprise/ Mark Zaleski)
  • A calendar hangs on the wall of an evacuation center with the date and time when the tsunami hit Japan at 2:46 p.m., on March 11, 2011. (The Press-Enterprise/ Mark Zaleski)
  • Masako Hirayama pauses a moment while gethering several undamaged plates and bowls on her kitchen floor after the massive tsunami destroyed her home and neighborhood in Sendai, Japan. When Masako first saw her home she noticed that trees left a gapping hole in the side. (The Press-Enterprise/ Mark Zaleski)
  • Kiyoe Abe, 80, stops herself from crying then breaks into laughter saying she was glad to have survivedthe massive tsunami that destroyed her home in Shichigahama, a fishing town of northern Sendai, Japan. (The Press-Enterprise/ Mark Zaleski)
  • Kiyoe Abe, 80, makes time to do her laundry after attempting to clean her destroyed homeafter a massive tsunami hit Shichigahama, a fishing town of northern Sendai, Japan. (The Press Enterprise/ Mark Zaleski)
  • A Coca-Cola machine sits in the middle of a neighborhood that was destroyed by the tsunami that hit Sendai, in the Miyagi Prefecture of northern Japan. (The Press-Enterprise/ Mark Zaleski)
  • Shin-Ichi Kato, 69, helped several of his neighbors get out of the area before the massive tsunami came ashorein Sendai, Japan. Kato is a member of the Orange Club in Sendai and helped build Riverside, California's Japanese Garden. (The Press-Enterprise/ Mark Zaleski)
  • A Berko Natori funeral home assistant checks the funeral schedule sheet listing victims of the massive earthquake and tsunami that hit Sendai, in the Miyagi Prefecture of northern Japan. (The Press-Enterprise/ Mark Zaleski)
  • At the Berko Natori funeral home in Sendai, Japan the director checks sheets of scheduled services for tsunami victims. (The Press-Enterprise/ Mark Zaleski)
  • A couple spends time with a family member during a funeral service at the Berko Natori funeral home in Sendai, in the Miyagi Prefecture of northern Japan. (The Press-Enterprise/ Mark Zaleski)
  • A man and his two daughters pray over a grave at a temporary burial site near a recycling centerin Higashimatsushima, a ward of Sendai, Japan. (The Press-Enterprise/ Mark Zaleski)
  • Gravesite workers carefully level out the dirt as they attend to a temporary burial site near a recycling center in Higashimatsushima, a ward of Sendai, Japan. (The Press-Enterprise/ Mark Zaleski)
  • A gravesite worker places a name marker on a grave at a temporary burial site near a recycling center in Higashimatsushima, a ward of Sendai, Japan. Cremation is the traditional way of taking care of the dead, with the death toll high, crematoriums are overwhelmed. (The Press-Enterprise/ Mark Zaleski)
  • Weeks after the tsunami, police officers continue to search for the missing in Sendai, Japan. (The Press-Enterprise/ Mark Zaleski)
  • Japanese workers clean up a street near the Sendai Airport in the Miyagi Prefecture of northern Japan. (The Press-Enterprise/ Mark Zaleski)
  • Japanese workers clean up a street near the Sendai Airport in the Miyagi Prefecture of northern Japan. (The Press-Enterprise/ Mark Zaleski)
  • A woman carries supplies she bought at a convenience store miles away from her destroyed home in Shichigahama, a fishing town of northern Sendai, Japan. (The Press-Enterprise/ Mark Zaleski)
  • Sendai, Japan, firefighters and police officers sift through debris while searching for victims in the Arahama ward of Sendai in the Miyagi Prefecture of northern Japan. (The Press-Enterprise/ Mark Zaleski)
  • A fisherman tries to salvage rope, buoys and fishing nets tangled on broken trees. The tsunami destroyed several of his fishing boats and a storage warehouse conatining fishing equipment in Sendai, Japan.(The Press-Enterprise/ Mark ZaleskI)
  • Pearl Car Co. owner Yuzo Miura, 52, ran to the second floor of his business and then up to the roof to avoid being swept away in the tsunami. His car repair shop in Senai, Japan was destroyed. (The Press-Enterprise/ Mark Zaleski)
  • A man rides his bicycle past a fishing boat that landed on top of a building after a tsunami hit Shichigahama, a fishing town of northern Sendai, Japan. (The Press-Enterprise/ Mark Zaleski)
  • A man walks through the debris in his neighborhood in Sendai, in the Miyagi Prefecture of northern Japan. (The Press-Enterprise/ Mark Zaleski)
  • Home
  • Plymouth Tower, The Final Month
  • World Press Nature
  • Tsunami Aftermath; Sendai, Japan
  • Southern California Wildfires
  • White Party Portraits
  • Destination Kelso
  • Doing Time With Mom
  • Saying Goodbye to Lucas
  • Color Run
    • 2014
    • 2012
  • Airlift Missions
    • Wings of Humanity, Haiti
    • Airborne Lifeline, Afghanistan
  • A Day To Remember
  • The Moving Wall Memorial
  • Portraits
  • Singles
  • News
  • Music
  • Sports
    • Singles
    • Paralymics
    • Tennessee Titans
    • Nashville Predators
  • About
  • Resume
  • Honors & Awards
  • Contact

© Mark Zaleski Photography, The Associated Press, DreamWorks, APInvision, The Tennessean, The Press-Enterprise, The San Bernardino County Sun. Site design © 2010-2025 Neon Sky Creative Media