Japan marked 15 years since the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami on Tuesday, which killed nearly 20,000 people and triggered the Fukushima nuclear disaster.
A magnitude 9.0 earthquake struck at 2:46 pm local time on 11 March 2011, triggering a tsunami that hit coastal communities in Miyagi, Fukushima and Iwate prefectures. Some waves reached more than 40 metres in height.
