TOKYO (AP) — Japan is marking the second anniversary of its earthquake, tsunami and nuclear catastrophe. More than 300,000 people are still displaced and virtually no rebuilding has begun.
Memorial services are planned Monday in Tokyo and in barren towns along the battered northeastern coast to coincide the moment the magnitude-9.0 earthquake — the strongest recorded in Japan's history — struck, unleashing a massive tsunami that killed nearly 19,000 people.
Some 160,000 evacuees remain uncertain if they will ever be able to return to abandoned homes around the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, where rectors melted down after the tsunami.
On Monday, about 800 people plan to file a lawsuit against the government and utility owner demanding compensation and that all land and homes be restored to their state before March 11, 2011.