<p><strong>A year ago this week, a <a href="http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/natural-disasters/tsunami-profile/">tsunami</a> wave crashes over a seawall in the city of Miyako, <a href="http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/countries/japan-guide/">Japan</a>, shortly after a devastating magnitude 9.0 <a href="http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/natural-disasters/earthquake-profile/">earthquake</a> struck the region. (See National Geographic News's <a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/03/110311-tsunami-earthquake-japan-hawaii-science-world-waves/">complete Japan earthquake and tsunami coverage</a>.)</strong></p><p>March 11, 2012 marks the first anniversary of that devastating quake, which triggered a monster tsunami that left many of Japan's coastal towns in ruins and sparked a nuclear disaster at the country's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. (<a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2011/11/pictures/111111-nuclear-cleanup-struggle-at-fukushima/">Related photos: "The Nuclear Cleanup Struggle at Fukushima</a>.")</p><p>The twin disasters claimed more than 19,000 lives, and thousands of victims are still unaccounted for.</p><p>"People who lost their beloved family members are still very sad," said <a href="http://www.bekkoame.ne.jp/~mayama/index.htm">Kimimasa Mayama</a>, a Tokyo-based photographer who traveled around Japan taking pictures of the devastation not long afterward.</p><p>(Related: "<a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/03/110316-zoom-satellite-pictures-japan-tsunami-earthquake-world-before-after/">Japan Tsunami, Before &amp; After: Zoomable Satellite Images.</a>")</p><p><em>—Ker Than</em></p>