Three Japanese cities were wiped out

While Japanese officials were assessing the extent of the earthquake and tsunami on March 11, rescuers found three cities destroyed almost entirely by earthquakes and tsunamis.

Minamisanriku

People walk among rubble in Minamisanriku city on March 13

When officials examined the situation at Minamisanriku, a city of 17,000 people in Miyagi prefecture and lying close to the earthquake epicenter, they discovered a horrifying reality. 9,500 people - that is, more than half of the city's population - are missing. People are worried that the missing people have died due to being crushed under collapsed buildings or drifting out to sea by tsunamis. The government evacuated about 7,500 people to temporary tents.

See the ruins in the city

Judith Kawaguchi, a reporter for NHK TV, said while witnessing the scene at Minamisanriku: ' The whole city was washed away, leaving only 3 buildings standing. The highway is torn to pieces and submerged under mud '.

A boat was found to be nearly 3 km away from its original position in the city - a proof of the terrible tsunami.

Choushi Takahashi, a state official, told CNN that he and everyone ran out of a building when the tsunami struck, but many people on the second floor did not keep up. Takahashi worried that the people who couldn't run were dead. A woman said she did not have time to think about what was happening because the tsunami came so quickly.

" I see waves sweeping people out to sea, " another woman said.

Kesennuma

Most of the city of Kesennuma collapsed on March 12.

The Yomiuri daily uses the word " hell spectacle " to describe earthquake consequences in the city of Kesennuma in Miyagi prefecture. Fires erupted throughout the city since the earthquake so far. The Guardian newspaper released a video showing that most of the city was engulfed in fire on March 11.

The number of casualties at Kesennuma has not yet been published but the Telegraph reported that about 9,500 people were missing and 10,000 were living in makeshift tents. Kesennuma has 75,700 people.

Rikuzentakata

The houses in mud in the city of Rikuzentakata after the tsunami on March 11.

' Almost destroyed ' is the phrase used by Kyodo news agency when describing the city of Rikuzentakata in Iwate Prefecture. Here, after the earthquake happened on March 11, the people had not yet evacuated the 10-meter high tsunami. The earthquake turned the houses into ruins in an instant. The things that didn't collapse by the earthquake were subdued by the tsunami. Once a busy port city, Rikuzentakata was only a ruin after a double disaster.

The Japanese Ministry of Defense announced it had found 300 to 400 bodies at Rikuzentakata. The population of the city is nearly 23,700 people.